Wheaton College MA Men's Baseball

Podbelski enters his 21st season at the helm of the Wheaton College baseball program in 2016-17. Podbelski has built Wheaton's baseball program from the ground up, accumulating one of the highest winning percentages among active NCAA Division III coaches at .715 (559-221-5) through Wheaton's first 18 years of varsity play. Podbelski and the program earned their 500th win on April 25, 2013 against Eastern Connecticut State University at home. Last spring, Wheaton went 31-13 en route to securing its 14th New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament championship and its 18th-straight NEWMAC postseason appearance dating back to 1999. The Lyons went on to compete in the NCAA New England Regional Baseball Tournament as the No. 1 seed. In 2013, the Lyons claimed their 14th NEWMAC regular season championship and 13th NEWMAC Tournament title in the 15-year history of the conference (at the time). As a result, Wheaton earned its 12th NCAA Tournament berth in 14 seasons. Podbelski's squad also recorded the program's ninth-straight 30-win season after being ranked preseason favorites in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Preseason Poll and the D3baseball.com Preseason Poll. In 2012, Wheaton recorded the program's eighth-straight 30-win season and second-ever 40-win season compiling a 41-11 mark en route to an appearance in the NCAA Division III College World Series national championship round. The Lyons placed seven student-athletes on the NEWMAC All-Conference team, four on the D3baseball.com All-Region team and four more on the NEIBA All-New England team. Podbelski also garnered NEIBA Coach of the Year honors while two of his student-athletes were named to the NEWMAC Academic All-Conference team. Wheaton finished the 2012 season ranked no.9 in the last D3baseball.com Top-25 national rankings. In addition to winning 13 NEWMAC Tournament titles since 1999, the Lyons also hosted the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament in 1999 and qualified for their first ECAC Tournament in 1998 the team's first year of varsity competition. Eight years later, the 2006 squad made the schools first national championship game appearance while going 4210 and recording the highest win total in team history. Podbelski was awarded New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Division III Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2012, which earned him a coaching position at the NEIBA All-Star Game at Boston's Fenway Park. He has also been named NEWMAC Coach of the Year nine times. In the past 15 seasons, Podbelski has produced 12 All-America selections and eight professional players, including two Major League Baseball (MLB) signees. Wheaton's lone MLB draftee, Chris Denorfia '02, was taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the 19th round in June 2002. Denorfia has swiftly made his way up the professional ranks, most notably his 2005 jump from Double-A Chattanooga to the big leagues. Recalled to Cincinnati in 2006 from Triple-A Louisville and traded to Oakland in 2007, Denorfia signed with San Diego in 2010. He batted .271 with 15 doubles, nine home runs and 36 RBI in 99 games with the Padres last season and opened the 2012 season on the teams 40-man roster. In addition to his baseball coaching duties, Podbelski has also served on the NCAA and ECAC Tournament selection committees. A 1991 graduate of Brandeis University, Podbelski finished his career as one of the school's all-time winningest pitchers with 23 victories. After a junior year in which he was named to three postseason all-star teams, he was invited to play for the Falmouth Commodores in the prestigious Cape Cod League. Podbelski went on to serve as an assistant coach at Brandeis for five years. Under his direction, Podbelski's pitching staff was among the national leaders in team earned run average four times, including in 1994, when it led Division III in ERA at 2.33. In high school, Podbelski was a standout baseball player at Plymouth-Carver Regional. Named to numerous all-star and all-scholastic teams, he capped his high school career by being selected as a Golden Spikes Award finalist and playing in the 1987 United States Olympic Festival as a member of the USA East team. Podbelski and his wife, Amy, reside in Norton with twin girls Erin and Shea. 

Pasquarosa, who has been involved in coaching for more than two decades, will begin his eighth season on the Wheaton staff in 2016-17. Pasquarosa is responsible for the development of all infielders and outfielders on the club in addition to assisting with recruiting. Most recently (January 2015), Pasquarosa spoke at the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) on the topic of "Improved Infield Play Through Repetition." Since 2004, Pasquarosa has served as an assistant coach with the Harwich Mariners of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) after coaching in 1991 with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. From 2007-09, Pasquarosa was an assistant coach at New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) counterpart Babson College, which he helped win the league tournament title and qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 2009. During the prior two springs, Pasquarosa was an assistant coach at Division I Boston College, which set a school record with 37 wins his first year. Between 1988 and 2004, Pasquarosa worked with the baseball program at nearby Franklin High School, including heading the varsity team for the final 13 years of that stint. Pasquarosa was also the school's athletic director from 1992-2001. In 2000, he was honored as an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) regional coach of the year and earned a top coaching accolade from the Boston Globe. Two years later, Pasquarosa was lauded at Fenway Park for earning a statewide sportsmanship award. Pasquarosa served as the head instructor for the Franklin-based Tri-Valley Baseball camps from 1988-2003 and was the director of baseball clinics at Boston College in 2005 and 2006. He also spent time as a Bay State Games coach from 1994-2003. Beyond coaching, Pasquarosa has produced articles that have run in coaching and physical education publications while also speaking at major coaching functions. After earning an associate's degree from Dean College in 1974, Pasquarosa played two years for Georgia Southern University, graduating with a degree in health and physical education in 1978. He received a master's degree in education from Salem State College in 2007. Pasquarosa is a member of the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.