Joe Mazzuca
Joe Mazzuca
Joe Mazzuca graduated from Holy Cross High School in 1999. As a senior, Joe was the Holy Cross High School team MVP and East Suburban Catholic Conference MVP. Joe earned his Bachelor;s degree in Science at Northern Illinois University and was named Verizon’s Academic Scholar, all while managing to break the school’s RBI record, tying the hits record, being recognized as team MVP, and making the Conference All Tournament team. In June 2003, he was drafted in the 12th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Florida Marlins. After 2 years of playing in the Marlins Organization, Joe was recruited to play in the Italian Baseball League. He won numerous Italian league championships with multiple teams. He was named the 2014 finals MVP. Joe participated with team Italy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and was also part of team Italy’s 2010 European Cup Championship team. Joe retired from playing in 2016.
Brian Costello
Brian Costello
Brian Costello enters his 11th year coaching varsity high school baseball. Those years were spent at Ridgewood High School and DePaul College Prep. Costello has had success training hitters, infield defense, and pitching. Costello attended Ridgewood High School where he was a starting middle infielder and pitcher, graduating in the class of 2012. Furthermore, Costello played 4 years of college baseball at Dominican University as a starting infielder and a part of a nationally ranked program in 2014 at Concordia University of Chicago. Costello graduated from Dominican University in 2017. As a high school coach, he has raised 5 IHSA Regional Championships, 1 IHSA Sectional Championship, and an IHSA Super Sectional Appearance. He has helped place and prepare over 20 baseball student/athletes from the Junior College level to Division 1 levels. Costello is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association “ABCA”.
Mike Falsetti
Mike Falsetti
Chicago native and creator of Catchers Capital, Mike Falsetti has an astounding amount of baseball knowledge as a player, coach, trainer, and fan of the game itself. Through 4 years of collegiate baseball at the D1, D2, and JUCO levels, and 7 years of professional baseball, Falsetti has cemented his name as an elite “defensive wiz” on and off of the field. Alongside his playing career, Mike has simultaneously gathered an extraordinary amount of success as a coach and as a catching instructor. With 5 years of experience as an assistant coach of Triton College, 8 years of being the Master Catching Instructor for Windy City Baseball, and another 6 years of training catchers through his own brand of catching through Catchers Capital, Falsetti has been regarded as a “savant” at assessing, training, and developing the game of baseball and elite catching specifically for players of all ages.
Karli Spaid
Karli Spaid
Karli Spaid graduated from Lane Tech in 2020. She attended Miami University (Ohio) and helped them secure 4 straight Mac Conference Championships and NCAA Regional appearances. Spaid finished her career at Miami with 103 career home runs, second most in NCAA History. She hit 36 home runs in 2024, second-most in NCAA History for a single season. Her .924 career slugging percentage ranks fifth in NCAA history. She ranks first in Miami history in career batting average (.395), runs scored (253), hits (274), home runs (103) and RBI (258). Spaid ranks fourth in walks (102) and second in stolen bases (56). She was the seventh overall pick of the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Draft.
Career Accolades:
- First-Team All-MAC (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- First-Team All-Region (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- MAC Tournament MVP (2023, 2024)
- 2024 USA Softball National Player of the Year Top-10 Finalist
- 2024 MAC Player of the Year
- 2024 First-Team All-American (D1Softball, Softball America)
- 2024 Third-Team All-American (NFCA)
- 2024 CSC Academic All-District
- 2023 Second-Team All-American (D1Softball)
- 2022 Third-Team All-American (NFCA)
- 2021 MAC Freshman of the Year
Lauren Greif
Lauren Greif
Lauren Greif is the current assistant coach at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.
Prior to arriving in Storm Lake, Greif spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons as an assistant coach at Lakeland University in Plymouth, Wisconsin. During her time with the Muskies, Greif was part of a team that posted a school-record 35 wins in 2024 and made the conference tournament in both seasons.
Greif was a graduate assistant coach at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wis., for two years prior to joining the Lakeland staff. As a college athlete at Alverno from 2018-21, she played a multitude of positions, and as a four-year starter, she appeared in a total of 111 games, including 49 games as a pitcher.
A four-time NACC Scholar Athlete, Greif received her bachelor’s degree from Alverno in business management in May 2021. She is a native of Chicago and a graduate of Lane Tech College Prep High School, where she was a team captain and member of an Illinois state regional championship team as a senior.
Analisa Raffaelli
Analisa Raffaelli
Lettered as a shortstop for four years at IC Catholic Prep under head coach Frank Reaber. Ended her career with a .566 batting average with 216 hits, 149 RBIs and 37 home runs… Named third team all-state in 2020, second team all-state in 2021, and earned first team all-state bids her junior and senior year… Named the Conference Player of the Year from 2021-2024… Set the single season school record for stolen bases home runs and the career program record for runs scored and hits.
Was named All- Patriot League Second team after her Freshman year. Tied for second place in home runs in the division. Colgate Rookie of the Year Nominee. Was named Patriot League Roomie of the Week. Finishing Freshman year batting .274, reported 45 hits, .497 SLG%, 9 home runs, and a fielding percentage of .929.
Joey Igyarto
Joey Igyarto
Joey Igyarto attended Saint Patrick High School where he played 4 years on varsity. He went on to be selected to the 2009 and 2010 ESCC All Conference and All Area Team. He graduated and continued his baseball career at Oakton Community College. He was selected to the 2012 NJCAA Div. II Gold Glove Team as a Center Fielder. He helped set a school record for most wins in school history with 44 wins in 2012. After, he began his coaching career at Ridgewood High School as an Assistant Varsity Coach and a hitting and fielding coordinator. He continues to coach and teach kids of all ages the attributes of baseball.
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Vito Iovino
Vito Iovino
Vito Iovino attended Ridgewood High School where he was a four-year starter for the Ridgewood baseball team. While in high school, Vito was a 3x All-Conference selection. Vito graduated and continued this baseball career. Vito played two seasons at Triton College. During this time there, he was a 2x Conference Champion and the 2018 North Central Community College Conference MVP. Vito also played 1 season at Murray State. Vito has returned to Ridgewood High School as the Assistant Varsity baseball coach and is the program’s catching coordinator.