Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech head baseball coach John Szefc announced today he’s filled three more positions within his program as he brings in former Maryland volunteer assistant Corey Haines to be Tech’s Director of Baseball Operations, adds former Kentucky and professional catcher Micheal Thomas as Volunteer Assistant-Catchers and retains Logan Bible as a baseball intern, Video Coordinator.
Haines has spent the last five seasons in College Park, Maryland with Coach Szefc and has spent a total of eight years working with the Terrapins. He was a student assistant with the program from 2009-11 while earning his degree from the school. After a year at Shippensburg, he returned to his alma mater to handle various aspects within the program.
“I’m fortunate to have Corey Haines join us here in Blacksburg,” Szefc said. “I’ve worked with Corey for the last four-and-a-half years at Maryland and he’s been tremendous when it comes to running the day-to-day operations of the office. He’s got a lot of experience in the college game, both on and off the field, and he will be a very good fit for our staff.”
At Maryland, Haines was responsible for on-campus recruiting, tour visits and being a liaison between the baseball staff and the athletic department. He also prepared scouting reports, worked with the infielders and hitters, and was the primary leader of the baseball camps.
Prior to his most recent stop in College Park, Haines was an assistant coach at Shippensburg in 2012 and was the head coach of the Alexandria Aces of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. He’s also been an instructor at several baseball camps during his career.
“I’m very excited to continue working alongside Coach Szefc and eager to build the Virginia Tech baseball program the right way in Blacksburg,” Haines said. “I would like to thank Coach Szefc for this opportunity and we will do everything we can to make Blacksburg and Virginia Tech the place to be in the coming years.”
Thomas comes to Blacksburg from Lexington, Kentucky, where he’s spent the past two seasons serving as a student manager for his alma mater. Thomas played for the Wildcats from 2011-14, emerging as a star catcher during UK’s 2014 season. He was selected in the 22nd round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers and played the 2014 and the 2015 seasons in the Tigers’ organization, before retiring from his playing career.
“I feel really good about having Micheal Thomas join our staff,” Szefc said. “He spent four years in the SEC as a catcher at Kentucky and several years in pro ball doing the same thing. He’s been on the Kentucky coaching staff the past two years and specifically has worked to develop their catchers and I’ve always felt that it’s very important to have a good catching coach on staff.
“So he will balance off our staff in that respect and he will be able to develop the catching part of our program. I think that will help us recruit good catchers knowing that there is a guy on staff that can do that. So, that combination of expertise in that area and his six years of experience made him a really easy candidate for that position.”
Over his Kentucky career, Thomas played in 137 games with 102 starts, batting .279 (107-for-383) with 17 doubles, one triple, 12 homers and 70 RBI, with a career .376 slugging percentage and six steals. As a senior in 2014, Thomas, AJ Reed, Austin Cousino and Max Kuhn formed a dynamic lineup that helped Kentucky to the 2014 NCAA tournament. That season, Thomas belted eight homers and drove in 45 runs, as he hit .315 with a .484 slugging percentage.
“My wife and I can’t thank Coach Szefc enough for giving me the opportunity to become a part of his staff here at Virginia Tech,” Thomas said. “I believe that we can do great things here and I am looking forward to getting started!”
Bible played for the Hokies from 2013-16. After graduation, he took an internship with the San Francisco 49ers football organization and worked in the front office with scouting over the summer and was an offensive assistant coach, primarily working with the quarterbacks’ coach, during the 2016 season.
He returned to Blacksburg for the 2017 baseball season to assist the Hokies in its video work and will work in the same role under Coach Szefc.
“Keeping Logan Bible here is important for a lot of reasons,” Szefc said. “Number one, he does a really good job with the video aspect of what we are doing as far as scouting and video development. But also, it’s really important to have a guy on our staff that has a Virginia Tech background, that knows the place and is a former student-athlete here. He will help our new staff members get up to speed with Blacksburg and the campus.”
Bible actually arrived on campus during the summer of 2011 but redshirted his first season with Tech. In his career, he played in 96 games and collected 37 hits in 130 at-bats for a .285 average. He scored 30 runs, knocked in 16 RBI and stole 11 bases.
“I’m really thankful to Coach Szefc for giving me the opportunity to come back and work with this program,” Bible said. “As a former student-athlete, I love this school and this program and I’m really happy to be back.”