Richard Dombrowsky is entering his 14th year overall on Jim Peeples' coaching staff where he serves as the Associate Head Coach with the varsity program while also heading up the junior varsity side of Lions baseball. Having now spent more than 13 years in Demorest wearing multiple hats along the way, Dombrowsky assumed his current role as Associate Head Baseball Coach prior to the 2010 season and now enters his 7th season in that position on the Piedmont coaching staff.
Dombrowsky’s impact with the offensive side of Piedmont baseball program has been very apparent since the coach arrived in Demorest in 2002. In 6 of his first 11 seasons in the green and gold, the Lions statistically finished in the national top 30 of NCAA Division-III in stolen bases including the 2008 season when Piedmont led all of Division-III with 151 bags.
Dombrowsky has also helped the Lions to two national top five finishes in stolen bases per game while mentoring a National Statistical Champion, Brandon Schmitt, in the same category in just his second season on campus. Additionally, the coach saw his hitting knowledge rub off during the 2011 season as well with Kyle Davis becoming the first player to finish in the top 20 of NCAA Division III in total hits for the first time in his tenure.
| "What they're saying about Coach Dombrowsky..." |
“Nobody has had more influence on my coaching style than Coach Dombrowsky. He has been a mentor to me since I joined the Piedmont Baseball staff in 2007. The two words that best describe Coach Dombrowsky are humility and integrity. He will always deflect praise and look to give credit elsewhere. Coach Dombrowsky is one of the best guys in our business, and always acts with integrity and professionalism. He has great knowledge of the game, and he is one of the best teachers of baseball in our profession. Coach Dombrowsky is a great person, who happens to also be a great baseball coach.”
-Adam Rosen, Washington University in St. Louis
Assistant Baseball Coach |
The 2015 season saw Piedmont earn a 23-17 overall record with an 18-12 mark in the USA South Athletic Conference as four Lions earned All-Conference accolades including sluggers Evan Gresham and Will Skidmore. Gresham would go on to be named an ABCA/Rawlings All-Region selection as well, one of two from the Lions in 2015 to earn All-Region status and the second time in the previous three seasons that Piedmont placed multiple players on the ABCA listing.
The Lions were also amongst the nation’s best in getting the job done at the plate in 2015 placing 5th as a team in sacrifice bunts with 58 executed during the season. Two players, Griffin Olson and Daniel Lindsey, ranked in the top 18 in the country in their ability to lay down a sac bunt while Dombrowsky also helped his hitters have a keen eye at the dish ranking 43rd as a team in base on balls.
In 2014, the assistant’s attention to detail shined as brightly as ever during his time with PC as he mentored newcomer Griffin Olson to a top four ranking nationally in sacrifice bunts per game as well as total sac bunts. Olson was not the only Lion to display how Dombrowsky had an effect on Piedmont hitters as senior Josh Bailey was ranked 10th in the nation in both total walks and walks per game. A four-year player under Dombrowsky and the Piedmont coaching staff, Bailey would also leave campus as the career leader in walks as well as total bases.
The 2011 Piedmont baseball squad was the third Great South Athletic Conference championship team that Dombrowsky has been on staff for in his first nine years on campus as the boys on the diamond took home both the regular season and tournament crowns. The Lions then made a great showing at the 2011 NCAA Regional held in Memphis, TN, the program’s second such post-season appearance in four seasons, by winning a pair of contests before being eliminated from competition as the third place finisher.
Using his middle infield experience from his collegiate playing days, Dombrowsky also helped the Lions earn multiple accolades with the glove as the 2011 team led the conference in fielding at a .970 rate (8th NCAA DIII) while also seeing the squad’s everyday first baseman earn the program’s second Rawlings Gold Glove award in three seasons. Just two seasons later, Piedmont would see its first ever National Gold Glove winner in Kevin Caldwell.
The PC coach also helped his team earn national recognition with the Lions finishing the year as the NCAA Division III statistical champion in sacrifice flies with 37 while the squad’s 57 sacrifice bunts was second only to Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s 64 in 2011.
For their efforts during the 2011 campaign, Piedmont finished the season ranked as the 25th team in the final ABCA national poll marking the second time a Lions baseball team has finished in the country’s top 25 since 2008. The squad then followed that up with a 2012 season that saw PC start out ranked 24th in the nation climbing as high as 5th nationally to tie the program high mark achieved in 2008. Piedmont also picked up a win over the country's top ranked team at the time and defending NCAA National Champions Marietta College who fell to PC 4-1 on a thrilling Friday night under the lights at Loudermilk.
During the 2010 season that saw the Lions finish the regular season as the GSAC runner-up, Dombrowsky helped the Lions to yet another statistical top 30 finish in NCAA Division-III with 95 total stolen bases that helped Piedmont to multiple clutch series victories on the season including a three-game sweep over in-state rival Emory University. The Lions also took two of the three conference series they played in 2010 while earning five individual All-Conference honors and a GSAC-best 11 All-Academic selections.
Dombrowsky was also on staff for the Lions’ run in 2008 to one of the most successful seasons in program history posting a 34-14 overall record while claiming the Great South Athletic Conference tournament and regular season championship. Having been nationally ranked as high as fifth in that same season, Piedmont earned a berth in the NCAA national tournament while finishing in the top 20 of Division-III in fielding percentage with an outstanding .964 mark.
During his collegiate playing days at USA South member Methodist University, Dombrowsky was a four-year infield starter on the Monarch baseball team which won three conference titles (1999, 2001, 2002) and also made three NCAA Division III National Tournament appearances (1999, 2001, 2002) in his time with the club.
In 2002 during his senior season, the shortstop captained the Monarch squad to a #1 NCAA Division-III national ranking for eight consecutive weeks. Making his presence felt both at the plate and on the field, Dombrowsky still holds several season and career hitting records at Methodist while also placing in the top 15 of Division-III history in career assists finishing just shy of 500 in 150 games for the Monarchs.
In addition to his baseball duties, Dombrowsky also served Piedmont as the Director of Sports Information from 2005-2010 when he was named Associate Head Baseball Coach. While operating within the office of sports information, Dombrowsky handled event management and media relations for the college’s then 13 intercollegiate sports while overseeing the development of the original athletic website and current PC Sports Network from the ground floor up.
The now-13 year veteran of the athletic department was also instrumental, along with the entire office of sports information, in ushering Piedmont into the school’s NCAA era and for the redesign of the official athletic website,www.PiedmontLions.com, including the new look debuted in 2007.
The Manassas, VA native graduated from Methodist University (NC) in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics before earning a Master of Business Administration from Piedmont College in 2004.
Dombrowsky currently resides in Buford, GA with his wife, the former Adrienne Midgley, after the two were wed on August 6th, 2005. The couple welcomed their first-born child Olivia Madison on October 11th, 2009 before adding their second child, Ava Raymond, almost three years later to the day (October 8th, 2012).
