Danny LaPera enters his sixth season with the Denison University baseball program in 2025 where he serves as catching coach and assists with the hitters.
The 2024 season was a historic one for the Big Red. Denison finished with a school record 42 wins and its first-ever appearance in the Division III Baseball Super Regionals. The Big Red finished with the second-best winning percentage in D-III baseball. Denison won at a .840 clip during the 2024 season. The 42 wins were the fourth most in Division III.
LaPera helped the Big Red earn a share of the NCAC conference regular season title and secured its spot in the NCAA Tournament by earning the NCAC's automatic berth following a pair of wins over Wittenberg on May 12. The Big Red finished off its fifth-straight tournament title with a 17-7 win over the Tigers. The following weekend, Denison secured its first NCAA Regional title following a perfect 3-0 mark at Big Red Field. Denison combined to outscore its opponents 54-8 over the three-game stretch. Following the end of the season, Denison had three student-athletes earn All-America baseball honors. D3baseball.com awarded Eric Colaco with its highest honor as D3baseball.com Player of the year.
The Big Red finished their 2023 season 36-10 overall, earning the second most wins in a single season in program history for the second year in a row and advancing to the regional championship game for the third year in a row. This marked the fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and the second straight year hosting regionals for Denison. The Big Red also captured the North Coast Athletic Conference Regular-Season Championship for the third straight year and won the NCAC Tournament Championship for the fourth straight season. Denison could not be stopped in its quest to finish a perfect 16-0 in NCAC action. It was the first undefeated conference season in the NCAC since the College of Wooster in 2007, and was the first 16-0 season in conference history. Then with its 7-2 victory over second-seeded Wittenberg University to wins its fourth consecutive NCAC Tournament crown, Denison joined the 2000 Ohio Wesleyan University baseball team as the only NCAC teams with an undefeated regular season and an undefeated tournament run.
Denison finished its 2022 season 35-11, which at the time was the second most wins in program history, while also hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. The season also marked Denison's fourth consecutive NCAA Regional berth. During the second round of the Granville Regional against No. 7 nationally-ranked and defending NCAA Division III National Champion Salisbury University, the Big Red earned a 2-0 shutout victory that sent them to the regional championship for the second year in a row. The Big Red also set a new program record for conference wins (16-2), won a second straight NCAC regular-season championship and claimed their third straight NCAC Tournament Championship with an 8-1 victory over Wooster in the title game.
Prior to joining the coaching staff at Denison, LePera served as an assistant baseball coach at Ohio Dominican University for the previous three seasons. During his first two years at ODU, LePera served as the hitting, catching, and strength & conditioning coach. In his first year (2017) he guided Panther hitters to the tops of numerous statistical categories in the GLIAC including scoring (3rd), OPS (1st), slugging (1st), on-base percentage (2nd), and batting average (1st). Nationally the Panthers finished 13th in slugging and 17th in batting average.
In his second season (2018) as hitting coach, Panther hitters saw much success again. The Panthers finished atop every major category in the GMAC including scoring (8.66 Runs per Game), OPS (.906), slugging (.487), OBP (.419), and batting average (.333). Nationally the Panthers finished 8th in scoring with 8.66 runs per game, 14th in OBP, and fourth in BA. ODU finished the 2018 season with a 36-17 record, capturing the GMAC Regular Season North Division Championship, and reaching the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship title game. In his final year (2018) at ODU, LePera served as the catching and strength and conditioning coach and designed throwing programs for the pitching staff. During his three seasons at ODU, he aided in the development of two MLB draft picks, and numerous players who garnished All-American, regional/conference player of the year, all-region, and all-conference honors. ODU catchers during his time there captured all-conference honors every year including an All-American selection in 2018.
LePera is also the owner and founder of Top Notch Trainers & TNT Baseball Academy in Columbus, Ohio. At TNT, LePera oversees the day-to-day operations, along with managing two Summer collegiate teams, four youth teams, and numerous coaches and instructors. In 2017, LePera served as both manager and head coach of the TNT Knights of the Ohio Collegiate Summer Baseball League. The Knights won the OCSBL Championship in their inaugural season and LePera was selected to coach the All-Star game vs. the SWOL. In 2018 and 2019, LePera served as the general manager of both the TNT Knights and newly formed TNT Jays, with the Knights repeating as league champions. In 2019, the TNT Knights won the League for third straight year while the Jays more than tripled their win total in the second year. Following the 2019 season, LePera was appointed as president of the Ohio Collegiate Summer Baseball Association.
A native of Gahanna, Ohio, LePera was named a captain of the baseball team at Gahanna Lincoln High School where he received both all-conference and all-district honors as a junior and senior. Collegiately, LePera spent his first year and a half at Coastal Carolina University, where they won the 2001 Big South Championship and reached the NCAA Regional at Georgia Tech. He finished his playing career at Rio Grande University where he was a three-year letter winner.
LePera currently resides in Blacklick, Ohio with his wife, Amanda, and daughters, Emory and Ayla.
