Ray Antonelli
Assistant Coach
First Year
(Southern Miss, 2004)

    Ray Antonelli, a former pitcher at the University of Southern Mississippi, was hired as the top assistant coach at Youngstown State on Dec 17. He not only brings NCAA Tournament experience as a player, but also an impressive record as an instructor.
    "Throughout his career, Ray has done whatever it takes to win," Pasquale said. "He was a very gutsy and hard-nosed player, and I know that he'll bring that as a coach.
    "He's a players' coach, and the players respect him for what he's accomplished."
    Last season Antonelli served as the pitching coach for La Roche College in Pittsburgh. He helped lead the Redhawks to a regular season Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title and a runner-up finish in the conference tournament. Antonelli's staff ranked third in the league in earned-run average, and seven pitchers had an ERA of 4.50 or lower. Pitcher Nate McCollough earned Second-Team All-AMCC honors after leading the circuit with seven saves and finishing with a 3-1 record and 2.00 ERA.
    Antonelli previously served as a pitching instructor at Palladini's Field of Dreams in Bridgeville, Pa. for three years. He also had coaching stints at Avonworth High School in Pittsburgh in 2006 and for the Pittsburgh Pandas Collegiate Summer League in 2005.
    As a two-year letterwinner for Southern Miss in 2003 and 2004, Antonelli helped lead the Golden Eagles to two NCAA Regional appearances.
    In 2003, Antonelli went 4-0 with five saves and an ERA of 2.14 while holding opposing hitters to a .201 average. He earned the win over East Carolina in the Conference USA Tournament semifinal game and picked up regular season victories over Cincinnati and Charlotte.
    In 2003 the Golden Eagles claimed their first regular season Conference USA title and continued on to win the league tournament. They hosted an NCAA Regional but fell to top-seeded Baylor in the championship game. Southern Miss was ranked as high as 12th in the national polls during the year, which was its highest in school history. The squad finished with an overall record of 47-16 and a 23-7 ledger in conference contests.
    The following season Southern Miss went 45-19 earned runner-up finishes in the Conference USA regular season standings and tournament. It also won a game in the Baton Rouge Regional.
    Prior to his two-year career at Southern Miss, Antonelli played at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. He was a First-Team All-Panhandle Conference pitcher in 2002 after going 5-2 with an ERA of 1.84.
    A native of Hopewell Township in Beaver County, Pa., Antonelli was a highly touted pitcher at Hopewell High. He was a first-team all-state selection as a senior in 2000 when he helped lead his team to the Class AAA Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Championship. That year he was named the High School Baseball Player of the Year by the Pittsburgh Tribune Review and the Beaver County Times. Antonelli also earned honorable mention honors on the USA Today All-USA High School Baseball Team in 2000.
    Antonelli and Pasquale have several ties prior to YSU. In addition to both having a blue-collar work ethic as natives of Beaver County, Pasquale was the head coach at La Roche from 2003 to 2006 prior to Antonelli's arrival. Antonelli also played for Pasquale as an eighth and ninth grader in the Keystone State Games, an amateur competition modeled after the Olympics.
    Antonelli holds a bachelor of science degree in coaching and sports administration from Southern Miss and an associate in arts degree from Gulf Coast CC. He has also taken graduate classes toward a master's in business education at Robert Morris.