Blue Gray USA
Blue Gray USA has a complete staff and Baseball Board of consultants who possess a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience in all areas of baseball. The Blue Gray USA staff and Baseball Board knows what it takes to help create and improve a potential college baseball prospect... and then to promote the player on the college recruiting trail and find out where he fits best at the next level.
Our group includes some of the most successful high school coaches in New England history, as well as nationally known and respected instructors and evaluators, in addition to present and former professionals baseball players, including one who pitched in the World Series for the Atlanta Braves.
Here are the members of our Blue Gray USA staff, all of whom are at our events and also the members of our Baseball Board, who contribute as regular consultants and often attend our events to assist and advise players and their families on those important next steps.
Staff and Board
Steve Freker, Blue Gray USA National Director — Coach Freker is one of the most well-known and successful high school baseball coaches in New England and on the East Coast. A 37-year high school baseball coach in Massachusetts, he has led three different high schools to success in the regular and postseason and #1 state rankings eight times at the Division 1 H.S. level. In 2016 he was inducted into the prestigious Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association (MBCA) State Hall of Fame for all of his accomplishments. Over 100 of Coach Freker’s players have gone on to play college baseball, including many who have played and excelled at the Division 1 and 2 levels. Over a dozen of his former played have signed professional baseball contracts including two who pitched in the major leagues, one in the World Series. SInce just 2015, when he assumed the reins of Blue Gray USA Baseball, NEARLY 400 BLUE GRAY USA PROSPECTS have gone on to compete at the collegiate baseball level.
In his year-round dedication and activities in promoting high school baseball and players, he has helped hundreds of other players reach the college baseball ranks. Before assuming Northeast and N.C. operations of Blue Gray USA, he served as a field director for Blue Gray Classic Baseball, assisting directly in the operations of that national baseball showcase outfit. Coach Freker at this time is the Region 1 rep (All New England states and N.Y.) on Baseball America magazine’s National High School Team & Player ranking committee; the Treasurer and Executive-Sec. of the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association (MBCA); a charter member of the MIAA’s Super Eight Div. 1A Selection Committee; and a longtime coach with the Mass. Amateur Sports Bay State Games.
Billy Johnson, Blue Gray USA National Hitting Director & Instructor — Coach Billy Johnson is a nationally-known and highly-sought after professional hitting instructor who had helped many high school players up their stock as college prospects and go on to the next level as college and some onto professional baseball careers. Coach Johnson heads up the staff which evaluates all of our hitters at Blue Gray USA events. Billy is also a 20-year veteran of Blue Gray Classic baseball events nationwide and this past winter participated in several highly popular and well-attended instructional clinics at BC’s Alumni Stadium bubble and some greater Boston area locales.
Kevin McGlinchy, Blue Gray USA National Pitching Director & Instructor — Kevin McGlinchy is the National Pitching Director and Instructor for Blue Gray USA. Kevin is a former Major League Baseball pitcher with the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays who pitched in the World Series as the setup man for Braves Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Mike Glavine and John Smoltz in their 1999 NL Championship season. He was a 1995 draftee and spent just three seasons in the minors before becoming only the third Massachusetts native to pitch in the World Series in 1990s, besides teammates Glavine (Billerica) and Mark Wohlers (Holyoke). The big 6-5 righty will be on hand for our events to give advice to young pitchers and direct evaluations of our pitchers at events.
Matt DiCato, Blue Gray USA Informational Technology Consultant — Matt handles our communications operations starting with the maintenance of our website and social media outlets and continuing through the events, with news and media updates and live photos and other supporting information on event days and thereafter. He is an experienced baseball statistician and evaluator with many events nationwide under his belt in Mass., New Jersey, and North Carolina. Matt was also a very successful high school outfielder and then collegiate pitcher at Framingham State University and still competes on the mound at the semiprofessional level. Matt’s dual knowledge and experience in both information technology, communications, and baseball make him an invaluable member of the Blue Gray directors group.
Mazdak Darvari, Blue Gray USA Director of Operations —Mazdak is a UMass Amherst Class of 2022 Sports Management and Business major who oversees all day-to-day operations, including event registrations, event information and public relations and communications. He works with closely with information that is displayed on website and social media operations and also oversees all of our email communications. Mazdak was a four-year varsity standout at Lexington (Mass.) HS and also plays in the Boston area local semiprofessional Intercity League. At this time, Mazdak is serving as Director of Operations for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the prestigious Cape Cod League.
Brendan Ronan, Blue Gray USA Associate Director of Operations — Brendan assists in all of the day-to-day office operations, including event registrations, event information and public relations and communications. He works with closely with information that is displayed on website and social media operations and also oversees all of our email communications. Brendan is a former two-sports standout in hockey and baseball in H.S. and continued his exploits on the ice as a business major at Worcesrter State University.
Tony Serino, Blue Gray USA Site Director — Tony is our Site Director who both assists in locating and securing sites for our events and then on event day, coordinates communications between the Blue Gray staff and both the college coaches and professional scouts on hand and also between parents and players and the Blue Gray USA staff. Tony has a number of years as a former standout perfomer at Blue Gray Classic events in New England and nationally, and in recent years as a valued staff member. Before assuming the director’s position. He is a former standout Division 1 outfielder at UMass-Amherst and still competes at the semiprofessional level.
Mike DiCato, Blue Gray USA Field Director — Mike is the Field Director for our events and supervises staff members in all on-field activities at our showcase events. He has a wealth of experiences having been on staff as many events for the past 10 years both on-field as an evaluator for Blue Gray Classic baseball. Like all of our staff members and directors, Mike’s primary goal is to ensure a postive and successful experience at the events for all of our players. Our events run smoothly and effectively with Mike at the helm on “game day”. He is a former Division 1 righthanded pitcher and second-all-time in appearances at UMass-Amherst. He is quite familiar with the recruiting process as a former All-Scholastic hitter in his high school years, where in 2005 he led Massachusetts in both hitting offensively and in strikeouts as a pitcher. He also shined as a Blue Gray Classic performer in high school a the former Wake Forest, Florida and New England events. Mike still competes at the semiprofessional level.
Coach Dirk Baker, Blue Gray Staff— Coach Baker is the Head Baseball Coach at Worcester State University and is the winningest coach in WSU history with over 525 victories. He has been head coach since 1995. Coach Baker has been a valued member of the Blue Gray USA Baseball staff for nearly 20 years and has been a fixture at nearly every BG USA event for going on two decades. His knowledge and passion for the game and his deep interest in furthering the promoting the future careers of High School aged ballplayers in central to his personal mission and it shows.
John O’Brien, Blue Gray Staff — Coach O’Brien is another veteran who had dedicated much of his life to coaching and furthering the interests of high school players in baseball. Many of Coach O’Brien’s players have gone on to the college baseball ranks. The longtime head coach at Lynnfield High School (Mass.), Coach O’Brien has for many years served the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association (MBCA) as an Executive Board member and was the co-founder, along with Blue Gray National Director Steve Freker, of the MBCA’s highly-recruited Junior Select All-Star Game. Coach O’Brien also is a longtime coach in the Bay State Games Baseball circuit.
Andrew Caulfield, Blue Gray Staff — Another former Blue Gray USA standout himself, Coach Caulfield is a veteran of the past five years of Blue Grau USA events where he proven to be an invaluable staff member in leading drills, coaching teams from the dugputs and coaching boxes, while accommodating the needs of the players and families throughout or events. He is a real 'go-to' guy for Blue Gray USA Baseball.
Dario Pizzano, active professionally, former 2-time Ivy League Player of the Year — Dario Pizzano is in his 11th year of professional baseball. He played seven seasons in the Mariners organization, advancing as high as Double-A, and most recently, with the Mets at the Triple-A level, one step from the Major Leagues. He has long been a member of the Blue Gray USA Baseball Board. Dario remains a consultant on Blue Gray USA Baseball events and is in frequent contact with his colleagues on the Blue Gray USA staff. He is also a veteran of the Blue Gray Classic showcases having both attended and excelled at them as a player and then as a staff member in his collegiate years with Columbia University, where was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year. Still holding a special place in his heart and going back to his Little League days is when he led the Saugus American Little League All-Stars all the way to the New England Championship and all the way to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA in 2003.
Carmine Cappuccio, Chicago White Sox & Philadelphia Phillies organization — Carmine Cappuccio is a former three-time NCAA Division 2 All-America selectee and a retired, 10-season professional outfielder in the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and independent baseball, concluding his career with the Winnipeg Goldeyes in the 2001 season. A resident of Greensboro, N.C., Cappuccio has New England roots in the greater Boston area, a rare, three-sport (baseball, football, basketball) All-Scholastic at Malden (Mass.) High School before heading off to Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where he had a highly successful collegiate career that led to a professional contract and event a U.S. Olympic Games tryout in 1992. He spent six years in the Chicago White Sox organization after being drafted in the fifth round in 1992, and ended up with Terry Francona as his first-ever professional manager with the Single-A South Bend (Ind.) White Sox. Cappuccio also spent a seasons in the Phillies organization before spending the last few years in the independent circuit where he set franchise hitting recordls for the New Jersey Jackals and and the Goldeyes before his retirement.