Mercyhurst baseball coach Joe Spano was named the American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, as announced by the association recently.
 
Spano led the Lakers to the third-ever appearance at the NCAA Division II World Series. Mercyhurst clinched its third Atlantic Region championship title with a 14-4 win over Charleston on May 25.
 
The Lakers went on to win two games at the CWS and make it to the final four for the first time in program history.
 
Mercyhurst went 36-16 during the 2019 season as Spano improved his career record to 649-380-3 in 20 years as the Lakers head coach. Spano is the program's all-time wins leader.
 
This is the second straight year Spano has won this award.