Tornincasa to Coach in AFL

Fort Wayne, Ind. - Following a championship 2009 season, Fort Wayne TinCaps hitting coach Tom Tornincasa is wasting no time getting back to work. Tornincasa is about to begin an assignment as the hitting coach with the Peoria Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League.

Tornincasa, 54, just finished his sixth season leading the hitters in Fort Wayne. Under his watch, the TinCaps set franchise records for home runs (97), RBIs (661) and walks (681) during the 2009 regular season. INF Allan Dykstra set a Fort Wayne record with 104 walks of his own.

"Tom has been a wonderful mentor for our hitters for six years now," TinCaps president Mike Nutter said. "His even-keeled approach is something that steadies our team each year. He deserves this opportunity to work with some of the top rising stars in baseball."

The Arizona Fall League is known as a "finishing school" of sorts for top-flight prospects who are at the higher levels of the minor leagues.

OF Jason Heyward is slated to play for the Saguaros. A 20-year-old Braves farmhand, Heyward was named the 2009 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. He hit .323 with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs and stole 10 bases as he advanced from Advanced-A to Triple-A in one season.

Tornincasa, a Crown Point, Ind., native, will be reunited with INF Lance Zawadzki, a member of the 2008 Fort Wayne club who was assigned to play for the Saguaros. OF Cedric Hunter, another Fort Wayne alum, will take the field for Peoria as well. Hunter played in the Summit City in 2007, when Tornincasa was with the Double-A San Antonio Missions.