Tech fires pitching coach

Georgia Tech baseball coach Danny Hall called his determination to dismiss pitching coach Tom Kinkelaar extremely difficult and "a gut-wrenching decision to make personally." But he asserted Monday that the team had reached a point where a fresh start in coaching and recruiting approach was necessary. "It doesn't necessarily mean you're doing anything wrong, you just need a change in direction," Hall said in an email.

Kinkelaar had not only served as Tech's pitching coach for five years, but had been Hall's teammate and roommate at Miami (Ohio) in their college days. Hit hard by injuries to the pitching staff, Tech finished under .500 in ACC play for the first time in Hall's 19 seasons, although the Yellow Jackets rallied to win its first ACC championship since 2005. In his tenure, Kinkelaar developed pitchers Deck McGuire and Jed Bradley into first-round draft picks in 2010 and 2011, respectively.