2025 Scheduled Speakers

Peter Caliendo

Caliendo Sports International

Pete has done it all in the coaching world – literally. He has a worldwide presence and his devotion to baseball has earned him the respect of fellow coaches from all over the world and at various levels.  He started as a student in the Mickey Owen Baseball School, then became a U12 coach at the age of 17.  While continuing to learn his coaching craft, he studied to be an umpire where he umpired over 100 games a summer at one point.  He created the curriculum for and started his own USA Baseball School in the Chicagoland area that was standardized with technology, wording, drills, and fundamentals.  This school eventually expanded to include two more states.  He has developed an online coaches certification program and has presented twice at the National High School Coaches Clinic as well as 14 high school Association Clinics in the USA and in 20 different countries.  Pete served as Director of Baseball Operations and Coach for the Schaumburg Flyers, a professional independent team based in Illinois where he had over 26 players sign with major league organizations. As Player Procurement Director for the North Shore Spirit, he put together the full roster of 22 players that went on to the Northeast World Series.  There is no doubt the MBCA is thrilled to learn from one of the best about ways we, as coaches, can improve.  Pete Caliendo will be speaking about the keys to hitting as well as his international coaching experiences.

Eric Cirella

Salve Regina University

Eric Cirella was named the head coach of the Salve Regina baseball program in June 2013, returning to his alma mater and replacing his father, Steve, who stayed on staff as an assistant coach until 2017, after a 14-year tenure as head coach of the Seahawks.

In 11 seasons, Cirella’s record stands at 296-134-6. He has guided the Seahawks to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championships four times (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021), and NCAA appearances seven times (2022, 2023, 2024 NCAA At-Large), including five straight NCAA appearances.

The 2024 season was the most single-season wins ever in the history of the program (40-10) while earning the program’s first-ever trip to the College World Series in Eastlake, Ohio. The Seahawks were the #1 seed in the Cortland Regional, defeating Colby, Cortland, and Washington & Jefferson to win their first-ever NCAA Regional. In the Super Regionals, Salve Regina defeated Salisbury by the scores of 9-8 and 14-12 to advance to the CWS. Last year also marked the first season in the NEWMAC, where the Seahawks won the regular season title with a 13-3 record.  The MBCA is pleased to have Coach Cirella speak at the clinic about how to best use your indoor spaces.

Kyle Decker

Harvard University

Decker returned to the Crimson in 2023 after spending the previous two seasons (2021, 2022) as an assistant coach at the University of Dayton, serving as the team’s hitting and infield coach. He helped lead the Flyers to the championship game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament in 2021. Decker helped guide the Crimson to a berth in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament in 2023, securing the No. 2 seed behind a 15-6 Ivy League record, marking Harvard’s most Ivy League wins since 2005.  Prior to Harvard, Decker served as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts during the 2018 season. On the collegiate level, Decker played at both Trinity College (2012 and 2013 seasons) and Oberlin College (2014 and 2015 seasons). He helped the Bantams win the NESCAC title in 2012 before helping the Yeomen capture the 2015 NCAC title. He gained both All-NCAC and New York Regional All-Tournament Team accolades in 2015. The MBCA is excited to have Coach Decker speak about the nuances of running the bases.

Matt Edgerly

North Quincy HS

Ryan Forrest

Boston College

Ryan Forrest became the Boston College pitching coach after six seasons as the pitching coach at Air Force, where he helped lead the pitching staff to the most strikeouts in program history in 2022 with 455.

Seth Kaplan

Westfield State University

Before accepting the head coaching position at Westfield state, Coach Kaplan was the head coach at Dean College and an assistant at UMass-Dartmouth.  Before that, he spent eight seasons at Sacred Heart University as an assistant coach and team’s recruiting coordinator while focusing his strategic efforts to working with the team hitters and defensively with the infielders and catchers. He served as an assistant coach with the Rhode Island Gulls in the New England Collegiate Baseball League over the summer in 1999 where he was the first base coach and hitting instructor prior to moving to Sacred Heart. Kaplan graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1999 where he was the starting shortstop for two seasons and captained the Minutemen his senior year. In addition to being the everyday shortstop, Kaplan doubled as UMass’ back-up catcher. His versatility enabled him to play six positions during his college career and has given him a broad knowledge of every position on the field. Coach Kaplan will be presenting on the best ways to develop infielders.

Tim Mayo

Nichols College

Mayo was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Coach of the Year in 2021 following a record-setting season for the Bison. The team posted a 16-5 record, which was good for a .625 winning percentage – the highest for the program since the 2005 campaign. The Bison established program-records for dingers (29), on-base percentage (.444), and slugging pct. (.542), and also recorded the second-highest team batting average (.343) in program history. Nichols hurlers fanned 228 batters in 2021, second only to the 254 registered during his first season at the helm of the program in 2019. Nichols pitchers held opponents to a .256 batting average in 2021, which is the fourth-lowest mark ever recorded in Dudley.  Coach Mayo will be speaking about team defense and drills that will help your team improve in all areas of team defense.

Jeff Mejia

Northern Essex Community College

Since Coach Mejia came to Northern Essex in 2013, the Knights have been crowned New England Regional Champions and earned a bid to the NJCAA World Series for the third, fourth & fifth time in the program’s history.  For these accomplishments, Coach Mejia has been named the New England Regional Coach of the Year in 2013, 2014 & 2015.  Previously, Coach Mejia was a long- time Assistant Coach of Suffolk University.  During the past three seasons, the Knights finished 67-34 (.665%), with a 40-17 (.700%) record in New England, 31-10 (.760%) in League Play and a 9-2 (.825%) record in the New England Regional Tournament.  Coach Mejia will be sharing his thoughts on how to coach the most basic thing in all of baseball — producing runs.

Brian Murphy

Merrimack College

Coach Murphy took over at Merrimack after eight seasons at William & Mary. In that time with the Tribe, Murphy’s programs had four 30-win seasons, five CAA-Tournament appearances and its first NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Murphy was recognized as CAA Coach of the Year in 2014 after winning 34 games in his first year at the helm for the Tribe. In 2016, Murphy was named VASID Coach of the Year after a CAA Tournament Championship and NCAA Regional Final Appearance. William & Mary turned four 30+ win seasons under Murphy’s tutelage. Nine players who have competed for Murphy’s teams have been taken in the MLB Draft, with two players taken in the first five rounds.

Programs under the Easton, Mass. native have also seen outstanding academic achievement in addition to the team’s on-field success. William & Mary teams earned three-straight Team Academic Awards by the ABCA, with three student athletes recognized as CoSIDA Academic-All Americans and a CAA Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Prior to his tenure in Williamsburg, Va., Murphy served as Recruiting Coordinator and Hitting Coach for the Brown University Bears, with ten student-athletes earning All-Ivy League Selections in his three years on the staff.  Coach Murphy will be sharing his expertise on how to develop catchers.