[1] Scarsella was born in Santa Cruz, California, and attended Richmond High School and Saint Mary's College.

During a September recall, after he had led the Class B Piedmont League in runs scored, Scarsella appeared in six games for the Reds and collected his first two big-league hits in ten at bats.

After a torrid start to the 1936 season with the top-level Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, Scarsella was recalled to Cincinnati for his most productive MLB campaign.

He had three three-hit games during the season's first month and was still batting .300 for Boston on May 20, when his contract was sold to another International League club, the Buffalo Bisons.

The team was known as the "Nine Old Men", as Ernie Lombardi was 40, Billy Raimondi, Cookie Lavagetto, Floyd Speer, and Nick Etten were 35, Scarsella and Jack Salveson were 34, Dario Lodigiani was 32, and Mel Duezabou was 30.