Ian Ratchford, a former student-athlete for the Pointers, was named as the head baseball coach at UConn Avery Point in June, 2019 and enters his fourth season this spring.
Since taking over as head coach of the Pointers, Ratchford has been tasked with navigating two consecutive seasons that were impacted due to COVID. He earned his first win on March 8, 2020 in a triumph over Northern Essex. Unfortunately, the pandemic put an abrupt conclusion to the campaign just three days later. Despite the challenges, Ratchford's squad earned the Team Academic Award from the NJCAA for their efforts in the classroom during the 2019-20 academic year. Four individual student-athletes also received individual NJCAA All-Academic Team honors.
Ratchford's second season saw the Pointers gain steam late in the campaign and finish with a berth in the NJCAA Division II Subdistrict Final. The team's efforts in the classroom continued to shine as well, as the squad registered a 3.3 GPA for the academic year. Six individual student-athletes also received individual NJCAA All-Academic Team honors.
In his third season, Ratchford lead the Pointers to a 24-13-1 record. The 2022 team won the East Subdistrict Championship and advanced to the NJCAA East District Championship. In the sweep of the Subdistrict, Javon Hernandez earned NJCAA Naitonal Player of the Week. The Pointers made it one game from the NJCAA Division II World Series reaching the East District Final.
Over the last three seasons Ratchford has mentored numerous players now playing at the Division I, II, III and NAIA level. There are currently 9 former Pointers playing at the previously mentioned levels.
Prior to his appointment at UCAP, Ratchford spent a year as an assistant coach at the University of Bridgeport, where he helped the Purple Knights reach the finals of the East Coast Conference Tournament. His previous coaching experience includes three seasons at Western Connecticut State University, along with stints with the Danbury Westerners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League and the Front Royal (Va.) Cardinals of the Valley Baseball League.
Ratchford led the Westerners to the 2021 NECBL title in his first year as the manager in Danbury. This was the first NECBL Championship in the history of the franchise. He was also named the Joel. E Cooney Manager of the Year for his efforts in the 2021 summer. Ratchford has coached 16 players that went onto the professional ranks.
Ratchford’s role at Bridgeport included working with the hitters, outfielders and coaching first base. He also assisted with student-athlete recruitment. During his three years at WCSU, Ratchford helped the Colonials reach the Little East Championship game and served as the program’s junior varsity head coach for two of those years.
Ratchford holds a bachelor’s degree from Post University, where he completed his athletic eligibility after UCAP as a member of the Eagles’ baseball squad.
