Coaching Experience
Assistant Baseball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, FDU-Florham (2018-2021)
Manager, New York Brave Professional Baseball (2021)
Bench Coach, Rockland Boulders Professional Baseball (2015-2020)
Assistant Baseball Coach and Head Club Baseball Coach, St. Thomas Aquinas College (2017-2018)
Assistant Baseball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, College of Mount Saint Vincent (2016-2017)
Head Baseball Coach, Raritan Valley Community College (2014-2016)
FDU
Romanella coached three seasons with at FDU Florham, serving as the Recruiting Coordinator, Hitting, Infield and Baserunning Coach.
The 2021 season saw Romanella oversee First-Team All-Conference and ABCA Second Teamm All0-Region selection, Tommy Moore. Moore led the MAC Freedom Conference in homeruns (9) and sixth in batting average (.370). In 31 games, four different Devils offensive players finished top-12 or better in five offensive categories.
During a 2020 shortened season, Romanella helped the Devils to a 7-4 finish, the programs best start since 2012. The offense was led by Junior Nate Peacock, who was named the MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week for March 8-15 and the Devils Baseball MVP. Peacock hit .400 over 11 games, with 16 hits, three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI.
The 2020 campaign also saw Joe Moskowitz lead the team in batting average, finishing with a .417 clip in 24 at-bats, while Matt Nodoro continued where he left off his sophomore year, reaching base in 11 straight games and continuing a streak that has seen him reach base in 37 straight games, dating back to March 2019. The Devils stacked up well offensively in the MAC Freedom, finishing second in batting average (.296), doubles (24), and walks (52), while ranking third in runs batted in (59), hits (101), and on-base percentage (.397).
In 2019, Romanella helped lead FDU's offense, defense and baserunning to heights it hadn't been in the last five plus seasons. AJ Yurista notched his second consecutive All-Conference honor, while rookie Tyler McCulloch was tabbed as the ECAC Metro Division Rookie of the Month in March. In MAC Freedom games, the Devils hit .311, the highest batting average since the team hit .334 en route to a playoff berth in 2012. Defense was a big part of the conference performance, fielding .942 as a unit, which was the highest in five seasons. FDU swiped the most bases since 2012 (72) and boasted the programs highest slugging percentage (.381) and runs per game (7.5) in MAC Freedom play, since 2013.
Professional Baseball
During the pandemic shortened summer of 2020, Romanella was hired as the Manager of the New York Brave in the All-American Baseball Classic, presented by the Frontier League of Professional Baseball. The travel team of the Rockland Boulders, Romanella led the Brave to a 12-14 record and the four seed in the AABC playoffs. The Brave upset the number one seeded Sussex Country Miners, 5-1, to earn a trip to the Championship Game.
Prior to becoming the Manager of the Brave, Romanella spent four seasons as the Bench Coach for the Rockland Boulders, helping the team reach the CanAm League playoffs in '15, '16, '18 and '19, reaching the Championship Series during the '18 campaign.
Prior to FDU
Romanella came to FDU after spending the 2017-2018 season at NCAA Division II powerhouse, St. Thomas Aquinas College.
There, he served as the Head Club Baseball Coach and Varsity Infield, Baserunning and Strength and Conditioning Coach. During his time at his alma mater STAC, Romanella helped the Spartans capture the 2018 East Coast Conference Tournament Championship en route to the programs sixth straight NCAA East Region Tournament appearance and a berth in the East Region Championship.
As the baserunning coach, the Spartans finished second in the nation for NCAA Division II programs with 161 stolen bases. Senior, Joey Pena finished 15th in the nation under Romanella's guidance, averaging 0.69 steals per game. Pena, along with fellow senior, Giovanni Dingcong, were both picked in the 2018 MLB Entry Draft by the Oakland Athletics. Along with Dingcong and Pena, three other Spartans went on to sign professional baseball contracts.
Before coaching at St. Thomas, Romanella spent the 2016-2017 season as the Recruiting Coordinator and Top Assistant Coach at The College of Mount Saint Vincent. There, Romanella helped lead the offense, defense, and weight training for the program.
Before becoming an Assistant Coach at CMSV, Andrew spent two years as the Head Baseball Coach at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, NJ.
While at RVCC, Romanella helped double the teams win total each season, coached 2 All-Region and All-Conference players and over saw an offense in 2016 that hit .308 in 31 games with 178 runs scored,14 home runs, 44 doubles, 99 walks and 52 stolen bases. Along with the on-field achievements, Romanella helped in the facility and maintenance department, served as a study hall director, raised the team GPA four points, and had all 10 sophomores, in his 2 seasons, graduate with an associate degree.
Along with coaching college baseball, Romanella spent 3 years as a Head Coach, professional instructor and Social Media Director at Zoned Sports Academy in Bridgewater, NJ. At Zoned, Romanella coached teams at the 14-17U levels while also instructing private and group hitting and fielding lessons. He also served as the Assistant Recruiting Coordinator to Coach Quinn during his time at the facility.
Off the Field
Outside of baseball coaching, Romanella hosts "The Rome Show", a live internet radio show, every Thursday, from 8-9PM EST on the 12oz Sports Network, produces the "Wide World of Rome" podcast network and has recorded over 150 live radio shows and podcasts in his career.
Before becoming the Sports Information Director at FDU-Florham, Romanella spent six years as the Color Commentator for St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's and Women's Basketball.
Education
Masters of Business Administration, FDU-Florham (Spring '22)
Bachelors of Communications, St. Thomas Aquinas College (2013)
