Graber named NHBCA Region 1 New England Coach of the Year

Already selected Northeast Region Coach of the Year earlier this month by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Phillips Academy Andover baseball coach Kevin Graber was named Region 1 New England Coach of the Year by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association (NHSBCA) this afternoon. The organization will present Graber the award during its NHSBCA National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri.

Graber coached Phillips Andover to its fourth Central New England Prep Championship in the last seven years, finishing the season at 20-2, ranked No. 1 in New England according to the year-end New England Baseball Journal Coaches Poll. Andover capped the season with shutout wins over Worcester Academy and arch rival Phillips Exeter in the Central New England Prep Championship Tournament, lowering its team ERA to a school-record 0.94.

In nine seasons as varsity head coach, Graber's teams have produced four Central New England Prep Most Valuable Players, three ABCA/Rawlings All-Region selections, and one NHSBCA All-New England honoree, and 37 of his former players have gone on to play college baseball since 2012, including P.J. Nowak ’12 (Michigan State), Curtiss Pomeroy ’12 (Georgetown), David McCullough ’13 (Yale), Kevin Superko ’14 (Georgetown), Chris Hohlstein ’14 (Davidson), Tim Salvadore ’15 (Virginia Tech), Thomas Lane ’15 (Boston College), Jake Nelson ’15 (Penn), Matt Hosman ’15 (UMass Amherst), Richie Ciufo ’16 (Brown), Nick Latham ’16 (Boston College), John Simourian ’16 (Georgetown), Matthew Cerfolio ’17 (Columbia), Rob Cerulle ’17 (Penn), Taylor Beckett ’17 (Princeton), Henry Ennen ’17 (Northeastern), Travis Lane ’18 (Boston College), Joe Simourian ’18 (Navy), and Anthony Redfern ’18 (Georgetown). During that time, Nelson was drafted by the Detroit Tigers, and Pomeroy was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and signed the following year with the New York Yankees.