Wheaton Receiving Votes in Final D3baseball.com National Poll
Meet the Coach
Eric Podbelski
Head Coach
Entering his 14th season as head coach, Eric 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 .716 (368-145-4) through Wheaton's first 12 years of varsity play.
In 2009, Podbelski led Wheaton to a share of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference's (NEWMAC) regular season title, the 10th time the Lyons have either won outright or shared the league's regular season crown in the conference's 11-year history. During 2008, Wheaton made its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in nine seasons and won its ninth NEWMAC Tournament title. The 2006 squad made the school's first national championship game appearance while going 42-10 and recording the highest win total in team history.
In addition to winning NEWMAC Tournament titles from 1999-2003 and 2005-2008, the Lyons also hosted the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament in 1999 and qualified for their first ECAC Tourney in 1998, the team's first year of varsity action.
Podbelski was awarded New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Division III Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2007, which earned him a coaching position at the NEIBA All-Star game held at Boston's Fenway Park. He has also been named NEWMAC Coach of the Year eight times.
In the past nine seasons, Podbelski has produced seven All-America selections and six 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 is currently an outfielder with the Athletics.
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 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 Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with twin girls Erin and Shea.
The Podbelski File
| Year | Overall | League | Highlight(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 23-12 | n/a | ECAC Tournament |
| 1999 | 28-14 | 10-2 | ECAC Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2000 | 28-12 | 11-1 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2001 | 31-11 | 10-2 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2002 | 37-9-1 | 12-0 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2003 | 27-10-2 | 10-2 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2004 | 21-20-1 | 9-3 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| 2005 | 33-12 | 10-2 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2006 | 42-10 | 11-1 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2007 | 34-13 | 9-3 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2008 | 34-10 | 9-3 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| 2009 | 30-12 | 9-3 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| Totals | 368-145-4 | 110-22 | 12 Seasons |
Pete Pasquarosa
Assistant Coach
Pete Pasquarosa, who has been involved in coaching for more than two decades, joins the Wheaton staff for his first season this spring.
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.
Zach Brown
Assistant Coach
Zach Brown begins his eighth season as an assistant coach at Wheaton, where he served as the only four-year captain in program history before graduating in 2002.
Playing in 116 career games, Brown was a member of four New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season and tournament champion teams and helped the Lyons qualify for their first three NCAA Tournament appearances. During Brown's junior season, he hit a career-high .319 with 26 RBI in 29 starts.
Brown earned NEWMAC Academic All-Conference honors during each his junior and senior years before graduating magna cum laude with a degree in psychology. He transferred from Division I Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, after attending the college on a baseball scholarship.
Ryan Parker
Assistant Coach
One of the original members of Wheaton's first varsity team in 1998, Ryan Parker is now in his sixth season as an assistant coach. In the summer of 2008, Parker helped lead the Harwich Mariners to the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) Championship, as he assisted with the pitching staff.
This is Parker's second coaching stint with the Lyons, as he assisted in 2003 before returning in 2006 to work primarily with the pitchers. During the 2004 and 2005 seasons, Parker was the assistant coach at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. At Roger Williams, Parker developed the pitching staff in addition to recruiting.
A 2001 Wheaton graduate with a degree in sociology, Parker appeared in 46 career games over four years, making 35 relief appearances while posting a 7-4 record. He has the distinction of being the winning pitcher in the Lyons' first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship game, as Parker tossed six innings during a 4-0 win over Springfield College on April 26, 1999. Parker also recorded the first save in program history, which occurred on March 20, 1998, against the State University of New York at Old Westbury.
Parker works at his alma mater as an assistant director of alumnae/i relations and annual giving.
Tom McMahon
Assistant Coach
After coaching for two years in California, Bowdoin College graduate Tom McMahon returns to New England for his first season on the Wheaton coaching staff.
McMahon assisted the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges program from 2007-08, working with hitters and infielders. The squad earned the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title in 2007, qualifying for the NCAA West Regional Tournament.
For much of 2006, McMahon coached with the Belgium-based Brussels Kangaroos baseball club, heading four teams with players ranging in ages from 6 to 30. In addition to coaching the squad, he played for a team that went 22-2 and won the national championship. McMahon also coached Belgium's national Little League team to the Trans-Atlantic Regional Tournament in Poland, and another squad he coached during the summer advanced to the Senior League World Series in Maine.
During his college career, McMahon was a senior captain and earned New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) all-league first-team honors as a junior. He graduated among the top five in program history in career home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage, and the five saves he had as a senior put him third in a season at Bowdoin. McMahon was also a reserve quarterback for three years on the Polar Bears' football team.
A 2005 college graduate, McMahon earned a degree from Bowdoin in government and legal studies. He is working toward his initial licensure of education from the Massachusetts Department of Education at Bridgewater State College.
This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 11/12/09.
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