Samuel R. Marsonek (born July 10, 1978) is an American former

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pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Professional career

Sam Marsonek was a 6'6" right handed pitcher out of

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. Sam was a graduate from Jesuit High School (FL) and was drafted as the 24th overall pick in the annual

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

First Player Draft in 1996, by the Texas Rangers. At the conclusion of the '99 season with the Rangers, Sam was traded to the New York Yankees in a trade deal with Brandon Knight for outfielder Chad Curtis. On July 8, 2004, after his sixth year in the Yankees organization, Marsonek was called up to the majors. Marsonek's

debut was July 11, 2004 where he came in to pitch in relief against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

, his hometown team. In this outing, Marsonek pitched 1.1 innings, giving up no earned runs on 2 hits. In 2007, Marsonek pitched in the independent Atlantic League for the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

. In 35 games (14 starts), he was 6-8 with a 5.03

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and 59

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. Marsonek was released from the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

in 2008, ending his 12-year professional baseball career.

Coaching career

After being released from his professional baseball contract, Marsonek was now searching for the next calling for his life. Sam eventually became a high school baseball coach, starting his career in Tampa, Florida at Cambridge Christian School. Marsonek spent the next four years coaching the Lancers, leading the team to two district titles, a regional championship and a state final four appearance. He was replaced by Sam Blackmon in May of 2013 after stepping down to work full-time with SCORE International. For the next few years, Score International baseball was a nationally ranked travel baseball program by Perfect Game USA. Marsonek, as the Director of SCORE International Baseball, was searching for a stable place to facilitate these outstanding players from across the world. In May 2016, Marsonek and his wife had the opportunity they were searching for; SCORE International took over Baseball Country, (formerly owned by Kenny and Angela Burns). Prior to the new position, Marsonek and his SCORE team had been bringing in missionaries along with carpentry teams to help out the area, using Baseball Country as their hub for what was already 10 years. Although there may be a change in scenery, the impact of Marsonek's coaching and directing under SCORE International baseball marked a great foundation for Baseball Country. Associated to Marsonek's coaching career is rosters filled with players from Florida, Canada, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and the Bahamas, assisting over 85 of these players to attain a college scholarship and 27 to sign professional contracts.

References

External links

Sam Marsonek
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsonek, Sam 1978 births Living people Baseball players from Tampa, Florida Major League Baseball pitchers Charlotte Rangers players Gulf Coast Rangers players Savannah Sand Gnats players Greensboro Bats players Tampa Yankees players Norwich Navigators players Columbus Clippers players Gulf Coast Yankees players New York Yankees players Somerset Patriots players Jesuit High School (Tampa) alumni