Piccirillo, Boccia, Cundari Named to USCAA Baseball All-American/All-Academic Teams

SPRINGFIELD, IL – At the USCAA Small College World Series banquet yesterday, three St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) student-athletes were recognized to the 2012 USCAA Baseball All-American and USCAA National All-Academic Teams. Junior Paul Piccirillo (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) was named All-American while senior Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) and sophomore Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) received All-Academic honors.

Piccirillo, becomes the first Bear to receive All-American honors in baseball, compiling the best season on the mound in school history finishing with a perfect 9-0 record leading the Bears to an 18-17 mark, their first plus-.500 season in school history. He made nine starts on the mound and tossed six complete games and two shutouts, assembling a 2.78 ERA over 71.1 innings of work, striking out 61 batters, setting a new single season Bears record.

Piccirillo tossed a nine-inning, complete game, three-hit shutout in a 4-0 victory over CCNY, striking out a then career-best nine, before improving that mark with 11 strikeouts in a nine-inning 2-1 victory over John Jay. Piccirillo closed the season with a seven-inning, complete game, two-hit shutout against Yeshiva.

Boccia received All-Academic honors for the second time in his career.  The two-year Bears captain had his most productive season at the plate finishing with a team-leading .383 average and collected 36 hits, 19 runs, 12 RBI, nine stolen bases, three doubles and a triple.  Boccia assembled a career-best 11 game hitting streak from March 21st through April 12th, batting .455 over that stretch with six multi-hit games, leading the Bears to a 7-4 mark.  Boccia started in all 126 games he has played and is one of three members of the 100-hit club and the only member of the 100-run club, finishing his four-year career as the all-time leader in hits (142) and runs (109).

Cundari improved upon a strong rookie campaign batting .333 on the strength of a team-best 13-game hitting streak from March 30th until May 5th. Cundari successfully hit in 15 of the last 16 games and batted .407 as the Bears went 11-5 to close the season. The sophomore catcher played in 34 games, starting in 33, and accumulated 37 hits, 26 runs, 20 RBI, a home run, three triples, seven doubles and three stolen bases. Cundari highlighted his season with a pair of three hit, three RBI efforts against Maine-Presque Isle and Drew. Cundari received All-Academic honors in the fall as a member of the cross country team.