Albertus Magnus College Men's Baseball

Leighton, just the second head coach in Albertus baseball history, received the reigns of the Falcons program in the summer of 2004. Albertus Magnus has made an appearance in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) baseball playoffs in 11 of the last 12 seasons, highlighted by reaching six straight post-season appearances, under the leadership of Leighton. Three players earned GNAC honors in 2015 as Anthony Pellegrino, Justin Poirier and Tyler Robertson were each named to the Third Team.  During the 2015 campaign, the Falcons finished the year 11-21. Leighton coached four players to GNAC All-Conference honors in the spring of 2014 as Anthony Pellegrino led the way as he was named to the All-Conference First Team. Jack Pritchard was named to the All-Conference Second Team, while both Patrick Dornfried and Zak Sokolis earned All-Conference Third Team honors. In 2014, the Falcons finished 16-14, the most wins for the program in a single-season under Leighton.  The 16 wins were also the most for the program since the Falcons' finished the 2004 season 16-16 overall. In 2013, the Falcons earned a 13-18 overall record and competed in the GNAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed.  Pellegrino and Dornfried earned GNAC All-Conference Third Team honors to lead the Falcons. On April 21, 2013, the Falcons used an 8-1 victory over Emerson College in Malden, Mass. to give Leighton his 100th career victory at the helm of the Albertus baseball program.  He is the seventh coach in the history of the Albertus Magnus Department of Athletics to reach the 100-win milestone.  In 2012, three student-athletes earned GNAC All-Conference honors as freshman Anthony Pellegrino (Branford, Conn.) led the way with Second Team recognition. Seniors Malcolm Mendez (New York, N.Y.) and Kyle Calechman (North Haven, Conn.) were tagged with Third Team honors as well. In 2011, two student-athletes earned individual GNAC recognition as Robert Bengivengo was named to the leagues All-Conference First Team, while Robert Gambardella (North Haven, Conn.) was tagged as a Second Team member. The Falcons finished the regular season fifth in the conference with an 8-6 league record. Prior to arriving at Albertus, Leighton served as the head coach of the Coventry (Conn.) High School baseball team and was a student-assistant coach at his alma mater Eastern Connecticut State University from 2000-04. With ECSU, Leighton helped guide the Warriors to the Division III College World series three times, finishing first, second and third place, respectively. Leighton coached in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) in the summer of 2003 as well. In addition to coaching, Leighton has been a facilitator for the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Leadership Conference for two years. He has also served on the ECAC Championship Baseball Selection Committee. Leighton served as General Manager of the Torrington Titans of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League (ACBL) in 2010 and helped his club capture the Kaiser Division Championship title. Most recently, in the summer of 2011, he was named the Assistant General Manager of the Mystic Schooners of the NECBL. Leighton holds a degree in Psychology from ECSU and a M.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Bridgeport. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in Organizational Leadership at Grand Canyon University.