SUNY Old Westbury Athletics

Lou Bernardi, a pitcher at New York Institute of Technology from 2007-10 was named Old Westbury's pitching coach by head baseball coach Rod Stephan on September 21, 2012.

In his first season as pitching coach at Old Westbury, Bernardi's pitching staff posted a 3.84 ERA to rank second in the Skyline Conference, which improved from its 5.00 ERA in 2012.  

Bernard's pitching staff set a program record with 326 strikeouts in 2014 while ranking among the NCAA's best in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (4th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (21st), hits allowed per nine innings (23rd), WHIP (28th) and shutouts (29th).  Old Westbury also ranked 20th in strikeouts per nine innings during the 2013 season.

Bernardi's pitchers garnered various awards throughout his first two seasons, ranging from season awards from Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League Pitcher of the Year (1), Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year (1), D3baseball.com All-Region First-Team (1), ABCA (All-Region Third-Team (1), Skyline Conference First-Team (3), and  Second-Team (1), in addition to National Pitcher of the Week (one time), National Weekly Honorable Mention Pitcher (one time), ECAC Metro Region Pitcher of the Week (three times), Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Week (five times), Skyline Conference Weekly Honor Roll (seven times) and All-Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Team (1) selections.

Bernardi served as head coach for the Westhampton Aviators of the Hampton Collegiate Baseball League since the summer 2013 season.  In just his first season with the Aviators, he guided the team to a 24-16 record to finish the regular season tied for first place.  

Prior to his arrival at Old Westbury, Bernardi spent the 2012 season as an assistant coach with his alma mater, NYIT.  In the summer of 2012, he served as head coach for the New York Atlantics of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League (ACBL), where he guided his team to the Kaiser Division Championship.

Bernardi was a four-year member of the NYIT baseball team and finished his career with 67 appearances, which ranked him third all-time in program history.  As a sophomore, he led the team with three saves.  In 2010, Bernardi received the Harold J. Hirschfield Memorial Leadership Award, which is given annually to a member of the baseball team who exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the field. 

In 2011, Bernardi began his professional career, playing independent ball with the St. George Roadrunners of the Golden League and the New York Federals of the New York State League.

A native of New Hyde Park, New York, Bernardi attended Herricks High School, where he lettered four years in baseball.  As a senior, he was recognized as Herricks’ Male Athlete of the Year in addition to receiving All-New York State, All-Nassau County and League MVP honors.  He also served as team captain as a junior and senior.  In 2010, Bernardi was inducted into the Herricks High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  In 2006, Bernardi received a bronze medal as a member of Team Long Island in the Empire State Games. 

Bernardi graduated from NYIT in May 2011 with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice.  He currently resides in New Hyde Park, New York.