Assistant Coach Rich Cavazza returned to his alma mater’s staff prior to the 2016 season. A three-year member of the Chestnut Hill College pitching staff (2012-2014), Cavazza spent the summer of 2015 as a reliever with the Watertown Bucks of the North Country Baseball League (NCBL).
A left-hander, Cavazza carried the Griffins’ lowest earned run average (ERA), 1.42, through six appearances that totaled 6.1 innings of work as a senior in 2014. He earned a share of a shutout and allowed one earned run while walking five and striking out six. The previous season, he worked 11.1 innings over 12 relief appearances, finishing the season with a 7.15 ERA and averaging nearly a strikeout per inning (0.88, 10K/11.1IP). He struck out 16 in 17.2 frames during his Chestnut Hill College career.
After his final collegiate season, Cavazza helped lead his team to a Pendel Baseball League championship during the 2014 summer season, when he was named the league’s Reliever of the Year. Cavazza was a pitcher and center fielder for Ulster County Community College between 2009 and 2011 and pitched in the New York Collegiate Baseball League during the summer of 2012.
Cavazza worked as a coach with Matt Paul Sports from August 2013 to April 2014, instructing children ages 5 to 13 on fundamental baseball skills. Starting in June of 2014, he worked for Children of America, serving as the lead teacher in a Pre-K classroom of 15-20 children.
Cavazza was active off the field while at Chestnut Hill, serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (2011-2014) and twice appearing on the Dean’s List (2013 and 2014). He graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in public education and community relations.
