During his time as Bryant’s pitching coach, Ryan Fecteau sometimes hid in the luggage bays on buses. When one of the Bulldogs’ players arrived late after a team dinner, Fecteau jumped out in an attempt to scare him and garner a laugh.
During sprints in practice, Fecteau often ran routes as if he was an NFL receiver, Bryant junior right-hander James Karinchack said. He tried to keep a light-hearted mood as he worked with the pitching staff, and Maryland baseball coach John Szefc took notice.
Szefc knew of Fecteau’s work, as the Terps have hosted Bryant in two of the past three seasons. So, when Maryland was forced to look for a new pitching coach last summer — Jimmy Belanger joined Kentucky’s staff — Fecteau became Szefc’s top recruit.
Fecteau eventually joined the Terps after six seasons as Bryant’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, and he’ll face his former team for the first time this weekend when the Bulldogs travel to College Park for a three-game series.
“We kind of needed a guy who could come in and make guys better based on what they had,” Szefc said. “He kind of has a reputation for taking a B-level pitcher and making him an A-level pitcher. He has no ego and has been a really good fit. We were really lucky to get him.”
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At Bryant, where Fecteau worked with seven all-conference pitchers and six eventual MLB draft picks, he was able to adapt to each pitcher’s styles, Bulldogs coach Steve Owens said. Fecteau controlled the pitch selection for some of the club’s top arms while remaining flexible. If one of his starters wanted to call his own pitches, Fecteau obliged.
Bryant’s pitchers thrived following Fecteau’s approach, as only six of them posted an ERA higher than four last season. With Fecteau’s guidance, Karinchack led the staff with a 2.00 ERA over 94.2 innings.
“He taught me a lot of knowledge that helped me become the player I am today,” Karinchack said. “He’s always making you laugh. It’s a good time to be around him.”
Fecteau brought a comparable work ethic to College Park, where he set up a “laboratory” in the bullpen. There are balance beams and strings to help pitchers maintaining consistent deliveries, hurdles for flexibility and “cross T’s” to help pitchers with their pickoff moves. He encourages his pitchers to complete these workouts regardless of whether or not they’re preparing to enter a game.
“I like guys to have fun when they’re at the field every day,” Fecteau said. “Once it’s game time, I compete like crazy, so I want them to compete like crazy. I like guys that are fiery, so I try to emulate that.”
During games, Fecteau carefully watches every pitch from the dugout, starting with a pitcher’s windup. Owens categorized it as a “nervous-type energy,” while Maryland right-hander Mike Rescigno said Fecteau is always positive and never confrontational. He’ll often joke in the dugout to keep the atmosphere light.
Eleven of Maryland’s pitchers are either freshmen or sophomores, so Fecteau has worked to improve a younger staff. The Terps have struggled on the mound early on, posting a 5.78 team ERA, but the bullpen has had success during their five-game winning streak.
And playing his former team this weekend, Fecteau said Maryland will have an advantage this weekend.
“I’ll write up the whole scouting report,” he said. “I’ll do the hitters and the pitchers. The one thing is there’s a lot of turnover on that team. They’ve got some new faces. I recruited a lot of those new faces so I should know them pretty well. We should have a little bit of an edge there I hope, but we still have to go out and play the game.”
