The Lady Dragons have won 20 city titles.

Five BLA softball players have been named to the All-Scholastic team in the last 8 years.

There are winning streaks and there are winning streaks. And then there is the winning streak of the Lady Dragons’ softball program of Boston Latin Academy.

According to long-time head coach Rocco Zizza, the number of consecutive victories in the Boston Public School competition for the Division 3 powerhouse is over 225.

“It has been a long journey to get to our present status. The credit goes to the many players who built this program and this winning streak,” said Zizza, adding, “After seven years at Dorchester High, I was handpicked to replace the outgoing coach, John Nee. I had a plan as to how I wanted to build this program.”

He knew it was going to be a challenge, considering that the theory of sports at that time was one of recreation over athletics. “I focused on building up the athletic component of that theory while maintaining the high academic standards of this school,” said Zizza.

Boston Latin Academy, one of the few test schools in the city of Boston, prepares its students for college, so Zizza knew that part of the student/athlete equation was solid.

“The difficult task,” he said, “was building a competitive program. That took some painful learning lessons to achieve.”

Playing against elevated competition produced some embarrassing moments, like a 40-2 loss to St. Bernard’s of Fitchburg in 2002. “You never forget a loss of that magnitude,” said Coach Zizza.

But the road to success, as well as psychological recovery, included a 16-3 triumph over St. Bernard’s just three years later.

“This program has taken its share of beatings over the years by taking on the challenge of playing more powerhouse programs,” he said, “But we have also had our moments of glory, like our upset wins over Malden and Woburn High Schools in 2007 and 2009. Malden was 18-0 before we beat them 6-3. Woburn was the number one ranked team in Eastern Massachusetts when we defeated them 6-3. The closest we came to winning a state title ended with an 8-0 loss to Austin Prep in the semi-final round of MIAA Division 3 play,” said Zizza. “The final score does not indicate how close the game was. We made a few mistakes, something you can’t do against a talented team like Austin Prep, and they capitalized on them.”

Austin Prep would go on to win the state title. It was not much consolation for the B.L.A. team that it finished the year with a 24-3 record.

But it is the domination of the Boston City competition that draws praise.

The secret to such success is broken down to Rocco Zizza’s philosophy:

“First, I find players that want to play. Second, teach them to play the game correctly, which means learning how to take wins and losses without getting too high or too low while learning from both. I tell my teams that I am the winningest and losingest coach in BPS thanks to my philosophy on victory and defeat. Third, creating a situation where you make your teammates better is difficult when you have a very talented player who thinks she is so much better than her teammates. Talent becomes a weakness when a player puts their goals before the team’s. There is also the dedication factor to deal with, the example being that a talented player will want to go on vacation for spring break and still want to retain their starting position when they return, which is not the case in my program.”

The success of the BLA program has produced 20 city titles and scores of talented players. Five have been named to the All-Scholastic team in the last eight years. Four are currently playing in college. This year’s team sports an 8-6 overall record, currently 5-0 in BPS play, which includes a 5-3 win over rival Boston Latin School at Puopolo Park on April 22.

And as the winning streak continues to grow in astronomical proportions — the last loss timing at the hands of East Boston High was back in 2003 — Coach Zizza stays grounded in the present.

“Someday this winning streak will end, and we will have to start a new one,” he said.

What they have done will not soon be forgotten by his players, their school program and the city of Boston, he said.

One of the many success stories he is proud to share comes from Gabriela Gi-Gi Coletta-Zapata, currently a member of the Boston City Council, representing East Boston, Charlestown and the North End.

“Gi-Gi, who played for me as a seventh grader back in 2002, called me and asked me to help her find her former teammates,” said Zizza. “She wanted them to act as bridesmaids at her wedding. I was touched by the gesture. And of course, we found the teammates who became her bridesmaids for one of the biggest days of her life. That is much more important than winning streaks and championships. It points out that life-lessons can be taught at the same time as softball or other athletics.”