KNOXVILLE, TN- Coach Serrano has named his coaching staff for the 2023 season. The crew includes two names that are new to Johnson, as well as two familiar faces. Serrano has chosen Gehrig Mosiello, Zach Linginfelter, and Tyler Shelton as assistants and Robby Howard as the bench coach.
Each coach will bring unique experiences to the table that are sure to be useful in helping the program reach new heights.
Mosiello has experience as an assistant and head coach. He assisted at TCU as an undergraduate assistant for two seasons and helped lead the horned frogs to a Big 12 regular season championship in 2022. He also coached the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in the Alaska Baseball League as an assistant in 2022 and manager in 2023. Both teams won championships, making Mosiello the youngest manager in league history to win a championship. He also played at Walters State and participated in the 2019 JUCO world series.
Linginfelter has professional experience as he was a 9th round pick in the MLB draft by the LA Angels, which led to him playing as high as AA within the Angels and Philadelphia Phillies minor league farm systems. Prior to his professional career, he played at Tennessee from 2017 to 2019. Additionally, in high school, he was named an Under Armour All-American, the Gatorade player of the year, and TBCA Mr. Baseball.
Shelton is a familiar face, as he has spent the previous 5 years playing for the Royals. His decorated career has seen him win NCCAA All-Region Team honors, an NCCAA Gold Glove Award, hit .300 or better as a Junior and Senior, and was named to the 2023 AAC Champions of Character Team. He is currently pursuing an MBA while working full-time in Johnson University's Advancement Department.
Howard is the longest-tenured coach on staff, as he will be coaching his third season for the Royals. As a player, he was a two-time All-SEC player at the University of Tennessee. He has a combined 35 years of coaching experience between the high school and college levels and was inducted into the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2013.
Coach Serrano shared, "I'm thrilled and honored to announce my coaching staff for Johnson University Baseball. I feel I have surrounded myself with truly passionate baseball men. These coaches will be committed to the growth, development, and being great mentors of each player that comes through our program.
A unique thing is they all have connections to the great community of Knoxville, by either growing up here, attending high school, or playing college ball here. Another aspect is we will be very visible at area games and make Johnson Baseball a destination for many."
The collective experiences this group brings will be vital in helping players develop and helping the Royals Baseball program succeed. It is an exciting time for the program, as the team looks toward the 2024 season.
