Coaching Staff

Matt Palm

Head Coach
Associate Athletic Director

(419) 448-2009
mpalm@heidelberg.edu

Matt Palm enters his ninth season at the helm of the Heidelberg College baseball team in 2008. Under Palm’s guidance, the Berg has posted a 20-win season every year since 2000, including three 30-win campaigns. Heidelberg has made eight appearances in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with seven coming with Palm’s direction, including four-consecutive. The team won its second regular season OAC Championship crown in 2007.
 
In eight seasons, Palm boasts an overall record of 225-119-2 for a .650 winning percentage. Prior to Palm’s arrival the program owned just a .387 winning percentage. He became the college's career win leader in 2002 and reached the 100 win mark midway through the 2003 season.
 
In 2004, the Berg captured its first OAC Tournament crown and made its first appearance in the NCAA playoffs. Palm was named the OAC Co-Coach of the year, the second time he has received this honor. The 2003 squad earned Heidelberg’s first OAC regular season championship and broke numerous school records including best winning percentage at .727.
 
During Palm's first season, the Berg shattered the school record for victories by 13 posting a 32-13-1 mark. Heidelberg finished the regular season as runner-up in the OAC and advanced into the OAC tournament for only the second-time in school history. Additionally, the Berg tied the conference record with a team batting average of .370. Honored for his turnaround of the program, Palm was named OAC Coach of the Year, becoming just the second 'Berg coach to earn the honor in the award's 32 year history.
 
Palm has brought a tradition of championship caliber teams to Heidelberg since day one. Under his watch and recruiting efforts, 24 single-season records and 12 career records are held by student-athletes that have joined the program since he took over the reigns in 2000. In that time, Palm has coached three OAC Players of the Year (Aaron Fischer 2000, Jon Hatfield 2003 and A.J. Schlea 2006), one OAC Pitcher of the Year (Bill Sheets 2002), had nine players honored as Academic All-OAC First Team members, and 17 All-OAC First Team performers. He has also coached two All-Americans in first team honoree A.J. Schela (2006) and second team recipient Jon Hatfield (2003).
 
He joined Heidelberg after spending one year as an assistant baseball coach at Indiana University in Bloomington. Palm earned his master's degree from Georgia State University in Atlanta. During that time, Palm was an assistant coach with Emory University. The Eagles advanced into the NCAA Regionals every season he was with the program.
 
During his undergraduate career at The College of Wooster, Palm was a catcher. Throughout his four seasons with the Scots, Wooster posted a 112-55 mark. He had a career batting average of .332 with eight homeruns, 101 RBI and 29 doubles. In his senior year of 1995, he hit .352 with 40 RBI.

Aside from his coaching duties, Palm also serves Heidelberg as the interim associate athletics director.

Palm is a native of Orrville, Ohio and is a graduate of Smithville High School. He resides in Tiffin with his wife Michelle, two sons Samuel and Nicholas and daughter Cecilia.

Jeff Fontaine

Assistant Coach
(419) 448-2188
jfontain@heidelberg.edu

Jeff Fontaine is in his second season as a graduate assistant coach at Heidelberg.

Fontaine was a four-year starter in the outfield at Evansville from 2003-06. He was a member of Evansville's 2006 NCAA Tournament squad which won the school's first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles.  Evansville finished the 2006 season with a 43-22 overall record, and advanced on to the Charlottesville (Va.) Regional Championship Game.

For his career at Evansville, Fontaine stands 10th in games played (222), 11th in doubles (44) and 15th in career at bats (678). As a freshman in 2003 he led all freshmen in the MVC in hitting with a .360 batting average.

He is a native of Zionsville, Ind. and attended Indianapolis Cathedral High School.

Chad Fitzgerald

Assistant Coach
(419) 448-2188
cfitzger@heidelberg.edu

Joining the coaching staff as a graduate assistant for the 2008 season is Chad Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald was a pitcher and two-time Academic All-American at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. Seton Hill racked up 124 victories over the course of his four-year career, including a 45-20 season in 2006. In 2006, Seton Hill also claimed the American Mideast Conference Championship and went on to win the NAIA Region IX and the East Coast Super Regional’s, earning a bid to the NAIA World Series. Fitzgerald posted a 4-1 record on the mound in 10 appearances, with a 3.69 earned run average during the Griffins’ championship season in 2006.

Fitzgerald is a native of Hermitage, Pa. and a 2003 graduate of Hickory High School. He graduated from Seton Hill in 2007 with a degree in marketing and human resource management and is going for his masters in business administration at the Berg.

Matt Talarico

Assistant Coach
(419) 448-2188
mtalaric@heidelberg.edu

Starting his first season as a graduate assistant with the Berg is Matt Talarico.

Talarico joins the Berg coaching staff following a four-year playing career at Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind. He helped guide Manchester to a 124-54 record since 2004, while claiming two Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Championships and two tournament titles. Manchester advanced to the NCAA Regional’s on three occasions and made an appearance in the Division III World Series in 2004. In his final season, Talarico was named to the HCAC First Team and the all-region third team.

A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Talarico attended Bishop Dwenger High School. He graduated from Manchester with a degree in history in 2007 and is currently working towards his masters in education at Heidelberg.