2021 Captains coaching staff announced

(Eastlake, OH) – The Cleveland Indians today announced the field staff for the 2021 Lake County Captains. Greg DiCenzo, a long-time Division I college baseball coach who was in line to manage Lake County in 2020, will skipper the Captains in 2021. DiCenzo’s coaching staff will consist of Pitching Coach Kevin Erminio, Hitting Coach Grant Fink and Bench Coach Jordan Smith. Matt Beauregard will serve as the Captains’ Athletic Trainer and Trent Kaltenbach will be the team’s Strength and Conditioning Coordinator.

DiCenzo spent 12 seasons as the head baseball coach at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. During his time at the helm, the Crusaders went 137-109 in Patriot League regular season play and DiCenzo was twice named Patriot League Coach of the Year (2008 and 2013). DiCenzo’s Holy Cross teams posted 20-win seasons 10 times and won the program’s first Patriot League Championship in 2017. Prior to his time at Holy Cross, DiCenzo was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Northeastern University for five seasons. DiCenzo has also served as a coach for the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod Baseball League and at his alma mater, St. Lawrence University. Despite a canceled 2020 season, DiCenzo helped instruct Cleveland’s minor leaguers through virtual coaching sessions last year.

Erminio spent 28 seasons (1992-2019) as a college baseball coach, including 13 as the pitching coach at Kennesaw State University (2006-2019), before being hired by Cleveland at the end of the 2019 calendar year. In addition to his tenure at KSU, Erminio coached at Clemson University (1992-95), Berry College (1999-2000), Middle Tennessee State University (2000-2005) and Miami (OH) University (2006). Erminio was scheduled to be the pitching coach for Short-Season Mahoning Valley in 2020 before the season was ultimately canceled. This will be his second year and first season as a coach in Cleveland’s organization.

Fink, a former Captains infielder in 2014 and 2015, will serve as the Captains’ hitting coach in 2021. He was previously the hitting coach for Short-Season Mahoning Valley during the 2019 season and enters his fifth year as a coach in Cleveland’s organization. Fink has also served as the bench coach with Mahoning Valley (2017) and High-A Lynchburg (2018). Fink was the Captains’ starting third baseman in 2014 when the team reached the Midwest League Championship Series and will join the team’s coaching staff for the first time this year.

Smith returns as the Captains’ bench coach after serving in the same role during the 2019 season. A Captains outfielder in 2012, Smith led the club with a .316 average and 74 RBI to help Lake County clinch a playoff berth. He played eight seasons of professional baseball and reached as high as Triple-A before beginning his coaching career. Smith enters his third year as a coach in Cleveland’s organization.

Beauregard returns to the Captains for the first time since 2017, marking his fifth season as the team’s athletic trainer. He spent the interim seasons in Arizona as an athletic trainer for Cleveland’s Rookie level clubs and now enters his 11th year in the organization. Beauregard received his M.S. degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2010 and graduated from Iowa State University in 2007 with a B.S. in Athletic Training.

Kaltenbach joins the Captains for his first season as the team’s strength and conditioning coordinator. A 2018 graduate of Baldwin Wallace with a B.S. in Kinesiology and Exercise Science, Kaltenbach enters his second year in a full-time role with Cleveland’s organization. He previously interned with Cleveland in 2018 and served as an assistant in 2019. In 2020, Kaltenbach was scheduled to serve as a strength and conditioning coach for one of Cleveland’s Rookie level clubs in Arizona before the season was canceled.

Announcements regarding the Captains’ roster will be made at a later date. Further information regarding ticketing, promotions, game times and health and safety procedures will be announced in the near future, as well.

Because it is likely the Captains will begin the season with reduced capacity, the best way to guarantee seats for the 2021 season is to secure a season ticket plan. To reserve your seats, please contact Kate Roth at [email protected].

About the Captains

The Lake County Captains are the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. For more information, visit the Captains’ website at www.CaptainsBaseball.com, Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CaptainsBaseball, Twitter @LCCaptains and Instagram @LCCaptains. Fans can also get the latest Captains news and offers by signing up for the Captains’ newsletter, The Anchor.