Picone is named Director of Auxiliary Services at LCSC
6/27/06
 

LEWISTON, Idaho -- Gary Picone, assistant baseball coach and former athletic director at Lewis-Clark State College, has been named Director of Auxiliary Services at the institution, President Dene K. Thomas announced Tuesday.

Picone has a long history with the school, dating back to 1972 when he enrolled at the institution and join the LCSC baseball team as an outfielder for coach Ramon Hooker.

Picone takes over the same duties and responsibilities Jamie White had, including being the Director of the NAIA World Series. White announced his resignation last month, which takes effect at the end of August.

"I'm excited with the opportunity and look forward to working with the athletic department, the community and the NAIA," Picone says.

Thomas praises Picone for his knowledge and experience, not only with the LCSC athletic department, but with the Series as well.

"Gary recognizes the importance of the Series and knows what not only is best for the NAIA, but for all the teams that participate," Thomas says. "We will continue with a tournament that promotes goodwill for all the teams participating. Gary is going from being a first-hand baseball advocate to being the tournament director. I see nothing but positives with this move."

After his college playing days and five years of playing with the Canadian National Team, Picone joined the Warriors' coaching staff, which included the 1976 season, the first season LCSC qualified to participate in the NAIA World Series.

In 1980, he left LCSC to teach and coach in Canada. He returned in 1983 as the Warriors pitching coach. In 1989, the Trail, British Columbia, native was the executive director of the British Columbia Amateur Baseball Association, but returned to LCSC in 1991 as athletic director, a position he served for nine years.

While athletic director, Picone helped bring the Series back to Lewiston. The Series had previously been held in Lewiston during 1983-91, but then jumped around between four sites before returning to Lewiston in 1999. The Series is under contract to remain here at least through 2009.

Picone left as athletic director in 2000 to become pitching coach at Washington State University under new coach Tim Mooney. He spent two seasons there before returning to LCSC as pitching coach in 2002. In the fall of 2003, Picone was involved with the Canadian Olympic Team, serving as head coach during international play in Cuba.

"I look forward to working with the NAIA and the national tournament and help it to continue to grow," Picone says.

This years tournament set an all-time Series attendance record with more than 43,000 fans witnessing the week-long 10-team double-elimination tournament. A Harris Field record-crowd of 5,480 watched the Warriors defeat Cumberland 5-4 in 11 innings to capture the school's 14th Series title in the last 22 years.

Picone assumes the new duties effective immediately.