Marywood University Men's Baseball

Jason Thiel ‘03 enters his twelfth season as Head Baseball Coach at his alma mater in the spring of 2027. Since taking the reins of the program in the middle of the 2016 season, Thiel has produced the Conference Player of the Year (Vince Rebar) in 2017, five First Team All-Conference players (Rebar in 2017, Trevor Powers in 2018, Jake Schuster in 2018, 2019 and Max Slusser in 2023) as well as four Second Team selections. Rebar also earned ECAC First Team honors as well as ABCA/Rawlings and D3Baseball.com Second Team All-Region honors in 2017. Schuster was selected First Team All-Region (Mid-Atlantic) by the ABCA and Second and Third Team All-Region by D3Baseball.com in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Schuster is the first player in Marywood program history to earn First Team All-Region honors. Schuster became the first All-American in Marywood athletics history. The 2026 campaign was a historic season for Thiel and the Pacers as the team clinched its first postseason berth since 2015. The Pacers also set a new school record for wins in a single season (26) and earned the program's first-ever postseason victory, rallying from behind to defeat Centenary, 4–3. Thiel was originally hired as Assistant Baseball Coach with the Pacers prior to the 2014 season after previously serving as a volunteer coach. As an assistant coach, he helped lead the Pacers to their first No. 1 seed in 2015. A native of Scranton, Thiel was a three-year starting shortstop for the Scranton Knights and helped lead them to a league championship in 1996 while being selected to the all-star game later that year. Thiel enrolled at Lackawanna College for the 1996-98 seasons and became a two-year starting shortstop. In 1998, Thiel led the Falcons to a Top-15 NJCAA ranking, back-to-back 20-win seasons, and Region XIX postseason tournament appearances. He was selected to play for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Twins of the Atlantic Collegiate baseball League (ACBL) for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. A highly competitive wooden bat league comprised of mainly Division I and II athletes, Thiel was the starting shortstop for two years and was among the league leaders with a .402 batting average in the 1999 season. Thiel joined Marywood University for the 1999 and 2000 seasons where he was a two-year starting shortstop. Thiel helped the Pacers go from 21 total victories and eight conference wins in the four years prior to his arrival to 32 victories and 12 conference wins in his two years with the Pacers. Thiel led the Pacers to the most wins in a season by the time he graduated. Thiel left as the leader in most runs scored in a season, most singles in a game, tied with most hits in a game, most assists in a game, most assists in a season and also helped with most teams wins in a season and most conference wins in a season. Thiel holds an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts from Lackawanna College and Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from Marywood University. He resides in East Stroudsburg with his wife Katherinne. Their children Ian, Nicholas, Ashton, Amaralis and dog Charlie keep them busy! Jason also works as a Graduate Counselor in the Admissions Department at Marywood.  THE JASON THIEL FILE COACHING EXPERIENCE 2017-Present: Marywood, Head Coach 2016: Marywood, Co-Head Coach 2014-16: Marywood, Assistant Coach EDUCATION A.A., Lackawanna '98, Liberal Arts B.S., Marywood '03, Business Management MARYWOOD HIGHLIGHTS One ABCA/Rawlings 1st Team All-American One D3Baseball.com All-Region (V) 1st Team One ABCA/Rawlings 1st Team All-Region (Mid-Atlantic) Two D3Baseball.com 2nd Team All-Region One ABCA/Rawlings 2nd Team All-Region (Mid-Atlantic) Two Conference Player of the Year Two Conference Rookie of the Year One Conference Pitcher of the Year Seven First Team All-Conference Players 11 Second Team All-Conference Players Most wins in program history (26- 2026) Two Seasons with the most wins in program history (22) Highest Fielding Percentage in program history (.962) Seven CSC Academic All-District Atlantic East Team Academic Award (2026) Guided team to first postseason berth in 11 years YEAR-BY-YEAR Year Overall Record AEC Record 2026 26-17 10-8  2025 16-21 5-10 2024 22-16 7-11 2023 15-23 4-14 2022 22-15 6-12 2021 7-15 4-14 *2020 5-6 Season Canceled Due to Covid-19 2019 7-24 2-10 2018 16-18 6-10 (CSAC) 2017 14-22        9-13 (CSAC) ^2016 7-15 1-13 (CSAC) 10.5 Seasons 157-192 (.449) 54-115 (.319) ^Named Interim Co-Head Coach midway through 2016 season. Record indicates season coaching record, not team season record. *Spring 2020 season was canceled March 13, 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic  

Rick Clifford '12 serves as an assistant coach and pitching coach with the Pacers' baseball program for his eighth season in 2024. Since being hired in the fall of 2016, Clifford has coached two Conference players of the year Vince Rebar and Jake Schuster and one Rookie of the Year, Christian Michack. Multiple First Team All-Conference selections (Vince Rebar, Trevor Powers, Jake Schuster, and Max Slusser) as well as four Second Team Selections. Additionally, Schuster became the first All-American in Marywood athletics history. Clifford was hired as Assistant Baseball Coach with the Pacers in 2019 season after previously serving two seasons as a volunteer coach. As a student at Marywood, Clifford was a member of the baseball team from 2008-2012, and part of the Pacer’s most winningest team in 2012. Coach Clifford holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Marywood University and a master’s degree in criminal justice from St. Joseph’s University. He resides in South Abington Township with his wife Emily and their sons Ricky and Mason. Rick also works as a United States Probation Officer for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He also coaches in the East Coast Sandhogs Travel Baseball Organization.

Jonathan Woytach '13 begins his first season as an assistant coach for the Marywood University baseball program.  A former standout at Marywood, Woytach played from 2010 to 2013 and earned All-Colonial States Athletic Conference Second Team honors in 2012. He capped off his collegiate career by being named Team MVP in 2013, demonstrating both his on-field performance and leadership. Woytach’s coaching career spans nearly a decade and includes experience at multiple levels of the game. Most recently, in Spring 2024, he served as an assistant coach for the 15U DP Canes program at Diamond Pro Baseball Academy in East Rochester, New York, where he worked as a hitting and fielding instructor. During the same season, he also held the role of head coach for the modified baseball team at McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester. Prior to his time in New York, Woytach was deeply involved in the baseball community in northeastern Pennsylvania. He served as a varsity assistant coach at Pittston Area School District from 2019 to 2021, after previously leading the junior high program as head coach from 2015 to 2018. In addition to his work in school athletics, Woytach was the general manager and instructor at Electric City Baseball/Softball Academy from 2018 to 2021, where he focused on player development and training. Woytach also co-founded the East Coast Sandhogs travel baseball organization, serving as Vice President and General Manager from 2015 to 2021. In that role, he played a key part in building the program and developing young athletes across the region. A native of Dureya, Pa., Woytach graduated from Marywood with a bachelor's degree in physical acitivty.