The Diamond Dawgs Coaching Advantage


Coaching is the single most important component of player development in youth baseball. The techniques and habits introduced at an early age lay the foundation for future success—and often determine how far a player’s career can go.

We understand that young athletes grow and mature at different rates. That’s why the mechanics taught to our players are bio-mechanically sound and age-appropriate, ensuring they can continue to improve and compete as their bodies develop.

At Diamond Dawgs, every player receives consistent, high-level instruction from one of the most respected coaching staffs in the region.




Hand-Selected, Homegrown Coaches

Each Diamond Dawgs coach is personally selected by program owners Frank, Ryan, and Dom. Before coaching in any game situation, every coach must have spent a minimum of two years within the Dawgs program—learning our system, philosophy and teaching methods


Our coaches are more than just knowledgeable—they are:

• Skilled communicators
• Experts in player development
• Fully aligned with our proven instruction model
• Capable of teaching fundamentals in an age-appropriate, athlete-focused way

At Diamond Dawgs, we don’t just coach—we develop, we teach, and we build players the right way!




2025 Coaches

•Frank Merigliano:
Owner. Instructor,
Dawgs College Recruiting Coordinator. Pitching coordinator. Played collegiately at Pitt. Drafted by Chicago White Sox. Pitched 6 seasons professionally
21 year Dawgs coach

•Ryan Flanagan:
Owner. Instructor. Hitting coordinator
Dawgs player personnel coordinator.
Played collegiately at Gulf Coast College (FLA). Drafted by California Angels. Played 2 seasons professionally with Minnesota Twins.
21 year Dawgs coach

•Dom Merigliano:
Owner. Instructor. Hitting coordinator
Dawgs program coordinator. Dom is an RN and any player medical issues, needs should be brought to his attention. Played collegiately at Pitt.
21 year Dawgs coach

•Tyler Merigliano:
Instructor. Hitting coordinator
10 year Dawgs player
Played INF collegiately at Slippery Rock University.
7 year Dawgs coach

•Chip Hunter:
Dawgs lead Strength/Speed coach. Played collegiately at WVU and Slippery Rock. 8 year head HS coach.
12 year Dawgs coach

•John Zorn:
Dawgs asst Strength/Speed coach. Facility director. Played football at Gannon University. Son Adin plays OF at University of Dayton.
11 year Dawgs coach

•Todd Stephan:
Asst Pitching Coordinator. Played collegiately at Point Park University. Pitched professionally for six seasons in Baltimore Orioles organization. Current NCAA umpire. Son Aaron pitched at St Vincent College. Son Austin is strength coach for University of Wisconsin Football.
20 year Dawgs coach

•Andy Bednar:
Asst Pitching coordinator
Played Badeball and Football at Cornell University. 10 year head HS coach. Son David (5 year Dawg) is RHP for Pittsburgh Pirates. Son Will (7 year Dawg) was college World Series MVP at Mississippi Stare and 1st round pick of San Francisco Giants.
15 year Dawg coach

•Brett Grandstand:
Infield coordinator. Played collegiately at Coastal Carolina University. Drafted by Pittsburgh Pirates. Played professionally for five seasons. Former HS head coach.
5 year Dawgs coach

•Patrick Sadler:
Catching Coordinator. Played collegiately at Gulf Coast college (Fla). Played professionally for the Washington Wild Things. USA 16U National Team member. Former HS asst coach. Lead instructor AHN Sports.
5 year Dawgs coach

•Joe Noro:
Played collegiately at Calhoun CC (Al) and University of Montevallo (Al). Current head coach at California University of PA (8th year). Coached at Lawson State College (2 years) and Calhoun CC (3 years) prior to joining the staff at Cal.
11 year Dawgs coach

•Tom Ricco:
Played collegiately at Waynesburg University. Assistant coach /AD at Carmichaels high school. Son Nick was an 8 year Dawg and played collegiately at West Virginia Wesleyan University.
12 year Dawgs coach

•Dean Altavilla:
Played collegiately at D1 Radford University in Virginia. Current assistant coach at Thomas Jefferson high school. Nephew Dan pitches for the Kansas City Royals.
7 year Dawgs coach

•Jim Jaskowski:
Played collegiately at Penn State University. Former WPIAL Champion head coach at Chartiers Valley (11 years). Highly regarded Western Pa instructor.
6 year Dawgs coach

•John Popert:
Played collegiately at East Carolina University. Drafted by the Montréal Expos. Played five seasons professionally with the Expos and Washington Nationals .
6 year Dawgs coach

•Mike Hamrick:
Played collegiately at Florida State University. Son Conner plays at Waynesburg University.
6 year Dawgs coach

•Tony Dougherty:
Played collegiately at Slippery Rock University. Drafted by the Cleveland Indians. Played seven seasons professionally with the Indians, Red Sox and Pirates.
5 year Dawgs coach

•John Fritz:
Drafted by the California Angels out of high school. Played eight years professionally with the Angels and Milwaukee Brewers. Last minor league pitcher to win 20 games in a season (1992: 20-4 for Quad Cities Angels)
2 year Dawgs coach

•Rick Carver:
Current Head baseball coach at Franciscan University. Prior to Franciscan was head coach of Bethany College for 29 years. Amassed over 500 wins as a college head coach. Son Cody plays collegiately at Washington and Jefferson.
6 year Dawgs coach

•Jason Swartzmiller.
Play collegiately at Bethany College. Current assistant coach/pitching coach at Franciscan University.
4 year Dawgs coach

•Bob Hornburg:
Played collegiately at D1 Niagara University. Sons, Benny and Charlie play at Penn College of Technology. 10 year Dawgs coach

•Andrew Petruska:
Played collegiately at Clarion University. Current Head coach at Sewickley Academy.
4 year Dawgs coach

•Bernie Weber:
Played collegiately at Duquesne University. Former HS assistant coach. Son Colby, a 6 year Dawg is committed to pitch at East Carolina University.
5 year Dawgs coach

•Sam Ginsberg:
One of the most versatile and winningest coaches in Diamond Dawgs history. Former HS assistant coach. The “Hebrew Hammer” has coached at all levels for the Dawgs.
19 year Dawgs coach.

•Matt Trigona:
Played collegiately at St. Vincent University.
5 year Dawgs coach

•Mike Barnard:
Played collegiately at Johns Hopkins University. An original lesson student of Frank and Dom almost 30 years ago.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Sam Strohm:
Field coordinator CIT Baseball (Meyer Middleton Complex) 15 plus years as coach and board member at CIT. Son Logan plays collegiately at Gannon University.
9 year Dawgs coach

•Gustavo Lopez:
Played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Rick Steinmetz:
Long standing TJ youth coach who has coached at all age groups. Son Ethan plays collegiately at Pitt Greensburg.
10 year Dawgs coach

•Ben Davis:
Dedicated youth coach at multiple levels. One of only 5 coaches to have an undefeated Dawgs team for the entire season.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Jeff Rojik:
Played collegiately at Duquesne University. Former head high school coach.
10 year Dawgs coach

•Tim Provenzano:
Played collegiately at Spring Arbor University (Mi). Won state championship as HS coach. Former professional pitching coach for Washington Wild Things.
2 years Dawgs coach

•Kevin McDowell
Played collegiately at Bucknell University. Drafted by the Detroit Tigers and played six seasons professionally.
3 year Dawgs coach

•John Coyne
Play collegiate Grove City College
3 year Dawgs coach

•Pat Gumto:
Played collegiately at California University of Pennsylvania and Youngstown State University. 7 year Dawgs player.
2 year Dawgs coach

•Aaron Stephan:
Played collegiately at St. Vincent college. 8 year Dawgs player.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Josh Speaker:
Currently playing his grad year at Bethany College. Prior to Bethany played at Walsh University and Franciscan. 6 year Dawgs player.
4 year Dawgs coach

•AJ Maslo:
Played collegiately at Allegheny College. 7 year Dawgs player.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Josh Rankin:
Played collegiately Saginaw Valley State University (MI) and California University of PA. Current HS assitant coach. 7 year Dawgs player.
4 year Dawgs coach

•Jay Cortese:
Played collegiately at Slippery Rock University.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Colby Rockacy
Played collegiately at Cal University of PA. 6 year Dawgs player. Certified strength and speed coach

•Connor Carney:
Currently playing at Cal University of PA. 6 year Dawgs player.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Austin Hall:
Currently playing at St. Vincent University. 6 year Dawgs player.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Gavin Pratt:
Played at Seton Hill University and is currently playing at Waynesburg University. 5 year Dawgs player.
2 year Dawgs coach

•Connor Hamrick:
Currently playing at Waynesburg University. 5 year Dawgs player.
2 year Dawgs coach

•Logan Strohm:
Currently playing at Gannon University. 8 year Dawg player.
2 year Dawgs coach

•Benny Hornburg:
Currently playing at Penn College of technology. 7 year Dawgs player.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Charlie Hornburg:
Currently playing at Penn College of technology. 7 year Dawgs player.
3 year Dawgs coach

•Shane Bischke
8 year Dawgs player
3 year Dawgs coach


New coaches for 2025

•Tyler Bischke:
Played collegiately at Kent State University, Murray State College (Oklahoma), University of New Orleans (.309 BA 12HR) and the University of Pittsburgh (.285 BA)
9 year Dawgs player

•Brian Ruscello:
Played collegiately at University of Richmond. Played 63 games (58 starts) as a true Freshman on the 2002 Richmond team that went 53-13 and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional. Batted .292 with 4 HR and was among the nations leaders in HBP with 19. One of Franks original lesson students.

•Perry Cunningham:
Played collegiately at Davis and Elkins College. Played professionally for five seasons in the Northeast league and Frontier league. Inducted into the Frontier League Hall of Fame in 2022. Coached 17 years at Waynesburg University including three as head coach.

•Mike Florak.
Played collegiately at Ohio University. Was drafted out of high school by the Seattle Mariners. Head coach at D1 Youngstown State University 1999-2007. Prior to Youngstown State was the head coach at Waynesburg University 1997-1998. Published author and speaker on college baseball recruiting. Has done multiple recruiting seminars for the Dawgs over the years:

•Cody McCrerey
Play collegiately West Liberty University. Had coached at the HS and college level

•Jason Diangelo
Played collegiately at West Virginia University. Drafted by the Colorado Rockies and played four years of professional baseball
​​

SINCE 2004 THE DAWGS STAFF HAS PRODUCED
•Over 300 college scholarship players
• 33 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft
• 3 MLB first-round draft picks
 • 9 Major League players
• WPIAL High School Player of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021