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Head Coach Jay Messina
Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. '77
First season

Jay Messina takes over as head coach of the Cougar baseball program after serving five seasons as an assistant coach at Caldwell College. An excellent teacher of the game, Messina has played a major role in the Cougars’ success, especially at the plate. Since his arrival, the Cougars have batted over .300 as a team in three out of five years while leading the CACC in batting twice, in 2005 and 2007. Also, under Messina’s tutelage, Hasani Whitfield was named the CACC Player of the Year in 2005 and Adric Saxon led the nation in runs batted in per game in 2007. The Cougars' success at the plate has led to a pair of CACC titles and three appearances in the NCAA Northeast Region Tournament during Messina tenure as an assistant.

Messina joined the Cougars in 2004 after serving as head baseball coach at Essex Catholic High School for seven years until the school closed in 2003. He also has been involved in coaching Little League and American Legion baseball for 22 years. Last year, Messina opened Ron’s Baseball Academy in Passaic, N.J., where he provides instruction for youth baseball players.

Messina graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1977 with a degree in accounting. In addition to his coaching responsibilities with the Cougars, Messina works as a certified public accountant in Bloomfield, N.J. He currently lives in Belleville, N.J.


 

Assistant Coach John Waddilove
Caldwell College ‘05
First season

John Waddilove returns to his alma mater as an assistant coach after starring for the Cougars from 2002-04. A two-time all-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference player at first base, Waddilove earned all-Northeast Region honors in 2004 after helping Caldwell capture its first CACC Tournament title and advance to the program’s first NCAA Regional. That year, he batted .393 with six home runs and 41 runs batted in, all team highs, and was named to the all-CACC first team. As a junior, Waddilove made the all-CACC second team after hitting .406 with 25 RBI. For his career, Waddilove had 125 hits and 78 RBI in 108 games, and his .363 career batting average ranks fourth all-time at Caldwell.

Waddilove graduated in 2005 with a degree in Computer Information Systems. He currently works with children with autism at the Allegro School in Morristown, N.J.

A native of Lincoln Park, N.J., Waddilove attended Boonton High School before playing one season at Raritan Valley Community College. He currently lives in Lincoln Park, N.J.

 

Assistant Coach Gary Pannuzzo
Monmouth University ‘77
First season

Gary Pannuzzo joins the Cougar staff as an assistant coach this season. A lifelong follower of baseball at the youth and amateur levels and a former college player, Pannuzzo returns to the collegiate coaching ranks. He played four seasons at Monmouth University and was a member of the Hawks’ 1977 squad that advanced to the NAIA World Series. Pannuzzo also served as an assistant coach at Monmouth from 1979-80.

A 1977 Monmouth graduate, Pannuzzo later earned his M.B.A from Monmouth in 1980. He founded GXP Trading Company and served as its president for 20 years.

Pannuzzo has three children: Gary Jr. (22), Shayna (20) and Timothy (12). He and his wife Jennifer live in Chatham, N.J.