Lee Saverio enters his fourth season as the head coach of the La Salle Baseball team, and 2007 will mark his sixth year overall at the school, as he served two years prior as the hitting instructor. Last season, Saverio guided the Explorers to one of their most successful seasons since joining the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1996. They finished with a 20-31 overall record, but that includes a 19-20 mark after March 11. They also went 12-14 in the A-10, the most ever wins in the conference, had the second-best winning percentage (the 1999 squad finished 10-11), and finished eighth in the standings. They won five A-10 series, including their first-ever series wins over Dayton - a three-game set where they allowed just one run in 26 innings - and Richmond, and the first three-game sweep of an A-10 opponent (Temple) in three seasons and the first road sweep since 2001. The Explorers also finished with a 7-5 home record in the conference - the best ever - and had their best-ever overall winning percentage at home (11-8). In the last three seasons, Saverio has led La Salle to 58 wins (18 in 2005, 20 in 2004), which is the most in a three-year span since 1997-99 (19, 12, 27), the best-ever three-year span since joining the A-10. Also in 2006, the Explorers won their first ever Liberty Bell Classic Championship with a thrilling 6-5 come-from-behind victory - scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning - against Lafayette, on April 11 at Citizens Bank Park. That along with a 7-2 mark against the rest of the city teams (Temple, Villanova, Penn and Saint Joseph's) helped La Salle and Saverio to be named Team and Coach of the Year by the Philadelphia Diamond Five. Individual accolades poured in for Saverio's players during the season, as Rich Prall and John Rickards were both named A-10 Players of the Week once, and Prall became La Salle's first repeat A-10 First Team member. Four players (George Hudock, Dan Waters, and Prall and Rickards) were also named to the inaugural All-Diamond Five team. In 2005, Saverio also guided the team to wins over every city team and the Explorers defeated Delaware twice for the first time in 16 years - they repeated that feat in 2007. In the Atlantic 10, La Salle was in the playoff hunt up until the last weekend of the season, as they doubled their win output in the conference over 2004. Individually, the Explorers had two members named to the A-10 All-Conference First Team (Prall and Gerard Breslin) for the first time since 1996. Also, Breslin was one of the top closers in the country. In Saverio's first season, he led La Salle to its first 20-win season since 1999 and only the eighth in the program's history, which dates back to 1947. The team beat Boston College and Maine, both teams among the top 40 in the country, and also defeated St. Bonaventure and Army, two teams that advanced to the 2004 NCAA Championships. During Saverio's inaugural season the Explorers team batting average, home runs, on-base percentage, and earned run average all improved. Saverio even had his first alumnus sign a minor league contract, as Brian Oakes earned a position with the Jersey Jackals. Saverio claimed this as his "most gratifying moment of my first year as head coach." Under Saverio, a number of players also reached new heights on the school's all-time list, as Ryan Parfitt ended his career in the top 10 in nine categories, and Matt Kirsch became the leader in all-time games pitched. With one more season left, both Breslin and Prall have already cementing their names in the record books and have this last season to improve on the numbers. Saverio joined the Explorer staff following 13 years of success as the head coach at Cheltenham High School. Saverio brought over 130 wins and one Suburban One Championship (1997) with him to the college ranks. His 1998 Cheltenham team earned the top seed in the district and the number three ranking in Southeastern PA. Saverio's expansive baseball resume also includes coaching stints with the Pennsylvania Keystone State Games, the Carpenter Cup and the Mid-Atlantic Baseball Classic. Currently, he owns and operates Total Instructional Baseball, Inc. Saverio starred in baseball at Bloomsburg University where he earned a degree in education. He currently resides in Ambler, PA, with his wife Beth and their three sons. |
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