June 3, 2005

VILLANOVA, Pa. - When he got on the plane bound for Italy on Tuesday night, recent Villanova graduate Mark Cardillo (Naples, Fla./Bishop Collier) was just 10 days removed from the end of his Wildcat playing career. After starting for Villanova for each of the past four seasons, Cardillo is headed to Italy to play professionally this summer for a team near the city of Milan.

"I am very excited about the chance to go and play in Italy," Cardillo said. "Anything that I can do to prolong my playing career beyond college is a great opportunity."

Upon arriving in Italy, Cardillo will immediately join the Saim Rajo Rho organization, a team that is part of the Serie A-2 league in the country's professional baseball federation. The story of how he wound up signing a contract to play for Rho is a fascinating one.

"I knew that my playing days would be limited after college," Cardillo said. "My brother and sister had both spent time living in Italy, and told me about the professional leagues that they have there. I looked up the different leagues on the Internet, and finally got in contact with a coach over there."

Cardillo drew immediate interest from a team located in Parma. It isn't hard to see why, as the second baseman was one of three seniors on the Wildcats 2005 team that started throughout all four years of their career. Cardillo wound up playing in 167 games for Villanova, making 144 starts. A slick defender with a career .964 fielding percentage, he also batted .264 in his career with 55 runs scored, 53 runs batted in, 11 doubles, four triples and 15 stolen bases. He also ranks second in school history with 27 sacrifice hits.

"I am thrilled for Mark to have the opportunity to continue his playing career in Italy," Villanova head coach Joe Godri said. "For four years, Mark was a really good college baseball player for Villanova. He is as good defensively at second base as anyone I have seen, and he understands the bunting and running part of the game extremely well."

Despite his list of accomplishments, going to play in Italy wasn't as easy as getting in touch with a team and drawing interest from the head coach. Teams in the Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball (FIBS) typically can only have two foreign players on their teams each season, and often those spots go to former American major leaguers. In recent seasons, 12-year major league veteran Jaime Navarro, among others, has starred in Italy.

What Cardillo did have on his side was his heritage. Through his Italian ancestry, including grandparents who were born in Italy, Cardillo was able to obtain Italian citizenship in time to be able to play for Rho this summer.

"When I first contacted teams over there, they told me that there would be a spot for me if I could become an Italian citizen by this spring," Cardillo recalled. "It took six or seven months to get everything in order, but my family ties made it possible for me to obtain citizenship."

And so it happened that less than two weeks after ending his collegiate career, Cardillo embarked on his professional career with an Italian citizenship card and Italian passport in hand. There are four levels of competition in FIBS, and Serie A-2 is the second-highest level. It is equivalent to the lower levels of the American minor-league system. Rho plays doubleheaders against other league teams each week, in a season that runs from late April through the end of September.

"It is a dream come true to be able to play in the country where my relatives were born" Cardillo said. "It hasn't quite hit me yet just how great an experience it will be. Not a lot of people get the chance to play in professional leagues, and here I have a chance to go and play in Italy."

During his career on the Main Line, Cardillo helped lead Villanova to 103 victories, including a championship in the Liberty Bell Classic this season. He had perhaps his best all-around season in 2005, batting .275 and ranking third on the team with 27 runs batted in. Cardillo also batted .375 with runners in scoring position, recorded his 100th career hit and started the season with a seven-game hitting streak. Overall, he reached base safely in 37 of 47 games and batted .393 (11-for-28) over the final two weeks of the season.

"Villanova provided a nice place for Mark to play for four years and to get his degree," Godri said. "It gave him a chance to go and play professionally in Europe, and he now has an excellent opportunity to see a different part of the world."

LINKS

Saim Rajo Rho Official Site
Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball Main Page