Podcast: Endicott coach Bryan Haley on team’s historic start

Endicott coach Bryan Haley was the 2022 NEIBA D3 Coach of the Year. (Endicott Athletics)

The latest guest on The Base Path Podcast is the coach of the highest-ranked D3 team in New England, Endicott skipper Bryan Haley.

The Endicott baseball team is currently ranked No. 6 overall in the latest D3baseball.com Poll. It marks the highest national ranking in program history.

This comes on the heels of a 2022 season in which Haley earned NEIBA Division 3 Coach of the Year after taking his team to the New England Regional Finals.

Endicott is currently 19-4 overall and 6-0 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play this season. Haley and his staff have built one of the top D3 programs in the country with a roster that is largely comprised of New England players. Only three players on the 2023 roster are from states outside of New England.

“I think we’re really aggressive recruiting the guys who might be ‘too good,'” Haley said. “We’ll go after the guy who might get picked up by a high-level school or a D2 school and let them know what we have to offer. We get them on campus, which is gorgeous. Our facilities are top-notch too, so I think we have a shot at those types of players. Once they’re here and see what we have to offer, it comes down to whether they have a better chance to play here or there.”

Haley prefers to recruit players in must-win games, like high school state tournament or Legion playoff games. He is not a fan of the recent trend of high school players specializing in baseball and playing the sport year-round.

“Go play multiple sports,” Haley said. “Go play football, hockey or whatever three sports you want to fill in. I’ve always felt that way. I think obviously we’re dealing with a lot of specialization now. I think it can be good and bad. I think they’re developing technical skills that they didn’t use to get, but I think they’re lacking it sometimes. I think if you’re just focusing on baseball and technical aspects or numbers like launch angle and specific data, you’re losing out on a lot of competitiveness. You lose out in how to deal with failure. You lose out on the relationships you get from being a part of a team.”

Listen to the entire podcast with Haley.

The New England Baseball Journal podcast is brought to you by the University of Nebraska High School.

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