Zach Clesas comes to Newport after a season with the Wheaton College baseball program for the 2024-25 season and after spending a stint as the Interim Head Coach for the Rhode Island College baseball team in the fall of 2023, before settling in as the Anchormen's Pitching Coach for the 2024 campaign.
For five seasons, Clesas toiled both as a starter and a relief pitcher for the Lyons from 2019-2023.
The right-hander concluded his Wheaton career, ranking fourth on the program's career appearances list with 71 games. He culminated his tenure in Norton by being named Second Team All-Conference by the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Clesas stepped up to become a starter in his final season with the Lyons and made his last collegiate outing a good one, defeating No. 1 Johns Hopkins University in the NCAA III Super Regional after allowing just two runs on five hits and no walks, while fanning three batters over seven and a third innings of work. Clesas finished the season by going 7-2 in 12 starts with 40 strikeouts and a 3.33 earned run average in 73 innings pitched. The Rhode Island native was among the elite control pitchers in the nation that season, issuing just seven walks for a rate of 0.86 per nine innings pitched to place him sixth among Division III hurlers.
Clesas tossed 137 1/3 innings and posted a 12-3 record to go with a 3.47 ERA during his career for Wheaton. He struck out 72 batters and surrendered just 27 walks, while recording four saves and holding opposing hitters to a .263 batting mark.
In addition to his stellar collegiate career, Clesas also pitched in the Futures Baseball League for the Brockton Rox and the New England Collegiate Baseball League for Martha's Vineyard, where he helped the Sharks capture the NECBL Championship behind a season that saw him register a 3-1 record, while posting a 1.85 ERA in 24 1/3 innings.
Hailing from Johnston in the Ocean State, Clesas graduated from Wheaton in 2023 with a degree in business and management.
