By Dan Powell
He may be fresh-faced and bright-eyed, but don’t confuse Josh Stewart with one of the Pride baseball players.Nowadays, the 24-year-old Hofstra alum is one of the Pride’s two assistant coaches under head coach Chris Dotolo.
After graduating in May 2005 Stewart works with hitters and also coaches outfi elders, a position that he filled for the Pride from 2003-05. As a player, Stewart left St. John’s University, where he played as a freshman, to follow Dotolo, who had been an assistant coach with the Red Storm.
Stewart played 147 games with the Pride, hitting .333 with 17 home runs, 50 doubles, 83 RBI and 50 stolen bases. In his senior season, the centerfielder received All-Conference honors in the Colonial Athletic Association and earned a spot on the second team American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-East Region. While he has become accustomed to taking orders from Dotolo, he is not used to giving them to players who used to be his teammates just last season.
“It’s definitely weird, especially when the team is struggling” Stewart said. “I’m used to seeing these guys succeed. It’s tough not to be out there on the field helping them.”
Though he can no longer play centerfield and bat lead-off for the Pride, Stewart’s playing days are not over yet. Over the summer he patrols the outfield for the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League in Indiana. Stewart hit .221 with a home run and seven doubles in 28 games for the team last year and plans to return this year. The Otters are Stewart’s second independent league team. In 2004, he hit .298 and stole 20 bases for the Asheboro Copperheads of the Coastal Plain League.
Even while busy with all this baseball, Stewart, a former psychology major, plans to return to school to get his master’s degree in counseling. After that, he is not sure what he would like to do.
“Whether it’s coaching or being a guidance counselor, I’m not sure,” Stewart said. “I have always hoped for a career in coaching, but you never know what can happen. I’m just going to see where life takes me.”
It’s evident from watching Stewart that he loves coaching. Even after the Pride’s 8-2 loss to Georgia State on Sunday, he was seen after the game walking around greeting Hofstra Facilities Staff and audience members with a big grin on his face. As the players ran off the fi eld, Stewart encouraged them to put the loss behind them and focus on winning their next game.
It’s clear that Stewart loves being around the game as he constantly keeps a positive attitude. Even with illustrious high school and college baseball careers behind him, the Bloomsburg, Pa., native still remains as immersed in the game as ever.
“I have plenty of time to worry about getting a real job,” Stewart said with a smirk. “For now, I just want to try to stay around the game as long as I possibly can.”