Tony Cirelli Earns 900th Victory in 5-2 Win Over Western Nebraska Saturday Afternoon
Mesa, AZ - Just add another accomplishment to the list for Mesa Thunderbirds head coach Tony Cirelli as he earned his 900th victory as the skipper for the Mesa baseball team.
The Thunderbirds defeated the Western Nebraska Cougars Saturday afternoon, 5-2, to help Cirelli knotch the 900th victory in his 25th season as head coach.
"When you are surrounded by such great people, accomplishments like this are going to happen," said Coach Cirelli after the game.
As head coach, Cirelli now has a record of 900-540 (.625), and has also been named Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) Coach of the Year three times and Southwest Region Coach of the Year on four occasions. He was also named NJCAA West Region All-Star Coach in 2007 and NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 2014, the year the T-Birds won the NJCAA DII National Championship.
In today's game action, Mesa scored five runs on seven hits while again using an assortment of pitchers, with Zane Pollon earning the win and Nolan Ruff earning the save.
Jake Beeler started the game and pitched two innings, striking out six batters in the seven he faced.
Mesa will be right back in action tomorrow at noon.