Herkimer College Baseball Brings Home National Championship
For the first time ever, the Herkimer College baseball team is the national champion.
The Generals defeated Dallas College-Eastfield 9-3 at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, Tennessee in the NJCAA Division III World Series championship game, Wednesday, June 1, 2022.
The Generals qualified for the National Championship as the sole at-large team after losing in the Region III final to Niagara County Community College. They were the No. 6 seed of eight teams in the tournament.
Sophomore pitcher and Louisville commit Greg Farone was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after throwing 13 innings, allowing just five hits and 25 strikeouts. Sophomore second baseman Kyle Caccamise was awarded the Best Offensive Player of the tournament after hitting 9-for-17 (.529) with six runs and six RBI’s.
Herkimer outscored teams 37-14 in its four games in the tournament despite being the highest seed to win the NJCAA Division III World Series since seeding began in 2016-17.
The dominant performance from his team gave 17-year Herkimer College baseball head coach Jason Rathbun his first ever Coach of the National Tournament award.
Freshman pitcher Joel Hayner, freshman designated hitter Ethan Duda, and sophomore catcher Ty Gallagher each earned All-Tournament Team honors. Hayner threw eight innings, allowing no unearned runs and just five hits in the team’s first game against Dallas College-Eastfield. Duda went 6-for-14 (.428) with three runs and three RBI’s. Gallagher went 5-for-12 (.416) with a home run, two runs and five RBI’s.
“All the credit goes to our guys,” Rathbun said. “They went from losing the Region III championship game — unsure if they’d ever playing together again — to winning the NJCAA Division III World Series. It’s a remarkable achievement and I’m so proud of this team.”
Herkimer is the first junior college in New York to win the NJCAA World Series since Nassau Community College won it all in 1966.