Head Coach Michael Mauro (center), is flanked by Pat Gale (left), Patrick Daddio (right). CSI also inks Bobby Glennerster (right) to the coaching ranks.
On the heels of their 2012 CUNYAC Championship Final appearance a year ago, the new installment of College of Staten Island Baseball will see three new faces joining the ranks behind the scenes as assistant coaches. Former four-year standout Pat Gale will join the Dolphins’ coaching ranks as the team’s new pitching guru, while fellow former-Dolphins Patrick Daddio and Bobby Glennerster will also occupy positions with the storied program.
The trio of coaches will join Head Coach Michael Mauro, who has amassed a 94-68 record over the last four seasons, complete with a pair of CUNYAC titles in 2010 & 2011. Associate Head Coach Neil Barbella and Assistant Coach Bob Steele also return for the Dolphins. Combined with the new faces, the coaches have over 100 years of experience and guidance to their advantage.
“The Pat’s and Bobby bring so much to the table for us and we will see the positives right away,” said Mauro, when asked of his new additions. “They provide incredible leadership and experience, and our players have three quality guys to look up to and train alongside of.”
Gale is the most recognized face of the bunch. Fresh off of a stellar four-year career, Gale was in an interim assistant coaching role with the team in 2012, soaking up the scene for the first time as a coach. With a year under his belt, the former CUNYAC Player of the Year will be that much more crucial in 2013, especially with the addition of new pitching arms on the squad this year. In four seasons with the Dolphins, Gale set records for innings pitched (260) and strikeouts (315), amassing a career 21-13 record with a 3.57 ERA.
“Pat is a natural leader with exceptional ability,” commented Mauro. “The way he improved and fine-tuned his pitching during his career here can really help our current staff under his guidance. The kids look up to him and are always anxious to work with him.”
New to the college coaching circuit, Patrick Daddio will also be looked at as a guiding influence for the Dolphins, who return a healthy majority of their roster from a year ago. Daddio brings over two decades of coaching experience to the helm. As an assistant coach he spent five years at Port Richmond High School, before a subsequent five-year stint at Moore Catholic HS. After a lone season at Curtis HS, he started a near 10-year run as the assistant with St. Peter’s HS. That experience gave Daddio a hands-on feel of the high school coaching landscape on Staten Island, which will allow him to be a necessary cog in the recruiting wheel.
Alongside his coaching duties, Daddio was a three-time CUNYAC All-Star at CSI during his playing days, winning the 1986 batting title that year, sporting a career batting average of .389. In 1986, he signed a professional free-agent contract with Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers.
“Patrick is a model individual that has a great feel for the game,” said Mauro, who was excited about the hire. “As a former athlete he really knows what it takes for kids to be successful at this level and he is a recognized face in the Staten Island high school scene and will be a great recruiting and scouting resource for us.”
Finalizing the coaching additions is former four year standout Bobby Glennerster, who manned the CSI infield his entire career, becoming a stalwart as a clutch hitter and fielder, but also a model captain and leader. From 2003-07, Glennerster finished his career among the all-time CSI leaders in at-bats (3rd, 478), hits (6th, 153), runs scored (7th, 116), RBI (8th, 89), and stolen bases (2nd, 59). After his playing career, Glennerster immediately joined the coaching ranks, and spent time as the associate head coach of St. Joseph’s College (Brooklyn) for two years before moving on to NYU-Poly, where he was the associate head coach in 2011, and the head coach in 2012. Alongside his duties at CSI, Glennerster also works with New York Dynasty, a baseball program that works on placement for youth and high school players through elite travel teams and showcases.
“Bobby does so many of the little things well and has great attention to detail,” said Mauro. “He is able to work one-on-one with the players and help them hone in their games. He’s got a great baseball brain and he sees a lot of the field that helps us make decisions and progress with our team. For him to be helping us out is great, and it’s a chance for him to be around CSI baseball again, where he has had so much success.”
With the CSI coaching staff now in place, the team is in full throttle with winter workouts in time for Spring Training, which is just around the corner. Forced to the confines of the Sports & Recreation Center for now, the team is eager to get outdoors before their first contests on the weekend of March 2, when they travel for the Cal Ripken Division III Experience in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
“Everyone is really excited,” said Mauro. “As the weather breaks there is a good feeling in the air that we can have a special season and that starts with having the right people in place as coaches. I am really excited to start the season with the staff we have. It means we are going to get better and better.”
CSI’s home opener after their spring trip is on Wednesday, March 13 against SUNY – Old Westbury at 4:30pm at the CSI Baseball Complex.
