Baseball Hall of Fame

Ron Maestri covered all the bases in forging out an outstanding baseball coaching and college administrative career.

A native of Highland Park, Maestri entered coaching immediately after his baseball playing days at Bradley were over, serving as assistant coach at Princeville, Spalding and Pekin before returning to Bradley in 1967 as a three-sport assistant.

In 1972 he became head baseball coach at the University of New Orleans and in 14 seasons went 518-247-1.

His teams finished second in the 1974 Division II NCAA College World Series and his 1984 team was fifth in the Division I College World Series. He was Region 11 Coach of the Year in 1984.

He won the Sun Belt Conference in 1978 and 1979 and he was Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 1979. His teams won seven Division I regionals between 1977 and 1985.

He was also athletic director at New Orleans from 1979 to 2000, when he retired.

He is a member of the New Orleans Hall of Fame, the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the University of New Orleans Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Italian-American Hall of Fame, the Bradley University Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Hall of Fame.

As an administrator, he was executive director of the 2000 New Orleans Bowl, the 2002 NCAA women’s volleyball Final Four, the 2003 NCAA Men’s Final Four and the 2004 NCAA Women’s Final Four.

He also has been chairman and co-chairman of many other major collegiate and other sporting events in New Orleans.