BABSON PARK, Mass.—Babson College assistant coach Mitchell Holmes was named as the new head baseball coach at Northern Essex Community College on Tuesday afternoon. 

Holmes departs for Northern Essex following a successful two-year stint with the Beavers. After going 23-13 in 2025, the Beavers went 27-17 while winning their second New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship in the past three seasons before advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history. 

Additionally, the Beavers recorded six wins over teams that were among the top 50 of the NCAA NPI rankings and finished with their second-most victories since reaching the Division III College World Series in 2019. 

Under the direction of Holmes, Babson hit .290 as a team last spring while producing its most home runs (31) since 2018 and highest totals in runs scored (348), extra-base hits (119) and runs batted in (312) since the 2019 campaign. The Beavers averaged just shy of eight runs per game and finished with their highest slugging percentage (.421) and on-base percentage (.407) over the last seven years. 

Holmes, who arrived at Babson following three seasons at Holy Cross, takes over a Northern Essex squad that went 36-10 and advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III College World Series in 2026. 

Babson head coach Matt Noone will begin a national search for the program's next full-time assistant coach immediately.