FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Alex Marconi, who has spent the last five years as an assistant baseball coach at Ball State University, has been named the school’s head baseball coach, according to Ball State athletics director Tom Collins.
"We had an outstanding pool of candidates for a very attractive head baseball coaching position at Ball State," Collins say. "Coach Marconi’s knowledge of the program, Ball State University and the Muncie community played a key role in his being named our head coach. He is an outstanding person with great integrity and character who has a tremendous work ethic and desire to be the head baseball coach at Ball State. We welcome Coach Marconi and his family to this new position and look forward to his future with the Cardinals."
Marconi was named a Ball State assistant coach to Greg Beals in August of 2005. He replaces Beals, who was named the head baseball coach at Ohio State in June. Marconi has worked with all phases of the Ball State baseball program and worked primarily with the Cardinals’ catchers and outfielders, plus serves as the first base coach and worked with the team’s base running and bunting as well in 2010.
"My family and I are very excited to continue our career at Ball State University," Marconi says. "Ball State has been very good to us and we owe a lot to the people in this community. We want to thank President Gora, Tom Collins, Pat Quinn and Karin Lee for their faith and trust and giving us this wonderful opportunity. We also want to thank the Ball State athletics family for all their thoughts and support through the process. We are looking forward to continuing the progress of the Ball State baseball program."
Marconi helped the Cardinals claim the 2009 Mid-American Conference West Division Championship with a 14-10 league record. Under his guidance, the Cardinals’ base runners ran through the league by recording a team-high 115 stolen bases that season. In his first season at Ball State in 2006, Marconi helped the Cardinals to the first MAC Tournament Championship in school history and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Marconi, then working with the hitters, coached the Cardinals to a .291 team batting average and 60 combined home runs as the team compiled an overall record of 38-20.
In addition to his coaching duties, Marconi is in charge of the Ball State baseball camps and handles team travel.
Prior to Ball State, Marconi spent the 2005 season as a volunteer assistant coach at North Carolina, where he worked with hitters, catchers and directed summer camps. He helped the Tar Heels advance to the NCAA Regionals with a 41-19-2 overall record and a 17-10-1 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play. He was also responsible for on-campus recruiting and monitoring players’ academic progress.
Prior to joining the UNC staff, Marconi played four years of professional baseball, ending with a stint on the St. Paul Saints of the Northern League. A 27th-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2000 from Kent State, where he played four years under then KSU assistant coach Beals, Marconi spent three seasons with the club.
Marconi was called up to the Triple-A Durham Bulls in 2001 and 2002, and also saw action with the Devil Rays’ Orlando, Bakersfield, Hudson Valley and Princeton teams. He spent the 2003 season with the Elmira Pioneers of the Northeast League.
A four-year letterwinner for the Golden Flashes, Marconi was an All-MAC First Team catcher for KSU in 1999 and 2000. The 1999 Academic All-MAC selection earned his bachelor’s degree in general studies from the university in 2000. He also earned all-region honors for Kent State in 1999 and 2000 in addition to receiving preseason All-America recognition in 2000.
Marconi has also served as coach of the U.S. Athletic team in the Midwest Prospects Summer Wooden Bat League.
Marconi is married to the former Amanda Lescher, who was a one-year letterwinner for the Kent State women’s soccer team in 1999. They have one son, Maximus Blaise, and one daughter, Alexandra Rose.
