Inside an office at Hunter High, Preston Vaccaro met school administration to go over a spending plan for his baseball team. The 60-year-old who had never been a high school head coach sat there in disbelief.

“They told me I had $1,300 and started telling me all the things I needed … flipping through a computer like it’s nobody’s business and telling me ‘you need about $20,000 to run this year,’” Vaccaro said. “I just about had a heart attack right there.”

Hunter’s new coach added he’d been coaching baseball for 35 years and spent time as a high school assistant.

What was Vaccaro supposed to do, though? As his dad often told him, when you commit to something, you put 100% into it. Coach Vaccaro did, spending 60 hours a week on his new team, in his estimation.

First things first: Vaccaro organized a team meeting at Hunter’s baseball field that July and, alongside assistants Kaden Wilson and Sam Brito, picked up a pen and paper since he admittedly isn’t tech-savvy, and started asking the players and parents questions from the visiting dugout.

What did they need from this coaching staff? What does the team need?

The prospective players told Vaccaro they needed a coach who cares and develops them. They added they’d like matching batting helmets so they could look like all the other teams.

Their new coach said he’d see what he could do—but would need buy-in from them.

“I was told by the UHSAA the requirements to play were a 2.0 GPA and you can fail one class,” Vaccaro said.  “I looked at them all … I had parents and kids there … and said, ‘that’s bull …’”

Vaccaro demanded kids get a 2.5 in the first quarter and keep it through the rest of the school year without failing a class. If not, they’d get a two-game suspension for every infraction. Perplexed, returning players asked Vaccaro why grades mattered when it was the second quarter that determined whether they qualified academically to play.

“It matters, because it’s my rule,” recounted Hunter’s new coach. He’d be hard on them, put his arm around them when needed and go to bat for them any way he could.

“But, I’ll tell you right now … what you do in that building reflects on what you do out here (on the field),” said Vaccaro about numerous player inquiries. “If you can do the work in the building it proves to me right now that you can do the work out here.”

Sure enough, Vaccaro’s best players in year one were also his best students. They owned the batter’s box. They weren’t swinging at every pitch or worrying about striking out; instead, he said they were more disciplined, communicated with each other and didn’t look at a ball in the infield or outfield and think it was someone else’s responsibility.

Junior Thomas Woodruff hit .356 with a team-high five doubles. Sophomore Derek Kendall knocked in a team-high two triples and 14 RBI. Junior Brendan Brito had a team-best 6.92 ERA as a pitcher. And, juniors Jayden Pacheco and Fabian Avila had big moments at the plate and on the mound, according to the coach. 

Vaccaro also had someone else familiar who could be leaned upon: junior Noah Francom, a player he coached at age 7. Francom starred in basketball, was on the Honor Roll every quarter and now was being asked to do something he hadn’t done in quite some time—pitch.

“He had some challenges getting us into the late innings, but they hadn’t pitched him for the last two years,” Vaccaro said. Francom went 1-4 on the mound and had 22 strikeouts. He also hit .283 with 8 RBI.

The coach’s son, Trace Vaccaro, led the team in hitting at .391. Was it a challenge coaching him?

“Yes and no,” said the coach, who liked to coach his kids when they were young—but let them receive other instruction as they grew into their teens. Trace was no different.

“There has always been an understanding with my three boys, when we step on the other side of this fence I’m no longer your dad—I’m now your coach … it’s always ‘yes, coach or no, coach.’ He’s done pretty good at it.” 

All the kids did, according to the coach. He didn’t even feel a need to appoint captains; in their own ways, they all were. The new coach organized an intrasquad Blue-White Game to be played before the season in which they auctioned off items that area businesses donated.

That game was a success, the money needed was raised, and the team got matching helmets. As a bonus, the coach was able to purchase custom batting gloves in the school’s spending plan. 

Armed with a plan and purpose, Hunter finished with a 5-20 record, their best since 2019. They won their third game of the year at home versus Ben Lomond, and in Region 4 action swept rival Granger in a three-game series after having been 10-run ruled in 13 of their 15 previous games, and won one against West to close out the season.

The biggest victory for this team, however, might have come inside the building.

As required, 13 kids came in and showed the coach screenshots of their midterm grades in the fall and so they were allowed to practice with the team. Four were above a 3.0 GPA, said Vaccaro. 

“The next quarter hits, now I’ve got six kids above a 3.0 …,” he said. “Third quarter hits, I’ve got 12 kids above a 3.0.”