By: Michael Rosen, Athletic Communications Intern
For Chris Celano ’99, baseball has been a part of his life for as long as he can remember.
“I started playing basically from the time I could walk,” he said. “I was either throwing a baseball or swinging a bat.”
Celano was coached by his father for much of his childhood. He credits his father for not only teaching him how to be a better baseball player, but also a better person in general.
“My father was very influential, he was a good player when he was younger,” said Celano. “He coached me up until I was 13. It went way beyond coaching me in a sport. Just in terms of being a role model for life. How to be a good father, a good husband and just a good person, I get that all from him.”
Celano graduated from Ward Melville High School in 1994, the same high school that fellow left-handed pitcher Steven Matz of the New York Mets attended. After high school Celano attended the University of Massachusetts, a Division I school. An injury forced Celano to transfer to a different school, and he chose New Paltz.
“I wanted to get into English literature, and that’s what I ended up majoring in,” said Celano. “I also really wanted to go to a place where it was still on the East Coast and I could still focus on academics. The area was great and I knew the school was very good academically.
“Baseball wise, I felt like whether it was Division I, II, or III, if I was good enough to play at college, someone would find me. I really made the decision based on academics.”
During Celano’s three years playing for the State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team, the lefty pitched 112.1 innings and struck out 90 batters. His 32 appearances are tied for ninth all-time and his 517 opponents at-bats are tied for eighth all-time. During Celano’s senior year, he was named a co-captain for the Hawks.
Transferring from a school with a very large student population to a small liberal arts school was a change that Celano welcomed into his life. He noted the community feeling that New Paltz athletics brought him that the University of Massachusetts could not do.
“New Paltz is a place where the size is small enough that you’ll have a family-type atmosphere,” said Celano. “All of the athletes on campus knew each other. All the way up to the Athletic Director, there was a real personal connection. All of the teams, and even the administration, knew who you were and you knew them.”
Celano graduated from New Paltz in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Shortly after graduating, Celano spent a year playing professional baseball in Rimini, Italy, for the 1999 Italian League Champion Rimini Pirates. Afterward, he returned to the United States and played for the Sioux Falls Canaries of the Northern League for the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
After his playing career, Celano decided to attend Dowling College to pursue his master’s degree in English and secondary education. But he soon found himself working as a graduate assistant coach for Dowling’s baseball team, and it wasn’t long before he was tabbed with head coaching duties.
Celano spent seven years as the head coach of Dowling’s baseball team, during which he led the Golden Lions to six postseason appearances, including four trips to the NCAA Division II Championship. In the process, he also guided Dowling to its first NCAA Division II World Series. In 2009 Celano was named the Division II National Coach of the Year as well as the American Baseball Coaches Association East Region Coach of the Year, a season that saw the Golden Lions win their first NCAA East Region Championship and tally a program-record 35 wins. Celano also earned Coach of the Year honors in 2008 from the East Coast Conference.
“I made up my mind that I was going to coach at some capacity while I was still playing,” he said. “It was just something I knew I would get into, but I didn’t know which level. The biggest difference [between coaching and playing] is that obviously you don’t get to compete.
“You don’t get that adrenaline rush that you used to get when you were on the mound and the personal competition that you would get as a player. But you’re still around the game and you’re still involved and invested very heavily. It’s just a different kind of competition.”
During his time at Dowling, Celano coached three players who were drafted in the MLB First Year Player Draft. Wilberto Ortiz was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2006 and made it as far as Triple-A with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. David Wendt was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009 and made it to Double-A with them, and William Mottram was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2007. Celano also recruited Dan Masiello, who briefly played in the San Diego Padres organization.
In 2011 Celano was hired as the head coach of the University of New Haven’s baseball team, a position he still holds to this day. 2016 will mark his sixth season as the head coach of the Chargers. Thus far, he has amassed a record of 125-82-1 with New Haven.
“It was actually an easy move for me to come here to UNH because it was in a better conference,” said Celano. “I felt that I did a lot at Dowling, and I didn’t know what else was left to do there. This was a new opportunity and challenge.
“Funny, Dowling is in the same region and we do play against each other. My very first game as the head coach at UNH, we played Dowling, which was bizarre. It was a new challenge for me that has worked out very well.”
In 2012 Celano led the club to its fourth consecutive trip to the Northeast-10 Championship, which included a first round road win at Pace University, the Northeast-10 Southwest Division champions. The victory was New Haven’s first postseason win since 2009.
The following season, Celano led New Haven to a 34-16 record and its first-ever Northeast-10 championship in five seasons as a member of the conference. The Chargers were also the co-champions of the Northeast-10 Southwest Division, and they went on to earn the No. 3 seed at the NCAA East Region Championship.
New Haven recorded its first NCAA postseason win since 2003 with a 3-1 victory over eventual region champion Franklin Pierce. The Chargers’ 34 wins that season are the third-most in program history, two shy of the 36 victories by the 1989 Chargers, who finished as a National Finalist. The Chargers would appear in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship for a third straight season in 2014.
Celano credits his success as a coach to his time at New Paltz. Playing baseball in a small community setting influenced the way he coaches and prepared him for the job.
“My time at New Paltz helped me mature and figure out what direction I wanted to go in life,” he said. “I got a glimpse of what college coaching entailed and saw first-hand the amount dedication required to do the job.
“I think the small community aspect of New Paltz influenced how I interact with the people I work with. I try to take the time to connect with my co-workers and professional peers as much as possible.”
Celano has been married for three years to his wife Michelle, who he met in high school.
