Chad Fitzgerald will be entering his eighth year on the baseball staff and first as head coach. Fitzgerald oversees all facets of the program, working closely with the Berg pitching staff. Fitzgerald was awarded the title of associate head coach in January 2011 and was named as the successor to Matt Palm prior to the 2014 season.
Over his seven years, Fitzgerald has guided one of the top pitching staffs in the Ohio Athletic Conference and arguably the nation. In his tenure, Fitzgerald had led three All-American performers, the 2010 Mideast Region Pitcher of Year and the 2009 and 2010 OAC Pitcher of the Year. Along the way, five hurlers have picked up Mideast Region honors and eight have been All-OAC First Team selections.
In the classroom, Heidelberg’s pitching contingent has excelled, as Nathan James earned the inaugural Elite 88 Award in 2010, to highlight four Academic All-OAC honorees and one all-district pick under Fitzgerald’s mentoring.
Former members of his staff sit atop the single season record book in four categories and are the leaders in three career record book columns. Since 2008, Heidelberg has set four team single season pitching marks.
As a student-athlete, Fitzgerald was a pitcher and two-time Academic All-American at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. Seton Hill racked up 124 victories over the course of his four-year playing career, including a 45-20 season in 2006.
In 2006, Seton Hill also claimed the American Mideast Conference Championship and went on to win the NAIA Region IX and the East Coast Super Regional’s, earning a bid to the NAIA World Series. Fitzgerald posted a 4-1 record on the mound in 10 appearances, with a 3.69 earned run average during the Griffins’ championship season in 2006.