'This is my home': St. John's hires Casey Cummins as new baseball coach

After having taught and coached at Sutton High for a number of years, Casey Cummins couldn’t pass up the opportunity to return to St. John’s to continue his academic career at his alma mater.

The 33-year-old Leicester resident began teaching middle school social studies on the Shrewsbury campus this fall. As for athletics, the plan was to assist Pioneers baseball coach Charlie Eppinger in some way next spring.

“I had been talking to him about coming back and all that, and he was excited to have me back,” Cummins said of Eppinger, for whom he pitched before graduating in 2008.

Then, in mid-August, Eppinger stepped down as coach, ending a successful stretch that began in 2006 and spanned three decades.

St. John’s commenced a six-week search that culminated with the hiring of Cummins on Monday. He was introduced to the school community Wednesday afternoon.

“This has always been a goal of mine,” Cummins said. “As far as a teaching goal, I always wanted to be back, and from a baseball standpoint, I always wanted to be able to call myself the head coach at St. John’s.

“This is my home. I loved being here as a student for four years and being part of the baseball program. I’m over the moon to have the opportunity to lead this program going forward.”

After graduating from St. John’s, Cummins went on to earn a degree in history and middle school education from Merrimack College in 2012 and a master’s in education at Worcester State in 2020.

Unsuccessful in his bid to make the varsity baseball team, he started a club team at Merrimack.

“It kind of gave me my start in some of the stuff a coach has to do,” Cummins said. “We organized the schedule and fundraising and all that. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to play college baseball because I didn't make the team, but it was sort of, not a blessing in disguise, but it gave me an opportunity to start to develop those coaching-like qualities, to say the least.”

Cummins, who was raised in a “baseball family” in Auburn — his dad, Tim, is currently a scout for the San Francisco Giants — served as a roving assistant for Eppinger while in college. He went on to serve as, for among other organizations, an assistant for the Bourne Braves, pitching coach for Nichols College and the Worcester Bravehearts and, most recently, head coach at Sutton.

Cummins coached the Sammies for three years after being hired prior to the pandemic-canceled season in 2020. They advanced to postseason play and won a tournament game each year.

“I was proud of what we built out at Sutton,” Cummins said.

Cummins is the Pioneers’ fourth coach in the past 36 years, following Bill White (1988-2005), George Reidy (2006-07) and Eppinger (2008-23). They all continued the program’s winning tradition, with White going 249-120, Reidy 42-9 and Eppinger 289-121.

White guided the Pioneers to the Division 1 state title in 2002 and Eppinger to the Super 8 state championship in 2017.

“Casey is a great choice for the St. John’s baseball program,” Eppinger said in a statement released by the school. “He has an infectious passion and enthusiasm for the game and will be an excellent coach and role model both on and off the field. I’m excited for Casey and look forward to the program’s continued success.”

To Cummins, that success — like his predecessors — goes beyond wins and losses.

“I’ve always held St. John’s in a high regard — especially the baseball program — and I understand that it’s more than the player that we see between the white lines,” Cummins said. “That saying that it takes a village, it really does here. It’s a collective effort to develop the player not just on the field, but off the field.

“And my goal as the head coach of the program is to do that from the time the player enters the program to the time he leaves. We want them to understand that we want to embrace the school mission and play like that, but also how we carry ourselves and how we represent ourselves off the field as well. “

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: St. John's High hires alum Casey Cummins as new baseball coach