Top 10 Moments: #5 - Piccirillo’s Perfect Campaign Leads Baseball to First Winning Season

The second half of our Top 10 list starts with the Bears baseball team who posted their first winning season in its five-year history.

Led by junior pitcher Paul Piccirillo, who assembled an unblemished 9-0 record on the mound and was ranked among the nation’s Division III leaders in victories, the Bears finished with an 18-17 mark, besting the previous wins record of 12 games.

Piccirillo also became SJC's first USCAA All-American in baseball, was named the AD3I Pitcher of the Year and an ABCA All-Region honoree.

Piccirillo was backed by a solid supporting cast of veteran Joseph Boccia, sophomores Joe Mendez and Mike Cundari, rookies Thomas McKenna and Vincent Rossi, each receiving AD3I All-Independent Team honors.

Boccia saw his best season at the plate in his senior season and led the team with a .383 batting average earning second team honors.  Mendez, a two-time first team All-Independent, paced the team in most offensive categories including slugging (.568) and RBI (31). McKenna highlighted a strong rookie class with a first team selection, starting all 35 games at shortstop and matched the Bears single-season record in hits (49) and also led the team in runs scored (33) and stolen bases (13).

The Bears provided a flair for the dramatic all season defeating their first NJAC opponent, Rutgers-Newark, winning all three of their  extra inning games and had a pair of exciting walk-off wins at home against Baruch and SUNY Canton, with rookies Rossi and McKenna delivering the respective game-winners. The Bears prevailed in close decisions compiling a 9-2 record in games decided by two runs or less and were a perfect 6-0 in one-run games.

Headed into the final weekend of the season the Bears stood at 14-17, but swept Mount Saint Vincent and Yeshiva at MCU Park to assemble their longest win streak of the season and break the .500 barrier.  The final victory also gave head coach Scott Losche his 100th career win in his eight-year career with previous stints at Baruch and CCNY. 

A summer feature on www.SJCBears.com, we look back at the highlights from the 2011-2012 season in St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn Athletics. We will reveal a new moment on the list every Wednesday throughout the summer ending in August right before the start of the new season. 

#10 – Diamonds Sparkle on National Stage at Disney
#9 – 2011-12, One For The Record Books...
#8 – Multi-Purpose Facility Construction Commences
#7 – Louison's Outstanding Rookie Campaign Nets Rookie of the Year Honors
#6 – Softball Dominates HVWAC, Returns to USCAA Nationals
#5 – Piccirillo’s Perfect Campaign Leads Baseball to First Winning Season
#4 – Check back on August 1st!