Two-time MAAC champion joins Broncs coaching staff

By Benjamin Shinault

Wearing “Rider” embroidered across a dirtied baseball jersey has been Jack Winsett for the past five years. Though, this season, there will not be a speck of dirt on him, as Winsett joins a revised Broncs coaching staff following the sudden depature of the team’s head coach.

“I was like, I don’t know how they would think of this, but I’m going to reach out and see if they would allow me to join the staff,” Winsett said.

The Broncs coaching staff did not bat an eye when Winsett asked to join. Winsett, one of the longest tenured players in program history, surely could assist with the everyday and expectations of playing for a successful Division I baseball team.

Winsett, in his playing days, primarily served as the team’s third baseman but was involved all over the infield. By the end of his collegiate career, the Voorhees, New Jersey, native racked up 169 hits, 92 RBIs, 119 runs and would finish with a career fielding percentage of 96%. 

Coming out of Eastern Regional High School, Winsett did not have a lot of colleges calling him for his bat and glove, despite being a member of the All-South Jersey, All-Olympic conference teams along with  being named best junior infielder in the state of New Jersey by NJ.com. 

The team that did come calling was Rider.

“The only school that really gave me that true offer, going into senior year, was Rider,” Winsett said. “Who would have thought that I’d been going into my sixth year?”

A critical piece to Winsett’s recruitment to Rider was Head Coach Barry Davis, who recently stepped away from the team. Winsett owes a ton of his on the field improvement to his coach of five years.

“Much of it is due to Coach Davis and Lee Lipinski for guiding me through the first five years here as a player and kind of showing me what it is like to be on the coaching staff as well, it’s been a lot of fun so far,” Winsett said.

The 2023 season was a special one for the Broncs and their fans as they picked up their first NCAA Tournament win since 1987 and won their fourth Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship. Winsett said it was memorable on and off the diamond.

“My senior year with all the guys from my grade is probably my all-time favorite year throughout baseball my whole life,” Winsett said, “The best teams are the ones that hang out the most off the field as well, we would literally hang out pretty much every single night of the week.”

Winsett comes from a long line of Broncs that have contributed to the coaching staff. Interim Head Coach Lee Lipinski, who graduated from Rider in 2017, started coaching immediately after graduation, and so did Jake Barbiere, who graduated in 2022.

Winsett played with Barbiere for three seasons. Barbiere, who also played third base primarily for the Broncs, served as a great stepping stone for Winsett both as a player and now a coach.

“I talked to him as soon as I took the job,” Winsett said. “He told me about what to expect, I should know what to expect, but it’s definitely different as you have to worry about meals, hotels … it’s definitely an eye opener because I never really thought of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.” 

Winsett will not see a drastic change of scenery as he will be coaching from third base this season. Winsett will be replacing Lipinski.

“I could talk to him about anything,” Winsett said, “I’m going to be over at third base and I have been watching him for the last five years so I am hoping to replicate the same thing he does.”

With Rider’s season beginning Feb. 21,  heading south to take on Campbell University, Winsett likes the team’s chances of bringing home another MAAC title to Lawrenceville.

“I feel like we have a good team this year, a lot of the guys are back and I feel like I’m excited to watch them really grow throughout the season,” he said.