When former assistant coach Jenna Caira told Leigh Ross that she wouldn’t be coming back to Syracuse for the 2015 season, the head coach didn’t know who was going to coach her pitchers.

One of her former assistants, Mike Bosch, happened to be in town and asked her out to lunch shortly after Caira’s announcement.

While Bosch and Ross were talking over lunch, all Ross could think about was bringing him back to Syracuse to coach her pitching staff once again. Smart and savvy, Bosch was the perfect person for the job.

Three or four days later, Ross called Bosch before any other candidate and offered him his old job back. He accepted, and returned to the team whose pitching staff set program single-season records for wins, strikeouts, shutouts, opponent batting average and earned run average in 2011. Now he’s trying to replicate that success.

“It was good timing for me and obviously it’s a place I’m familiar with and love,” Bosch said. “I have the chance to make an impact here.”

When Bosch left after the 2012 season, he became the National Softball Director for Frozen Ropes, Inc. and a volunteer assistant coach at Minnesota State.

He was responsible for the supervision of softball instruction at 20 Frozen Ropes Facilities, seeing 40–50 pitchers a week in his nine months with the company.

“When you have seen a mass number of all different types of kids and pitchers, you see things that are going right and wrong for them,” Bosch said. “Since I’ve been back, I’ve applied that and started using more video in analysis of pitchers too. I believe that if you’re the same coach a year from now that you are now, you’re doing a disservice to yourself.”

A former head coach at Iowa Lakes Community College for 13 years where he coached 28 All-Americans and 81 All-Region players, Bosch has a lot of experience coaching, especially with pitchers.

Using that experience, Syracuse’s pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.12 this season, improving on last season’s 5.02 mark. Ross said that there is a confidence with the pitchers that is different than last season.

She added that Bosch’s biggest strength as a coach is his knack for adjusting to each pitcher’s ability, technique and learning style. Rather than changing a pitcher’s mechanics, Bosch focuses on making small tweaks that don’t force pitchers to abandon the delivery they are comfortable with.

“I just like how he doesn’t change me as a pitcher or my mechanics,” said pitcher Sydney O’Hara. “He’ll focus on small things like moving our fingers on the ball, but he doesn’t try to change our windup or things like that.”

There is a level of comfort that Bosch’s coaching style gives to Syracuse’s pitchers, a comfort that has helped on the mound, Ross said.

O’Hara and Bosch, who had trained together while the sophomore pitcher was still in high school, have really focused on her mechanics. O’Hara said she’s kind of a jerky pitcher, and that Bosch’s work with strengthening her leg drive has helped her increase her speed.

With such a qualified and capable pitching coach, Ross is free to focus on other areas of her team. The two talk frequently, but Bosch handles day-to-day pitching responsibilities and calls the pitches from the dugout during games.

Ross said its relieving having someone she can trust to do his job and do it well.

“I’m big on surrounding myself with people who make us better. He does that,” Ross said. “He brings so much to the program that it wouldn’t have made sense to not ask him back.”

Published on February 24, 2015 at 12:07 am

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu