Luis Lopez was named the associate head coach/hitting coach for the Monroe University – Bronx Express baseball program in August of 2023. Lopez has been very successful at the collegiate and professional levels.
In Lopez's first season at Monroe, the Express advanced all the way to the Region 15 Championship Round and defeated two nationally ranked teams during the season.
The Express once again made it to the Region 15 Championship Round during Lopez's second year in 2025. That year, Monroe won 30 games and hit .371 as a team with an OPS of 1.055. Monroe produced 175 extra-base hits, including 35 home runs. Under Lopez's guidance, Robert Herrera and Yan Ortiz Torres earned NJCAA Division III Player of the Week accolades. Herrera, Pablo Aquino, and Edwin Minaya Jr. were selected to the All-Region first team, while Ortiz Torres landed on the All-Region second team.
Lopez played professionally in the minor leagues and Major League Baseball for 20 seasons (1995-2014). The infielder played for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2001 and then the Montreal Expos in 2004. He was also a member of the MLB Players Association.
In the minor leagues, Lopez earned eight MVP awards and appeared in 10 All-Star games throughout his illustrious career. He collected over 2,500 career hits during his professional career.
Lopez was very successful at the collegiate level. He played baseball for all four years at Coastal Carolina University (1991-1994). He was inducted into both the Coastal Carolina University and Big South Conference Halls of Fame. The two-time Hall of Famer earned All-America Honorable Mention accolades during his freshman year.
In terms of coaching, Lopez served as a varsity baseball head coach for The Harvey School from 2016 until 2023. He worked with middle school students through seniors in high school, informing them the fundamentals of the game of baseball, teaching how to improve their mindset, and educating them how to work as a team. He also prepared practice plans.
Lopez is also the founder and owner of Nighthawks Baseball-6th Tool Foundation, where he recruited players from different high schools to play. He also helped place student-athletes into colleges all over the country. Lopez prepared practice plans, helped with fundraisers to create more options for athletes that are less fortunate, and taught life lessons through the game of baseball.
In 2015, Lopez founded the New York Youth Foundation where he worked as a partner and coach up until the end of 2021. He placed over 70 student-athletes into different colleges and handled the scheduling of tournaments for all the teams.
Prior to forming the New York Youth Foundation, Lopez was the lead baseball trainer for the Pro Swing Facility organization. He conducted lessons ranging from five-year-old kids to college athletes.
Lopez currently resides in Stratford, Conn. He earned his bachelor’s degree in management from Coastal Carolina University in 1994.
