BOSTON – Northeastern baseball head coach Mike Glavine formally welcomed Nick Puccio and Pete Pasquarosa to the Huskies’ coaching staff on Thursday.
Puccio, who previously served as the head baseball coach at Nichols College, will take over as the Huskies’ hitting coach after Kevin Casey had become the head baseball coach at Johnson & Wales in August. Pasquarosa – a collegiate coaching veteran and the current assistant coach for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) – will replace Pat Mason as the team’s volunteer assistant coach.
“I am extremely excited to welcome coach Puccio and Pasquarosa to our program,” said Glavine. “Both bring a tremendous amount of knowledge, experience and passion for the game. They are great teachers and equally great people.”
Nick Puccio
Upon taking over as the head coach at Nichols prior to the 2014 season, Puccio led an immediate, four-year transformation of the baseball program, elevating the Bison from their six-win, 2014 campaign to consecutive 20-win seasons during 2016 and 2017. Under his direction, Nichols enjoyed a record-breaking 2016 season, setting the school record for single-season victories (24) while reaching the program’s first-ever ECAC Division III New England tournament.
During his five-year tenure at Nichols, Puccio produced 19 all-conference selections (seven All-Commonwealth Coast Conference First Team selections), three All-New England honorees and two professional baseball players.
Before coaching the Bison, Puccio was the assistant coach at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, where he helped guide the Lyons to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances (2012, 2013), including a trip to the 2012 Division III College World Series championship game. While serving on Wheaton’s staff, he helped develop 13 student-athletes who collected All-New England honors, coach 13 players to All-NEWMAC (New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference) distinction and craft one All-America selection.
Between collegiate campaigns, Puccio spent the summer of 2013 as the hitting coach for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the CCBL, where he instructed 14 MLB Draft picks, including two first-round selections.
Puccio’s coaching start began in 2011, when he served as the hitting coach, catching coach and recruiting coordinator at Southeastern Iowa Community College. He graduated from Dean College in 2007 with his associate of arts degree in education and received his bachelor’s of science degree in interdisciplinary studies from Fitchburg State in 2010, having been a baseball student-athlete at both schools.
He and his fiancé, Samantha, reside in Dayville, Connecticut, with their son, Chase.
Pete Pasquarosa
A 2013 inductee into the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Pasquarosa brings more than two decades of baseball coaching experience with him to Northeastern. He joins the Huskies upon completing his nine-year tenure at Wheaton College, where he was responsible for the development of the Lyons’ infielders and outfielders while aiding with recruiting efforts.
Pasquarosa has mentored countless rising collegiate stars during his coaching career in the CCBL, where he started in 1991 on the staff of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. Since 2004, he has served as the assistant coach on the Harwich Mariners, winning league titles in 2008 and 2011.
Prior to coaching at Wheaton, Pasquarosa spent two seasons each at Babson College, where he helped direct the Beavers to the 2009 NCAA tournament. He was also the assistant coach at Boston College during the 2005 season, when the Eagles won a school record, 37 games.
From 1998 to 2004, Pasquarosa worked for the baseball program at Franklin High School in Franklin, Massachusetts, where he also served as the school’s athletic director from 1992 to 2001. In 2000, he was honored as the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Regional Coach of the Year.
When not in the dugout, Pasquarosa has contributed to baseball coaching and physical education publications, and performed talks at major coaching functions. He graduated from Dean College with his associate’s degree in 1974 and played two seasons at Georgia Southern, where he graduated with his degree in health and physical education in 1978. He completed his master’s degree in education at Salem State College in 2007.
