BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Polytechnic Institute of NYU athletic director Maureen Braziel announced that John Torres has been named head coach of the NYU-Poly Fighting Blue Jay baseball program.

Before coming to NYU-Poly, Torres was hired to launch a new program at St.Joseph's College (Brooklyn). In his first season with just 10 players he won five games. In his second season, he led the team to 12 wins, utilizing a roster filled primarily by freshmen.

Prior to St. Joseph's-Brooklyn, Torres was the head coach at Manhattan Community College where he inherited a struggling program that managed a total of four wins in the previous four years before he arrived. In his first year (2004), MCC won five games. The following year the program won a school record 15 games and in the process qualified for its first-ever playoff berth in Region 15 NJCAA. In the tournament, MCC won two games to reach the conference semifinals.

Professionally, Torres was an associate scout for the New York Mets from 2008-09, as he assisted the Northeast Regional Supervisor. He also served as the bullpen coordinator during the 2009 pre-draft workout at Citifield. Additionally, he was the head clubhouse manager and first base coach for the Independent professional team, Sussex Skyhawks from the Can-Am League. Torres spends his summers as the head clubhouse manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Torres is a graduate of John Jay College and was a CUNY First Team All-Star at 2nd base and was a member of the 1987 CUNYAC Championship team. He is now retired from the NYPD and volunteers his time for the United Cerebral Palsy Organization.