Mount Saint Mary College Athletics

NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Former baseball standout Mike Pagana will be inducted as an inaugural member of the Mount Saint Mary College Hall of Fame on April 13, 2013.

A native of Newburgh, N.Y. and a graduate of Newburgh Free Academy, Pagana set the bar high for future generations of Mount baseball players.  As of the start of the 2013 season, Pagana still held MSMC records for career batting average (.434), home runs in a season (8), and career home runs (12), and is one of only two players to record 100 career stolen bases.

At the close of his senior season in 1996, Pagana was named to the Skyline Conference first team, the Knickerbocker Conference first team, the New York Baseball Coaches Association first team, and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) all-region first team.  Additionally, Pagana became the first player in Mount history to be named an All-American, garnering a selection to the ABCA All-American second team.  As a junior in 1995, Pagana was named a Skyline all-star and an ECAC Metro Region all-star.  He was also named a Knickerbocker all-star as a sophomore in 1994.

In each of his three seasons on record at the Mount, Pagana recorded a batting average of better than .400, including a career-high average of .457 during his sophomore season in 1994.  His three-year totals include 163 hits, 139 runs scored, and 120 runs batted in.  From 1994 through 1996, Pagana helped the Knights to an overall record of 70-40.

He went on to play independent baseball in the Northeast League and also played in the Gulf Coast Rookie League for the farm system of the Texas Rangers.  In his five years of playing professional baseball and over one thousand minor league at-bats, Pagana holds a career batting average of .323.

Pagana graduated cum laude from the Mount in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology.  He returned to complete a master’s degree in secondary education in 2003.  Pagana and his wife, Christine, have four daughters: Michaela Rose (8), Isabella Joy (7), Christy Ella (5) Grace, and Gabriella Faith (3).  They live on an organic blueberry farm in Campbell Hall, N.Y.

Favorite moments at the Mount: “What I appreciate most from being a student-athlete at the Mount are the relationships that I've developed. Some of my best friends are from the Mount baseball team. I don't necessarily have a favorite moment per say...but rather memories and relationships that will last a life time.”

How did your time at the Mount prepare you for your life: “The education I received from MSMC (both undergrad and graduate level) prepared me well for my former profession as a public school teacher.  In addition, my leadership qualities and communications skills that were also nurtured and developed at MSMC have enabled me to experience success outside of public education and have translated well in my marriage, family life, relationships, ministry, and other professional endeavors.”