When the St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team boards its bus to North Carolina to participate in the school’s first ever NCAA Baseball National Finals appearance, they will be without one of the core players from their 25-man post-season roster. For senior Joe Grimaldi, there is an even higher commitment to serve.
As the Spartans embark on their journey that sees just seven teams standing between them and the National Championship, the pitcher/outfielder from Hawthorne, NJ will start a journey of his own among "The Few and the Proud."
Joe’s younger brother, Matt, previously joined the National Guard and so inspired his older sibling that the 22-year old made the decision to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. “(Matt) did such a great job preparing and getting through boot camp that it inspired me to make something I wanted into reality,” he noted. Aiming straight for the top, Joe made it clear that he chose the Marines because he “wanted to join at the highest level possible.”
Little did he know when he enlisted on July 16, 2013 that being among the best of the best would not be without conflict.
Having arranged to ship out after graduation, Grimaldi set his sights on continuing his college baseball career, which actually started with him being cut after tryouts while at William Patterson College in 2009 and San Joaquin Delta Community College in 2011. His persistence paid off when he played for Bergen Community College for two seasons before transferring to St. Thomas Aquinas in 2012.
His first season with the Spartans, spring of 2013, was a memorable one, as his team captured the program’s first ever East Coast Conference championship title, and with it, their first trip ever to the NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament. While STAC lost both games in that tourney, it would set the stage for even bigger and better this season.
For the second straight season, St. Thomas Aquinas showed great determination, dropping its first ECC Tournament game before winning the next four straight, earning the school’s second straight championship.
This time, the tiny Rockland County School of just 2,800 students would not be satisfied with just appearing, again losing its first game at the regionals before sweeping the next four to earn the East Region Championship, and with it a chance to participate in the National Finals in Cary, North Carolina for the first time.
Unfortunately for Grimaldi, his team’s extended run through the post-season was not part of the original plan. The communications major was scheduled to report for duty at Parris Island, South Carolina on Tuesday, May 27. NCAA rules specify that teams must lock in their 25-man roster before the start of the tournament. With his team’s first Finals game slated for Sunday, May 25, that left Grimaldi on the outside, much to the dismay of not only his teammates, but his coaches.
"As a hard throwing right-hander, Joe gave us some solid innings out of the pen over the past two seasons," Coach Scott Muscat stated. "He has a great arm and he's a great athlete, but his work ethic & commitment to excellence were his trademark qualities, and those qualities had a definite impact on the rest of the team. Every championship team needs a Joe Grimaldi. The Marines are getting a winner, a hard worker and a team player."
College President Dr. Margaret Fitzpatrick will be honoring the Spartans baseball team with a luncheon on Wednesday afternoon, May 20, immediately after which the team will board a bus for the long drive to Cary.
Grimaldi will not be among them when the bus departs.
Before he reports for duty next Tuesday, Grimaldi will first report to Fort Hamilton on Staten Island this Thursday, where he will undergo Military Enlistment Processing Services on Friday. While he may not be with his team, he will certainly be following their progress, as all the members of his college family will be following his.
“It’s such a special thing for a school like ours to be able to participate at a national level like this,” Director of Athletics Gerry Oswald said. “It’s certainly disappointing that Joe won’t physically be with the team, but I think what he’s doing as a student-athlete and as a person will serve as a big inspiration to all of us.”
St. Thomas Aquinas, ranked #8 in the nation in this week’s Collegiate Baseball Newsletter poll, opens the tournament on Sunday, May 27, against Colorado-Mesa University at the USA National Baseball Training Center in Cary. The tournament is co-hosted by the town of Cary and Mount Olive University.