Roger Williams University Men's Baseball

Coaching Highlights CCC/CNE Championship appearances: 1 (2022) RWU Player Recognition Conference Defensive Player of the Year: 1 ( Jack Morin – 2024) Conference First Team: 8 (2 – 2021, 3 – 2022, 2 – 2024, 1 – 2025) Conference Second Team: 15 (5 – 2021, 4 – 2022, 2 – 2023, 2 – 2024, 1 – 2025, 1 – 2026) Conference Third Team: 12 (2 – 2021, 3 – 2023, 3 – 2024, 2 – 2025, 2 – 2026) Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year: 1 (Brandon Jenkins – 2021) NEIBA Division III All-Star: 1 (Brandon Jenkins – 2021) ABCA/Rawlings New England All-Region First Team: 1 (Brandon Jenkins – 2021) ABCA/Rawlings New England All-Region Second Team: 2 (Justin Garcia – 2021, Danny Roth – 2021) In his first season at the helm of the RWU Baseball program, Kevin Kelley guided the team to its best season since 2008. RWU rolled to its best 20-game start in program history at the time, opening the season 15-5 before grabbing the second seed in the CCC Tournament. The team went 20-11 on the season, achieving, at the time, the second-best winning percentage in program history (.645). Nine student-athletes were named to the All-CCC Team including senior Brandon Jenkins being named CCC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition, three players earned All-New England Region honors. Over the course of the season, several individual school records were broken including grad student Joey Gulino setting the new single-season stolen bases record (31), single-season walks record (36), and career walks record (89). Grad student Danny Roth set the new program record with 23 career home runs, while Jenkins set the single-season program record with 45 runs batted in. Kelley raised the bar in his second season in Bristol, steering the Hawks to a record of 27-11-2, good for the second-best mark in program history for single season wins and winning percentage (.700), with the later number ranking 40th in the nation across Division III Baseball. The RWU Baseball program roared out of the gates, winning their first ten games of the season, a number that stands as both the best ten-game start and longest winning streak on record. They would extend their strong start to stand at 17-2-1 through their first 20 games of the season, good for their best 20-game start in program history, breaking the team’s mark from the previous spring. Aggressive in all facets of the game, the Hawks finished the season ranked in the top-50 nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (13th, 9.9) hits allowed per nine innings (13th, 8.14), walks (19th, 243), steals per game (25th, 2.60), double plays per game (26th, 0.85), stolen bases (28th, 104), ERA (32nd, 4.15), sacrifice bunts (33rd, 32), double plays (36th, 34), WHIP (37th, 1.4), runs per game (46th, 8.7), and OBP (48th, .419). RWU also featured several individuals in the top-50 nationally in several statistics, among them Justin Garcia in hits allowed per nine innings (3rd, 4.55), ERA (12th, 1.67), and strikeouts per nine innings (17th, 13.65), Chris Flynn in WHIP (6th, 0.82), strikeout-to-walk ratio (10th, 10.56), and strikeouts per nine innings (13th, 14.02), and both Jack Morin (7th, 1.06) and Matt Massaro (T-9th, 1.00) in walks per game. At conference level, RWU paced the Commonwealth Coast Conference in stolen bases, stolen base %, and fewest home runs allowed, while ranking in the top-three in doubles, on-base percentage, strikeouts, K/9, ERA, and double plays. At the end of the season, seven Hawks earned All-CCC recognition, the third-most by a team in the conference, while their three first-team honorees was tied for the second-most. In addition, three Hawks were named to the Division 3 All Region team and four Hawks were named to the ABCA/Rawlings All Region team. After a successful spring in 2022, Kelley traveled to Bourne, Massachusetts where he served on the coaching staff of the Bourne Braves of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, widely considered the top collegiate summer league in America. Serving as the team’s third base coach and infield coach, Kelley helped lead the Braves to the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship finishing a league-best 23-14-7 in the regular season before dropping just one game on their way to the CCBL crown. Kelley came to Roger Williams after having spent the past two seasons as the Head Baseball Coach at Rutgers University-Newark. While at Rutgers-Newark, Kelley was responsible all aspects of the baseball program including, game planning, scouting, skill development, fundraising, and fitness training. In his first season, he helped lead the team to the New Jersey Athletic Association Semifinals, defeating the top two seeds along the way. Prior to Rutgers-Newark, Kelley spent nine seasons as the Associate Head Baseball Coach at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. During his time at UMass-Boston, he aided in developing the Beacon into one of the premier programs in New England, culminating in three Little East Championships and two NCAA Division III College World Series appearances. In 2010, he helped lead the team to its best season in program history. Over the course of the year, the team was ranked #1 in the country, won the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship to advance to the College World Series, and finish the season with a then school-record 38 wins. Kelley is a 2003 graduate of Suffolk University where he was a four-year member of the Baseball team. While a member of the Rams, he was a team captain in his senior year and helped the team win the 2000 and 2002 GNAC Championship as well as the 2000 ECAC New England Championship.

Whittmore joins the Hawks after a six-year stint as the Hitting Coach at Curry College. At Curry, he guided the program to record-setting offensive performances while also serving as the Recruiting Coordinator, personally recruiting multiple All-Conference selections in 2023, 2024, and 2025. At Roger Williams, Coach Whittemore will work directly with the Hawks’ hitters and baserunners, bringing his extensive experience in offensive player development to the program. Before moving to New England, Rusty spent two decades in Texas developing high school baseball players as both a head coach and through travel/select programs. Many of his former players have advanced to compete at the collegiate level in conferences such as the Big 12, Conference USA, SEC, and West Coast Conference, as well as at numerous NCAA Division I, II, III, and NJCAA institutions. His proven track record highlights his strong understanding of player development and what college and professional scouts seek in athletes. A native of Carlsbad, NM, where he grew up around the game while his father coached high school baseball, Rusty now resides in Marshfield, MA, with his wife Claudia and their son Stephen.  

A resident of Warren, Dawson came to RWU from Wheaton College (Mass.) where he served as Volunteer Assistant Coach and Assistant Pitching Coach. During his tenure with the Lyons, they enjoyed great success, participating in the 2021 NCAA Division III College World Series after winning the New England Region while also peaking as the number six ranked team nationally by d3baseball.com. While there, he oversaw a pitching staff that was among the best in the nation, leading all Division III schools in team WHIP (1.03), and ranking second in BB/9 (2.18), fourth in K/BB ratio (3.70), and fifth in team ERA (2.54). Prior to Wheaton, Dawson was also an Assistant Coach at Rhode Island College from 2016-2018. During the summer months, Dawson has handled pitching coach duties for the Ocean State Waves in the New England Collegiate Baseball League since 2020. In addition, he also has spent time as a pitching instructor and other related roles for various baseball development facilities and clinics. As a player, Dawson spent time pitching for Fitchburg State for two seasons before transferring and completing his college career with Rhode Island College in 2015. In his first season in 2022, Dawson's leadership saw the Hawks' Pitching staff set a program record in Strikeouts (373) and secure 13th place nationally in both Hits Allowed Per 9 (8.14) and Strikeouts Per 9 (9.9). The Hawks Pitchers also achieved top 50 rankings in WHIP (1.4) & ERA (4.15) that season. Over two seasons at RWU, the Hawks pitchers have accumulated 661 Strikeouts, boasting an 8.8 K/9 and a 1.5 WHIP. In this period, six pitchers have earned spots on  All-CCC teams, with two named All-Region.