Montco’s Fitzgerald named EPAC Coach of the Year

BLUE BELL, PA. » Montgomery County Community College’s head baseball coach Mike Fitzgerald has been involved with the sport for more than 35 years — 15 as a player and 20 years coaching. Recently, his fellow coaches recognized his longevity and successes by selecting him as the 2018 Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (EPAC) Coach of the Year.

“I’ve always been interested in baseball since I was a little kid playing at the Little League level,” said Fitzgerald, a Boyertown High School graduate who now resides in Pennsburg.

As a teenager, Fitzgerald tried out for the Philadelphia Phillies and was told that he “wasn’t big enough, strong enough or fast enough.” However, that did not stop him from pursuing his passion for the game.

“I do love the game. I do love working with the kids,” Fitzgerald said. “I want to give back to baseball what baseball gave to me.”

Fitzgerald took the helm as the Mustangs head coach one month before the start of the 2017 season. Because of his somewhat late transition from assistant coach to head coach, he considers the most recent season his first full season as it gave him the opportunity to recruit new talent.

In 2018, he led the team to a 1414 season, a substantial improvement over the previous 4-20 season in his first go at the helm.

“I would take a player who was maybe not that comfortable with the position and work him in,” Fitzgerald said, adding that true teamwork made it possible.

Fitzgerald described his coaching style as “small ball” and said, “the pitching and defense is what wins the games. We manufacture runs.”

While Fitzgerald says it is too early to offer a forecast for the 2019 season, he believes his newest recruits are “excited to come here and be a part of our program.”

“We’ll be stronger than this year,” he said. “That’s what my goal is, to get stronger each year. Whatever

it is to get the most out of our guys and make sure they’re getting their education.”

The Mustangs’ roster this past season featured nine athletes who played in the Pioneer Athletic Conference during their scholastic careers. That includes Pope John Paul II graduates Matt Ahmad and Luke Deleo, Perkiomen Valley’s Adrian Grow and Paul Mudrick, Upper Perkiomen’s Aaron Benner and Logan Curley, Pottstown grad Ron Fausnaught, Boyertown grad Alex Bernhard as well as Owen J. Roberts’ Tyler Groff.

Devon Crossin, a graduate of Perkiomen School, was also in the mix for the Mustangs this past spring season.