After the occasional trip to the golf course or pickleball court in the morning, Craig Gianinno puts on his coaching hat as the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox assistant coach. Alongside Scott Pickler, the winningest manager in Cape Cod Baseball League history, Gianinno, or Coach G, as he’s known by many, helped lead the Red Sox to a league-best 24-12-4 record clinching the one seed in the East Division.

Gianinno’s coaching career began back in 1999 at his alma mater, Sacred Heart Cathedral High School in San Francisco. Over the next two decades, he spent time at the College of San Mateo and Junipero Serra High School, the same school Tom Brady and Barry Bonds attended. In 2017, Gianinno moved to the University of San Francisco, and he finally joined the Y-D coaching staff in 2021.

“It’s always the opportunity to get all the players and build relationships,” Gianinno said. “It's unique in the sense that you get all these personalities and all these different backgrounds from all over the country.”

The first thing Gianinno will tell you about his coaching style is his intensity. “I'm passionate, and I like to bring energy,” Gianinno said. “I'm ultra-competitive, but I also value the details.” He preaches the importance of balancing competitiveness and fun during the summer season.

Those around Coach G and the team in Y-D every day have all had the opportunity to watch the pregame dance circle. The premise of the routine is one player gets in the middle of the circle and starts a beat. “A hand clap, snaps, body, whatever you want. However you want to create the beat.”

“The guy that does it the night before gets to pick the next teammate the next day,” Gianinno explained. The rest of the team follows suit and dances for about ten seconds, and it’s been the Red Sox way of staying loose all season long.

“Once the group picks it up and gets in rhythm, and they're connected with one heartbeat.”

Not only are they all connected, but it also creates a certain “energy and excitement” around each game. The routine brings everyone together and prepares them to compete, not just as individuals but as a team.

One of the main points Gianinno emphasizes is his role on the mental, emotional, and psychological side of the game. “As you see on the Cape, the best amateur players in the world, right?” Gianinno began. Despite an extreme level of talent, “most of these guys have not had to face a ton of adversity because they've had so much success in their careers.”

The physical toll of playing, the emotional block during a cold stretch, and the all-around grind of playing a full season at school and transitioning straight into summer ball can have lasting effects on these athletes. Gianinno continued to stress the importance of making sure his players know he’s there to support them. “I just want them to know and understand that I care about them as people first.”

For Gianinno, “it's about helping them get through those times and just trying to keep it loose. Whether it's a conversation, a late-night text, or a phone call,” he makes a point to look out for his players.

It’s no secret that there are a multitude of reasons players may get down on themselves or become fatigued. The best teams are the ones that learn how to handle the ups and downs of the season and control the variables they have the ability to influence. The roster and coaching staff at Y-D have been able to come out and compete with the right mindset game-in and game-out, and Gianinno credits that as a large part of their success this year.

“These lessons that the game provides us reveal information for all of us. You find out a lot about the character of not only individuals but also the character of the group. And I think the character of the group has been very special.”

According to Coach G, another critical component of winning games in the Cape League is consistently winning the moments. “If we can win moments individually and we can win moments mentally, we have a big-time chance to win moments physically,” Gianinno said.

One thing that Gianinno will ask his players is, “what does win mean?” When his players don’t exactly know how to respond, he’ll tell them “win means what's important now. And when you say what's important now, the now is what matters.” This way of thinking allows them to focus on small details rather than factors out of their control.

Focusing on what’s directly in front of them has enabled teams to win championships, taking games pitch-by-pitch. As for the Y-D Red Sox, they’ve been winning the moments all season. “They've already created so many magic moments,” Gianinno said. Now, the challenge in front of them is the Cape League playoffs.

Before their playoff game against the Orleans Firebirds, Coach G and a couple of his players have morning plans, though. “We're going to play pickleball,” Gianinno said. Regardless of the pressure a one-game playoff creates, he’ll do everything he can to keep his guys loose and relaxed.

“I think that this group has championship DNA,” Gianinno claimed. “I'm really fired up to see how the story is going to end.”

Top photograph by Kyndall Williams