Mercy College Men's Baseball

Chris Schoen joined the Mercy College baseball coaching staff ahead of the 2015 season and enters his 10th season as head coach in 2026. Schoen guided the Mavericks to a historic 2025 season, recording a school-record 29 wins. Mercy went 29-24 overall and 10-10 in ECC play, qualifying for the ECC Championship for the fourth time in five seasons. Under Schoen's leadership, Peyton Jemison was named ABCA, D2CCA and NCBWA First Team All-Region, setting single-season school records in hits and doubles. John Nisco, Kolongi Goins and Gordon Votruba were also named NCBWA All-Region, giving Mercy a school-record four All-Region honorees from the association. Schoen also oversaw the development of a program-record 10 ECC All-Conference selections.  The 2024 season saw Schoen lead the Mavericks to a 20-29 record overall and 10-14 mark in ECC play. The Mavericks just missed out on qualifying for the ECC Championship. Schoen became the program's all-time winningest coach on April 26th with his 129th career win at St. Thomas Aquinas. Schoen oversaw the development of ECC Rookie of the Year Nevin Scaperotti as well as All-ECC performers Alfred Hoti, Scaperotti, Jaden Caballero and Justin Glennerster. The team also excelled in the classroom earning the ABCA 2023-24 Team Academic Excellence Award and Nolan Giblin and Caballero were named to the College Sports Commmunicators Academic All-District Team.  Mercy qualified for the ECC Tournament for the third straight season in 2023 under Schoen's leadership. The Mavericks went 10-14 in ECC play to earn the No. 4 seed in the ECC Tournament and won their first ECC Tournament game since 2010. Schoen recorded his 100th career win as head coach on April 8th against D'Youville becoming just the third coach in program history to reach the mark. Schoen oversaw the development of ECC All-Conference performers Nolan Giblin, Jaden Caballero and Zach Ashline and Academic All-District honorees Ryan Dieguez, Ryan DeMille, Giblin and Caballero.  The 2022 season saw Schoen lead the Mavericks to a 21-25-1 record overall and 14-7 mark in ECC play. The Mavericks qualified for the ECC Tournament for the second year in a row and played their first ECC Tournament games since 2010. Mercy tied the school record for ECC wins in a season and five Mavericks were named All-Conference. Junior Nolan Giblin was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Baseball Team and was named the ECC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for baseball. In 2021, Schoen led the Mavericks to an 18-11 record and their first ECC Tournament appearance since 2010. The Mavericks secured their most ECC wins in program history (14) and had their first winning record since 1990. Mercy was ranked in the top 10 of the NCBWA East Region Poll during the season and the team earned the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award for having above a 3.0 GPA during the 2020-21 academic year. Under Schoen's tutelage, sophomore Nolan Giblin was named ECC Rookie of the Year and six Mavericks were tabbed to the ECC All-Conference Teams.  During the 2020 season, Schoen guided the Mavericks to three wins with the season shortened to 12 games due to COVID-19. Senior John Mooradian set a new school record for career triples on February 16th at Barton and graduate student Miguel Ortiz Sanchez recorded his 100th career hit during the season.  In 2019, Schoen led the Mavericks to 21 wins and one game out of the ECC Tournament. He led Mercy to back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time in program history. Junior John Mooradian was named NCBWA All-American Honorable Mention becoming the first All-American since 1990. Mooradian was also named All-Region and four Mavericks were named to the ECC All-Conference Teams (Mooradian, Andrew Hernandez, Joseph Sadallah and Luis Grullart).  In his second year as Head Coach in 2018, Schoen led the Mavericks to their most wins since 1990 (21) and had three All-ECC selections. Anthony Murphy also received All-Region honors from the NCBWA and D2CCA and John Mooradian was named CoSIDA Academic All-District.  Schoen brings a diverse background to the staff, having coached baseball for the last 25 years after a successful playing career. The Hopewell Junction resident played collegiately at College of Misericordia where he suited up at first base, in the outfield and pitched from 1984-88. He was a four-year All-League selection and two-year All-Section recipient. Schoen was co-captain for three years and led Misericordia to its first District title in 1988. Schoen got his coaching start in 1989 at his alma mater, College of Misericordia, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Management. Schoen served as a volunteer assistant coach there before returning home and acting as the assistant JV coach at Roy C. Ketcham High School from 1990-92. Following his stint at Ketcham, Schoen became a head coach at all levels for children 9-18 years old in the Town of Wappingers starting in 1993 and would continue for 17 years before joining the Hit and Run Highlanders in 2010 as the head coach of the 16-under and 12-under teams and as organization director. Schoen has coached teams to 16 league titles, 22 tournaments and two national championships. Schoen is the former Director of Operations for Hit and Run Baseball and Hit and Run Highlanders Travel Organization, a position he held from 2010-17, and served as the president of the town of Wappingers little league from 2010-15. He resides in Hopewell Junction with his wife Jessica, sons Anthony, Brandon and Steven and favorite daughter Cassidy.    Year   Overall Record ECC Record Honors 2017 10-32 4-21 2018 21-28  10-14 2019 21-27-1 13-15 2020 3-9 Not Played 2021 18-11 14-7 ECC Tournament 2022 21-25-1 14-7 ECC Tournament 2023 16-33 10-14 ECC Tournament 2024 20-29 10-14 2025 29-24 10-10 ECC Tournament Totals 159-218-2 (.422) 85-102 (.455)

Joe Kesselmark was announced as the new Baseball Associate Head Coach on September 12, 2025 and enters his first season on staff in 2026.  “It’s a great day for the baseball program as we add Joe to the staff,” said Schoen. “Joe brings a vast array of baseball experiences that will help our student-athletes but more importantly his core values align with what we have been building here at Mercy.” "I am incredibly honored to have been named the Associate Head Coach of the Mercy University baseball team, and I would like to thank Chris Schoen, Matt Kilcullen, and Bill Sullivan for this tremendous opportunity,” stated Kesselmark.  “I am not only excited about being a part of such a successful team, but also the Mercy University community as a whole, and look forward to what the future holds.  Go Mavericks!" Kesselmark joins the Mavericks from Pace University where he served as an assistant coach for the last four years. The Setters won two NE10 Championships during his tenure. During his time at Pace, Kesselmark worked with hitters, infielders, and baserunners, coaching third base and assisting with offensive play calling. Over his four years at Pace, Kesselmark coached and worked with two rookie hitters of the year, a conference player of the year, two conference tournament MVPs, multiple all-league players, multiple all-defensive league players, two all-regional players, and one All-American. Kesselmark is a member of the Pace University Athletic Hall of Fame and is the program’s all-time career batting average leader with a .448 average in three seasons. He was an 8th round draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1986 MLB draft after his junior year and played five years of professional baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians reaching the AAA level.    

Randal Mendez enters his 9th season with the Mercy Mavericks baseball program. After transferring to Mercy, Mendez played two seasons for the Mavericks as a junior and senior. Following his playing career, he joined the coaching staff while completing his graduate studies at Mercy. In 2021, he was elevated to Recruiting Coordinator, leading the program’s recruiting efforts and playing an important role in hitting development.  During his time on staff, the program has achieved:  4 ECC playoff appearances Program record 28 regular season wins in 2025 (29 total wins) Over a dozen All-Conference players 5 All-Region selections 3 Conference Rookies of the Year 1 All-American Mendez focuses on player development, preparation, and building strong working relationships with his players.

Marc Palmieri enters his third season as Pitching Coach at Mercy University in 2026.  Palmieri played four years at Wake Forest University, graduating in 1994 as the 2nd-winningest pitcher in program history. His record of 24-7-1 included victories over Miami, Cal State Northridge, Florida State, North Carolina, Clemson, Maryland, Fairfield, and Campbell. He was named ACC Pitcher of The Week multiple times, and a member of the ACC All-Academic team. Marc was drafted in the MLB Amateur Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He served for 8 years as varsity pitching coach for a decade at his alma mater, Chaminade High School and for Next Level Baseball. Marc is a full-time associate professor in the Communications and The Arts Department at Mercy University’s School of Liberal Arts, teaching courses in Communications, Film, Shakespeare, Classic Literature, Playwriting and Performance. He is a widely published author, playwright and produced Hollywood screenwriter, and was awarded Mercy's 2021-22 Faculty Innovation Award, as well as Mercy's Outstanding Research Award for both 2023-24 and 2025-26. Marc also teaches screenwriting at The University of California's School of Cinematic Arts Summer Program.