John Quirk was named Head Coach of the Lehman Lighting on June 23, 2006. Prior to joining the Lighting Staff, Quirk served as the pitching coach in 2005 for Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (NEC). He was a player coach for the Westchester Rockies of the Westchester/Rockland Wooden bat League and pitching coach for the Yonkers Yankees.
In 1998 while still playing for the New Jersey Jackals of the NorthEast Independent League he helped out with the pitching at Westchester Community College. Quirk has learned his craft from some to the top coached in the country, including, Rick Peterson on the NY Mets, Don Cooper of the Chicago White Sox, John Matlack of the Detroit Tigers, Buddy Bell of the Kansas City Royals, Fred Kendall of Kansas City Royals and Jerry Defabbia Head Coach of Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Quirk played for Coach Ron Patnosh at St. Raymond’s High School in the Bronx where he tossed a pair of no hitters and earned Daily News All City 2nd Team in 1988. Quirk attended Dominican College where he played both baseball and basketball. Quirk finished his playing career at Westchester Community College in 1993, finishing 2nd in the nation in strikeouts. Quirk was drafted in the 23rd round of the 1993 draft by the Chicago White Sox. Quirk enjoyed a six year career in the minor leagues.
Quirk’s tour with affiliated teams including stops with the Sarasota White Sox in the Gulf Coast League, the Hickory Crawdads in the South Atlantic League, Prince Williams Cannons in the Carolina League and the South Bend Silver Hawks in the Midwest League. Quirk also spent time pitching for the Bangor Blue Ox and New Jersey Jackals of the Northeast League.
In the summer of 2007, Quirk teamed up with Lou Melendez, former Lehman College standout player and current head coach at Monroe College to coach the Peekskill Robins of the ACBL highly competitive collegiate league. Coach Quirk’s pitching staff led the Kaiser division with a 3.72 ERA as a team. Quirk also coached Manhattan College Pitcher of the Year Tommy Moran.
This past season, Quirk was named the 2008 CUNYAC Baseball Coach of the Year for leading the Lightning to a 19-16 overall record and a playoff berth. Lehman defeated Mitchell College in the tournament, but was ousted after two defeats at the hands of Staten Island. Still, Quirk was able to help the team improve its win-total by 10 games after the Lightning captured just nine victories in 2007. Through intense recruitment and dedication, Quirk was able to turn the program around and make the Lightning a contender, therefore earning the prestigious honor of Coach of the Year.
Quirk resides in the Riverdale section of the Bronx with his wife Elizabeth
