A Bensalem native, Joey Lancellotti arrives at La Salle after pitching for three seasons in the New York Mets’ minor league system from 2022-2024.
As a Mets farmhand, Lancellotti advanced through three levels in 2023 to reach Double-A Binghamton where he struck out over seven batters per nine innings out of the bullpen.
Lancellotti amassed a decorated four-year playing career at the University of North Carolina, where he pitched to a 3.14 ERA in 63 appearances. The right-hander notably led the Tar Heels through a pair of NCAA tournaments as a closer. He appeared in two men’s College World Series games in 2018, including 1 1/3 scoreless innings in a win against an Oregon State team with Adley Rutschman, Steven Kwan, and Trevor Larnach. A year leader, Lancellotti advanced North Carolina to an NCAA Super Regional by locking down a two-inning save against Tennessee in the elimination game of the Chapel Hill Regional.
The New York Yankees initially drafted Lancellotti following that 2019 campaign, though he returned to pitch for the Tar Heels as a junior and senior as the team’s Friday night starter. Lancellotti also started as a hitter in 16 of 18 games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
While at North Carolina, Lancellotti studied communications and graduated in 2022.
No stranger to the Philadelphia area baseball scene, Lancellotti played his high school ball at nearby William Penn Charter for now-La Salle Head Coach Dave Miller, graduating in 2017. He was named the 2015 and 2017 Southeastern Pennsylvania Player of the Year, and Pennsylvania Player of the Year in 2017 by Prep Baseball Report and Perfect Game.
