Michael Forgione is in his second season with Utah Valley Baseball, where he oversees the daily operations of the program.
Forgione came to Utah Valley after serving as an assistant coach at Lower Columbia JC from 2019-2021. The 2019 team won the NWAC Championship, and the 2020 team was the heavy favorite to win the program’s fourth consecutive championship before Covid ended their season. At Lower Columbia, Forgione worked with baserunners, and catchers, and coached first base. In 2019 the team had two catchers that received All-Region and All-Conference honors. The team also recorded over 100 stolen bases for the first time since 2015, when Forgione himself led the team in stolen bases as a player.
Before coaching at LCJC, Forgione spent the 2018 season as the undergraduate assistant coach at the University of Portland as he finished his undergraduate degree. He had finished his playing career in 2017 at Portland while notably stealing 21 bases during the 2016 season, placing him in the top 10 in a single season in the University of Portland record books.
Forgione graduated from WF West High School in 2013 and began his college baseball career playing at Lower Columbia College, where Coach Eddie Smith was in his first year as head coach during Forgione’s 2014 freshman campaign. In 2015 he was an instrumental member of the LCJC team that won the NWAC Championship with a 41-10 record and received a No. 10 national ranking among junior college. He was named the Lower Columbia male student-athlete of the year in 2014 and earned First Team All-West Division and Second Team All-NWAC honors, as well as the 2015 Gold Glove Award for third baseman.
While at Utah Valley, he will also be working towards his masters degree in Public Administration with a target graduation of Spring 2023.
