The Daniel Webster College department of athletics has announced the appointment of Louie Bernardini as Head Coach of the College's baseball program. The announcement was made by Director of Athletics Chris Gilmore. Bernardini's appointment begins immediately.
"We are very excited that Louie will be overseeing our baseball program," said Gilmore. "His experience as a player, coach and teacher of the sport as well as his understanding of our needs and wants for this program were a great match."
Bernardini, the 10th coach in program history, comes to DWC having most recently served as the assistant coach at NCAA Division I program Long Island University-Brooklyn, where he oversaw the pitching staff and was the program's recruiting coordinator. The Blackbirds posted a 16-win season last year and were 9-15 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) and saw one pitcher earn all NEC honors.
"It is an honor to have been provided the opportunity to lead a program with a strong legacy," Bernardini said. "I am humbled and look forward to working on bringing a conference championship back to Daniel Webster. I thank Associate AD Ken Belbin, Athletics Director Chris Gilmore, and President Michael Diffily for the support and encouragement to take on this role as Head Baseball Coach."
Prior to his time at LIU, Bernardini spent one summer as pitching coach with the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, along with previous stops for one year as pitching coach at Division I Brown University, and two years as pitching coach at Bates College. He also spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at Springfield College.
A native of Gray, Maine where he attended Gray-New Gloucester High, Bernardini went on to play four years at traditional New England Division III power Wheaton College, where he was part of a program that posted four 30-plus win seasons including a program record 42-10 mark in 2005-06. The Lyons produced three straight NEWMAC championships during his time in Norton, Mass. including finishing as national runner up in the NCAA tournament in 2006. His tenure included two New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) all-star awards and one NEWMAC all-conference honor.
Bernardini inherits a program that posted an 8-19 overall mark last season. DWC baseball has been one of the top performing programs in the New England Collegiate Conference, having won the NECC tournament title in 2013, 2012 and 2010.