BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Director of Athletics and Recreation James Lally has announced Peter Blumenauer as the new head baseball coach at St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn). Blumenauer brings to Clinton Hill over 12 years of coaching experience at both the high school, college, and summer collegiate league level.
Blumenauer replaces Jerry Sidman was the head coach for the Bears for three years. Sidman complied a 60-57 record with St Joseph's.
"Coach Blumenauer brings a tremendous amount of coaching experience to our department," remarked Lally. "He has demonstrated the ability to develop players, build programs, and win championships and we are looking forward to him making an immediate impact on our campus."
The Long Island native who played college baseball at Division I University of Connecticut and Division II Molloy College, becomes the fourth head coach in program history as it enters its 10th season. He joins the Bears after serving as the varsity head baseball coach at Islip High School, where he also works in student services.
At the helm of the Buccaneers for 11 years over two separate stints, Blumenauer guided Islip to unprecedented success, winning the New York State championship in 2007 and finalists in 2008, capturing the Long Island championship in both years. For his efforts, he was named the NY State Sportswriters Association Coach of the Year in 2007 and was named Suffolk County Coach of the Year for three straight seasons from 2007 to 2009, as he also guided the Bucs to back-to-back-to-back Suffolk County titles.
Through his tutelage, over 30 former players have continued their careers at the collegiate level and two currently play professional baseball after being drafted by MLB teams.
"I am extremely thankful to Mr. Lally and the entire athletics department for this opportunity to lead the St. Joseph's Baseball program," commented Blumenauer on his first collegiate head coaching appointment. "It will be our mission as a program to represent the College in the highest manner, both on the playing field and in the classroom."
"Coach is well versed in all aspects that we regard highly at SJC Brooklyn, and will be a positive role model and leader for our student-athletes," added Lally.
In between stints at Islip, Blumenauer had his first collegiate coaching experience serving as assistant coach at Suffolk Community College from 2012 to 2013 and Adelphi University from 2013 to 2014.
While at Suffolk, he helped a squad that won the regular season championship and were NJCAA Region 15 finalists. The following season, he helped Adelphi reach the Northeast-10 Championship for the first time in four years before finishing as finalists. He also had stops at Eastport-South Manor and Sayville High Schools before returning to take the helm of Islip in 2016.
On the summer collegiate league scene, he has over 10 years experience with the Long Island College Stan Musial and Boys of Summer Collegiate Leagues where he currently sits on the board of directors and has been a head coach and general manager of the Long Island Gamecocks since 2013 and held the same position with three different clubs since 2001.
Blumenauer holds a Bachelors degree in political science from Molloy College. He resides in East Islip with his wife, Kerry, and his son, Peter.