Continuing our 2026 ABCA Hall of Fame Class interviews, this week’s ABCA Podcast features one of California’s most influential and respected baseball minds: Sam Piraro. With a career spanning high school, junior college, and NCAA Division I baseball, Piraro forged a legacy defined by program-building, competitive excellence, and lasting impact.

Piraro’s head coaching journey began at Mission College (Calif.) from 1980-1986, where he took a brand-new program and turned it into a powerhouse. Over seven remarkable seasons, the Saints won two state championships (1981 & 1983) and five Coast Conference titles, laying the foundation for Piraro’s reputation as a transformative leader.

In 1987, Piraro took over at San José State, where he led the Spartans for two stints (1987-2002, 2004-2012). His tenure produced the program’s first-ever College World Series appearance in 2000, and he became the school’s all-time wins leader, finishing with an 806-632-6 (.558) record at SJSU and a 996-702-9 (.583) overall collegiate mark. Along the way, he earned four WAC Coach of the Year awards and guided the Spartans to two NCAA Tournament berths, cementing his reputation as one of the nation’s top collegiate coaches.

Piraro closed his head coaching career with a successful four-year stint (2015-2018) at Willow Glen High School, continuing to mentor young players and contribute to the California baseball community he helped shape.

His accolades reflect a life spent elevating programs and people, including his induction into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (second-youngest ever), inaugural inductee into the Mission Athletics Hall of Fame, and San José Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

In this episode, Coach Piraro reflects on building programs from scratch, leading teams to the game’s biggest stages, and the lessons learned across a lifetime in baseball.

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The ABCA Podcast is presented by Netting Pros. Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time, specializing in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for backstops, batting cages, dugouts, bp screens and ball carts. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, dugout cubbies and more.