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When Tim Pettorini took over The College of Wooster’s baseball program for the 1982 season, the Fighting Scots were a program on the rise. However, the program “didn’t have any players,” according to the Wooster legend in The Daily Record features leading up to his retirement. So, he quickly went to work, and thanks to an unparalleled dedication, passion, and work ethic, Wooster’s baseball program became one of NCAA Div. III’s elite during his 38 years in the Art Murray dugout.
While he never had a losing season, it took a few years for the fruits of Pettorini’s labor to take shape. In 1985, Wooster won the inaugural North Coast Athletic Conference championship, and a league-leading 18 more conference crowns followed over the years. Four years later, Wooster topped longtime Mideast Region rival Marietta College 4-0 at regionals, marking the first of six NCAA Div. III Championships appearances.
Winning continued at a high rate under Pettorini in the 1990s, and the program won the Mideast Regional for the second time in 1994. That meant a return trip to the Div. III Championships, which Pettorini was able to share with oldest son, Tim, the Scots’ starting left fielder. The program’s first Div. III Championships win eluded the Scots once again, but that all changed in 1997. After falling to the University of Southern Maine 7-1 in its opening game at the 1997 Div. III Championships, Wooster won four straight elimination games, setting up a second date with the Huskies, only this time with the national championship on the line.
Pettorini’s other son, Terry, also inherited his passion for baseball, and in 2002, one of the Scots’ most talented squads squared off with Ohio State University, where Terry was a junior infielder. Wooster won that game 9-7, in what marked the program’s second of three straight wins over Div. I teams spanning three seasons.
Wooster’s freshmen from the 2002 squad went out on a high note three years later, as the top left side of the infield in Div. III helped lead the Scots to a third-place showing at the Div. III Championships. Shortstop Luke Ullman was named the American Baseball Coaches Association Player of the Year, while starting third baseman Jake Frank earned first-team ABCA All-America honors.
Led by four All-Americans in 2009, Wooster twice was a win away from a national title. In Appleton, Wis. Wooster caught fire, downing the likes of Carthage College, Kean University, the University of St. Thomas (Minn.), and Chapman University by a combined score of 36-9 to advance to the championship round. St. Thomas emerged from the elimination bracket and topped Wooster twice to take home the title.
Wooster made one more trip to the Div. III Championships in 2018. Three All-Americans led that team, including ABCA National Player of the Year Michael Wielansky. Wielansky went on to be drafted in the 18th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, marking the seventh Wooster great to either be drafted or sign a MLB contract under Pettorini.
When he first arrived on campus, Pettorini coached two sports, which was the norm across Div. III at the time. For 14 seasons, Pettorini spent his fall Saturdays as the Scots’ defensive coordinator, and given his personality, it should come as no surprise as to the style of play.
“I wanted to blitz on every play,” Pettorini quipped to well-known Cleveland sportswriter Terry Pluto in a recent feature. “I wanted us to play like our hair was on fire.”
Pettorini retired with a 1,234-461-6 (.729) ledger as Wooster’s baseball skipper. He’s fifth all-time in Div. III wins, his student-athletes earned 59 All-American certificates and 220 All-NCAC honors, and he’s a 14-time NCAC Coach of the Year.
Pettorini and his wife, Rhoda, live in Wooster, and have two children and three grandchildren.