Ed Porcelli joined North Carolina Central University baseball program in 2018 after serving two years as pitching coach at Pasco-Hernando State College in New Port Richey, Florida. He serves as the Volunteer Assistant Coach and Director of Player Development for the Eagles baseball team.
As volunteer assistant coach, Porcelli works with the infielders and outfielders on both the defensive and offensive sides of the playing field. His main emphasis is to promote and instill the team’s philosophy in game approach and preparation. This requires the use of video and the compilation of sabermetric statistics to provide players with the knowledge they need to perform with greater confidence on the field.
Porcelli has been involved with the game of baseball as a player or coach for more than 40 years. After graduating from Wilton (CT) High School in 1983, he walked on to the University of South Florida and played under the legendary Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts. After two years he transferred to Florida State where he played under the all-time winningest coach in NCAA history, Mike Martin. At Florida State, he compiled a career 9-1 record for the Seminoles and earned trips to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska in 1986 and 1987. In his first trip, he pitched nearly four innings against the best hitting team in college baseball, Oklahoma State. He gave up one run on one hit by future MLB player Robin Ventura and helped the Seminoles eventually win 6-5. He also pitched the last three innings of the 1986 National Championship game against University of Arizona.
In 1987, Porcelli gained not only a Metro Conference All-Tournament pick but was named the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as the Seminoles went on to win their eighth Metro Conference Tournament in nine years. Over the two-year period that he was a player at Florida State, the Seminoles’ national ranking never fell lower than fifth while compiling a record of 116-31, the best in college baseball over that span.
After graduating with a bachelor of arts in literature at FSU in 1988, Porcelli continued to play baseball as an amateur. After a couple of missed chances to sign a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, he was given the opportunity to play as a replacement player for the Brewers in the 1995 MLB strike. During what was possibly the most tumultuous time in the history of professional baseball, he had the opportunity to experience it on the front line. He wrote about the epic baseball shutdown and explained many of the views of the players, coaches and fans in his book “Scabs Heal All Wounds”. The experience of playing during the strike gave him the perspective of how difficult it is for even the best college players to succeed at the pro level. He uses his experiences to help future potential professional players understand some of the obstacles they face if fortunate enough to attain the next level.
Ed and his wife Suzanne Goodknight live in Apex, North Carolina.
