Bravehearts Assistant Coach Hartigan to Retire, Milford HS Coach Dion to Join Team

Friday, February 02, 2018
GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

The Worcester Bravehearts have announced that assistant coach Kevin Hartigan is retiring from coaching and moving into the front office.

Hartigan was the second employee in team history when he was hired in November of 2013.

“I’m honored to continue working for the Bravehearts and the Creedon family in the capacity of baseball operations. Even though fans won’t see me on the Bield, they can expect to see me in the stands at each game with our host families, player families, and Major League Baseball scouts so that we can keep our baseball team moving in a positive direction,” said Hartigan.

To replace Hartigan, the Bravehearts have announced that Milford High School varsity baseball coach Alex Dion will join the team.

About Dion

Dion is a 2011 graduate of Western New England University and has coached locally for the past seven years.

He was an Assistant Coach at Milford High School for four seasons before being offered the job of Head Coach of the varsity baseball team last September. With the Bravehearts, he will unite with another person connected to Milford’s proud baseball heritage: Manager J.P. Pyne, a Milford High School graduate.

"I'm honored and excited to be joining the Worcester Bravehearts organization and J.P. Pyne's coaching staff. I want to thank the Creedon family, GM Dave Peterson, J.P. Pyne and the rest of the Bravehearts for this opportunity. I am looking forward to working with this staff and our players this summer to continue to build on what has become such a Birst class organization with a rich winning tradition in the Worcester community,” said Dion.

Dion also had two coaching stints with Northborough American Legion Post 234 from 2011 - 2013 and again from 2016 - 2017. In between, he coached for Team Mizuno Northeast-based at Hit Quarters in Shrewsbury.

Bravehearts Season Begins

The Bravehearts begin their season on May 30 at home against the Nashua Silver Knights.

  • Casey At The Bat

    Casey at the Bat was written on August 14, 1863 on Chatham Street in Worcester by Ernest Thayer under the penname “Phineas.” The 150th anniversary of the poem is being celebrated in 2013.

     

  • First Perfect Game

    The first perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball was pitched in Worcester, on June 12, 1880, by J. Lee Richmond for the Worcester Worcesters – also known at various times as the Brown Stockings and the Ruby Legs - versus the Cleveland Blues at the Worcester Driving Park Grounds, located in the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds near Elm Park. Worcester joined the National League in 1880, replacing the failed Syracuse Stars.

     

  • Industrial League

    In Greater Worcester, there was a deep history of participation in Industrial League Baseball. Locally, teams included Norton Co., Town Talk Baking Co. and Whitin Machine Works (shown here).

     

  • Honorary NL Membership

    Worcester’s National League team was suspended in 1882 and replaced by the Philadelphia Quakers, who later became the Philadelphia Phillies. Worcester maintains an honorary lifetime NL membership.

     

  • NE Collegiate Baseball

    A New England Collegiate Baseball League team played in Leominster from 1995 to 1999. Called the Central Mass. Collegians, they won the NECBL Championship in both 1995 and 1996, and During the 1995 season, they played a game against the Cuban National Youth Team in Worcester.

     

  • Worcester Tornadoes

    The now-defunct Worcester Tornadoes of the Can-Am League played for eight seasons, from 2005 through 2012. Former Tornadoes emcee Dave Peterson is general manager of Worcester’s new team in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

     

  • Wachusett Dirt Dawgs

    The Wachusett Dirt Dawgs, who play at historic, and newly renovated, Doyle Field in Leominster, are a 2012 expansion franchise in the now-three-year-old Futures Collegiate Baseball League.The Dirt Dawgs’ 2013 season swung into action on June 5 with big expectations, but ended on August 8 with those hopes being dashed. They finished in the basement, with a record of 20-31 - 14 games behind first-place the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (38-18). The team is owned by prominent Leominster businessman John Morrison, who also founded, owns and operates Fosta-Tek Optics in Leominster.

     
Delivered Free Every
Day to Your Inbox

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook

X