Rutgers Baseball adds Tom Conley as Assistant Coach

Wednesday, Rutgers baseball announced Tom Conley has been added as an additional assistant coach.

Conley’s primary role will be to work defensively with the Scarlet Knight catchers, a position he played collegiately at former Atlantic 10 foe Massachusetts. According to the tweet above, Conley was a four year starter behind the plate. His experience will be important in developing a group that lost both A.J. Gallagher and Nick Matera. Only Tyler McNamara returns with any college catching experience, but he is joined by two promising freshmen in Andy Axelson (Roxbury, NJ) and Peter Serruto (Short Hills, NJ). With uncertainly around Serruto in the spring, sophomore Aaron McLaughlin also got some reps behind the dish as well. Serruto ultimately decided to attend Rutgers rather than turning pro after being drafted, much to the relief of Rutgers fans. There is no such thing as too many catchers on a ballclub.

Rutgers continues fall practice after finishing with a .500 record in 2018, but lost their two top power hitters in Matera and Jawuan Harris, who both elected to forego their final season of eligibility and turn pro. Conley will share some hitting coach duties with Jim Duffy. They have their work cut out in finding ways to generate more extra base hits.

After graduating from UMass in 2012, Conley served as an assistant coach at Bryant University during the 2013 season. Then he moved on to Trinity College as an assistant coach while also receiving his master’s degree from the school in 2016. The Quincy, MA native then returned closer to home for the last two seasons at Harvard as an assistant. In 2018, the Crimson tallied its most wins since 2005, posting a 22-20 overall record. Conley also served as the head coach for the Pittsfield Suns of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League the past three campaigns.

Scarlet Knight Athletic Director Pat Hobbs continues to give Head Coach Joe Litterio opportunities to build his coaching staff after Phil Cundari, Jim Duffy, and Peter Barron joined the program prior to last season. Glen Gardner also remains as the senior advisor to Litterio. Welcome to the banks Tom!