HAMBURG, N.Y. -- Hilbert College Director of Athletics Richard Walsh has announced Stephen Spillman as interim head
baseball coach, effective immediately. Spillman succeeds Jonathan Musialowski, who was seriously injured in a car accident last Saturday. He suffered a severe head injury and is currently being treated at the Erie County Medical Center.
“I look forward to building off the strong foundation Coach Musialowski created,” said Spillman. “He needs us all to respond well to this difficult situation and that's what we're going to do. It's an honor to have the opportunity to work with such a great group of young men as we prepare for the 2010 season.”
Spillman takes over a program he joined as an assistant coach in February. “I am very confident that Steve is prepared to lead the baseball team at this time,” said Walsh. “Steve will continue to follow the philosophies and strategies already established by Coach Musialowski.”
During his freshman year as a student-athlete at Canisius College, the first base/outfielder led the team in put-outs (173) and finished second in fielding percentage (.973). In what would be his best weekend series in 2004, Spillman's .416 batting average (three doubles) led the team against Niagara University.
His Division I baseball career stats list him with 67 games played and 53 starts earned. As a sophomore, Spillman was named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s All-Academic team.
Active in the Western New York baseball community, he continues to play competitively as a member of the West Herr team, which represented Buffalo’s AAA-Muny League in the 2009 NABF World Series in Louisville.
As a two-sport athlete (baseball and basketball) at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, Spillman was named the baseball team’s Most Valuable Player and earned first team All-Catholic honors his senior year, while the basketball team captured the 2002 Manhattan Cup championship his junior year.
Spillman, who was a student in Canisius’ All-College Honors Program, earned a bachelor’s degree from the college with a dual major in criminal justice and political science.