John Muller was named head baseball coach at the College of Mount Saint Vincet in July of 2017, where he also serves as an Associate Athletic Director for Admissions.
Coach Muller’s sixth season in 2022 saw the Dolphins take another step forward both on and off the diamond. In what was the best year the program has seen in recent memory, there were many great team and individual accomplishments the program achieved. With a roster full of battle tested upper classmen and some of the best players to ever wear the CMSV uniform, they made a strong playoff push, winning 28 games and ranking near the top of the conference in many offensive and pitching categories.
Record books were rewritten and many awards and achievements were accomplished by the team and individually. The Dolphins were ranked in the top 30 in the nation in categories including batting average, on-base percentage and walks per nine innings. The team also finished in the top 50 in double plays turned, ERA and WHIP, among others. Off the field, the team combined for a 3.19 GPA, good enough for a spot on ABCA/Rawlings Academic Excellence Award.
Senior outfielder Jake Blinstrub capped off his illustrious career in Riverdale with his second straight Skyline Conference Player of the Year award. The Peachtree, Georgia native was also named D3Baseball.com All American, as well as All Region from both D3Baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings. Blinstrub was also named First Team All-Skyline Conference becoming the program’s career leader in batting average, hits, doubles, runs scored, on-base percentage, games started and total bases, among other career and single season categories.
Matt DiNorcia, Andrew Geiger, Eric Zimmermann, Isidoros Bartziokas, Michael Grisanti and Peter Sanderson rounded out an impressive upper classmen-led roster, with DiNorcia, Geiger, Zimmermann, Grisanti and Bartziokas all earning conference and D3Baseball.com recognition, as well as joining Blinstrub in the reshaping of the baseball program’s record books.
Muller’s 2020 and 2021 seasons were both impacted by the pandemic but proved to be the groundwork for where the team has grown to today.
The Dolphins combined to go 15-11 over those two years and were at or near the top of the conference in nearly every single major offensive category. The powerful offense bolstered some amazing numbers for the amount of games that were played. Offensively as a team the Dolphins hit .327, good enough to be 47th in the nation. The offense was also ranked eighth in the nation for Doubles, 42nd for on-base percentage, 40th for runs scored, 10th in triples per game, 23rd in Triples and 28th in slugging percentage. The program continued to shine in the classroom, finishing up with a cumulative GPA of 3.17 for the year.
Blinstrub earned Skyline Conference Player of the Year honors for the first time in 2021 while also being named All-Region for both D3Baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings, thanks in large part due to his .540 batting average for the season. Grisanti broke the all-time home run record en route to a First Team All-Skyline selection while Bartziokas and pitcher Aidan Rice took home Second Team honors.
With just two recruiting classes under his belt, Muller continued his rebuilding of the program as a whole. The newly energized program made the playoffs and grew tremendously, bolstering a young but powerful line-up. On the ball field, the 2019 roster made improvements across all categories leaving many bright spots to look forward to in 2020. The youngsters broke numerous CMSV team and individual records throughout the year. Equally as important that success has translated to the classroom with massive improvements being made. The varsity baseball team now collectively carries over a 3.1 GPA overall and has begun receiving honors for it.
Blinstrub and Grisanti earned First Team All-Skyline honors in their rookie seasons, with Grisanti also being named Skyline Conference and D3Baseball.com Rookie of the Year.
2018 saw Muller bring in the largest recruiting class in school history.
Muller had a very successful career in baseball both as a record setting player who reached the professional ranks and more recently as an up-and-coming coach. He was the pitching coach at D2 powerhouse and nationally ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College and helped lead his pitching staff to two ECC championships, one regional championship game appearance, and in 2016, his staff was one of the top pitching staffs in the entire country in almost all pitching statistical categories
Muller has helped numerous collegiate players reach the professional level while at St. Thomas Aquinas College. Muller has shown the ability to successfully merge the physical and mental aspects of the game to help all of his players grow as young men and baseball players to achieve their goals in all aspects of life on and off the field. He believes that building a strong working and training relationship with his players is imperative to the success of each individual and the overall performance of the program. Coach believes a positive team environment breed’s success and will ultimately lead to further growth of our student-athletes and ascension of College of Mount Saint Vincent Baseball
College Coaching Achievements Before CMSV:
· St. Thomas Aquinas College, Pitching Coach (2015, 2016)
· 2015, 2016 ECC Champions, 2015 NCAA Northeast Region Runner-up
· Coached 5 players who signed professional contracts
· 5 Pitchers ECC all-conference
· 1 ECC conference tournament MVP
· 1 ECC Pitcher of the Year
· 2 Pitchers NE All-Region
· 1 NCBWA All-American and 1 ABCA All-American
· 2016 (STAC) One of the top pitching staffs in the country, almost all categories
Professional Playing Achievements:
· Signed by Chicago Cubs 2007 (5 ½ years of professional baseball)
· Northwest League, Frontier League and Atlantic League All- Star
· Northwest League and Atlantic League - First Half Champions
· Rockland Boulders Record 17 k’s in a game
Colligate Playing Achievements:
· St. Thomas Aquinas Baseball Hall of Fame 2011
· Upon graduation held All-Time Offensive Records (Hits, Doubles, Runs Scored, Total Bases)
· Top 5 in All-Time Offensive Records (Batting Average, Stolen Bases, Triples, Home Runs)
· 3x All- Conference Player / 2x Team Captain
