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Bill Bethea - Founder/ Owner
Bill is the owner of PPH. He serves ana associate Scout for the HOUSTON ASTROS. Bill is the former pitching coach at NJCU as well as a former minor league player. He was part of Jim Muldowney’s Edison High School team that won the NJSIAA Group State Title, the GMC County Title and was ranked 4th in the Country by the USA Today Newspaper in 1993. He played professionally in the Central Baseball League (AA Independent) for the Ozark Mountain Ducks. He has been doing private baseball instruction for the last 5 years as well as instructing at various camps and clinics around the state.. He has also spent the last 5 years in the Health and Fitness Industry as a Certified Personal Trainer where he has strength trained athletes to develop speed and power. Bill’s idea to focus on combining his baseball knowledge and strength training expertise is the cornerstone of Power Pitching & Hitting.
Matt Cleary - Director of Hitting School at the Academy
While at St. Joseph’s High School (Metuchen), Matt was on 1st Team All-County, 2nd Team All-State (Parochial Division) 1st base by The Star-Ledger. He was also 1st Team All-Area 1st base by The Home News Tribune. Matt continued his baseball career in Alvernia College where he was Freshman of the Year, 1st Team All-Conference 1st base and ranked Top 10 in the country in HRs (11) and Slugging Percentage (.874). At William Paterson University, Matt ranked 2nd in the NJAC with .412 BA versus conference opponents and 2nd Team All-Conference 1st Base. He has been a baseball instructor for the past three years, coached 2006 Junior Varsity baseball team at St. Joseph’s High School (Metuchen) where his team finished 3rd in the county.
Matt Marini
Matt is former all CVC, and Carpenter Cup Catcher out West Windsor/Plainsboro High School South. He was a 2 year starter on Varsity and was a team captain. Matt has been with us since he was in high school and he started off as an assistant and now is huge part of our coaching staff. Matt continued his collegiate playing career at Mercer County College and for the club team at Towsend University. Matt also plays baseball over the Summer for a nationally ranked 18 and over team. Matt is finishing up his degree in Psychology. Matt’s knowledge is extensive and he is a great part of our staff.
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Omar Gomez
Omar was a heavily recruited player out of Seton Hall Preparatory School under the direction of Mike Sheppard. He was one of four players asked to a final tryout with the Newark Bears in 2002, comprised of 105 local and national talented ballplayers. He is a member of Newark’s Roberto Clemente All-Star Teams to advance to the Junior/Senior League World Series. He has instructed at Seton Hall university Baseball Camps and managed Little League All Star teams. This experience along with his ability to impact young players makes him a great asset to PPH.
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Brian Moody
Brian is another former professional player on the staff. Brian played college ball at NJCU and was named the New Jersey Baseball Coaches Association - Fireman of the Year in 1997. This award is given to the state’s top closer. Brian was also a standout outfielder for coach Ken Heaton. Brian finished his career playing professionally in the Frontier League for the River City Rascals in 1999. Brian teaches special education in North Plainfield school systems.
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Mike Ryan
Mike Ryan is a large part of our Clinic Staff. He had an outstanding career at Rider College where he was the starting Catcher for 4 years. Mike teaches catching and hitting for PPH.
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Mike Ingui
Mike is former player of Bill Bethea’s at NJCU, so who better to help instruct than a player whose skills were developed under the direction of Bill Bethea. Mike had a great college career and has been invited to some tryouts for professional teams. Mike has instructed at many clinics and camps for Doug Cinella in north Jersey before joining our staff in the summer of 2002.
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Gabe Caponetto
Gabe is a graduate of St. Rose High School as 1st team all division, 2nd team all state, and 2nd all shore and county. He participated in numerous pre-draft workouts along with invite only tryouts. Gabe attended, played baseball and received Academic All-American honors at Ocean County College and Delaware Tech C.C. In addition, Gabe has played in the FCIL in Bradenton, Florida (Pittsburg Pirates Training Facilities). Over the past several years he has played in the Jersey Shore Summer League. Gabe has coached and trained kids since the summer of 2003 at various programs throughout New Jersey.
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Dave Vargo
During his high school career Dave was ranked in the top 10 of the nation defensively and won a Gold Glove. In his junior year at Centenary College he tied the record for most assists in a season with 92 and in his senior season, he broke the record with 122 assists. While at Ocean county college he has helped lead his team to two region 19 playoffs. Dave has also been offered to tryout for professional baseball in Europe and he has received private tryouts for professional and independent teams during the course of his last two years of collegiate baseball.
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Dan Czepiga
Dan played for Notre Dame High School, was 1st Team All-CVC, 1st Team All-South Jersey, two years in a row while making the All-State Senior year. Signed at Letter of Intent to St.John's University playing one-year for them, transferred to then D-1 Pace University leading the team in Average and Stolen bases. Dan finished he college career playing for Mercer County Community College making All-Region then TCNJ where he was nationally ranked in Triples as a junior. Played in three very competitive summer leagues such as the ACBL, Florida Summer Collegiate League, and the Valley League. Runs a 6.5 60 yard dash time, and is currently finishing up his major in health and exercise science at TCNJ.
Dan Intili - Director of Equipment Distribution/ Instructor
During high school Dan played at St. John Vianney and was a standout catcher for the Hoboken Skyliners. Dan competed in then Junior olympics in 2004 and brings a great presence to the staff. Dan has been with us for about 1 year. He plays his college ball at Middlesex County College. He is also a client, so who better to help us then someone who knows the value of our programs. Dan also serves as the resident guru on Bats. If you want a bat talk to Dan he can get you anything!
