History
Founded in 1992, Spartans Baseball is the longest established baseball training facility in Northern NJ. Founded by Jim Romeo who was the Head Baseball Coach at St. Thomas Aquinas College, NY. Romeo was the youngest Head Coach of any 4 year college program in the country at the time at just 25 years old. Romeo turned around a struggling program in less than 3 years leading the Spartans to a National Ranking and a 25-11 record and finishing 3 games shy of the College World Series. Along the way he recruited and coached 7 MLB Draft Choices, Conference Player of the Year, 7 All Conference Players and was also named Conference Coach of the Year. Romeo left St. Thomas to turn his attention to running Spartans Sports full time in 1998. Jim Romeo has since retired from coaching and from Spartans.
Juan Nieves has been with Spartans for over 10 years. He's the lead instructor and is one of the most respected young coaches in New Jersey. A former standout at Marist College, Juan has built a reputation as an outstanding instructor. Juan was also on the coaching staff at Emerson HS. Coach Nieves has worked with thousands of players of all ages and abilities. Coach Juan led our Travel Teams and has worked with countless teams over the past 10 years running practices, conducting tryouts, evaluating talent. There simply is no finer coach in North Jersey.
Sean Kelly - Former standout player at Demarest HS. Sean went on to excel at Bergen Comm College and was named GSAC player of the week. Currently an assistant at Park Ridge HS, Sean was an extremely versatile player in college. He played 2b, 3b and catcher. Sean brings a wealth of experience to the Spartans Staff. Sean is also part of the coaching staff at Park Ridge HS in Bergen County, NJ.
Joseph Batcho - Former 4 year varsity letterman at Wood-Ridge High School. Coach Joe compiled 126 hits in his career and was voted all Bergen County Utilityman his senior year batting .456 and pitching an ERA of 2.20. Joe went on to play at D3 Penn State Brandywine as a pitcher starting in two conference games as a freshman. He now is currently an assistant varsity baseball coach at Wood-Ridge High School. Joe played every position in high school and offers a wide range of experience to the Spartans Staff.
Erika Flynn - Former All League, All County and All State in HS. Erika was named Louisville Slugger Eastern All American and was a four year starting middle infielder at D1 Manhattan College. Erika studied education at Manhattan and is currently a middle school teacher in Westchester County, NY.
Erika will be heading our Softball Program and will run our Softball Camps and Clinics and will also be doing private lessons in hitting and fielding for all ages. In addition, Erika teaches pitching skills to younger students.