St. Rita Alum Brings Augustinian Values to the Banana Ball Mound

Austin Prep student journalist Kim Tauro ’28 of Tewksbury, MA took her interest in sports journalism to Gillette Stadium this summer, where a shared Augustinian connection led to a conversation with St. Rita alum Joe Filomeno about baseball, Catholic faith and the values that endure long after graduation.

After building a portfolio of sports journalism at Austin Preparatory School in Reading during the 2025–2026 school year, Kim Tauro ’28 of Tewksbury received media credentials to cover the Savannah Bananas and Loco Beach Coconuts at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough this August.

Tauro researched the players before the game and identified Loco Beach pitcher Joe Filomeno as someone she specifically wanted to interview. Filomeno is a 2011 graduate of St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, an Augustinian Catholic school that, like Austin Prep, is rooted in the Augustinian tradition.

Tauro sought him out at Gillette Stadium to explore how the Augustinian values and Catholic faith he encountered as a student at St. Rita have remained with him throughout a baseball career that has taken him from college and professional baseball to independent leagues, Australia and, eventually, Banana Ball.

By: Kim Tauro

The Augustinian Values Joe Filomeno Brought to Banana Ball

Only ten Augustinian high schools operate in the United States, including Austin Preparatory School in Reading, Massachusetts, and St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, Illinois, where Filomeno graduated in 2011.

Today, Filomeno pitches for the Loco Beach Coconuts, one of six teams in the Banana Ball Championship League. His baseball career has included time in the Texas Rangers organization, independent baseball and a season in Australia before eventually leading him to Banana Ball. In conversation, Filomeno repeatedly connected his life in baseball to the Augustinian education and Catholic faith that have remained part of his life since graduation.

“I would be remiss if I told people that I'm just a Christian, I'm just a Catholic,” Filomeno said. “To this day, I say that I am an Augustinian, and I'm proud of that.”

That statement makes Filomeno's story especially meaningful for the St. Rita community. More than a decade after graduation, his experience offers a glimpse of how the Augustinian values of truth, unity and love can continue to shape a graduate's life, even in a career as unexpected as Banana Ball.

From St. Rita to the Coconut Mound

Filomeno's baseball path began at St. Rita, where he developed as both a player and a student before taking him to the University of Louisville, and, in 2014, the Texas Rangers organization. He remained with the organization through 2018, then continued playing independent baseball in Kansas City and Fargo-Moorhead before spending a season in Brisbane, Australia, in 2019.

Then came five years away from baseball.

In 2025, Filomeno attended a Banana Ball game in Chicago. Struck by the atmosphere and energy of the game, he decided he wanted to try it himself. That decision eventually brought him to the Savannah Bananas organization and the Loco Beach Coconuts.

His return to baseball also changed the way he thought about the time he had spent away from it. His advice to young athletes is shaped by that experience.

“The main piece of advice I'll give anybody who wants to play a sport is don't stop until somebody takes the jersey from you,” Filomeno said.

He wishes he had followed that advice himself. Looking back, he said he would not have taken five or six years away from baseball if he could relive that part of his career.

For high school baseball players who dream about playing in college or professionally, Filomeno's path is a reminder that a baseball career can take unexpected turns. His career took him across different leagues and countries, away from the game entirely and, eventually, back to the mound with Banana Ball.

The jersey, he said, will eventually be taken from every athlete. Until then, he believes players should keep playing, wherever the game takes them.

Why Truth, Unity and Love Matter More Than the Uniform

When I asked Filomeno which of the three core values, truth, unity and love, had stayed with him most, he immediately chose unity.

“I love unity,” he said. “Because what we're doing here is building a community.”

He connected that idea to nearly every part of his life. “The Banana Ball community, the Christian community, the Catholic community, the Augustinian community, whatever that community is to you,” he said. “Maybe it's your family, maybe it's your friends, maybe it's a charity that you love and you care for.”

More than a decade after graduating from St. Rita, Filomeno still sees community as central to the way he lives.

“Without unity, we have nothing,” Filomeno said. “As humans, as a human race, we strive for that human connection and we get that through community.”

That connection also helps explain why Banana Ball appealed to him. He returned to baseball through a game built around entertainment, competition and a strong sense of community. The sport gave him a place to compete again, but also another community to call his own.

Love, the third of the Augustinian values, is another principle Filomeno said has remained important to him. He described it as something that belongs at the forefront of a person's life, whether directed toward family, friends or the communities that matter to him.

“You can't live your life without love in your heart and without love on the forefront of your mind,” he said.

The Jersey Comes Off. Faith Stays With You.

For Filomeno, the lessons of St. Rita did not end at graduation. His Augustinian education and Catholic faith have followed him through different teams, leagues and countries, and now onto a Banana Ball mound.

His advice to high school athletes reflects that perspective.

“The jersey's gonna be taken from you at some point,” Filomeno said. “It happens to everybody, so keep it on. It doesn't matter where you're playing as long as you're loving what you're doing, praising God and remembering the things that matter to you.”

For high school athletes, college baseball or the professional level may be the goal. Some careers may last years, while others may take players in directions they never expected. Filomeno's story is a reminder that the uniform will eventually change, but the faith and values built along the way can remain.

His baseball journey has taken him far from St. Rita. Now, even in Banana Ball with the Loco Beach Coconuts, the uniform may have changed, but the Augustinian values he learned at St. Rita remain.