Joe Tonelli Announces Updates to Baseball Coaching Staff

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – With the fall season currently in full swing, University of Bridgeport's head baseball coach Joe Tonelli has announced a couple of coaching staff changes ahead of the 2025 season. Cris Ruiz, formerly UB's pitching coach, will move to hitting and defensive responsibilities while Manny Torres joins the UB staff as the program's new pitching coach.

Manny Torres

COACH TONELLI:
"I am very excited to get Manny in our program. His background and experiences are amazing. Our players will grow quickly under Coach Torres. Manny is a teacher, coach, mentor and motivator.  Our pitchers are very lucky to have someone of his caliber working with them. Not only does he work on the mechanics of pitching, but he also loves the mental side of both pitching and the game in general."

Torres, who is known as one of the best-ever high school baseball players in Connecticut, comes to UB as a terrific baseball mind and mentor. An All-SEC performer while at the University of Alabama, Torres brings a massive resume to Bridgeport. He is currently the Director of Program/Player Development at the Technique Tigers Baseball Academy in Trumbull, Conn. He founded Technique Tigers in 2003 as a baseball program for kids between the ages of 6 and 18. Amongst many duties, Torres leads the creation and development of individualized workout plans for more than 500 athletes every year.

In addition to his expertise in individualized instruction, Torres holds an immense background in collegiate and high school coaching. Most notably, he served as the pitching coach at Division I Fairfield University from 2010-12. He also has assistant coaching stops at St. Joseph High School, his alma mater, and Central High School in Bridgeport. Torres was inducted into the St. Joseph's Hall of Fame in 2017.

While in high school, Torres was named the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year, CT Post Player of the Year, Hartford Courant Player of the Year, and USA Today CT Player of the Year. In 1995, he was drafted in the 28th round of the MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers before going on to play at Alabama.

Cris Ruiz

COACH TONELLI:
"Cris will take over the Hitting and Defensive responsibilities this year after serving as our Pitching Coach last season. This role suits Cris much better. He brings his knowledge and experience to this year's group of guys. Coaching against Cris while he was at STAC, he was always a fierce competitor.  Hopefully that competitiveness will be contagious with our guys."

Ruiz, a standout player in his own right, is back with Coach Tonelli for a second season. He came to Bridgeport after a highly successfully career at fellow Division II program, STAC. He also enjoyed a professional career that brought him across the country and to Canada.

While with the Spartans, Ruiz' squads enjoyed terrific success. STAC earned three consecutive NCAA Tournament selections from 2016-2018, totaling 120 wins during that span. The Spartans won the NCAA East Regional during Ruiz' sophomore season and advanced to the Elite Eight. He drove in 42 runs that year with 18 extra-best hits. All in all, Ruiz appeared in 150 career games at STAC with over 100 hits and 74 walks.

Like Torres, Ruiz also currently coaches at the Technique Tigers Baseball Academy in Trumbull. Amongst his duties, he works with hitters and catchers on mechanics, timing, mindset and approach. 

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