Baseball Welcomes Back Papaccio As Associate Head Coach
6/15/2022 4:05:00 PM | Baseball
All-American shortstop at The Hall is coming off of a successful four-year tenure as associate head coach at NJIT
South Orange, N.J. — Seton Hall baseball head coach Rob Sheppard has announced the addition of Giuseppe Papaccio, an All-American shortstop for the Pirates and an MLB Draft selection of the Chicago Cubs, to his coaching staff as associate head coach.
Papaccio returns to South Orange following a successful four-year tenure as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at NJIT. He most notably helped guide the Highlanders to the 2021 America East championship and a victory at the NCAA Regional that season in Fayetteville, Ark.
This will be Papaccio's second coaching stint at his alma mater after serving as a volunteer assistant coach from 2017-18.
"I am very excited to welcome Giuseppe back to Seton Hall," said Sheppard. "Giuseppe was an integral part of our 2011 BIG EAST championship team and he continued the success that he had as a player into his coaching. I'm looking forward to working with Giuseppe again and I'm thrilled that he is with our program."
During the 2022 season, the NJIT offense turned in one of the best years at the plate in school history. Under Papaccio's guidance, the NJIT offense set school records in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, walks, RBI, extra base hits, total bases, stolen bases, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.
A native of Essex County, hailing from Nutley, Papaccio coached the Highlanders to the first NCAA postseason victory in school history in any sport with a 3-2 win over Northeastern in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Papaccio also helped the NJIT offense reach new heights in 2021 as the program broke many records and had several players earn individual accolades. In America East play, the Highlanders led the conference in hits, doubles, home runs, total bases, and stolen base percentage and finished second in runs, RBIs, walks, and hit by pitches.
The program was rewarded for its successful season with plenty of individual accolades with Jake Rappaport (First Team) and Julio Marcano (Second Team) earning NJIT's first-ever ABCA Division I All-Region honors. Rappaport and Marcano were joined by Albert Choi as First Team All-America East recipients, while David Marcano and Ryan Fischer were named Second Team All-America East. Choi was tabbed as the league's Rookie of the Year and was joined on the All-Rookie Team by Fischer.
Papaccio helped set the tone for the 2021 season when he helped put together arguably NJIT's highest-ranked class in history as the Highlanders 2020 recruiting class will welcomed three players who ranked in the top 10 in their state (all in different states), four players in the top 30 in their state, and five top 50 players in their state (Prep Baseball Report).
Papaccio joined the Highlanders after serving two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach with the Pirates and one season under fellow Seton Hall alum Jim Duffy at Manhattan College. His other coaching stints includes stops as an assistant coach for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod League (2018) and as head coach of the Ocean Giants (2017) and Monmouth Monarchs (2016) both of the Atlantic Baseball Collegiate League.
A 2013 Seton Hall graduate, Papaccio enjoyed three years of professional baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization, reaching as high as Double-A.
As a senior at The Hall in 2013, Papaccio had one of the finest offensive seasons in Seton Hall history. Unanimously named a First Team All-BIG EAST selection and New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association's (NJCBA) Player of the Year, he finished ranked third in the BIG EAST with a .365 batting average and led the conference in doubles. Further showing his prowess for the two-base hit, Papaccio set Seton Hall's career record with 56 doubles and tied the single-season Pirate record with 24. Batting primarily in the cleanup position in the Seton Hall lineup, Papaccio led the Pirates in seven offensive categories, including batting average, slugging percentage and RBIs.
With 237 career hits, only three players in Pirates' history have garnered more. Only two Pirates have played in more games and only former teammate A.J. Rusbarsky had more at bats. Named to the Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American Third Team by Collegiate Baseball, he was drafted in the 18th round by Chicago on June 8, 2013.
