Five years after leaving the championship Arcadia High School baseball program under a cloud of suspicion and allegations, Mike Parisi is back coaching in the San Gabriel Valley.

By Keith Lair, Staff Writer

Five years after leaving the championship Arcadia High School baseball program under a cloud of suspicion and allegations, Mike Parisi is back coaching in the San Gabriel Valley.
Parisi took over the Pasadena baseball program 11 days ago after a 2 1/2-month search to replace long-time coach Bob Beran.
“We did not take rumors, innuendo, what people said and all that hot air into account,” Pasadena athletic director Tony Brooks said. “We went off his records and it is clean.”
Parisi, 34, was arrested on June 8, 2003 on drug charges at an Arcadia home following complaints about people partying and making noise. He was not convicted of any crime.
After the incident, the Arcadia Unified School District voted to not renew his contract.
Parisi would not comment on the matter Wednesday.
“People who know me know what happened,” he said. “People know what type of person I am. It was unfortunate, but I’m glad I got this second opportunity and I want to make the most of it.”
Parisi played at Arcadia and Cal State Fullerton. He was drafted twice, by the Angels in the 30th round in 1991 after his senior year at Arcadia and by the Marlins in 1994 in the sixth round. He never advanced to the major leagues.
In four years at Arcadia, he won four Pacific League titles. He had an 87-21 record at Arcadia.
“It’s good to be home,” he said.
The search for Beran’s replacement began in November with seven candidates interviewed by a panel that included school officials and baseball program parents, Brooks said. A second round of interviews was conducted, the panel made its recommendation and forwarded the information to the school district, which did a background check and checked the candidate’s teaching records. Parisi emerged as the leading candidate after the second round of interviews, Brooks said, but could not step onto campus until Jan. 7.
“We’re thrilled to have a coach like this come to our program,” Brooks said. “He knows what it takes to win and he has a lot of expertise and know-how to put a team together. We’re excited to have him.”
After leaving Arcadia, Parisi said he was an assistant coach for two years at Brea-Olinda and spent last year touring Europe.
“They’re great people here at Pasadena,” Parisi said. “I felt good talking one-on-one to principal Dr. (Derick) Evans and I know I’m going to get a lot of support here. All the coaches and everyone has been very helpful.”
Parisi said he missed running his own baseball program and was eager to return to the valley. He will serve as a substitute teacher for the remainder of the school year.
“We’ve had the kids for only a few days, but we’re already getting things in shape,” he said.
He has former Muir standout Tim Bourne as an assistant coach. Bourne also played in the minor leagues.