Empowering Young Women Through Athletics and Community Service
WU SOFTBALL STAFF/COACHES
Sean Rose, M.Ed. is the General Manager and Founder of Worcester Union Athletics. Sean has been coaching youth teams for over twenty years. He is a resident of Worcester, and has coached competitive basketball and softball through such organizations as Girls Inc., Schwartz Little League, Rising Stars Basketball, Crushers Softball, Huskies Basketball, and Rockets Softball. Previous to his coaching in Worcester, Sean Rose was a Program Administrator for the Town of Barnstable Recreation Department. He was also instrumental in co-creating the largest therapeutic sports league in Massachusetts for at-risk youth and has been influential in helping sports become a clinical modality.
Meg has been a fixture of the Worcester County Softball community for nearly 30 years as a player, coach and league director. As a player at Tahanto Regional, Meg played third base and would continue on at Plymouth State playing both third base and shortstop. After college, Meg became the assistant Varsity coach at Tahanto until her own children became of age to play themselves, and she would begin coaching them and the area youth from 1998 to 2007.
As a coach and league Director of the Joe Schwartz Little League, Meg's teams would go on to win District and Regional Championships before embarking on ASA tournament softball.
Meg went on to become director of the Mass Galaxy ASA Program from 2007-2012 where she was charged overseeing the program in addition to applying her knowledge of the recruitment process. Her rapport built over the years with the college coaching ranks has allowed her to assist players at St. Peter Marian, where her children attended, and make it easy for players and their families to navigate the recruitment process. A talent and skill set she brings to Worcester Union in the form of meetings/clinics/classroom information.
Meg also sat on the City of Worcester Parks and Recreation Commission for 6 years, in addition to the 365Z Kindness Foundation Board. In 2017, Meg was the recipient of the Key to the City of Worcester for her community service work. She is an avid reader, and most recently became a grandmother of a future Worcester Union player!
I have been involved in coaching youth sports for the last 20 years. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of head coaching teams in various sports such as baseball, softball, football, and basketball. I have been a part of great organizations like Worcester Vikings, Friendly House, YMCA, and Worcester Sting Basketball, Ty Cobb Little League (baseball and softball) and Babe Ruth baseball as an administrator.
In 2011, I began my commitment to coaching softball, as my daughter entered the world of travel softball. I served as an Assistant coach for a few programs such as Cyclones, RI Rampage and Central Mass Thunder. More recently, I have spent the last 2 years as the Head Coach of the Central Mass Thunder 14U program.
Coaching is one of my true passions. I am committed to helping our local youth develop into well rounded young adults.
Roland Bosse: 16U Coach
Roland Bosse has over 40 years of coaching experience ranging from travel, High School, and College Softball. Countless players under his instruction have gone on to play college softball. Coach Roland ran his own travel team, Mass Eliminators, for over 20 years. Roland was the head coach for Quinsigamond Community College girls’ softball and worked as a pitching coach at Anna Maria College for many years. Coach Roland has worked with pitchers around the area, focusing on private and group lessons. His most recent coaching includes Worcester Union, Webster Wrath, Oxford Thunder and Baystate games. Currently, Coach Roland is the Varsity Girls Softball Coach at Auburn HS. Roland loves to teach the fundamentals of the game and assists in helping the girls achieve their personal goals of playing at the collegiate level.
Stacey Alvarado: 16U Coach
This is Stacey Alvarado’s second season with the Worcester Union girls’ softball program as a 16U coach. Stacey played softball at Holy Name High School and on a travel softball team for many years, she then continued her softball career as a pitcher at Nichols College where she received an all-time record for pitching. Stacey received a bachelor’s in business administration from Nichols College and later went on to receive her MBA from Framingham State College.
Stacey has coached a multitude of softball teams over the years including Quinsigamond Community College, Webster Wrath, Oxford Thunder, and the Twin Valley summer league, to name a few. Stacey is a pitching coach; she has conducted pitching clinics and private lessons since she graduated from Nichols. Stacey continues to work with pitchers of all ages; she enjoys sharing her knowledge of the game with young athletes and finds it rewarding to watch them grow and succeed. Stacey believes the mental and physical aspect of pitching has assisted in all aspects of her life.
Dan Demand: 18U Coach
Dan was born and raised in Canada for much of his young life. When he moved to the US, he attended Auburn High School where he was captain of the football team. Dan has been part of the Worcester Union Softball family since the beginning! He has coached at the travel level for several years, and was with Central Mass Chaos and Strike Zone prior to joining the coaching staff at Worcester Union. When Dan is not at the field with his team, he enjoys fishing and playing golf.
Kerin Smith: 12U Coach
Kerin is a Worcester native, having graduated South High School in 2000. She went on to play a couple of years of college softball at UMASS Dartmouth while earning her Business Marketing degree in 2004. She is the Regional General Manager for Hertz Corporation for the past 17 years.
Kerin enjoyed playing softball as a kid so much that she went on to become a coach for Burkett since 2016. She also has served as VP in AA division for 2 years and served 2 years as VP in AAA division. For the past two seasons, she has managed the 8-10 year old All-Star Team, MA State Champions!!
Deb Ryzewski: 16U Coach
Sean Lee: 10U Coach
Debra Ryzewski has been a Physical Education Teacher for 35 years in the Quaboag Regional School District.
Her softball experiences began at an early age in the Webster Lassie League. Then she continued playing for four years at Bartlett High School. During that time span, she credits her coaches for developing her into a strong utility player. Shortly thereafter, collegiate softball followed playing two years for Berkshire Community College and 2 years at Lyndon State College as a starting second baseman/back-up catcher.
A strong passion for the sport has kept her in the game. Her recent coaching experiences have been as the Head Coach for the Bay State Games Central Softball Team and within the Charlton Wildfire 14 and 16U Softball Travel Programs. Yet, she has a wealth of experience coaching recreation, high school, and showcase teams and has been a softball clinician at various summer camps. Her teams become family and she enjoys combining her PE career and coaching background to give her players the best experiences on and off the field.
When Coach Deb isn’t on a softball field, she can be found on a field hockey pitch giving lessons as a USFHA Level 2 Coach, conditioning, gardening, reading, and volunteering with the Sturbridge CERT Team.
Coach Lee is a central Mass native, and current Worcester resident. He attended Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School where he played and captained the baseball and basketball teams. After BVT he attended Wentworth Institute of Technology where he earned a B.S. in Construction Management and is currently a project superintendent for John Moriarty & Associates in Boston.
As a father of 3 active daughters, Coach has involved himself in several youth organizations. He has been a Worcester Youth Soccer coach for 12 years, and has led several teams into the MTOC tournament. Sean is also in his 10th year with Joe Schwartz Little League. He is the current softball coordinator and recently managed the 2022 majors division to the state finals. Other volunteer roles include St. Peter’s basketball league as well as the Girls Inc.
Coach Lee has been a part of Worcester Union since its inception in 2018, coaching teams at all levels. He loves working with and developing young players to build confidence within each player. Coach believes that a strong foundation is the key to having success!!
In his free time, he can be found golfing, fishing, or work on some home improvement projects.
Liz Panagiotou: 14U Assistant Coach
Coach Liz is native of Worcester, MA. She attended and played softball and basketball at Doherty Memorial High School. She studied Sociology at Worcester State University. She has been coaching at Jesse Burkett Little League both in regular season and All-Stars since 2018.
Coach Liz’s AAA team won the championship in her inaugural season of coaching. She joined Worcester Union as an assistant coach in 2020. Her goal for coaching softball is to help develop strong independent young women who can learn life lessons for the future while teaching the fundamentals of playing ball.
Liz is the President and owner of Employee Benefit Advisors based in Worcester, MA.
Brandon McLaughlin: 12U Coach
Brandon is a native of Worcester, MA. He played baseball since the age of 4, playing for the Jack Barry Little League, where he later helped coach and umpire while playing for East Side Babe Ruth. He is a graduate of Saint Peter Marian High School where he played both baseball and football in jr. high and high school. He continued to volunteer with Jack Barry Little League through college and with the Big Brother, Big Sister program during his time at St. Peter Marian and Anna Maria College. He has been coaching and assisting for various leagues for the past 25 years, with the most recent being the Jesse Burkett Little League.
Coach Brandon led his AAA Jesse Burkett Little League team to a championship in the 2020 season. After being a huge Worcester Union fan, he is proud to join the Worcester Union coaching staff. His goal for coaching softball is teaching fundamentals of the sport while having fun and encouraging the girls to gain confidence in themselves and their abilities both on and off the field
For the past 15 years Brandon has worked for the MA Trial Courts Probation Department.
Jim Moore: 12U Coach
Jim Moore grew up in Southern Maine playing hockey and baseball. He started coaching at age 15 as an assistant coach/scorekeeper for Bonny Eagle Babe Ruth, including a 13 year old All-Star team that finished 6th in the Babe Ruth World Series.
After High School, Jim joined the Army and was away from sports until he joined The Greater Worcester Jaycees and started playing softball, while attending WPI. Jim transitioned the league from the Jaycees to a City League and was the commissioner from 1992 to 2005 when the league finally ended.
In 2002 Jim started coaching at St. Mary’s High School in Worcester. He started as a Junior Varsity Head Coach and Varsity Assistant for the baseball program. The following year he started coaching girl’s basketball as a Varsity Assistant Coach, and the Head Coach at the Junior Varsity and Junior High levels. As the Junior High Head coach, his St. Mary’s Girls won the Venerini League Championship in 2005. He coached the varsity softball program from 2004 until 2010 leading them to a Division 3 district appearance in 2007.
Jim coached ASA Softball in 2006 for the Central Mass Rage, as well as continuing to coach basketball as part of Girl’s Inc, the St. Peter’s youth league and various AAU organizations until 2018. He also coached the Grafton High School Junior Varsity team from 2016 to 2019.
As a side note, Jim’s father was elected to the Maine Babe Ruth Hall of Fame in July of 2021.
Steve Brunelle: Hitting coach
Having served as a head coach of age groups 12-18U since WU's inception 5 years ago, will now serve as a hitting coach for the organization. I have been involved in coaching youth sports for the last 20 years. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of head coaching teams in various sports such as baseball, softball, football, and basketball. I have been a part of great organizations like Worcester Vikings, Friendly House, YMCA, and Worcester Sting Basketball, Ty Cobb Little League (baseball and softball) and Babe Ruth baseball as an administrator.
In 2011, I began my commitment to coaching softball, as my daughter entered the world of travel softball. I served as an Assistant coach for a few programs such as Cyclones, RI Rampage and Central Mass Thunder. More recently, I have spent the last 2 years as the Head Coach of the Central Mass Thunder 14U program.
Coaching is one of my true passions. I am committed to helping our local youth develop into well rounded young adults.
Mackenzie Francis: WU pitching coach / Coaching Asst at the 12U/14U level
Born and raised in Worcester, Mackenzie Francis pitched for Elms College and Doherty High School, leading the Highlanders in strikeouts her junior year, along with holding the starting pitcher position for the Elms Blazers. Mackenzie had played softball for 16 years prior to ending her career in 2021. She played ASA for the Central Mass Galaxy for 6 years, along with one year on Worcester Union 18U, with Coach Meg Mulhern. As the top pitcher on the staff, she had a sub 3 ERA with 83 strikeouts in her last season. Mackenzie also played volleyball and basketball at Doherty. One of her softball highlights is meeting her idol Lauren Haeger at the annual coaching convention at Mohegan Sun. She is currently a pitching coach for Worcester Union and is always looking to teach girls the art of pitching. She is currently an EMT for Brewster Ambulance, working towards being a Certified Paramedic
Elizabeth Ward: Community Service Coordinator
Liz has been a teacher in the Worcester Public Schools for the past eleven years at Worcester Technical High School. She is the AVID Instructor/Coordinator for the program at Worcester Tech where she has worked closely with many community partners within the city and has strong understanding of developing strong relationships with our youth and our community. Liz holds a B.A. from Salve Regina University and a Master’s degree in Secondary Education from American International College.
Aside from teaching, Liz was the Senior class advisor in 2014- The year Barack Obama was the commencement speaker, is the Mentor/Ally for the 100 Males to College program which collaborates with Worcester State University and Quinsigamond Community College, and is the National Honor Society Advisor. As the NHS Advisor, Liz has worked hard to place her students with volunteer opportunities all over the city within multiple community programs such as Christopher House, Belmont St School tutoring, CMHA (Walk for the homeless and Youth Summits geared to end youth homelessness), American Heart Association, Walk for ALS, Dresses that Cure (ACS), as well as various fundraisers such as Dimes for Diapers, Hat & Mitten Drives, Jeans for Teens, Canned Food (Worcester County Food Bank) and book Drives for donations to the Worcester County House of Correction Educational Programs and other schools within the District.
Liz is a true believer in giving back to the community as a way of personal development and world issue awareness. She will continue to work hard with these young women to ensure that they become well- rounded global citizens with a true understanding of “Community”.