Tony Cirelli has served as the head baseball coach at Mesa Community College since 1995 and has become the most successful coach in program history. Entering the 2023 season, Cirelli had accumulated a 992-614 overall coaching record. Cirelli reached the 1,000-win milestone on February 15, 2023, with a 7-6 walk-off victory against Chandler-Gilbert in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Cirelli has been named Region 1 Coach of the Year five times, and National Coach of the Year once. He has coached 105 All-Conference Players, 19 All-Americans, seven MLB players, four National Gold Gloves, two Region 1 Players of the Year, and one National Pitcher of the Year. Throughout his career at Mesa, Cirelli has led the Thunderbirds to three ACCAC championships, four Southwest District titles, and one NJCAA DII Baseball World Series title in 2014.
Cirelli initially got his start at Mesa as a student-athlete, playing for the Thunderbirds baseball team in 1981. He went on to graduate from Arizona State University and later returned to Mesa as an assistant coach. Cirelli was the assistant coach for 10 years before stepping into the role of head coach in 1995.