Santana Still Boosting Spartan Pitching

If there’s one thing Mike Santana knows, it’s winning.

“All I’ve been around is winning,” said the 2003 Paramus High School alum. “[Joe] Cervino instilled that attitude in me. I was never part of a losing team in high school.”

Santana was a four-year wrestler and baseball player for the Spartans.

The former standout used wrestling to get in shape for baseball.

When taking a 20-minute run with recently retired baseball coach —who also coached wrestling at the time before retiring from the sport in 2003—the two would talk baseball.

Santana wrestled part-time his freshman and sophomore year, appearing in 10 matches at 119, and 16 matches at 125, respectively.

He began wrestling full-time his junior year. Santana went 18-11, placed third in the District and fifth in regions at 135. He earned second-team all-league honors.

During Santana’s career, the Spartan wrestling team won the district three times, the Bergen County championship in 2001, a league title in 2003, and set the record for the most wins in a season (19) in 2003.

His wrestling career was cut short his senior year due to ankle injury.

“Cervino used to always tell me to protect my shoulder,” Santana laughed.

After Santana fractured his ankle, his longtime head coach suggested that the standout should rest and get healthy for baseball.

Santana’s true passion was—and still is—baseball.

He was called up to varsity his freshman year and started three games, pitching roughly 20 innings, but did not record a decision. Santana was the first freshman to play varsity for Cervino since Mike Bassett in 1994.

The team finished 14-12, didn’t make the county tournament and were one-and-done in state tournament.

Sophomore year, Santana was the No. 2 behind Scott Barchetto. The former went 6-1—and played shortstop when he didn’t pitch.

“I liked being able to hit because I was always a good hitter in rec,” Santana recalled. “When I was a freshman, I batted third and played third base.”

Santana’s lone loss on the season was against Ramapo in the state sectional finals. The Spartans fell 4-2 to the Green Raiders.

The team finished 22-6 and Santana was an all-league player.

He had a breakout junior year.  On the mound, Santana went 10-1 as a starter—the only pitcher in the state with 10 wins—earning All-Bergen County, second team all-state, all-Group 3 and all-league honors.

He fanned 86 batters and also served as a third baseman and designated hitter.

The team was 19-9 and Santana’s only loss was an 11-10 defeat at the hands of St. Joseph Regional (Montvale), where he came back in after being taken out.

Paramus finished second in the league and went one-and-done in both the county and state tournaments. Santana didn’t pitch in either game.

Santana will always remember his record-setting senior year. The team went 23-7 and captured the North 1, Group 3 state sectional title.

“It was a good feeling because we were seeded fourth and the top seeds were all ranked in the state," Santana said. "Cliffside Park was good—they were No. 1. We played River Dell and No. 3 Ramapo. Our group was really, really tough that year."

He finished the season 13-2, tying the single season win record set by John D’Addetta in 1989. Santana’s 13 wins led the state. He also broke the PHS single season (131) and career (289) strikeout record. His 131 strikeouts were second in the state and he also pitched the most career innings (228 2/3) in PHS history.

“It felt great because when I came up I knew all the guys," Santana said. "I looked at the records and I joked around with [Doug] Cinnella and told him that I’m going to break all of his records. Because I’ve known Doug since I was little, it was a goal of mine."

“I would joke around with coach Vic [DiPasquale] that I’m going to get Athlete of the Week, that my picture was going to hang up next to his over the big gym [doors],” Santana added. “I accomplished every goal.”

Santana, a second team all-state selection in 2003, finished his career with 29 wins—tops in school history.

He was the first pitcher in 25 years to have back-to-back 10-win seasons in Bergen County.

While his fondest memory of high school was winning the sectional title, Santana also enjoyed the camaraderie with his team when he played.

“We were best friends on the field and best friends off the field,” he said. “Senior year was a special year."

Santana also fondly remembers picking up his 13^th win of the season his senior year pitching against Cliffside Park with roughly 1500 people in attendance.

Paramus was up by three and Cliffside Park had the game-winning run on base. Santana got the batter to fly up to right to end the game.

The righty kept the baseball from the win over the Red Raiders, but Cervino took it away as a joke.

The coach returned it to Santana at the latter’s graduation party—the ball had the ace’s season stats emblazoned on it.

Santana received scholarship offers from St. Peters, Felician, and William Paterson.

He made a last-minute decision on colleges because some late offers (from Montclair State and Johns Hopkins) came in.

Santana ultimately decided on attending WPU—“it was the best fit,” he said—and majored in sociology and criminal justice.

“William Paterson has a good program [NCAA Division III National Champions 1992, 1996],” the former Pioneer said. “They’ve had kids get drafted out of there.”

Santana also respected WPU head coach Jeff Albies.

Santana enjoyed being close to home and dormed his freshman, sophomore, and part of his junior year.

His friends and parents came to watch his games and his former teammate at PHS, Donnie Hays, caught Santana in the latter’s last two seasons.

Santana has been coaching a club baseball team since 2007. The following year he began coaching at PHS for his family friend and former coach .

At the time, Santana also worked for his father’s plumbing business.

After helping the freshman team, Santana moved up to varsity, where he has served as Cervino’s pitching coach.

The 2011 team went 25-5, won the , the North 1, Group 3 state sectional title, and reached the in Toms River.

Under Santana’s tutelage, the Spartans had a 2.65 team earned run average.