Mason Ligenza, in any sport he’s competed in, has always been dedicated to honing his craft.

Ligenza’s passion for always wanting to get better can be traced back to his playing days in Little League at the age of nine.

Ligenza was struggling as a hitter, but he didn’t give up or put the bat away. He and his father went to the Tuscarora LL field every day that summer and in that next season when he was 10, Ligenza turned himself into a much better hitter.

That’s been the story with the University of Pittsburgh baseball commit his entire life.

Put the work in and get better.

That’s one of the many reasons why Ligenza was named the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Baseball Player of the Year for the second straight year.

“I think back to Little League and some of my first years and I remember struggling. I just remember not being the best hitter and my dad and I working hard at the Tuscarora Little League field on my hitting,” said Ligenza. “And you could see the progress being made from one year to the next. It was really easy to see. And that really showed me at a young age that if you have a work ethic and you put in the work, that you’re going to get better.”

Getting better has been the main storyline to Ligenza’s high school career for Tamaqua. Ligenza did see plenty of time as a freshman on a Raiders squad that went 4-16 in 2022, but it was in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons where Ligenza would really make his mark.

Tamaqua turned it around in 2023, going 12-9, as Ligenza began to flash. He finished with a .386 batting average, 12 RBIs and one home run. From the mound he went 5-1 with a 1.55 ERA and 47 strikeouts.

Then came the big jump.

Ligenza, a talented basketball player, decided to spend the winter months training for baseball, working in the weight room to get stronger and fine tuning the rest of his skill set. The result was a sensational junior year that saw him hit .493 with 19 RBIs and eight homers. He also was 6-2 with a 0.96 ERA and 75 strikeouts. The Raiders were a team to be reckoned with in 2024, finishing the season 15-8 and winning the Schuylkill League title.

“My coaches and I were just talking about this the other day. The first winter session we had going into Mason’s junior season on his first swing you could hear the difference in the way the bat sounded hitting the ball. It just had a different pop to it. We just kind of all stopped what we were doing and we all looked at each other,” said Tamaqua manager Jeff Reading.

“And we hear and see that all the time from kids that say they want to stop playing multiple sports to focus on just one. But in Mason’s case, that is one kid that followed through on exactly what he said he was going to do. He went to work and he got bigger, and he got stronger, and he got better. He was one of our team leaders and a great role model, and his work ethic is a big reason for that.”

This season, Ligenza picked up right where he left off. Baseball is and always will be a numbers game, and not many players throughout the country were able to put up the numbers that Ligenza did.

From the plate, Ligenza hit .448 with 16 RBIs and 11 home runs. He also had a ridiculous .644 OBP, 1.086 slugging and 1.730 OPS. From the hill he was just as dominant, going 7-1 with a 0.25 ERA and striking out 100 batters in 55.1 innings pitched.

On top of that, the Raiders put together an exceptional season, going 21-2 and repeating as Schuylkill League champs.

“I think once I started getting more consistent in the weight room is when I was able to take my game to the next level. I really started to take the weight room serious and training my muscles for the sport of baseball,” said Ligenza. “Also having a proper diet, staying hydrated, just doing all the little things to get the best out of my body in order to perform better.

“I think that’s why my bat speed and power has really improved, because I took all of those steps and took a focused and dedicated approach to those winter months.”

Baseball season is always busy for Ligenza, but this season has been by far the busiest of his career. Because of his size, talent and statistics, professional scouts from MLB were at almost all of Ligenza’s game this season and a lot of the time after the games concluded, he needed to put in an extra batting session for the scouts who came to see him.

Since the season ended, Ligenza has been to pro workouts all over the country and most recently attended the MLB Draft Scouting Combine at Chase Field in Arizona where 322 of the top prospects in the nation were invited to participate in drills. The draft will be held on July 13-14 in Atlanta, Georgia. According to numerous MLB scouting websites, Ligenza’s name is expected to be called on draft weekend.

“It certainly was a balance this season with everything that was going on. Even before the season, this past summer was the craziest summer I’ve ever had, going to all the workouts and showcases,” said Ligenza. “There is definitely that added pressure when you pull up to the parking lot at your high school baseball game and all these scouts are there. But my focus was really just going out there and enjoying my senior year with my best friends.

“We had a great season. I want to thank my teammates for always sticking around after the games to shag balls for me when I had to do the hitting sessions. Those guys have always been there for me and they supported me all season long.”