Kevin Graber
Head Coach
Before stepping away for two years (2023 and 2024) to join the coaching staff of the Chicago Cubs, Kevin Graber led Andover to 12 consecutive Central New England Prep Final Four appearances, winning titles in 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2022 (titles weren’t awarded in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID).
In professional baseball, Graber’s winning ways continued, managing the Tennessee Smokies to the 2023 Southern League Championship, breaking a 45-year title drought for the Chicago Cubs’ double-A affiliate, with a roster that included Cubs top prospects Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cade Horton, Matt Shaw, Moises Ballesteros, James Triantos, Kevin Alcantara, Porter Hodge, and Luke Little, among others. He also served for two years as the Cubs organization’s baserunning and base-stealing coordinator and was an integral part of the Cubs’ coaching staff for Major League Spring Training in both 2023 and 2024.
In addition to winning championships, Graber's 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 Andover teams ranked No. 1 in New England according to the year-end New England Baseball Journal Coaches Poll. Graber was named Northeast Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) in 2018 and 2021 and New England Region Coach of the Year by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association (NHSBCA) in 2018 and 2022. He’s been a featured presenter for USA Baseball and at the World Baseball Coaches Convention and presented on the main stage at the 2022 ABCA National Convention in Chicago, for which 8,000 coaches registered.
Graber's Andover teams have produced a host of Central New England Prep MVP's, Gatorade Massachusetts Players of the Year, and ABCA and NHSBCA All-America and All-Region selections, and more than 70 of his players have gone on to play college baseball since 2012, including P.J. Nowak '12 (Michigan State), Curtiss Pomeroy '12 (Georgetown), David McCullough '13 (Yale), Kevin Superko '14 (Georgetown), Tim Salvadore '15 (Virginia Tech), Thomas Lane '15 (Boston College), Jake Nelson '15 (Texas A&M), Richie Ciufo '16 (Brown), Nick Latham '16 (Boston College), John Simourian '16 (Georgetown), Matt Cerfolio '17 (Columbia), Rob Cerulle '17 (Penn), Taylor Beckett '17 (Princeton), Travis Lane '18 (Boston College), Joe Simourian ’18 (Navy), Anthony Redfern '18 (Georgetown), Andrew Ciufo ’19 (Clemson), Tyler Cox ’20 (Dartmouth), Griffin Green ’20 (Virginia Tech), Jonathan Santucci ’21 (Duke), Jack Penney ’21 (Notre Dame), Sebastian Mexico ’21 (Louisiana Tech), Matt Sapienza ’21 (Georgetown), Jake Needham ’22 (Holy Cross), CJ Egrie ’22 (Holy Cross), Tom McAndrews ’22 (Fordham), Cole Mascott ’23 (Northwestern), Teo Spadaccini ’23 (Yale), Isaac Lamson ’24 (Princeton), and Jace Roossien ’24 (Boston College).
Nelson was drafted by the Detroit Tigers, Pomeroy was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and signed the following year with the New York Yankees, Thomas Lane signed with the Cincinnati Reds, Thomas White ’23 was a first-round draft pick and signed a $4.1 million contract with the Miami Marlins, Santucci was a second-round draft pick and plays for the New York Mets, and Penney was a fifth-round draft pick and plays for the Detroit Tigers.
Coach Graber
As a college player, Graber transferred from Division I Winthrop University to The College of Saint Rose in his hometown of Albany, N.Y., where he twice earned first-team all-conference honors and captained the Golden Knights to an NCAA Division II Regional berth. His ensuing playing career included stops in Australia, Minnesota, and upstate New York, batting .311 as a middle infielder for the Prairie League’s Southern Minnesota Stars in his best professional season. Graber then began his first stint managing in pro baseball, guiding Southern Minnesota to a 48-24 record and earning league Manager of the Year honors before being hired the following year to manage the Adirondack Lumberjacks in the Northeast League of Professional Baseball.
He segued to the college ranks shortly thereafter, and his career in collegiate athletics administration and coaching included stops at Lassen College (Susanville, Calif.), Riverland Community College (Austin, Minn.), the University of West Alabama (Livingston, Ala.), and Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.), where he coached alongside ABCA Hall of Fame coach Bill Thurston and current Yale head coach Brian Hamm.
All the while, Graber spent summers coaching the Bourne Braves of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, after managing the Saratoga Phillies of the New York Collegiate Baseball League and the Electric City Giants of the Mountains Collegiate Baseball League (MCBL), earning MCBL Coach of the Year honors along the way.
Although now entrenched in high school baseball, Graber continues his involvement in professional baseball as an associate scout for the New York Yankees and joins the organization’s staff each summer for a number of high-profile showcase events, including the Area Code Games and Summer Rivalry Classic, from which scores of players are selected in the annual Major League Baseball amateur draft.
Graber was inducted into the Schenectady, New York Baseball Club Hall of Fame in 1994, The College of Saint Rose Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014, and the Amsterdam Mohawks Hall of Fame in 2016 in recognition of a trio of all-star seasons (1988, 1989, and 1990) playing in the Northeastern Collegiate Baseball League. He’ll be inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame in November of 2024.
In addition to his duties on the baseball diamond, Graber serves as Andover’s senior associate director of admission and financial aid, dormitory counselor in Tucker House (an upperclass boys' dorm), academic advisor, and class advisor to the postgraduate class, among other duties.
Graber earned a master's degree in education with a concentration in English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and lives on campus with his wife Tina. They have three children—Katie, Kyle, and Kelly.