Marist University Men's Baseball

Lance Ratchford was hired as the seventh head coach in Marist baseball program history on Aug. 8, 2022. Ratchford enters his fourth season as head coach of the Red Foxes, constantly improving season records each year. Ratchford has developed players throughout his four years at Marist, including student-athletes earning All-MAAC and academic accolades. Under Ratchford, the Red Foxes reached the MAAC Championships for two consecutive seasons in 2024 and 2025. The 2025 MAAC Championships marked the most wins in the tournament since 2017 for the Red Foxes.   Player Accolades MAAC Rookie of the Year: Bayram Hot (2023) MAAC All-Rookie Team: Bayram Hot (2023), Ethan Conrad (2023), Noel Rivera (2025), Ethan Marzo (2025) MAAC All-Championship Team: Ethan Conrad (2024), Justin Kapuscinski (2024), Lewis Rodriguez (2025), Tyler Hartley (2025) First Team All-MAAC: Ethan Conrad (2024) Second Team All-MAAC: Brian Hart (2023), Bayram Hot (2023) Second Team ABCA All-Region: Brian Hart (2023) College Baseball News Freshman All-American: Bayram Hot (2023) MAAC All-Academic Team: 17 selections (2023), 21 selections (2024), 17 selections (2025) CSC Academic All-District: Niko Amory (2023), Jack Keenan (2023,2024), Colin Mackle (2023,2024), Tyler Hartley (2024,2025), Chris Ubner (2025), Andrew Speranza (2025), Nathan Lincoln (2025) 2024 NCAA triples leader: Ethan Conrad ABCA Academic Excellence Team Award: 2023, 2024, 2025   Season Records 2023: 16-36 overall, 10-14 MAAC 2024: 20-35 overall, 10-14 MAAC, Two MAAC Championships wins 2025: 26-28 overall, 14-14 MAAC, Three MAAC Championships wins   Back to Marist Ratchford is returning to Marist, having served as assistant coach under former head coach Chris Tracz from 2016-18. As an assistant, Ratchford helped the Red Foxes capture the 2017 MAAC Championship and earn a trip to the Gainesville Regional.   In 2016, the Red Foxes had a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American (Frankie Gregoire), an All-MAAC selection, and 14 members on the MAAC All-Academic team. To go along with the MAAC Championship in 2017, Ratchford coached three All-MAAC players, had 10 MAAC All-Academic team selections, and a player selected in the 2017 MLB Draft (Scott Boches). In his final season with the Red Foxes, Marist had three All-MAAC selections and 13 All-Academic players.   SUNY Cobleskill Ratchford returns to Marist after four seasons at SUNY Cobleskill, during which the program experienced tremendous growth. He is coming off a 2022 season in which he was named North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Coach of the Year while his student-athletes earned Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Rookie of the Year honors.   In the year prior to his arrival, the Fighting Tigers had a 3-28 record, but immediately improved to 16-22 (9-9 in conference) in his first season as head coach. In 2021, the Tigers were crowned the NAC Western Division Champions and made their first appearance in the NAC Championship. This past season, the Tigers finished with a 21-20 record overall and 11-4 record in the NAC, which marked the first time in school history the program had back-to-back first-place finishes. Overall, Ratchford posted a 60-56 (.517) record as head coach.   Summer League Ratchford also has extensive experience in summer league baseball. He is in his second stint as an assistant coach for the Brewster Whitecaps of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League. The Whitecaps won the league championship in 2021. In his four seasons at the Cape, Ratchford has coached over 80 Major League Baseball draft picks. Nine have been first-round selections, including Nick Senzel of the Cincinnati Reds, who was chosen second overall in the 2016 draft. Ratchford also was an assistant coach for the Oneonta Outlaws of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League from 2012-14.   Personal Ratchford is a native of Oneonta, New York. He enjoyed a standout prep career at Oneonta High School for head coach Joe Hughes. He went on to play collegiately for three seasons at Mansfield University and one year at Keystone College. In 2011, Ratchford hit .339 for a Keystone team which advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series. The 2011 Keystone team was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2021.    

Zach Donahue returns to the Marist baseball program as an assistant coach following a successful collegiate playing career that included time at UConn, Eastern Connecticut State, and Marist. A native of South Windsor, Connecticut, Donahue was a key contributor at each stop, helping Eastern Connecticut capture the 2022 NCAA Division III National Championship before completing his career with the Red Foxes. During his time as a student-athlete at Marist, Donahue made an immediate impact with his leadership and experience on the infield. Known for his strong baseball IQ and competitive approach, he now transitions into coaching, where he will assist with player development, game preparation, and recruiting. Donahue brings a deep understanding of the game and a passion for mentoring student-athletes to the Marist staff as he begins the next chapter of his baseball career.

Entering the 2025 season, Ray Sanchez enters his second year at Marist, serving as the hitting coach and working with outfielders daily. Sanchez will assist with recruiting as well.  As the hitting coach, Sanchez helped bring improvements to the Red Foxes. During the 2025 season, the team saw improvements in batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored, RBIs, K/BB ratio, stolen bases, and stolen base percentage.  As an assistant coach for head coach Josh Parrow at HVCC, he worked with the other assistant coaches in managing the overall hitting performances of the team, with an emphasis on the mental aspects of the game. Before his role at Hudson Valley, Sanchez was an assistant hitting and outfield coach at SUNY Cobleskill where he assisted in recruiting prospects and had a coaching emphasis on the hitting and base running portions of the game, which saw SUNY Cobleskill break school records for stolen bases in a season, Additionally coached Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Sanchez graduated from Nova Southeastern University with a bachelor’s degree in Sports and Recreational Management and was a member of the NCAA Division II baseball program from 2019-2021. Coach Sanchez also played for the Palm Beach State baseball program, where he was named to the All-Southern Conference First Team. Coach Sanchez continued his education at the University of Albany where he earned his master’s degree in Higher Education.  

The 2025 season marks the second for Niko Amory on staff at Marist. Amory will work with the catchers and assist with the offense. Other responsibilities include operations, coordinating camps and assisting with recruiting efforts. As an assistant to the offense, Amory helped bring improvements to the Red Foxes. During the 2025 season, the team saw improvements in batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored, RBIs, K/BB ratio, stolen bases, and stolen base percentage. Amory began his coaching career with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League for the 2023 summer season.   Amory played all five years of his career at Marist College, finishing his career as a graduate student in the Spring of 2023. He played 154 career-games at with starts at catcher, first base, and second base. In his graduate campaign he played in 49 games with a .278 batting average, five doubles and eight home runs. Amory graduated from Marist with a bachelor’s degree in sports communication and a minor in psychology. He completed his master’s in integrated marketing communication.   A native of Coopersburg, PA, Amory graduated from Southern Lehigh High School posting a stellar prep career. A four-time All-Colonial League, two-time All-Area, and 2018 league MVP catcher.