PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mike LaRosa just completed his second season as the head baseball coach at his alma mater West Chester University. His Golden Rams returned to the Division II National Championships for the first time in five years, advancing to the national semifinals.
Now in the throes of summer preparations, LaRosa said he finds little time to step back and reflect on his team’s success.
“I certainly had moments driving on the road, kind of thinking back just to how special the group was. It was really a great team and great group of guys that were very close, there was a lot of leadership, and we had a lot of special moments,” said LaRosa during the 1-on-1 with Matt Leon podcast.
“That stuff seems to replay in my head at quiet times, and a lot of times that just happens when I'm on the road driving by myself. But other than that, really there's not a whole lot … it's on to the next.”
LaRosa said he grew up in a house where baseball was on television every night.
“We were huge Phillies fans, my dad had season tickets, and my brother and I got to go down to games throughout the summer with him,” he said. “It's just kind of life as a kid for me.”
He grew his skills as a hitter and middle infielder during high school, but at first he wasn’t thinking of playing college baseball just 20 minutes from home.
“I just assumed everywhere is a West Chester-like great college town, great-sized campus, great athletics. I just thought that's what everybody had. And then once I got around and started checking out other schools, more and more West Chester started to look like an appealing place for me,” LaRosa said about his recruitment before joining West Chester as a freshman for the 2002 season.
“When [Head Coach] Chris Calciano was recruiting me, he was the only coach that talked about winning. Everywhere else I went, it was about ‘our facilities’ … even though West Chester wasn't a winner at the time I was recruited, Calciano had a vision of ‘This is the level which the program is going to get to, this is how we're going to win, and this is how we see you a part of that.’”
LaRosa talked in-depth with Matt about his career as both a player and coach at West Chester, especially his deep focus on relationships with his players.
Listen below in our podcast player.