Phil Caruso, the 2017 Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year, enters his sixth season as head baseball coach at Fairmont State University.
Caruso has been inducted into four hall of fames to recognize his contributions to the game of baseball, including the Maryland Semi-Pro Hall of Fame (2007), Garrett College Hall of Fame (2015), Westchester Community College Hall of Fame (2018), and National Semi-Pro Hall of Fame (2019).
This spring the Falcons got off to a 7-9 start in non-conference play before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Falcons were picked to finish second in the north in the MEC Preseason Poll. Zach Musgrove earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors following the season and was also named MEC Player of the Week on Feb. 10. Musgrove was the fourth Falcon player to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors under Caruso.
In 2019, Fairmont State finished the year with a 25-25 overall record, including a 16-16 record in conference play. As a result, the Falcons qualified for the MEC Tournament for the second time under Caruso after earning the No. 3 seed in the northern division standings. Fairmont State was well-represented in the MEC postseason awards, with Michael Stout earning Pitcher of the Year honors for the second-consecutive season. Zach Musgrove and starting pitcher Will Brown also earned second team All-MEC honors, and E.J. Trickett and Houston Morris were both MEC honorable mention selections. Caruso's 2019 team also set a new school record with 51 home runs.
Stout also earned All-Atlantic Region honors from the ABCA, NCBWA and D2CCA following his senior campaign.
Caruso led the Falcons to a 23-26 overall record in 2018, finishing fourth in the MEC North standings with a 15-17 conference mark. Junior ace Michael Stout was named third team NCBWA All-American, and added D2CCA honorable mention All-American honors after recording an 8-3 record and 1.68 ERA to lead the Fairmont State pitching staff in 2018.
In addition to Stout’s All-American honors, center fielder Austin Norman and second baseman Darrin Zombro joined Stout on the NCBWA All-Atlantic Region team, with Stout and Norman earning first team honors. Norman had 10 home runs, 45 runs batted-in, and 16 doubles during the 2018 season, while Zombro ranked 14
th in the country in batting average at .417 last season.
A total of six players earned All-MEC honors in 2018, including Norman, Stout and Zombro as first team selections, and Tyler Hill, Ben Myers and Greg Yaksich as honorable mention picks.
Caruso’s team has been honored for Academic Excellence by the ABCA in each of the last three seasons as the team has recorded a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. Caruso has also coaches several Academic All-Americans during his career, including two at Fairmont State during the 2016 season (Alex Levitan, Nic Rush). Norman also earned Academic All-District honors during the 2018 season, and Musgrove added honors in 2020.
In 2017, Caruso was named the Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Falcons to a program record 29 wins. The Falcons also made their first postseason appearance since 2013.
It was the fifth time during his career that Caruso earned conference coach of the year honors, including once at Fairmont State, and twice at Frederick Community College and Frostburg State.
Following the 2017 season, Johnny Kesling became the first All-American for the program since Zack Solly in 2009. Austin Norman and Michael Stout also joined Kesling on the All-MEC first team as the trio helped lead the Falcons to their first winning record since 2003.
During Fairmont's record-breaking year on the diamond, the Falcons set single-season team marks in the following categories: hits (516), runs batted-in (324), doubles (92) and home runs (36).
After inheriting a 9-34 program in 2015, Caruso led the Falcons to a 73-79 mark in his first three seasons at the helm of the program. Prior to Caruso taking over the program, the Falcons managed just 23 wins during the previous two seasons.
Caruso brought over 35 years of baseball coaching experience at the high school, college and junior college levels when he was named head coach at Fairmont State during the summer of 2015.
Caruso has had five collegiate players get drafted from his time at Garrett Community College and Frederick Community College. One of his players, Travis Bagent, also moved on to become a seven-time world champion in arm wrestling.
Prior to joining the Fairmont State coaching staff in the spring of 2014 as an assistant, Caruso served as an assistant coach at Garrett Community College for one season, where he was heavily involved in scouting, recruiting and the day-to-day operations of the program. The team tied a school record with 31 wins in a season.
Before arriving at Garrett Community College, Caruso was the assistant head coach at Catoctin High School from 2003-13. The team won a Maryland State Championships in 2013.
In 1998, Caruso was elevated from assistant to head baseball coach at Frostburg State University and led the team to a 60-18 record in two years as the programs head coach.
Prior to arriving at Frostburg as an assistant coach in 1997, Caruso was the head coach at Frederick Community College, leading the team to a 70-49 mark and a pair of regional final appearances in 1995 and 1996.
Caruso's first coaching stint at Frostburg State was from 1985-91 as an assistant coach, in charge of recruiting, hitting, infield play, fundraising and summer camps.
The Bronx, N.Y. native got his first college head-coaching job in 1980 at Garrett Community College, where he led the team to four postseason regional bids.
Caruso has also coached several legion teams and held various high school coaching positions during his career.
In addition, Caruso served as an associate scout for the New York Mets from 1983-88, under the direction of Bob Dawson.
Caruso has three daughters - Julie, Sarah and Rachel.
| Season |
Overall Record |
Conf. Record |
| 2016 |
21-29 |
11-21 |
| 2017 |
29-24 |
20-12 (MEC Tournament) |
| 2018 |
23-26 |
15-17 |
| 2019 |
25-25 |
16-16 (MEC Tournament) |
| 2020 |
7-9 |
0-0 (*season canceled March 13 due to COVID-19) |
Total
(at FSU) |
105-113 (.461) |
62-66 (.484) |
