Vanderbilt has had plenty of success bringing Northeasterners to Nasvhille—from coach Tim Corbin to players like Pedro Alvarez, Ryan Flaherty and Mike Yastrzemski. Now the Commodores have tapped into their Northeast pipeline again, hiring Scott Brown away from St. John's to be their new pitching coach.

Brown replaces Derek Johnson, who left to become the Cubs' minor league pitching coordinator last month. Like Johnson, Brown has a great baseball mind and has earned the respect of his peers and professional scouts alike.

"Being from the northeast, Scott is someone that I have followed for quite some time," Corbin said. "When you ask about young pitching coaches that have made a difference, Scott's name is widely mentioned . . . He is one of the  most respected young coaches in our profession."

Brown spent the last nine seasons as an assistant under Red Storm coach Ed Blankmeyer, helping to lead St. John's to seven regionals and five Big East championships. The Red Storm reached super regionals for the first time this year, losing to eventual national champion Arizona. Before that, Brown coached at Division III power Cortland (N.Y.) State. He also has experience coaching in the New York Collegiate Baseball League and the New England Collegiate Baseball League, where he won the 2004 manager of the year award after guiding the Sanford Mainers to the NECBL title.

There was never any doubt that Vanderbilt would make a strong hire to replace Johnson, and that's just what it did.