Dennis Healy Joins Wake Forest Baseball Staff
6/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 29, 2009
Wake Forest University head baseball coach Tom Walter today announced that Dennis Healy will join the Demon Deacon coaching staff as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.
"Dennis is the perfect person to take our pitching staff to the next level," said Walter. "His ability to get the most out of each and every one of his pitchers is second to none in our business. He has an exceptional ability to identify exactly what a pitcher needs to do to be successful at the highest level and then has the knowledge base and the communication skills to make the necessary corrections and have them translate immediately on the field."
Healy recently finished his fourth season as the head coach at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. as he led the Red Foxes to the 2009 NCAA Baseball Regionals. During his tenure at Marist, Healy had 11 players named to the All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team including four first team selections. Earlier this month, Marist closer Jacob Wiley, the MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year and the MAAC Tournament MVP, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. Wiley was the first Marist player taken in the draft since 2003.
Healy and Walter have previously worked together at both George Washington and the University of New Orleans. Healy was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at GWU under Walter for five seasons, a period in which the Colonials enjoyed tremendous success. GWU set school records for wins in three of Healy's five seasons with Colonials including 37 wins in 2000, 38 wins in 2001 and 42 victories in 2002. In 2003, GWU posted its highest winning percentage (.673) since 1986. In his fall recruiting class of 2001, all seven of his signees went on to sign professional baseball contracts.
"From a recruiting standpoint, he is a tireless worker and a terrific evaluator," said Walter. "He will take Wake Forest recruiting to a national level and get us in front of the best players in the nation.
"I couldn't be happier that Dennis has choosen to become part of the Wake Forest family."
Healy, a native of Ballston Spa, N.Y., was a four-year starting pitcher at GWU from 1993-96. He earned second team All-Atlantic 10 honors as a senior and was a second team All-East Region and second team All-ECAC pick. Healy was 7-3 as a senior and ranked 12th in the nation with a 2.25 ERA. The right-hander also served as team captain as a senior.
Healy served as the head coach of the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League in the summer of 2004 as he led the team to a Southern Division title and a successful run in the league playoffs.
Healy is a 1996 graduate of George Washington with a degree in criminal justice. He began is collegiate coaching career at Cleveland State where he served as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the Vikings. He earned his master's in sports management in 1999 from Cleveland State while serving as an assistant coach.
Healy officially joined the staff on Monday and is already on the recruiting trail for Wake Forest.