Marblehead baseball coach Tarasuik steps down – The Salem News

The progress made by the Marblehead baseball program over the last 12 years is undeniable.

So if the mark of a solid coach is leaving a team in better shape than when he found it, the grade for Jason Tarasuik as he steps down as the Magicians’ skipper is all aces.

Tarasuik, now 40, made the decision not to return to the bench for the 2017 season recently. A father of three young children and a firefighter in Salem, he felt there wasn’t enough time to devote to both his family and the baseball program.

“It’s the best thing for my family,” Tarasuik said. “To be fully committed to the program and to really put in as much time behind the scenes as you need to, I just didn’t feel like I’d have that kind of time without missing stuff at home.”

What turned out to be Tarasuik’s final season was also his team’s most successful. The 2016 Magicians went 15-7 and won the Northeastern Conference South title for the first time in more than 20 years. Their home playoff win against Concord-Carlisle (a no-hitter spun by surprise starter Spencer Carr) was the first state tourney win at Seaside Park since before Tarasuik’s own playing days, when he helped them win a state title in 1992.

“It’s a special thing to coach at Seaside Park. I have a lot of great memories and I’m glad I was able to give back,” said Tarasuik, who was an outstanding football and baseball player for MHS and went on to play D1 baseball at Winthrop University.

His career mark in 11 years was 104-127, though his teams had .500 or better marks in six of his last eight seasons after he inherited a program that had made the state tournament just once in the previous five seasons.

Marblehead then made the playoffs seven times under Tarasuik’s stewardship, including four of the last six and six of the last eight seasons.

“I’m really proud of where the program is now. I feel like it’s come a long way and whoever takes over this year’s team will have a really good team,” he said. “I’m most proud of the way we improved, and not just on the field. We helped build the batting cage behind Seaside, spent countless hours trying to make the program better.”

Tarasuik steps away grateful to Marblehead athletic director Mark Tarmey and many assistants, including Justin Beechwood, Rob Dana, Frank James Jr., Tom Roundy, Dana Prince and Dave Rogers.

“We couldn’t have come as far as we did without all those guys. Their dedication was second to none,” Tarasuik said. “I’m going to miss it. The community was great and I feel like we put Marblehead on the map.”