Contact: Emily Zadny, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
(Written by Nicholas Osterloo, Student Sports Information Assistant)
May 15, 2018 - Anthony Serafini was first introduced to North Central College in sixth grade during a basketball tournament. The now senior and pitcher for the Cardinals' baseball team chose North Central for various reasons, but the main reason was to play baseball and follow the sport his family had grown up playing.
"The legacy that my cousins started is what pursued me to play baseball. I had three older cousins who played at Division I Evansville (Ind.). Two of them got drafted into the MLB," Serafini said.
"I have always looked up to them as well as my dad," said Serafini. Being an only child, Anthony was always around his parents, John and Pat. The Serafini's recently bought Michael's Uniform, a stenciling and embroidery company where their son had worked since he was 16 years old. "I have worked a bit throughout college and try to help out as much as I could," Serafini said.
In the classroom, he is on track for a management and marketing degree. Serafini has always wanted to go into sales which will work perfectly at his family's company even though they didn't know about that until last year.
On the field, Serafini broke a single-season program record of 27 appearances last season. This season, he has made 14 appearances while throwing eight strikeouts. The Cardinals just won their second-straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament title, landing them a spot in the playoffs for three years in a row.
After college, Serafini will miss the atmosphere of North Central as well as playing baseball. "That's the toughest part," he said nostalgically. "It's loosing the competitive side when you give up a sport. There's no better feeling than waking up on a Saturday, walking to the park and smelling the field."
He will continue working with his parents while hoping to coach when possible. "In a best case scenario, I would do a little bit of both," Serafini said. "I would love to coach here, if the opportunity arises! Of course I'd coach here!"
"A dream job for me would be a head coach. There are a lot of stresses but the gratification that I would get from it can't be beat," he said. "I would love to coach college--the kids are here because they want to be here, especially at Division III. I've always appreciated the Division III level because no one is making them stay."
"Our coaching staff is Ed Mathey, who has coached 10 years at Northern Illinois University, Tim Stoddard, who coached 25 years at Northwestern and our catching coach, Joe Keenan was at Northwestern for 28 years. We have great coaches here," said Serafini.
When Serafini first became a Cardinal, he thought that there was no way they would have a chance to be a national championship contender. Now everything has changed. Serafini has a unique challenge that not many baseball players could accomplish. "In 8th grade, I won state. I also won state in high school. I would love to win a third," Serafini said with a sly smirk on his face.
Serafini and the Cardinals will travel to the Midwest Regional Championship on Thursday, May 17 as the second seed against fifth-seeded University of Dubuque at Frank Wade Municipal Stadium in Duluth, Minnesota for the first game slated for 3 p.m. Additional information is available at the tournament website HERE.
