Mike LaRosa (WCU ’05) enters his seventh year at the helm of his alma mater. In just five seasons back in the Purple & Gold, LaRosa has returned West Chester baseball to the national stage with the aim of keeping the Golden Rams in the limelight.
 
LaRosa became the 29th head coach in West Chester baseball history, succeeding Jad Prachniak in February 2021. LaRosa made the jump to the Division II ranks, after leading nearby Widener University’s Division III baseball squad for the previous nine seasons. Picking up the pieces of a program that was shut down and inactive during the COVID-19 pandemic, LaRosa won a regional championship and put the Golden Rams back in the national finals in just two brief seasons. In guiding his diamondmen to one of the top two ranked programs in the region five times over the last six years, West Chester has hosted an NCAA Tournament contest at Serpico Stadium in each of those five seasons.

Following a 2025 season, which saw the Golden Rams eclipse 30 wins and return to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, the 2026 Golden Rams enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in program history. West Chester broke the single-season win record in 2026 with 48 wins, finishing the year with a record of 48-12 overall and 21-7 in league play, which helped the Golden Rams capture a share of the PSAC East Regular Season title for the first time since 2018. In the postseason, West Chester ran to the PSAC Tournament title game before falling to Millersville but did not lose in the NCAA Tournament until the National Championship Series against Tampa, which the Golden Rams lost by a two games to one final after dropping the first and final game of the Series to the defending Champion Spartans. Julian Costa rewrote the pitching record books during this historic season, which also saw LaRosa become the latest coach to eclipse 200 wins at WCU, as the veteran lefty broke the career wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched records.

In 2024, West Chester set a new record for wins in the regular season with 39. The team's 25 conference wins marked the most in a single season in school history. Along the way, the Golden Rams also broke the school mark for consecutive victories rattling off a 21-game win streak early on. West Chester finished with 43 wins on the year and only lost nine games total. In the process, LaRosa guided his squad to the PSAC Championship, going a perfect 4-0 in the postseason tournament. Graduate student, and Widener transfer, Anthony Boccio, was named the PSAC East player of the year as well as regional player of the year by the NCBWA. The Golden Rams, who finished second in the Eastern Division standings, earned the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Regional by taking seven of eight games from the top two teams in the region at the time in the final two weekends of the regular season and then sweeping through the tournament.

In 2023, the WCU hall of famer guided his diamondmen to another 30-win campaign and another trip to the NCAA Tournament. West Chester finished third in the PSAC Eastern Division standings and then made a run to the championship game of the PSAC Tournament, before falling to Seton Hill in the finals. The Golden Rams finished 32-20 overall and 14-10 in conference play.

In 2022, LaRosa watched his guys post a 36-15 overall record, qualify for the PSAC Tournament for a second year, win the Atlantic Regional as the No. 1 seed and return to Cary, N.C., for the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships. West Chester went 2-2 in its four games in Cary - earning a spot in the national semifinals while working its way back through the loser's bracket. Six players were named All-PSAC and four more were named to at least one of three all-region squads. Left-handed ace, Braeden Fausnaught, caught the attention of pro scouts while in Cary putting the finishing touches on perhaps the most impressive pitching showcase in a single season at West Chester. He went 9-3 with a school-record 130 strikeouts in 104 innings over 19 appearances and 18 starts on the mound. Fausnaught signed a professional contract with the Philadelphia Phillies and currently pitches in their minor league system. Additionally, two players were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 team and one was named a PSAC Spring Top 10 choice.

In his first season back in the Purple & Gold, LaRosa guided his charges to a 20-11 mark and a second-place finish in the PSAC Eastern Division standings. Three Golden Rams were named ABCA All-Atlantic Region while five were honored as all conference. West Chester qualified for the PSAC Tournament and just missed out on an invitational to the NCAA Atlantic Regional.
 
While at Widener, LaRosa engineered an overall record of 195-155-2 (.557) while posting a mark of 94-71 (.569) within the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth. He won two MAC Commonwealth titles in nine years (2014, 2016) and an ECAC Southeast Regional title (2015). He becomes the seventh head coach on staff at WCU to return to his alma mater and joins both basketball head coaches, Damien Blair and Kiera Wooden, as WCU hall of famers returning to campus.

In LaRosa's tenure, Widener posted six consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins and was the only team in the MAC Commonwealth to have advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament in each of the past six seasons. His Widener Pride came one win from the NCAA Division III National Finals in 2014, setting the school record for wins in a single season (33). Forty of his players have earned all-conference recognition with 14 being selected all-region. Additionally, he coached three CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, three MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners and 35 academic all-conference honor roll recipients while at Widener.

Prior to Widener, LaRosa was an assistant coach at Neumann from 2010-11. He primarily was responsible for coaching the infielders, serving as the base running and assistant hitting coach as well as being the head coach of the JV program.
 
LaRosa, who played professionally for the New Haven County Cutters in the Canadian-American Independent Baseball League, graduated from West Chester University in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He earned his master’s degree in Sport Management from Neumann University in 2012. 
 
LaRosa was a four-year starter at second base for West Chester from 2002-05, serving as captain his junior and senior seasons. He was tabbed All-PSAC all four years and was named the NCAA Division II National Defensive Player of the Year in 2003. In addition, LaRosa graduated with a .362 career batting average and ranks fifth in school history with 234 hits. He helped the Golden Rams win two PSAC East regular-season titles and make three trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 2017, LaRosa was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame.

LaRosa currently resides in West Chester with his wife, Krista, and sons, Ryan and Connor.
 

YEAR	SCHOOL	OVERALL	PCT.	CONFERENCE	PCT.	NOTES
2012	Widener	20-19	.513	7-11 (5th)	.389
2013	Widener	19-22	.463	11-10 (T, 4th)	.524	MAC Tournament
2014	Widener	33-13	.717	16-5 (1st)	.762	NCAA III Regionals; MAC Champions; MAC Coach of Year
2015	Widener	25-20	.556	12-9 (T, 4th)	.571	ECAC Southeast Champions; MAC Finals
2016	Widener	25-18-1	.580	14-7 (2nd)	.667	NCAA III Regionals; MAC Champions
2017	Widener	26-15	.634	13-8 (3rd)	.619	MAC Finals
2018	Widener	21-19	.525	11-10 (4th)	.524	MAC Semifinals
2019	Widener	20-24-1	.456	10-11 (T, 4th)	.476	MAC Finals
2020	Widener	6-5	.545	0-0	.000	Season cancelled due to Covid-19
9 years		195-155-2	.557	94-71	.569	2 NCAAs; 2 MAC titles; 1 MAC Coach of Year
2021	West Chester	20-11	.645	20-10 (2nd)	.667	PSAC Tournament
2022	West Chester	36-15	.706	17-7 (2nd)	.708	NCAA II Nat'l Championships (4th place); PSAC Tournament
2023	West Chester	32-20	.615	14-10 (3rd)	.583	PSAC Finals; NCAA Regionals
2024	West Chester	43-9	.704	25-7 (2nd)	.781	PSAC Champions; NCAA Regionals
2025	West Chester	35-17	.673	17-11 (3rd)	.607	NCAA Regionals
2026	West Chester	48-12	.800	21-7 (1st)	.750	PSAC East Champions, PSAC Finals, NCAA II Nat'l Championships (2nd place)
6 years		214-84	.718	114-52	.674	1 PSAC title; 5 NCAAs; 2 NCAA Regional title
15 years	Overall	409-239-2	.614	208-123	.617	7 NCAAs; 3 conference titles; 2 regional title