Pitt Is It!

There will be a new kid on the University of Pittsburgh campus come late August 2025. And that same kid will be on the baseball diamond, as well.

Mason Ligenza, one of many Schuylkill Baseball League stars that have come out of the area recently to play baseball at the highest level, made it official Thursday afternoon that he will be off to the Western part of Pennsylvania taking his terrific skills to this Division 1 college.

Surrounded by family members — his mom Adrienne, father Joe and sister Lauren — a top-flight basketball player, along with his high school baseball coach Jeff Reading, Ligenza was smiling with a big grin that said it all in the school’s library.

“It was always my goal to play D-1 baseball at the college level,” Ligenza said. “All the summer events that I was playing got me to this point.”

Once he realized he had the makings of a Division 1 player, it spurred him on. Ligenza started getting calls to play in various showcase tournaments.

From Georgia to Florida, Alabama to California, the frequent mileage and hotel points were piling up for him and his parents.

Ligenza became a show unto himself, but never let ego get in his path. He displayed his wares at the highly acclaimed Perfect Game, Baseball Y in Georgia and Florida; while the invites to Alabama and California are organized by Major League Baseball scouts.

“He is very special young man,” Reading said. “He is so team oriented. As time went by, he took a leadership role and he loves his teammates, as they love him.”

This prodigious hitter — a three-tool player who can hit for power and average and displays speed — has been on the radar of the baseball world since the summer of his sophomore year. Ligenza, at 6-5, 200, is not your typical student-athlete. He leads by example, and helped drive the Blue Raiders bus to the Schuylkill League Baseball championship this past spring.

Pitt is in one of the two top conferences in the country, and the Atlantic Coast Conference has produced many MLB players. Ligenza will try and garner a starting spot when he hits the diamond his freshman season. “(Pitt) didn’t promise a starting role, I have to earn that,” he said.

Meanwhile, he will seek a degree in the business world.

He charted the University of Delaware as his first “official visit” when he was in 10th grade. He never forgot the Blue Hens. His second calling — the Panthers.

Ligenza fell in love with the school, and knew immediately it was his choice. He made a verbal commit last December, and said he was sticking to his word.

“Ever since then no one reached out to me,” Ligenza said. “(Even if) someone reached out to me, I wouldn’t have given (another school) the time of day. With our family, if we commit to something we commit. When I told them I was coming to Pitt, I wasn’t looking for something — a better offer or a bigger (better) school. When I committed, I was committed.”

It’s funny how this became Ligenza’s top sport, since he had the ability to play basketball with his range and height.

As a little leaguer, playing for the Tamaqua all-stars before reaching his teens, it was basically an afterthought; he did it because the rest of his friends were doing it. He called it “… just for fun.” As months and years went by, he had a hankering for the sport. Then it turned into a passion, especially once he discovered he could play collegiately.

Ligenza had a plan entering his freshman year — make the high school team and earn a starting spot. When he hit the big time, so to speak, it came right after his sophomore year. He had invites to head to Florida, and that’s when he said his confidence level zoomed, and decided to strictly dedicate himself to baseball, although he also played golf for a season.

Reading knew that something special was coming when he started to play on the varsity level as a freshman.

He is the third D-1 player Reading has helped develop in the past several years, with Brett Kosciolek (Rider) and Casey Rother (Lehigh) the others

“He made it happen; he is a very special kid,” said his coach. “He is a team player, and that’s very special with a kid of his ability. It’s (all) about the team … he does what he does. Everything is done 100 percent. We’ve had fall workouts, and he comes in and does everything like he does in a game.”

Ligenza hasn’t lost sight of the effort that has afforded him this chance.

“If you put the time in and prepare, that’s all you can do, and it has allowed me to get this far,” Ligenza said. “My family is my biggest supporters, my dad and my grandparents, my sister and my mom.

“My dad was always my BP (batting practice pitcher). And my sister came to all of my games.”

Joe Ligenza, Mason’s dad, said it all began in Georgia two summers ago.

“I left with Mason, and came home with a different kid. That was the turning point,” said his dad.

Joe knows all about the sporting world and what it takes to advance to the next level. He is Tamaqua’s all-time leading boys basketball scorer and went to D-1 Quinnipiac University to play the sport.

He’s also the guy who has kept his son on an even keel.

“I always tell him … ‘dream big and dream bigger, but be humble in the process,’” his father said.

Those dreams are continuing for a special young man — the Pitt-bound Mason Ligenza.