Tony Cirelli just wrapped up his 15th season as the T'Birds skipper. His career record stands at a very impressive 527-352. His right-hand man, Recruiting Coordinator and assistant coach Doug Rose has been on board since the beginning. Sean Kenney and Tom Novak serve as Cirelli's other assistants.
Originally from New York City, Coach Cirelli attended Mesa Community College and Arizona State University and has a Master’s degree in Education. Cirelli was a third baseman as a player and joined the MCC staff as infield coach in 1985. He was named head coach in 1995 and now holds the record for most wins in the history of Mesa Baseball.
Over the past 24 years, Mesa has been in the playoffs 20 times. Cirelli has led the Thunderbirds to consecutive appearances in the Junior College World Series in three of the past six years. His 2006 squad finished with a record of 44-21 and a #1 national ranking.
During his tenure as head coach, Cirelli has guided the T'Birds to the second most wins and more playoff appearances than any other Arizona community college. Cirelli was named American Baseball Coaches Association Southwest Region Coach of the Year in NJCAA Division II in 2004, 2005 and again in 2006.
In the past 15 years, 28 MCC players have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams. Of those 28 players drafted, only five had been drafted prior to coming to Mesa.
“We take pride in helping a good high school player develop his game so he becomes a draftable player. We also stress academics, and our team GPA has never been below 2.9,” says Cirelli.
tcirelli@mesacc.edu (Coach Cirelli)
480-461-7562
drtbird13@yahoo.com (Rosey - Recruiting Coordinator)
