The Thiel College baseball program is under the direction of Joe Schaly, who enters his 24th season as head coach heading into the 2023 season.
Schaly took over a 2-20 program in September of 1999 and quickly managed to point the program in the right direction. During his 23 years as the program's head coach, Schaly and the Tomcats have won a regular-season Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championship and a PAC Tournament title.
During the 2005 season Schaly became the winningest coach in the program's history, and he won the 400th game of his career in 2011. Schaly broke the 500-win plateau in 2016 and currently sits at 576 career wins. Over the past 23 years, 109 Tomcats have been named All-PAC, 23 have received All-Mideast region recognition and three Tomcats were named All-Americans. Tomcat baseball players have also excelled in the classroom, with three earning Academic All-America honors. In addition, the Tomcats have earned ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award honors each year since 2016.
Schaly has experienced the game at all levels, from Division I to Division III, and from NCAA to NAIA. Prior to arriving at Thiel, he was the head coach and assistant athletic director at Point Park College for six years. Point Park has a long history of success in NAIA baseball, and during Schaly's tenure the Pioneers won the conference/district four times, and each year Schaly was named Coach of the Year.
Schaly also served as assistant baseball coach at Marietta College and Kent State University. During his tenure at Marietta the Pioneers won two NCAA Division III National Championships and finished as national runners-up on two other occasions.
Schaly earned a Bachelor of Arts in managerial economics from Marietta College in 1986. He continued his education at Kent State University where he earned a master’s in sports administration in 1989.
Schaly served as the director of athletics at Thiel College from 2001-06, and he remains the assistant director of athletics. He has been on numerous committees including the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee and the ABCA Rules Committee.
Schaly resides in Beaver Falls with his wife, Lucy, and their two children: Hannah and Colin.
