Instructors
Brian Looney
Brian was a standout student athlete at Cheshire High School and The Gunnery School, before taking his talents to Boston College. While at BC, he juggled both hockey and baseball before concentrating solely on baseball his junior year. During his junior baseball season, Brian led the Big East in virtually every pitching category, which led to him being drafted in the 10th round by the Montreal Expos in 1991.
Brian’s professional career took off with a bang, as he went 7-1 with a 1.16 ERA for the Jamestown Expos. He was named the 5th best prospect in the New York Penn League and went on to lead his team to a League Championship. Just two years later, Brian was the ace of the famed Harrisburg Expos pitching staff, which went on to win 100 games and capture the Eastern League Championship. Following the season Brian earned his first call-up to the Major Leagues, where he posted a 3.00 ERA in six innings pitched. In 1994, Brian began the year in AAA with the Expos and earned a mid-season call-up to the Big Leagues once again, only to be sent back down when the players went on strike. Brian was traded to the Boston Red Sox following the season and spent part of the year in AAA Pawtucket and couple of weeks in Boston with the Red Sox. After spending the entire year in AAA the following year, he was traded to The Minnesota Twins for Pat Mahomes. Brian had his first elbow surgery that year and followed that with another in 2000, curtailing his path to the Major Leagues.
In all Brian went on to pitch 18 years professionally, with the last three as a player-coach in the Italian Professional Baseball League. Following his career in Professional Baseball, Brian went on to become the Pitching Coordinator at the Hit Club where he tutored some of the best young pitchers in the state of Connecticut. He is now the owner of Hamden Yards and will continue to mentor and develop all of the up and coming athletes in the area.
Shane Spencer
Shane Spencer endeared himself to NY Yankee fans everywhere in 1998 when he got called up to the Big Leagues and promptly hit 10 home runs including 3 grand slams in the month of September while helping the Yankees win the World Series. His 3 grand slams were a record for rookies until 2008 when it was broken by Alexei Ramirez. Shane ultimately played in 4 World Series and was part of 3 World Championship teams. He went on to play 7 years in the Big Leagues with the Yankees, Indians, Rangers and Mets while also spending a year playing in Japan. After his playing days were over, Shane remained in baseball coaching for the San Diego Padres, Somerset Patriots, Hamden Yards and most recently coaching in Korea. Shane is our hitting coordinator at Hamden Yards and he also coaches some of our spring and summer teams.
Bill Mrowka
Bill Mrowka took over the Cheshire High School baseball program in the spring of 1998. Prior to taking over the Rams program, Mrowka was an assistant baseball coach at Cheshire High School for 10 years. Coach Mrowka was awarded with the Connecticut Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year award in 1997. Mrowka graduated from Cheshire High School in 1982 earning all-league football and all-state baseball honors and still holds the career homerun record; and from Quinnipiac College in 1987 where he was the starting catcher for three years; as well as being elected captain his senior year. Coach Mrowka continued his baseball career professionally in the Connecticut State League. During his fourteen years as head baseball coach, Mrowka has led the rams to the state playoffs 11 times reaching the finals, semi-finals and quarter-finals of the class “LL” tournament. Bill was also selected by his peers to coach in the Connecticut Senior All-star games in 2007 and 2008. Bill earned his Masters of Arts in teaching from Sacred Heart University and his Sixth Year Degree in Science from Southern Connecticut State University and currently teaches at Wolcott High School.
Trey Stover
Trey is currently the Assistant Coach for the University of Hartford. He was a 4 year starting shortstop for the Hawks from 2012-15. He was selected to the All-Conference tournament team as a senior when the Hawks competed for an American East Championship. Following his playing days at Hartford, Trey was drafted in the 35th round by the Kansas City Royals. He played for the Burlington Royals in rookie ball before continuing his professional career in Germany as the starting shortstop for the Mainz Athletics. After his playing career ended, Trey was a volunteer assistant coach at Quinnipiac University in 2018 then moved on to be an assistant coach at Marist. He has now returned to his alma mater to continue his coaching career.
John Slusarz
John was drafted by Houston Astros in the 35th round in 2003 after pitching for Uconn Avery Point. He decided to stay in school and attended the University of Connecticut where he was once again drafted, this time by the Texas Rangers in the 36th round in 2006. John spent 5 years pitching in the minor leagues before bringing his talents to the coaching ranks. He spent 2 years on Justin Bloods staff at Hartford as a volunteer pitching coach and then went on to be a pitching coach in the Anaheim Angels system. John runs our throwing program at Hamden Yards and has been a key part in producing our college pitchers.
Jim Leyritz- New York Yankees