Michael Impellittiere was named the head coach of Hood College's baseball program in August 2017. In his first season, he guided the Blazers to a 32-win season and a trip to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game.Â
The 2020 season was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Hood was off to another quick start, going 8-3 in the early going. After the season, the Blazers took home an American Baseball Coaches Association Team Academic Excellence Award for the third consecutive season. A total of 18 baseball student-athletes were named to the Middle Atlantic Conference Academic Honor Roll.Â
During Impellittiere’s second season, the Blazers finished with the best overall win percentage (.654) in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth. Hood led all teams in the conference in earned run average (3.56), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.27) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.21). En route to being named D3baseball.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region team and All-ECAC, Jordan Patterson completed the season with a conference-leading WHIP (0.97). Nate Luscombe earned MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year, while Impellittiere repeated as the conference coach of the year after leading the program to its first No. 1 seed in the program’s six-year history.
Hood won its first 14 games of the 2018 season, the fastest start in the program's four-year existence. The Blazers finished second in Division III in stolen bases with 152. The team was 11th in on-base percentage (.428) and 12th in bases on balls (234). Hood led the MAC Commonwealth in bases on balls, double plays turned (31), on-base percentage, scoring (8.2 runs/game), stolen bases and triples (19). The pitching staff was second in the conference in earned run average (4.60), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.83) and strikeouts per nine innings (7.2).
Impellittiere spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach for the Blazers. This past season, he helped lead Hood to a 20-win season in just the third year of existence for the program. During his two years on staff, he has worked with outfielders, catchers, and pitchers, while serving as the team's strength coordinator. Additionally, Impellittiere was a student life assistant in the college's Hodson Fitness Center.
He arrived at Hood after a two-year stint as an assistant baseball coach at the State University of New York at New Paltz. While at SUNY-New Paltz, Impellittiere was charged with serving as the program's infield and recruiting coordinator and assisted with hitting.
The Cold Spring, New York native is the owner of the Impy Sluggers, a youth baseball organization that includes a U-13 travel team.
Impellittiere was also the head baseball coach for the Front Royal Cardinals in the Valley Baseball league located in Front, Royal, Virginia during the summer of 2021. The Valley Baseball League was ranked third in the CSBN 2021 list of the Top 10 Collegiate Summer Baseball leagues. The team had a 42 game schedule where we finished with a record of 17-25 coaching players from Division I, II, III, NAIA, and JUCO and was also fortunate enough to coach four players in the all-star game on one in the home run derby. Later on that year, three of the players from the Cardinals went on to play in the Cape Cod league. The team had three pitchers who were top 15 for pitching statistics, and the Cardinals lead the league in three categories Hits, Doubles, and total bases. The Cardinals were second in batting average, OB%, walks, fourth in RBI's, and tied with most double plays turned in the league.
Impellittiere played four decorated seasons as an undergraduate student-athlete at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pa., and finished his career as a .298 hitter. He played an important role in Misericordia's three straight Freedom Conference championships from 2011-13, including a program-record 39-11 finish in 2013. That season, the Cougars posted a 3-2 mark at a NCAA Regional, hosted by the Cougars at PNC Field in Moosic, Pa.
During the course of Impellittiere's career, Misericordia achieved an overall record of 126-55, and the Cougars twice found themselves two wins away from going to the NCAA Division III College World Series (2011 and 2013).
He also brings experience as a grounds crew worker with the Hudson Valley Renegades from 2005-2010.
Impellittiere earned his Bachelor of Science in Sport Management from Misericordia in 2013 and MBA at Hood College in 2018.
