Tom Rispoli recently completed his seventh season with the Chargers in 2023, the fourth year of his second stint with the Blue and Gold. Rispoli specializes as the team’s hitting coach, while also serving as the Chargers third base coach and recruiting coordinator. This past season, he helped guide New Haven to a third-place finish in the Southwest Division, while helping produce nine All Northeast-10 selections, including Andrew Bianco who was named the Southwest Division Player of the Year.
Rispoli began his coaching career with a four-year stint at Mitchell College where he served as the associate head coach and pitching coach of the varsity team and head coach of the JV team. After joining New Haven for the 2016 season, he spent three years as an assistant before being promoted to the position of associate head coach in July 2018. He spent the 2019 season as an assistant coach at Army West Point, helping to lead the Black Knights to a Patriot League title, and an appearance in the Lubbock Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
Rispoli played a major role in helping the Chargers achieve a national ranking as high as No. 5 in the 2018 season, when he helped guide New Haven to one of the most successful campaigns in program history, tallying a program single-season record 39 wins (39-12). That season, New Haven was the runner-up in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament, and earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division II East Region Championship. In 2018, Rispoli mentored two Northeast-10 All-Conference recipients and two All-Region selections (Joe Caico, Tom Walraven) and managed a defense that ranked in the top-10 nationally in fielding percentage. In addition, Walraven was selected to the 2018 NCAA Division II ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team.
During his first year as a full-time assistant and third base coach under head coach Chris Celano in 2017, the Chargers went 31-13 on their way to a Northeast-10 Championship and a bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament. Rispoli mentored four position players that received all conference honors, including Jack Zagaja (NE10 Second Team, NCAA Division II All-East Region), Tom Walraven (NE10 First Team), Rob Petrillo (NE10 Second Team) and Matt Chamberlain (NE10 All-Rookie Team).
On the season, Zagaja led the Chargers with a .337 batting average and .497 slugging percentage while tallying 57 hits, 17 of them for extra bases with 37 RBI. Petrillo finished the season hitting .315 with 56 hits, 14 for extra bases and 29 RBI. Walraven (.302) was the third Charger to close out the season with an above .300 batting average with 51 hits, four home runs, and 18 RBI. Chamberlain led the Chargers with a .441 on base percentage with 43 hits in his rookie campaign nine doubles, two home runs ,a team-high 30 walks and 18 RBI.
While serving as a pitching coach at Mitchell, Rispoli helped develop some of the top hurlers in the New England Collegiate Conference. Three consecutive NECC Pitcher of the Year honorees (2013, 2014, 2015) came from the Mitchell starting rotation, the foundation of a program that produced back-to-back conference titles in 2014 and 2015 and consecutive NCAA appearances. In 2015 the Mitchell staff ranked 12th in the nation in team ERA (2.94), 13th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.77) and 16th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.45).
A former professional pitcher, Rispoli played college ball at Georgia State University and Campbell University, both Division I programs. In addition to coaching high school players in the shoreline area for the last eight years, he has coached a number of AAU teams and was most recently named the Madison Legion head coach for the summer of 2012.
Rispoli spent professional stints in the Canadian/American Professional Baseball League as a pitcher with the Brockton Rox and New Haven County Cutters. His professional background gave him the experience and knowledge that he now passes along to Chargers.
Prior to his professional experience he was a two-way player for Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. Rispoli was the starting shortstop for three years and one of the top pitchers for the Campbell program. He was named captain his senior season and in 2004 was named the Preseason All-Atlantic Sun Shortstop. In the summers of 2002 and 2003, Rispoli competed in the highly competitive Coastal Plains League for the Gastonia Grizzlies.
A native of Madison, Conn., Rispoli was a four-year starter for the Daniel Hand High School baseball team. He was a three-time all-conference performer and earned all-state distinction his senior year. He currently resides in New Haven, Conn. with his wife Jillian and their daughter.
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