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Head Coaches

Matt Antonelli

Antonelli Baseball was founded by Matt Antonelli. Matt played collegiately at Wake Forest University and was a 1st round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in 2006. He made his Major League debut in 2008 and played eight seasons for the Padres, Nationals, Orioles, Yankees, and Indians. After his playing career ended, he coached at Wake Forest University and was also the Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Coach at Holy Cross. Matt has first-hand knowledge of the college recruiting process and has relationships with hundreds of college coaches around the country. He runs every winter workout and team practice and also coaches both spring and summer teams to help develop each player to his full potential.

Jack Antonelli

Jack serves as head coach of both spring and summer teams at Antonelli Baseball, as well as assisting in recruiting. He also provides one-on-one and group lessons throughout the year. As a player, he attended North Adams State and North Shore Community College where he pitched. (1979-1982). He coached both baseball and football at St. John’s Prep for over twenty years (1999-2021) and has coached travel baseball for over fifteen years, including years with The New England Lighting (16U), The Mass Magic (15U,16U), The Boston Jr. Rams (10U-16U), and The Academy (14U). Jack also helped develop his son Matt throughout his playing career and helped guide him through both the recruiting and draft process. 

Nick Lepore

Nick serves as a head coach at Antonelli baseball as well as a pitching coach for our entire organization, running pitching workouts, lessons, and clinics. As a player, Nick pitched at Umass Boston, one of the top Division 3 programs in the country. Before playing at Umass Boston, Nick played his high school baseball at Malden Catholic, where he stared on the mound. Nick played summer baseball under coaches Matt and Jack Antonelli as a pitcher for Antonelli Baseball during his high school career. At the end of his playing career, Nick transitioned into college coaching and is entering his second season with the Beacons, assisting with their pitching staff. He also coached collegiate summer baseball for the Keene Swamp Bats of the NECBL.

NICK PALMA

Nick serves as a head coach at Antonelli Baseball as well as a hitting coach for our entire organization, running one on one lessons, group sessions, clinics, and workouts. As a player, Nick played first base and outfield at Umass Boston, one of the top Division 3 programs in the country. During his time there he was named team captain and the program won two league titles, a regional, a super regional, and made a College World Series appearance. Prior to attending Umass, Nick starred at Peabody High School and was also a standout player with Antonelli Baseball under coaches Matt and Jack Antonelli.

Connor Simpson

Connor serves as head coach of both spring and summer teams at Antonelli Baseball. He also provides one-on-one and group lessons throughout the year. He graduated from Eastern Nazarene College where he enjoyed a playing career that featured 115 consecutive games started.  Simpson played both pitcher and centerfield and served as a two year captain.  He was an integral part of a Lions team that ended a 13 season playoff drought. He coached collegiately at Division 2 Salem University in Salem, WV.  Connor played high school baseball at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Connor has also coached three years of high school baseball at both Central Catholic and Bishop Fenwick.

Juan Rivera

Juan works with our Antonelli Baseball pitchers throughout the fall and winter and also helps with recruiting. He has extensive knowlege of the recruiting process and developing players for college baseball, as he spent six years coaching in college. Rivera was the pitching coach at Fitchburg State University where his pitching staff posted a 3.96 earned run average and broke multiple school records. During his time there, he was also responsible for scouting opposing offenses and recruiting potential student-athletes. He was also an assistant coach at Eastern Nazarene College for two seasons and responsible for developing their infielders and outfielders and was most recently the pitching coach for Gordon College. Juan is currently a coach in the Boston Red Sox Organization. As a player, he is a graduate of Eastern Nazarene College where he spent his time split between pitching and playing the outfield.

Bryan Menduke

Bryan has served the past five years as Director of Scouting for Antonelli Baseball and as the 17U Associate Head Coach.  As a player, Bryan pitched for Head Coach Steve Owens at Bryant University from 2010-2013.  He also pitched in the Futures League for the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs, appearing in the All-Star game in 2012. Bryan works with our Antonelli Baseball pitchers and assists in finding the best baseball talent in New England. 

JAY DAWSON

Jay serves as head coach of spring and summer teams at Antonelli Baseball. He is also an assistant varsity coach for Bishop Fenwick High School, where he works with the catchers. Over the past four years with Antonelli Baseball, Jay has coached at the 13U, 14U, 15U, and 16U levels. Prior to joining Antonelli Baseball, Jay coached at the 9U-13U levels for Legends Baseball for five years. He also coached Ipswich Little League and Babe Ruth for 10 years and was the head coach for the 9u-12u District All-star teams. He also coached high school basketball for 5 years, both as a freshman head coach and varsity assistant coach at Ipswich High School, as well as 9 years as a travel basketball coach for both boys and girls teams. Jay is a graduate of Boston College.

Charlie Palma

Charlie has coached at the 11U, 12U, 14U, 15U, 16U, 17U, and 18U levels for Antonelli Baseball over the past seven seasons. Before joining the Antonelli Baseball staff, Charlie spent six years coaching for Legends Baseball, where he served as the head coach for multiple age levels. "Coach P" brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the program and has helped hundreds of players develop and move on to the collegiate level. Charlie's son Nick is also a coach in the Antonelli Baseball program and played at Umass Boston, one of the top Division 3 programs in the country.

Dennis Villano

Dennis has served as both head and assistant coach from 11U-17U age levels. Dennis has been around the game of baseball since he was a young kid, serving as a clubhouse attendant and batboy for the Boston Red Sox. He played baseball at Dom Savio High School in East Boston, graduating in 1996. He has coached travel baseball at multiple age levels for the North Shore Tigers AAU program, and has been with Antonelli Baseball for six years. Dennis has also coached Peabody West Little League for six years and several District All-Star teams at the 9U-12U levels. He is also a former middle school teacher and now serves as a district administrator.

Marc Carrillo

Marc has coached at the 11U, 12U, 13U, and 14U levels for Antonelli Baseball over the past five seasons. Before joining the Antonelli Baseball staff, Marc spent over twenty years coaching both Little League and travel baseball, where he served as the head coach for multiple age levels. Marc brings a tremendous amount of experience to our program and has helped hundreds of players improve their skills and move on to both the high school and  collegiate levels. Marc has two sons that have both come through the Antonelli Baseball program. His oldest son, Marco, currently pitches for Fitchburg State, while his youngest son, Genaro, plays for Triton High School.

Joe Rollo

Coach Joe Rollo has over 23 years of coaching experience, working mostly with athletes from elementary to high school levels in baseball as well as basketball. With a specialization in sport-specific training, Coach Joe has successfully trained athletes up to the college, semi and professional levels. Joe’s first love was baseball, which he played throughout high school in Malden, but ultimately went on to play basketball in college at Hesser/ New Hampshire college. Even with his love and focus on basketball, Joe has never been able to keep baseball out of his life and has remained involved at some capacity for almost two decades. Most of his baseball time has been spent coaching and training players one-on-one and has spent seven years coaching travel baseball teams, ranging from 9U to 13U. He has served as a coach at the high school level, mentoring athletes from freshman to varsity teams for over 20 years. With a passion for coaching baseball and a proven track record of success, Coach is dedicated to helping athletes excel and reach their full baseball potential.

Joe Massa

Joe serves as head coach of spring and summer teams at Antonelli Baseball and has been part of our program since its inception in 2013.  As a player, he graduated from Malden Catholic in 1986 and was inducted into the MC Hall of Fame in 1998. He played Baseball and Football and was a Catholic Conference All-Star in both sports. He continued his baseball career at the University of Maine, Orono, playing 2B and graduated in 1990. Joe coached Little League Baseball in Everett for 11 years, winning multiple Distrcit 12 All-Star titles as well as winning the 11 year old All-Star State Championship in 2007. Joe has coached AAU and EBL baseball for the Boston Jr Rams (12U,14U) and SilverHawks (12U, 14U, 15U) baseball teams.

Johnny Reina

Johnny has coached Antonelli Baseball 16U and 18U teams since joining the organization in 2018. As a player, he played at D1 Morehead State University, D2 Tusculum University, and Rowan College at Gloucester County. He has gained a wealth of recruiting knowlege playing at three different levels of college baseball and passes it on daily to our AB players. Johnny has also worked for the Pawtucket Red Sox, AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, doing pro shadow scouting. He also spent a summer as an assistant recruiting intern for RCGC. Johnny is also a published author, releasing two books on Amazon, “The Secret Arts Within the Game” & “The Eyes of Baseball”.