Falcon Profile: Mark Gialluisi - An Unlikely Falcon Star

Mark Gialluisi was a highly sought-after baseball player by high schools all around New Jersey during his middle school years. But Saint Joseph’s High School was not in the plan for his future.

As he grew up, so did his skills and recognition. Traveling to Florida for a 14u National Showcase event in 2018, Gialluisi showed out as one of the best catchers ranking No. 3 in pop time and No. 2 for catcher velocity, according to Perfect Game USA, the national leader in amateur baseball. But it was the choices off the field that were growing in importance. 

After choosing to play catcher, the next of many important decisions came in the coming years. Where would Gialluisi go to high school? 

“I was going to Westfield High School,” Gialluisi said. “But the July after my 8th grade school year, I was talking to Coach Mike Murray, and he invited me to take a tour of the Saint Joseph campus. I got to meet a couple of seniors on the team, Adam Boucher ‘20 and Sebastian Mueller ‘20. Those guys really made me feel welcome. I felt wanted and appreciated by the school and that’s why I chose Saint Joe’s.”

Despite Coach Murray being an alumnus and holding nearly every hitting record at Westfield High School, he knew Saint Joe’s had something special to offer Gialluisi.
“Mark’s family and my family are actually neighbors so I got to see Mark grow as a person on and off the field,” Murray said. “It was early on that I knew Mark would be a relentless worker and really put the time and dedication into the sport of baseball. Once I had him practicing with the team, he was catching for Boucher and Donovan Zsak (Class of 2022). Despite both of those guys being NCAA Division 1 pitchers, Mark was handling them extremely well as a freshman.”

The Inspiration

Gialluisi began playing baseball very early in his childhood and had many reasons why, but his grandfather was the biggest influence in his career.

“My grandfather was a big influence in my baseball career,” Gialluisi said. “He was a big Yankee fan and started me off on my baseball journey. He’d come to all my games and was always my biggest supporter. He showed me how to love the game.”

Once Gialluisi started playing, his love and passion for the game were never questioned. But there was one question that still remained - which position should he play. For Mark, this was a rather easy choice. 

“I knew immediately that I wanted to play catcher,” he said. “I love to be in the game and you’re involved in every pitch as a catcher. As a kid, this kept me in the game as opposed to just standing in the outfield for most of the game. As I got older, being able to help pitchers out by stealing strikes as well as make a big defensive difference was a big deal for me. Even if I had a rough day in the batter’s box, I knew that if I could get behind home plate and throw a runner out or steal a strike, I was making a difference for my team."

Gialluisi has thrived behind the plate, something he attributes to a very important coach.

“Coach Ani Ramos has taught me everything I know about catching,” said Gialluisi. “I’ve been working with him ever since my sixth-grade year and he has not only turned me into a well-versed player, but also a stronger leader over the years. I have grown to the catcher I am today because of him.”

A Falcon Takes Flight

The Falcons were poised for another incredible season under head coach Mike Murray in 2020. But then, disaster struck. In March 2020, COVID-19 wreaked havoc on many aspects of life for people all over the planet. In Mark’s case, this meant that he would have to miss his entire freshman baseball season at Saint Joe’s. 

However, Murray launched a Last Dance tournament for schools across New Jersey. This gave seniors one “Last Dance” but it also gave Mark the opportunity to start his baseball career for the Falcons on the right foot.

“My freshman season was definitely bittersweet, but the fact that I even got to play because of Coach Murray is something that I will always be grateful for,” Gialluisi said. “The team would always get pizza before games and then hang out afterward and I really got to bond with the guys, especially the seniors. It was the best summer of my life.” 

After that, it was off to the races for Gialluisi.

As a sophomore, Gialluisi led the Falcons in runs, walks, and hit-by-pitches, as they secured a GMC Championship over South Brunswick. He continued to show off his skills, being named to a Top Prospect Team for a Perfect Game Mid-Atlantic Showcase, as well as All-Tournament Teams for Northeast, National, and World Championships.

During his junior campaign, Gialluisi was firing on all cylinders. 

“The work he’s done as a hitter in preparation for last season was really something special,” Murray said. 

“I attribute much of my improvement as a hitter to Rob Benjamin,” Gialluisi said. “He’s taught me more about hitting than I ever could have imagined and I work at his philosophy of becoming a better hitter each and every day.”

That work certainly paid off last season. Gialluisi was all over the stat sheet for the Falcons for the 2022 season. He led the team in runs, at-bats, triples, stolen bases, batting and slugging average, as well as home runs while setting the school’s single-season hits record with 52 hits in 31 games. Gialluisi was named GMC Player of the Year, as well as being named to NJ.com’s First Team, All-State and several All-American teams.

Gialluisi’s teammate, pitcher James Mulvaney ‘23, has gotten a first-hand look into his development as a player and a person. 

“Mark’s definitely the biggest leader on the team right now,” Mulvaney said. “I transferred into Saint Joseph as a sophomore and he made me feel welcome immediately. I could tell early on that Mark was a natural-born leader and even during our sophomore season, he began to take on that role which was extremely impressive to me. Now that we’re seniors, he’s the top guy and is very important to all of us. He finds a way to both set an example for the younger guys as well as lead the seniors at the same time.” 
One way Gialluisi has set that example is by setting up a charity baseball match where the team would play an exhibition match in Halloween costumes and spectators were encouraged to bring toys that would be donated to a nearby children’s hospital for the holidays.

Gialluisi always loved the aspect of being able to directly help a pitcher during a game, and it’s no different for Jimmy. 

“As a pitcher you kind of feel like you’re alone on an island out there,” Mulvaney said. “So having a good catcher that you can trust and rely on is very important. Over the past couple of years, Mark and I have developed a great relationship where we can trust each other and that pays off when we’re able to execute in those high-pressure situations.”

Gialluisi believes that there is one person that had a lot to do with the jump he made from his sophomore to junior season.

“I began working with my strength coach, Jared Forestieri, in August leading up to my junior season and weighed in at 170 pounds,” Gialluisi said. “By March, I was 190 pounds and felt stronger and more explosive than ever.”

Gialluisi knew there was more than just his personal benefit with Forestieri, so he helped set up workouts with the rest of the Saint Joe’s baseball team as well.
“He brings a certain kind of contagious energy and in my opinion, he’s the best trainer in the state,” Gialluisi said.

There are high expectations for the Falcons and Gialluisi this baseball season, some of which come from Mark himself.

“I’d like to be a .500 hitter again although I know the struggles that come with it,” he said. “But keeping that same mindset and putting in the work during the offseason are what will take me there. I got some incredible awards in my junior season but I was never really playing for that and I won’t be playing for them this season either. My goal is to always get more total at-bats for the team and win games. If personal success should come with that then that’s great, but it’s not the most important thing for me”
Even with all the natural talent that Gialluisi seems to have, he attributes much of his success in high school to the various coaches he’s had. 

“I really want to thank coaches John Kroeger, Isaias Quiroz, and Frank Nigro.” he said. “Their high level of instruction is priceless and I couldn’t be more thankful for them.”

Looking to the Future

Gialluisi’s eyes are still set on the 2023 season for the Falcons, but he has also kept an eye out for where he will be continuing his academic and athletic career after Saint Joe’s. 

“This fall I will be attending the University of Virginia,” Gialluisi announced in August. The Virginia Cavaliers have 15 active MLB alumni and recently won the NCAA Division I College World series in 2015. 

“Virginia is one of the best baseball and academic combos in the nation that holds an extremely high bar for incoming recruits,” Murray said. 
Head Coach of the Cavaliers, Brian O’Connor, has taken Virginia to the NCAA Tournament nearly every year of his tenure and is a five-time ACC coach of the year as well as three-time National Coach of the year. 

Gialluisi went from a kid who gave no second thought to Saint Joe’s as a potential high school for him, to a Falcon baseball star who is shattering records left and right.