Rutherford names alum Jason Franzese as head baseball coach

Rutherford has named Jason Franzese as the Rams’ new head baseball coach.

A Rutherford graduate and former three-year varsity starter, Franzese returns to his alma mater to lead the program where his baseball career began. After graduating from Rutherford, he played at Gulf Coast State College during the 1999 and 2000 seasons.

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Franzese brings more than 10 years of high school coaching experience to the position. He served as an assistant coach at Rutherford from 2011-14 before joining Arnold from 2015-18. Most recently, he spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Deane Bozeman School, helping build one of the area’s top baseball programs.

Over the course of his coaching career, Franzese has been part of seven district championship teams, including six at Bozeman and one at Rutherford. During his tenure with the Bucks, the program advanced to six regional finals, reached the state semifinals three times and finished as a state runner-up twice.

Franzese also helped develop 45 student-athletes who signed to play college baseball, including eight who were selected in the Major League Baseball draft.

“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Franzese back home to Rutherford,” Principal Jonathan McQuagge said. “Jason understands what it means to wear the Rams uniform because he has lived it. His passion for Rutherford, combined with his experience and proven success, make him an outstanding choice to lead our program.”

Adebanji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Rutherford names alum Jason Franzese as head baseball coach