In 38 seasons as the head baseball coach at The College of Wooster, Tim Pettorini became one of the winningest NCAA Div. III coaches of all-time. From 1982 until his retirement in 2019, Pettorini led the Fighting Scots to a 1,243-461-6 (.727) record. He became just the seventh coach in NCAA Div. III history to reach 1,000 career wins.
Pettorini retired as the winningest coach in program history and was ranked as the fifth winningest NCAA Div. III coach all-time.
Under Pettorini, the Fighting Scots never had a losing season and finished the season ranked in the Top 25 on 24 occasions. His teams won a league-leading 19 conference championships and made 26 NCAA tournament appearances during that span.
Pettorini led the Fighting Scots to six NCAA Div. III World Series appearances, collecting a pair of runner-up finishes in 1997 and 2009 and a third-place finish in 2005.
To go along with his 14 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Coach of the Year honors, Pettorini is also a six-time ABCA Mideast Region Coach of the Year and was selected as a Regional Coach of the Year by D3baseball.com in 2017.
Pettorini coached 14 student-athletes to NCAC Player of the Year honors, including three-time winner Rick Sforzo and two-time winner Sean Karpen. He also mentored two ABCA/Rawlings National Players of the Year in Luke Ullman (2005) and Michael Wielansky (2018).
During his tenure, 59 players received All-America honors and over 200 received All- NCAC honors. Seven of Pettorini’s former players would go on to be drafted or sign professional contracts.
In addition to his baseball coaching duties, Pettorini also served as the defensive coordinator for the Wooster football program for 14 seasons.
Prior to taking over at Wooster in 1982, Pettorini taught and coached baseball at Fremont Ross High School in Fremont, Ohio. Over four seasons, he led the program to a record of 64-20 (.762).
A Lifetime Member of the ABCA, Pettorini was a featured clinician at the 2010 ABCA Convention.
His career accomplishments also include his induction into the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017 and the College of Wooster Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Pettorini holds both a bachelor’s (1973) and master’s degree (1980) from Bowling Green State University. He was a four-year starter in the outfield for the Falcons and was an All-Mid-American Conference selection. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres at the end of his senior year.
