Coaches Maher, Stagani give Worcester Bravehearts players a chance to succeed

Bravehearts hitting coach Mike Maher runs from the dugout to take up his post as first base coach during a game at Fitton Field June 18.

WORCESTER — It was late last year when Mike Maher fielded a call from Alex Dion, his former manager of the Worcester Bravehearts.

Dion, who resigned in early August and was soon appointed director of player personnel for the Futures League team, asked Maher if he was interested in coaching now that his collegiate playing days were over.

The response was affirmative.

“I just missed being around baseball and I wanted to come back,” Maher said June 17 following a rainout at Fitton Field. “So that was the main reason. And I liked playing for the Bravehearts.”

And the Bravehearts liked what they heard and hired the 24-year-old Jefferson resident as their hitting coach.

Maher played 19 games for the Bravehearts in 2023 prior to his senior year at Wheaton College, where he helped the Lyons win two NEWMAC championships and posted a career average of .313 over three seasons before graduating with a degree in psychology in 2024.

While he’s new to the profession, Maher has already formulated a coaching philosophy, one grounded in some tried-and-trusted truisms that were reinforced during his time at Wheaton.

Worcester Bravehearts hitting coach Mike Maher, left, and pitching coach Greg Stagani, right, have liked what they've seen so far from the team this summer.

“Work hard at something not only for yourself, but for your team,” Maher said. “And the main thing is putting your teammates before yourself and doing whatever the team needs you to do.

“Kind of put ‒ even though sometimes it’s hard ‒ your ego aside and your emotions aside and do whatever is best for the team to succeed.”

The Bravehearts are certainly off to a successful start with a 12-6 record through 18 games. They led the league in slugging percentage and ranked second in batting average and on-base percentage.

Because summer ball brings together players who are taught differently at their respective collegiate programs for, in the case of the Futures League, an 11-week regular season, Maher has opted to streamline his hitting suggestions.

“It takes some time to understand what their swing is like; how the individual operates,” Maher said. “Basically, how to get the most out of each individual is different.

“I would personally say, hitting line drives and minimizing strikeouts is what I see in a productive player. But, again, I would stress more that every player is different and you have to play to your strengths as an individual.”

Bravehearts hitting coach Mike Maher takes batting gloves from Alex Kuenzle at first base during a game at Fitton Field June 18.

Maher, who said his interest in pursuing a career in coaching has piqued with each passing day, is headed to Springfield College in the fall to pursue a master’s in clinical psychology as his main interest remains sports psychology.

While Maher and Luke Beckstein, a Tyngsborough resident and Groton School and Northeastern graduate who was hired to replace Dion as manager, are in their first summer working for the Bravehearts, it’s year No. 4 for pitching coach Greg Stagani.

“I just enjoy it every summer,” Stagani, 31, said. “It’s a good opportunity to work with different guys. Working with Luke has been great. He asked me to come back, so here I am.”

Stagani, an Ohio native and a graduate of West Liberty University in West Virginia, pitched for the Bravehearts in 2015 and ’16.

The Bravehearts won the league championship his first year here and advanced to the championship series the following season when Stagani was selected to play in the league all-star game.

“It was probably the two best summers ever to come out here and play,” he said. “It was awesome. A great organization and a ton of fun ‒ and we won a lot of baseball games.”

Bravehearts pitching coach Greg Stagani in the dugout at Fitton Field June 18.

While Stagani wasn’t familiar with Central Mass. in particular and New England as a whole prior to his arrival, he decided to make this area his home after his first summer as a Bravehearts coach.

Stagani and his wife, Noralyn, live in Milford, where he just completed his third year teaching and serving as the assistant varsity baseball coach ‒ to Dion ‒ at the high school.

The Futures League season is compact with 62 regular-season games scheduled over 74 days with playoffs to follow among six teams based in four states.

It certainly helps that Noralyn is an avid baseball fan.

“And, yeah, that’s very good for us,” Stagani said. “Long days for me, long nights. Not a lot of nights at home.

“We’re expecting a child in December. So it’ll get a little more hectic around the house, but it’ll be fun. We’re really excited.”

Stagani is also enthusiastic about his pitching staff, which includes the likes of Caleb Allen (Oakmont), Keegan Antelman (Assabet Valley), Evan Cornelius (Milford), Jake LeFrancois (St. Paul), Evan McCarthy (Leominster), Gavin Price (Quabbin), Brady Shea (St. John’s), and David Siciliano (Shrewsbury).

It’s a confident, talented and versatile group that forged a 3.92 earned run average through June 18. That ranked second in the league.

“We don’t ask them to do a ton out of their normal routine or things they’re not comfortable with,” Stagani said. “We talk about that in our first pitchers’ meeting every single summer. We tell them, ‘We’re going to try to put you in every single (situation) as best we can in position to have success.’

“And obviously there are some tough situations we ask guys to go into, but on a pretty nightly basis they’ve been really good and I’m a big fan of this group that we have right now.”