COACH - Kevin Donati (Scout - San Diego Padres)
Kevin has grown up with the game of baseball. Kevin most recently concluded a division 1 collegiate baseball career playing 4 years for the University at Albany "Great Danes." While at UAlbany, Kevin notched a .292 career batting average and was named an America East All-Conference player. Selected for the Cape League in 2018, Donati was sidelined with a shoulder injury, which he successfully recovered from. During the summers Kevin played for the Pittsfield Suns FCBL team, becoming the Suns all-time hitting leader with a .344 batting average. Born and raised in Pittsfield, Kevin graduated from Pittsfield High School playing four years varsity garnering 3 All-County, 2 All-Western Mass, and 2 All-State selections. Summer 2018 Kevin was bench coach for the Pittsfield Suns. 2019 Kevin was Lead Hitting Instructor at Prime Performance Athlete Training a premier training facility located in Gaithersburg, MD. An OnBaseUniversity Hitting Level 1 certified hitting instructor, Kevin brings his passion for baseball to Rip City Academy to share with all up and coming ball players, with the focus on guiding athletes not only on becoming elite players, but in assisting clients to best align themselves for their next chapter.
Coach - Alex Carusotto
Alex graduated from UMass Boston in 2018 with a degree in Exercise and Health Science. Alex has worked directly with the sports information department at UMB directing sporting events as well as video and camera experience. After receiving his degree, he worked as an Intern Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Livingstone Speed Academy in Williamstown, MA and also at Division 1 University at Albany. Alex pitched for 4 years at UMass Boston, being a part of a #1 national ranking, 2 LEC championships, a New England regional championship, and a College World Series appearance. Growing up, Alex played baseball in Pittsfield for South Little League, Babe Ruth, American Legion, and graduated from Taconic High School in 2014. He also played for the Pittsfield Suns in 2016 and 2017. His goal is to see baseball grow in Pittsfield and to see more and more high school baseball players fulfill their dreams of playing college baseball.
COACH - GREG MARCHBANKS
Greg Marchbanks is the Head Coach for Pittsfield HS softball team and is the Head Coach for the 17U Berkshire Aces travel baseball team in Pittsfield. Greg has 30+ years of experience in the game of baseball going back to his playing years in California. He grew up in Fresno, California where graduated high school from Bullard high school in 1993 and won the title of National Champions according to USA Today going 28-1. Greg Marchbanks went on that year to go 9-1 as a pitcher with a 1.81 ERA, and named All-State utility player. He went on to play for Fresno City college for two years where he got a scholarship to play for University of San Francisco. While at USF Greg made West Coast Conference Honorable Mention team in 1996 and 1997. Astros picked him up in 1997 but his career was shortened by injury in the same year. Greg went back to school and finished his Bachelors and Masters at Fresno State in Kinesiology and Sport Psychology. His coaching career began in 1999 at his Alma Mater, Bullard High, winning two sectional championships in 99' and 00', where he assisted for 4 years as pitching coach. After a summer coaching baseball at Camp Winadu in 2000, he then moved to Massachusetts in 2003. In 2004, he began coaching again at MCLA as pitching coach for the trailblazers for 4 years before he came to PHS in 2009 to be pitching coach for 2 years. In 2011, Greg took over the softball program at PHS and has 180 wins in 10 years. In the last 5 years he has won 1 D1 Western MA championship and been in the finals 4 of the last 5 years. He has also taken on the Head coach position for the Primo travel baseball team and his primary objective is to help each player reach their goals, both in softball and baseball.
Head of Strength and Conditioning - jake Mcneice
Jake graduated in 2021 from Springfield College with a bachelors degree in Exercise Science. During his time at Springfield, he played Baseball, Rugby and completed over 1,000 hours in internships. Jake spent time as an intern at Williston Preparatory School and at Quinnipiac University. During this time, he worked with over 30 sports teams, ranging from high school athletes to Division 1 and professional athletes. Jake grew up playing baseball, basketball and football in Pittsfield for Taconic High School. In baseball, he was named the state MVP and helped his team conclude a 24-1 season by winning the state championship. In football, Jake was named the Western Mass MVP and helped his team win the Western Mass championship. His goal is to develop young athletes in the weight room by teaching life lessons and transitioning them to the collegiate level weight room.
GEORGE “BUDDY” PELLERIN
January 9, 1939 - July 4, 2016
Founder of Rip City