In his first season as an assistant coach with the Falcons, Mike Pagnotta is no stranger to Cerritos College. Back in 1972-73, he was an All-South Coast Conference outfielder that played on the 1973 state championship team under Wally Kincaid. One of his teammates in 1973 was current Falcon head coach Ken Gaylord. Pagnotta will serve as the team’s hitting and outfield coach after spending the last three years serving in the same capacity at Long Beach Wilson High. In his final season with Wilson, the team won the CIF Division I Championship and were named National Champions by Baseball America Magazine.

            Pagnotta continued his playing career at Cal State Fullerton (1974) and then played his senior season at the University of La Verne in 1975. While with the Titans as a junior, they went on to win the NCAA California District and PCAA championship. In his senior year at La Verne, they placed third in the NCAA Championships, while he was a 1^st Team All-American outfielder. He then played in the Milwaukee Brewers organization for one year (1976) and was the recipient of the Topps Baseball George M. Trautman Award for the Minor League Player of the Year. The next two years he spent playing in the Independent Gulf States League before concluding his playing career after one year in the Seattle Mariners organization.

            For 20 years, Pagnotta worked for the Northwest Airlines flight crew as a captain until his retirement. He is singles and resides in La Mirada. Pagnotta has two sons; Michael, who is a senior starting strong safety on the football team at Colorado State University and Zachary, who is a sophomore on the wrestling team at Southwestern Oregon Community College.