Eastern Connecticut State University

Former three-time first-team ABCA All-America and two-time national Player-of-the-Year Shawn Gilblair returns to his alma mater as pitching coach under head coach Mike Odenwaelder.
 
A 2022 inductee into the Eastern Athletics Alumni Hall of Fame, Gilblair brings nearly a decade of collegiate coaching experience to the program after earning virtually every conceivable honor both collegiately and in summer wood bat league competition.
 
After serving four seasons as assistant coach upon graduation under Hall of Fame coach Bill Holowaty at Eastern, Gilblair later moved on for two years as pitching coach at Montclair State University and returns to Eastern after three successful seasons as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Mitchell College.
 
At both Montclair and Mitchell, Gilblair was also involved in the strength and conditioning program.
 
After leading Eastern to four NCAA tournaments and two regional titles between 2006 and 2009, Gilblair played professionally for seven years with four franchises, most recently as player-coach with the New Britain Bees in 2016 and 2017.
 
Gilblair’s pitching staff at Mitchell was consistently ranked among the national leaders in a number of categories. In 2022, the Mariners were ranked fifth nationally in ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
 
A native of Windham, Gilblair holds a B.S. Degree from Eastern in Sport & Leisure Management.