By Steve Svetovich

Recent Holy Cross graduate Joe Lalli is coming off an outstanding baseball season and is looking to continue his career at King’s College next year.

Son of Joe and Kristine Lalli, the standout second baseman will study exercise science with a focus on strength and conditioning at King’s. He also plans on playing for the King’s baseball team.

Well-versed, Joe played baseball, football and three years of basketball at Holy Cross. He was a defensive tackle and tight end on the football team.

He finished his high school academic career with a 3.7 grade point average at Holy Cross. His best academic subject was history.

A scrapper on the baseball diamond, Joe led the Crusaders with a .339 batting average and was third on the club with a .423 on base percentage. He led the team in RBIs with 12, scored 10 runs and was second in hits with 20. He hit two doubles and a triple. He was third on the team with a .407 slugging percentage.

The standout second baseman talked about what it takes to excel at his position.

“You need to keep a positive mind set,” he said. “If you make a mistake, get the next one.”

He talked about his improvement as a hitter. “I put in a lot of extra work in the off season. It was non-stop work and hitting. I hit with my grandfather twice a week.”

His grandfather ,Joe Lalli, 79, is a Dunmore legend. He was a standout basketball and baseball player at Dunmore. His basketball jersey is retired at Dunmore High School.

The soon-to-be King’s freshman said he learned from his parents too. “They tell me to be responsible and work real hard for everything.”

Holy Cross veteran baseball coach Sandy Menichetti has also been an inspiration to Joe. “He taught me to never give up. We won the district championship in my sophomore year, sometimes beating teams that were supposed to be better than us. He told us we could stand up to any team no matter how good they were. He told us we could win and best anybody and we did,”

He talked about his future goals. “I want to focus on playing college baseball, graduate college ,and then get a job in strength and conditioning.”

Joe said he likes listening to music in his spare time and would love to see Guns and Roses in concert.

The tough-minded scholar-athlete leaves Holy Cross for King’s with great memories. “I loved Holy Cross,” he said. “It’s a small school and everyone is close. It was a great experience for me.”