Bio

Tony Cirelli has led the Mesa Community College baseball program since 1995, establishing it as one of the premier junior college programs in the country. A former T-Bird third baseman, Cirelli played at MCC under legendary coach Jim Frye in 1981 before returning to the program as an assistant coach in 1985. For the next decade, he served as the team’s infield coach, helping to lay the foundation for what would become a dominant era in MCC baseball history.

Over his 30+ years at the helm, Cirelli has guided the Thunderbirds to 23 playoff appearances. Since MCC transitioned to NJCAA Division II in 2004, his teams have finished first in the ACCAC standings 10 times and hosted the Region I playoffs 13 times. From 2002 through 2021, MCC was nationally ranked for 20 consecutive seasons. Under Cirelli’s leadership, the Thunderbirds have captured four ACCAC Championships, made five NJCAA World Series appearances, and earned a national championship in 2014—Mesa’s first baseball national title since the early 1970s and the only one by a Maricopa County school since that era. In 2019, MCC finished as the national runner-up, and from 2004 to 2006, the program made an unprecedented three consecutive World Series appearances—an unmatched feat in Arizona NJCAA Division II baseball history.

Cirelli has also made MCC a pipeline for talent development. In the past decade alone, 108 of his players have continued their careers at four-year colleges. His program has produced 109 All-Conference and All-Region selections, 22 NJCAA All-Americans, two Arizona Players of the Year, three National Gold Glove winners, and one National Junior College Pitcher of the Year. A total of 61 of his players have gone on to play professionally, including six who have reached the Major Leagues.

Success under Cirelli extends beyond the field. The MCC baseball team has been named an Academic All-American Team in six of the last eight years. In that same span, 50 individual players earned Academic All-American honors, reflecting Cirelli’s emphasis on excellence in both academics and athletics.

Cirelli reached a major personal milestone in 2023 when he recorded his 1,000th career win, becoming only the second coach in Arizona junior college baseball history to do so. He is a three-time ACCAC Coach of the Year, five-time Southwest District Coach of the Year, and was named the National Junior College Division II Coach of the Year in 2014. His achievements have been recognized with induction into the Mesa Community College Hall of Fame in 2015 and the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2023.

A native of New York City, Cirelli earned a bachelor's degree in Education from Arizona State University and a master's degree in Adult Education. He also spent 34 years as a special education teacher in the Scottsdale Unified School District before retiring in 2020.

Cirelli brings international experience to the game as well, having coached five different teams in Italy, including a 2012 stint with Novara in the country’s top professional league.

He and his wife Katie have been married for over 40 years and have two sons, Rocco and Jake.