Baseball
Inside Baseball
Bob DeFelice
Director of Athletics
Baseball Coach
Email Coach DeFelice
For four decades, since the program's inception in 1969, Bob DeFelice has been Bentley University baseball. The 2010 season will mark his 42nd at the helm of the Falcons.
In addition to coaching, DeFelice is the Director of Athletics at Bentley, a position he was named to in October 1991. He's just the second AD that Bentley has ever known.
DeFelice's affiliation with the university dates back to 1968, when he was hired as Bentley's first varsity baseball coach. After coaching the team on a part-time basis from its debut in 1969 to 1987, he was named Assistant Athletics Director for Programs in August 1987. Two years later, he was promoted to Associate Athletics Director.
As Bentley's only head baseball coach, DeFelice has won 619 games during his 41 seasons at the helm, a total that ranks third in New England Division II history. DeFelice, whose teams have averaged 20 wins a season the last decade, is the longest tenured active Division II baseball coach in the country.
DeFelice's teams have finished in the top half of the Northeast-10 Conference 19 times in the last 29 years, and three of his players (Jim McCready, Derek Ghostlaw, Mike Hill) have been drafted by major league clubs since 1991. Another, Jack Baird, played in the New York Penn League in 2004.
In 2001, the Falcons set an NCAA Division II record and led all of college baseball by hitting 2.39 home runs a game, knocking an incredible 98 balls over the fence in 41 games. Last season, his club led Division II in fewest walks allowed, giving up only 1.93 per nine innings.
Since he became AD, the university's sports teams have prospered, with nearly 90 conference championships (regular season and playoff) and NCAA appearances in eight team sports (football, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, field hockey, volleyball, golf, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and men’s cross country). In 2001, the field hockey team captured the first NCAA championship in the university's history.
Under his leadership, Bentley has captured the Northeast-10 Presidents Cup seven times, emblematic of the best overall athletic program in the conference. The most recent came for the 2008-09 academic year.
DeFelice, a 1963 graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Science degree in history, began his coaching career that same year as head football coach and assistant basketball coach at Christopher Columbus High School, a position he held for three years. In 1965, he began a three-year playing career in the Boston Red Sox minor league organization. In 1967, he was a player-coach with the Pittsfield Red Sox.
Before joining the Bentley athletic department staff on a full-time basis in 1987, DeFelice spent 17 years (1970-86) as head football coach at his alma mater, Winthrop High School. During that time, he led the Vikings to a 101-65-2 record, with four Northeast Conference championships, a 33-game winning streak in the early 80’s and two Eastern Massachusetts Division II Super Bowl titles.
Amazingly, DeFelice has been inducted into seven Halls of Fame. He was honored by Boston College in 1986, Bentley in October 1999, and was a charter member of the Winthrop High Hall of Fame in 1997. In November 2002, he was one of four inductees into the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.
DeFelice has also been inducted into the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches, the Boston Park League and the Union Printers International Baseball League halls of fame. DeFelice helped establish the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference and was a founder of the Eastern Football Conference. He served as the EFC commissioner from 1997-2000, when it was absorbed by the Northeast-10 Conference.
Among the many honors he has received are the Jack Butterfield Award from the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association, the Murray Lewis Award from the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Football Officials and the Whitey Allard and Marty McDonough Memorial Sportsmanship Award from the College Baseball Umpires Association of New England.
DeFelice and his wife, Patricia, have four children and seven grandchildren.
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The DeFelice Record | |||||||||
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All Games |
Northeast-10 |
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Year |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
Finish |
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1969 |
9 |
4 |
0 |
.692 |
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|
|
|
|
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1970 |
9 |
11 |
0 |
.450 |
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|
|
|
|
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1971 |
6 |
12 |
0 |
.333 |
|
|
|
|
|
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1972 |
13 |
6 |
0 |
.684 |
|
|
|
|
|
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1973 |
10 |
12 |
0 |
.455 |
|
|
|
|
|
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1974 |
4 |
15 |
0 |
.211 |
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|
|
|
|
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1975 |
9 |
16 |
0 |
.360 |
|
|
|
|
|
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1976 |
12 |
18 |
0 |
.400 |
|
|
|
|
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1977 |
15 |
12 |
0 |
.556 |
|
|
|
|
|
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1978 |
16 |
18 |
1 |
.471 |
|
|
|
|
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1979 |
14 |
19 |
0 |
.424 |
|
|
|
|
|
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1980 |
7 |
20 |
0 |
.259 |
|
|
|
|
|
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1981 |
16 |
14 |
0 |
.533 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
.583 |
3rd |
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1982 |
11 |
16 |
0 |
.407 |
4 |
8 |
0 |
.333 |
6th |
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1983 |
13 |
14 |
0 |
.481 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
.538 |
4th |
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1984 |
13 |
14 |
2 |
.483 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
.577 |
3rd |
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1985 |
14 |
17 |
0 |
.452 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
.667 |
2nd |
|
1986 |
14 |
25 |
0 |
.359 |
4 |
10 |
0 |
.286 |
7th |
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1987 |
12 |
13 |
0 |
.480 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
.444 |
4th |
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1988 |
12 |
21 |
0 |
.364 |
6 |
10 |
0 |
.375 |
t-7th |
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1989 |
16 |
20 |
0 |
.444 |
10 |
6 |
0 |
.625 |
t-2nd |
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1990 |
21 |
18 |
0 |
.538 |
10 |
8 |
0 |
.556 |
t-5th |
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1991 |
17 |
17 |
1 |
.500 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
.500 |
5th |
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1992 |
15 |
19 |
0 |
.441 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
.500 |
t-4th |
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1993 |
13 |
24 |
0 |
.351 |
9 |
13 |
0 |
.409 |
3rd/East |
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1994 |
17 |
17 |
0 |
.500 |
13 |
9 |
0 |
.591 |
2nd/East |
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1995 |
16 |
15 |
0 |
.516 |
12 |
10 |
0 |
.545 |
t3rd/East |
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1996 |
19 |
16 |
0 |
.543 |
13 |
7 |
0 |
.650 |
2nd/East |
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1997 |
26 |
17 |
0 |
.605 |
17 |
7 |
0 |
.708 |
2nd |
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1998 |
12 |
23 |
0 |
.343 |
10 |
13 |
0 |
.435 |
6th |
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1999 |
17 |
19 |
0 |
.472 |
14 |
10 |
0 |
.583 |
3rd |
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2000 |
19 |
24 |
0 |
.442 |
8 |
16 |
0 |
.333 |
t-5th |
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2001 |
25 |
16 |
0 |
.610 |
21 |
12 |
0 |
.636 |
5th |
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2002 |
22 |
25 |
0 |
.468 |
16 |
16 |
0 |
.500 |
3rd/Pepin |
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2003 |
9 |
24 |
0 |
.237 |
8 |
19 |
0 |
.296 |
6th/Pepin |
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2004 |
17 |
22 |
0 |
.436 |
15 |
16 |
0 |
.484 |
7th |
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2005 |
18 |
24 |
0 |
.429 |
15 |
15 |
0 |
.500 |
t-6th |
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2006 |
19 |
25 |
1 |
.433 |
12 |
18 |
0 |
.400 |
9th |
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2007 |
22 |
29 |
0 |
.431 |
17 |
13 |
0 |
.567 |
5th |
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2008 |
22 |
25 |
0 |
.468 |
17 |
13 |
0 |
.567 |
6th |
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2009 |
28 |
22 |
0 |
.560 |
19 |
11 |
0 |
.633 |
4th |
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Total |
619 |
738 |
5 |
.456 |
320 |
302 |
0 |
.514 |
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Kevin Loftus
Asst. Baseball Coach
Asst. Director of Athletics
Kevin Loftus
Email Coach Loftus
In his tenth year of his second tour of duty as a Bentley assistant is Kevin Loftus, who also was a Bentley assistant coach from September 1994 to February 1999.
A former All-America outfielder at UMass-Lowell, the
A third team Division II All-America and the New England Collegiate Conference Player of the Year in 1993, Loftus hit .366 during his two years at UMass-Lowell, helping the Chiefs to a pair of ECAC Division II tournaments and a composite 47-28-1 record. Following his college career, Loftus signed a one-year contract with the Nashua Hawks of the Independent League in 1995. He continues to play during the summers, most recently with the Braintree White Sox of the Cranberry League.
Loftus, 39, has been affiliated with Bentley since September 1994. He rejoined the athletic department in July 2000 after four and a half years in the university's systems and networks department. He served as a network technician and analyst from Feb. 1996 until June 2000.
The recipient of a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from UMass-Lowell in 1993, Loftus is currently pursuing his MBA from Bentley with a concentration in Management. He lives in
Mike Hill
Asst. Baseball Coach
Director of Intramurals
Email Coach Hill
In his ninth year on the coaching staff is former Bentley All-America and Northeast-10 Player of the Year Mike Hill. The Bentley graduate is also in his seventh year as the Director of Intramurals at his alma mater.
Hill was a standout for the Falcons from 1994-97 and is considered by many to be the best player to ever wear a Bentley uniform. The East Bridgewater native is the program's all-time leader in home runs (43), total bases (387), RBI (191) and slugging percentage (.763), and his .379 career batting average ranks second in school history. In 1996 alone, he hit .410, slugged 19 home runs (a single season school record), leading Division II in home runs per game, and knocked in 68 runs (a single season school record).
Following graduation, Hill was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 41st round and played a season with the Sarasota White Sox in the Gulf Coast League in 1997. The 2005 inductee into the Bentley Athletic Hall of Fame continues to play for the Braintree White Sox in the Cranberry League each summer. Hill's younger bother Roger was also a standout at Bentley from 1997-2000 and is the school's all-time leader in hits with 239.
Hill, 33, graduated from Bentley in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and in addition to coaching at Bentley, is employed as both a Sales Broker for Eagle Fruit Traders and also as the Director of Intramurals at Bentley. He currently resides in Braintree with his wife Cheryl and daughter, Kiley.
Hill was inducted into the Northeast-10 Conference Hall of Fame in June 2007.
Bernie Driscoll
Asst. Baseball Coach
Coor. of Recreation, Club Sports & Events
Email Coach Driscoll
Back for his eighth year on the Bentley coaching staff is former Falcon infielder and relief pitcher Bernie Driscoll, who started 119 games from 2000-02. During his four years in a Bentley uniform, the
In addition to working with the baseball team, Driscoll is Bentley’s Coordinator of Recreation, Club Sports and Events.
