Coaching Staff
Matt Righter
Baseball Head Coach
Matt Righter concluded his first season as the head baseball coach for the Mustang program in 2024. Righter joins Stevenson after serving as head coach at Vassar College.
Righter has been the head coach at Vassar since 2016. In that time, he has built the program into a contender. This past season, the Brewers finished with a program record 20 wins and ranked among the Division III leaders in batting average (.337), on-base percentage (.895) and stolen bases (85).
In his tutelage, the Brewers made the Liberty League playoffs three times including an appearance in the Crossover Series in 2023. A total of 114 student-athletes were named All-Liberty League All-Academic, along with 22 all-conference selections and three All-Region picks.
Prior to his time in Poughkeepsie, Righter was the head coach at SUNY-New Paltz from 2013-2016. He led the Hawks to 20 wins in 2016, after finishing with just seven wins the year before. New Paltz also won its first conference series against nationally-ranked Cortland, who was the number one team in the country.
Righter was an all-conference selection in two sports (basketball and baseball) at Johns Hopkins University before getting drafted in the 21st round by the Detroit Tigers. He pitched professionally for six years, reaching AAA, Toledo Mudhens.
Righter is no stranger to the area, as he was an assistant coach for both baseball and men’s basketball at Johns Hopkins. A 2004 graduate of Hopkins with a degree in international relations, he served as the pitching coach with the Blue Jays. He helped lead the team to the 2010 College World Series along with four Centennial Conference championships. Three of his pitchers went onto pursue professional careers.
Breton LaRose
Baseball Assistant Coach
Breton LaRose has been the Stevenson University baseball’s pitching coach for two seasons following the conclusion of the 2024 season.
LaRose oversees all pitching development for both the starters and the relief staff, as well as assisting head coach Matt Righter with day-to-day baseball operations.
Thanks to LaRose's tutelage during the most-recent campaign, Drew Harshbarger was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America First Team after a strong season on the mound and in the classroom, while fellow starter and United East Pitcher of the Year Zach Gettys was tabbed a first-team all-region selection by both the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings and D3baseball.com. Harshbarger also earned second-team all-region recognition from the ABCA. Gettys, Harshbarger, and reliever Tyler Stabley each picked up United East All-Conference First-Team honors following impressive seasons. As a group, Penn State Harrisburg's pitching staff ranked 11th in the nation in strikeouts per nine (10.0) in 2022.
In 2021, Harshbarger earned D3baseball.com All-Region Second-Team honors and ABCA/Rawlings Third-Team All-Region recognition after being named the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Pitcher of the Year. He was named to the NEAC All-Conference first team, while Gettys earned all-conference second-team accolades. Prior to the 2021 campaign, starting hurlers Michael De Leon and Gettys, along with top reliever Tyler Jackson were both named to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s Division III Players to Watch List. Jackson earned the same distinction from CBN prior to the 2020 season.
Under LaRose’s guidance in 2019, starters Travis Van Houten and Gettys each received Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) All-Conference recognition, with Van Houten earning a spot on the all-conference first team and Gettys picking up a second-team all-conference accolade.
LaRose has logged experience as the pitching director for the Central Penn Renegades, where he oversees all pitching development from 11U to 18U programs. His responsibilities include heading up showcase camps for the Renegades and assisting players and prospective student-athletes with their upcoming recruiting process. He has also served as the pitching instructor at In the Net Sports Academy for the past four years.
During his final years of collegiate play, LaRose was a standout reliever at Division II Lock Haven and eventually earned Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) First-Team All-Conference recognition. The program’s all-time leader in saves (18), he helped lead the Bald Eagles to the PSAC Tournament in 2017. Prior to transferring to LHU, he played at Division I Sacred Heart where he was a member of the 2015 Northeast Athletic Conference (NEC) Championship team. That group earned an NCAA Tournament berth and went on to the Texas Christian (TCU) Regional in Fort Worth, Texas that postseason.
Most recently as a player, LaRose was a member of the Kokomo Jackrabbits of the Propsect League for two seasons. In 2018, Kokomo finished as the league’s runner-up. Prior to joining the Jackrabbits, he was the closer for the Genesee Rapids of the NYCBL Summer League for two seasons. He was named a NYCBL All-Star in 2016.
LaRose graduated from Ogdensburg Free Academcy in Ogdensburg, N.Y. in 2013.