St. John's University Athletics
Baseball
Bethea, Danny
Danny Bethea
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- bethead@stjohns.edu
- Phone:
- 2332
After serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2019 campaign, Danny Bethea was elevated to the role of assistant coach prior to the 2020 season.
This past season, his first full campaign as an assistant coach, Bethea saw two position players earn spots on the All-BIG EAST First Team: Marty Higgins and Carson Bartels. Higgins, a redshirt freshman, hit .333 on the year, including a .360 mark in BIG EAST play.
With Bethea on staff as a volunteer assistant coach in 2019, the Johnnies turned in the league’s second highest batting average and finished in the top half of the conference in nearly every single offensive category. The Red Storm turned in a winning record for the 29th time in the past 30 seasons and secured a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament for a league-record 16th consecutive year. Individually, Mike Antico and Wyatt Mascarella were unanimously selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Antico, who was recently named the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year entering his senior campaign, finished in the top 25 nationally in both batting average (.386) and on-base percentage (.500).
Bethea starred at St. John’s for two seasons in 2012 and 2013, starting 105 of the 107 games in which he appeared during that stretch. A career .270 hitter, Bethea holds the distinction of belting one of the most memorable home runs in the history of St. John’s Baseball. With the Johnnies trailing the host Tar Heels, 4-2, in the bottom of the ninth of the second game of the 2012 Chapel Hill Regional, Bethea launched a three-run walk-off roundtripper, propelling the Red Storm to victory and helping the program secure its first-ever berth in an NCAA Super Regional.
The following year, Bethea bumped his batting average to .276 and more than doubled his extra-base hit total from the previous season, ripping 17 two-baggers.
After finishing his collegiate career, Bethea was selected in the 34th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. The San Diego native spent the next six seasons with the organization, rising as high as Triple-A Pawtucket and spending a majority of the 2016 and 2017 seasons with Double-A Portland. During his final professional season in 2018, Bethea bolted to the other side of the battery, joining the pitching staff of the Lowell Spinners in the New York-Penn League. Bethea went 2-0 with a 4.61 ERA in a team-high 22 appearances with the Spinners.
Bethea is married to the former Jen Leaverton, one of the leading scorers in St. John’s women’s soccer history and an assistant coach with the program since 2015. The couple welcomed a son, Owen, in December of 2019.
This past season, his first full campaign as an assistant coach, Bethea saw two position players earn spots on the All-BIG EAST First Team: Marty Higgins and Carson Bartels. Higgins, a redshirt freshman, hit .333 on the year, including a .360 mark in BIG EAST play.
With Bethea on staff as a volunteer assistant coach in 2019, the Johnnies turned in the league’s second highest batting average and finished in the top half of the conference in nearly every single offensive category. The Red Storm turned in a winning record for the 29th time in the past 30 seasons and secured a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament for a league-record 16th consecutive year. Individually, Mike Antico and Wyatt Mascarella were unanimously selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Antico, who was recently named the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year entering his senior campaign, finished in the top 25 nationally in both batting average (.386) and on-base percentage (.500).
Bethea starred at St. John’s for two seasons in 2012 and 2013, starting 105 of the 107 games in which he appeared during that stretch. A career .270 hitter, Bethea holds the distinction of belting one of the most memorable home runs in the history of St. John’s Baseball. With the Johnnies trailing the host Tar Heels, 4-2, in the bottom of the ninth of the second game of the 2012 Chapel Hill Regional, Bethea launched a three-run walk-off roundtripper, propelling the Red Storm to victory and helping the program secure its first-ever berth in an NCAA Super Regional.
The following year, Bethea bumped his batting average to .276 and more than doubled his extra-base hit total from the previous season, ripping 17 two-baggers.
After finishing his collegiate career, Bethea was selected in the 34th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. The San Diego native spent the next six seasons with the organization, rising as high as Triple-A Pawtucket and spending a majority of the 2016 and 2017 seasons with Double-A Portland. During his final professional season in 2018, Bethea bolted to the other side of the battery, joining the pitching staff of the Lowell Spinners in the New York-Penn League. Bethea went 2-0 with a 4.61 ERA in a team-high 22 appearances with the Spinners.
Bethea is married to the former Jen Leaverton, one of the leading scorers in St. John’s women’s soccer history and an assistant coach with the program since 2015. The couple welcomed a son, Owen, in December of 2019.
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