NORWICH, Conn. -- The Norwich Sea Unicorns of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) have announced the on-field coaching staff for the upcoming 2022 summer season today, and it is comprised of three individual with ties to the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball program.

Devin Belenski will return for his second season, having been named Sea Unicorns manager just prior to their inaugural Futures League season in 2021. Belenski reached into his ties at Eastern Connecticut State University to fill out the staff, bringing John Mesagno and Kevin Murphy on board as his assistants.
 
Originally from Woodbridge, Connecticut and a product of Amity Regional High School where he won three state championships as a part of the school's baseball program, Belenski went on to play four seasons at Eastern Connecticut State University and helped the team reach the 2016 NCAA Regionals. Belenski is currently in his first season as a Volunteer Assistant Coach with the Yale University Baseball Program, following two seasons with the University of Connecticut Baseball Program as the Director of Player Development and Analytics.

Mesagno returns to the Sea Unicorns after spending 2021 in Norwich, first as an active player and then overseeing player development for the team following a season ending injury. A native of Tappen, NY, Mesagno has been an outfielder at Eastern Connecticut State University since 2017 and will finish his collegiate playing career this spring after earning ABCA Division III All-America honors last spring. A Springfield, MA native, Murphy will be the newest member of the Sea Unicorns Coaching Staff in 2022. Following a four-year career with the Eastern baseball program, Murphy is currently a Graduate Student at Nichols College in Dudley, MA and will play his final season of eligibility with the Bison this spring.

 

"I am excited to be bringing Devin Belenski back as manager of the Sea Unicorns in 2022," said Sea Unicorns General Manager and fellow ECSU alum, Lee Walter, Jr. "He has a bright future as a baseball coach and with a full year to prepare for the 2022 season, Devin has put together a great young coaching staff and the roster is taking shape very nicely."
 
"I am thrilled to be back in Norwich as the manager of the Sea Unicorns again in 2022", said Belenski. "The roster we have brought together, along with the coaching staff additions of John Mesagno, an All-American and three-time captain at ECSU, and Kevin Murphy, who has had a solid playing career for ECSU and now Nichols College, will allow us to build upon our inaugural Futures League season."

Norwich is scheduled to open its season with four road games before opening at Dodd Stadium on May 30 against the New Britain Bees. The team is scheduled to close the regular season at Pittsfield Aug. 7 prior to the start of the FCBL playoffs the second week of August.
 
Founded in 2011, the Futures League is a wood-bat league featuring top collegiate baseball players from New England and throughout the country. On the field, over 200 FCBL alumni have been drafted by or signed with Major League Baseball organizations. The eight team league also includes the New Britain Bees (New Britain, CT), former New York-Penn League rival Vermont Lake Monsters (Burlington, VT), Brockton Rox (Brockton, MA), Nashua Silver Knights (Nashua, NH), Pittsfield Suns (Pittsfield, MA), Westfield Starfires (Westfield, MA), Worcester Bravehearts (Worcester, MA).