Danny Acosta (baseball)

Last updated

Danny Acosta
Current position
TitleHead coach
Team Maryland Eastern Shore
Conference Northeast Conference
Record0–48 (.000)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2021–2023 Iowa Lakes
2024–present Maryland Eastern Shore
Head coaching record
Overall22–181 (.108)

Danny Acosta is an American baseball coach and former scout who is currently the head coach of the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks baseball team, a Division I program. [1] Before taking on the role, he worked as a scout for multiple Major League Baseball teams, served as a minor league hitting coach, and held assistant coaching positions at the collegiate level. [2]

Contents

Early career

At the age of 21, Acosta began his coaching career with stints in Florida and Puerto Rico. He then spent a few seasons as a scout for Major League Baseball organizations. From 1995 to 1999, Acosta served as a scout for the Texas Rangers, and as a scout for the Seattle Mariners in 1999. [3]

Following his Major League Baseball experience, Acosta then went on to be a pitching coach in Puerto Rico for Santurce Cangrejeros, a professional team based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. [4]

It was after coaching in Puerto Rico that Acosta began his career in college baseball, serving as an assistant at Iowa Lakes Community College from 2006 to 2010. [5] After the 2010 season, Acosta returned to the Major Leagues as an associate scout for the San Francisco Giants for two seasons and then as a hitting coach for the Daytona Cubs. [6]

Following his second stint in the Major and Minor Leagues, Acosta then returned to college baseball where he served as an Associate Head Coach at Piedmont International University where he worked for 3 seasons before returning to Iowa Lakes to become their head coach. [7]

Head coaching career

On May 28, 2020, Acosta was named head coach of the Iowa Lakes Lakers baseball team. [6]

In 2021, Acosta completed his first season as head coach at Iowa Lakes, [8] guiding the Lakers to a 3–41 conference record and a 6–52 overall record. The team finished the season with a run differential of -290. [9]

In 2022, [10] Acosta boosted the team from their winning percentage of.103% in 2021, posting a conference record of 6–27, and an overall record of 12–37 (.245%). The run differential also improved by 26 runs from 2021 to a -264. [11]

During the 2023 season, [12] Iowa Lakes posted a conference record of 1–32, with an overall record of 4–44. The end-of-the-year run differential was -366, [13] giving them an average margin of victory of -7.63 runs. This performance led Acosta to land a Division I head coaching position at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. [3] [14]

In his first season as head coach at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Acosta faced continued challenges, as the team finished with an 0–48 record. [15] The Hawks posted a conference record of 0–30 and finished last in the Northeast Conference. The team had a run differential of -365 during the 2024 season. [16]

Coaching record

Acosta's head coaching record
YearTeamConference recordOverall record
2021Iowa Lakes Community College3–416–52
2022Iowa Lakes Community College6–2712–37
2023Iowa Lakes Community College1–324–44
2024University of Maryland Eastern Shore0–300–48
Total4 seasons10–130 (.071%)22–181 (.108%)

References

  1. "Danny Acosta - Baseball Coach". University of Maryland Eastern Shore Athletics. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  2. "Featured Coach: Danny Acosta (Acosta Sports)". FieldLevel. April 15, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "UMES Names Danny Acosta as Head Baseball Coach". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  4. "UMES names Danny Acosta as head baseball coach". Bay to Bay News. August 10, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
  5. Kernan, Sean (September 5, 2012). "Challenges await new Atlantic baseball coach". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  6. 1 2 "ILCC names new baseball coach". www.kkoj.com. May 28, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  7. "Iowa Lakes Names Danny Acosta as the New Head Baseball Coach". Iowa Community College Athletic Conference. June 8, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
  8. "2020-21 Iowa Lakes Baseball Schedule". Iowa Lakes Community College. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  9. "2021 Iowa Lakes Lakes College Baseball Statistics". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  10. "Iowa Lakes Baseball Schedule". Iowa Lakes Community College. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  11. "2022 Iowa Lakes Lakes College Baseball Statistics". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  12. "Iowa Lakes Community College Baseball Schedule 2022-23". Iowa Lakes Community College. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  13. "2023 Iowa Lakes Lakes College Baseball Statistics". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  14. Nolan, Tim (August 10, 2023). "UMES Hires New Head Baseball Coach Danny Acosta". Delmarva Sports Network. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  15. "Northeast Conference 2024". D1Baseball. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
  16. "2024 UMES Hawks College Baseball Statistics". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved February 6, 2025.