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| Univirsity of Southern Maine head coach Ed Flaherty is in his 39th season with a record of 1123-526-4 d3photograpy.com photo by Larry Radloff |
GORHAM, Maine – After nearly four decades of dedicated service to University of Southern Maine student-athletes as the Huskies' baseball coach, Ed Flaherty, is retiring from coaching at the end of the 2024 season. A 1976 graduate of the University of Maine, Flaherty joined the Huskies' coaching staff in 1986 and has led the program to tremendous success over the last 39 years. The University of Southern Maine Department of Athletics will begin a national search for Flaherty's replacement.
Flaherty will be honored for his tremendous career as a coach, mentor and colleague on April 27 with a ceremony in between games one and two of a Little East Conference doubleheader against VTSU-Castleton. The Huskies face the Spartans at 12 pm. Flaherty's former players, assistant coaches and colleagues are invited to attend the send-off.
"Ed will leave a legacy of enormous proportion," said Huskies' Athletic Director Al Bean. "With over 1100 career wins, multiple regional and conference titles and two national championships, combined with his leadership at the national level, Ed is on a short list of people who have positively impacted the game on such a grand scale. What stands out the most about Ed as a coach and teacher is his unwavering commitment to excellence, his passion for the game, his strong character and steady leadership. He set and held the standard high for himself, his program and his players. Ed will forever be a symbol of excellence at the University of Southern Maine."
In his 38 seasons, Flaherty has had 17 seasons with 30 or more wins – most recently in 2021, leading the Huskies to a 34-11 record, the 2021 Little East Conference Championship, and a berth into the NCAA Division III national tournament – marking the 26th appearance by the University of Southern Maine in the NCAA national championship tournament, including 15 consecutive appearances between 1987 and 2001. During his career, Flaherty and the Huskies have captured eight NCAA Division III Regional Championships (1989, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2013, 2014).
Flaherty led the Huskies to two NCAA Division III National Championships, earning the first of his legendary career in 1991 when Southern Maine traveled to Battle Creek, Michigan, and claimed its first national championship. That team was the first collegiate team from the state of Maine to win a national championship. Six years later, the Huskies compiled a then school best 39-9 record on the way to capturing the program's second national title. Among that season's highlights were an 18-game winning streak, winning the first-ever Little East Conference championship, and hosting the NCAA regional tournament.
The Huskies have made eight World Series appearances, making their first trip in 1989 finishing fourth. After winning the national title in 1991, Southern Maine successfully battled its way through the regional tournament in 1992 for a shot at back-to-back titles, but fell short, finishing seventh. USM also made back-to-back trips to the World Series in 2000 and 2001, and again in 2013 and 2014.
Flaherty has coached more than 40 ABCA/Division III All-Americans in his career, and two of his former players were named the ABCA/Rawlings National Player of the Year: shortstop Sam Dexter (2015) and outfielder Tucker White (2013). Husky baseball players have been named the Little East Conference Player of the Year 10 times since the start of LEC baseball in 1997, and the Huskies have had seven LEC Pitcher of the Year citations.
Earning countless awards during his tenure, Flaherty was named the NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year in 1991 and 1997, and was voted the New England Coach of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1991. In addition, he has been named Diamond District One Baseball Coach of the Year on 10 occasions (1989, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021). Flaherty has been chosen by his peers as the Little East Conference Coach of the Year nine times (1997, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019) since 1997.
In January 2005, Flaherty was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame. Flaherty was inducted along with Gary Adams of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Russ Frazier of Louisburg College (Louisburg, N.C.), Sonny Pittaro of Rider College (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Enos Seymour of the University of Oklahoma and George Valesente of Ithaca College. In 2017, the University of Southern Maine paid Flaherty the ultimate compliment, renaming the Huskies' field "Ed Flaherty Field."
Flaherty has a career record of 1123-526-4 (.680 winning percentage). Flaherty achieved the 1000-win milestone during the 2019 season defeating Bates College on May 2 to become the 11th coach in NCAA Division III history to reach 1000 career wins.
A Portland, Maine native, Flaherty played for the UMaine Black Bears earning All-America honors in 1975. He was a key member of the Black Bears' College World Series team in 1976, played in the Cape Cod Baseball League and was a member of the Pan American Team in 1976. Flaherty was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, the State of Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993, the Little East Conference Hall of Fame in 2013, the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Hall of the Fame in 2018.