In a long and storied history of national success, the Roadrunner Baseball program can now add another crown jewel to its resume -- an 8th overall NJCAA championship!
Coach Rob Valli's Roadrunners finished a spectacular 2023 season by defeating Dallas College-Eastfield, 15-7, at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, TN to win the NJCAA Division III National Championship, the 8th title in program history and the first since 2013! The win capped off am amazing campaign in which RCSJ compiled a glittering 53-5 overall record.
Sophomore slugger Aaron Graeber earned the tournament's MVP Award, following a championship game in which he collected 3 hits, 3 runs scored and 3 RBIs. It was the second MVP honor he captured in the past 2 weeks after winning the Region 19 award on May 21.
Additional stars included freshman Rocko Brzezniak, who launched a home run and had 4 RBIs, and sophomore Feliz Diaz, who added 4 hits and 3 RBIs in another sterling performance. Lead-off hitter Scotty Young also boosted the offense with 4 hits and an RBI while catcher Justin Kilyk cracked a key 2-run single late in the game.
"We worked hard for 9 months build a family that no one can beat -- we pushed each other so no one could slack off," said Scotty Young afterwards. "It was great going to battle with these guys! Now we're the best in the country!
Click Here for National Championship Photo Highlights
Brzezniak echoed those sentiments.
"Dallas Eastfield put up a great fight, but we flat out wanted this more," he said. "We were solid throughout our lineup from No. 1 through 9, and we all knew we would come through for each other."
With 27 world series appearances and 11 national championships between the two programs, the two best clubs were left standing in this championship round -- but it was the Roadrunners who again walked off with a national title in this highly anticipated matchup. After RCSJ raced out to a quick 3-0 lead thanks to a 2-run double by Diaz and a sacrifice fly RBI by Brzezniak, the Harvester Vees rallied to take leads of 4-3 and later 7-6. The Runners then erupted for 9 runs over the final three innings to put it out of reach.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, in which the Roadrunners compiled a perfect 4-0 record, the following award winners were announced:
Coach of the Tournament: Rob Valli
Defensive Player of the Tournament: Jimmy Bruno
MVP: Aaron Graeber
All Tournament Team:
Cole Fowler
Rocko Brzezniak
Scotty Young
Tim Hartman
Felix Diaz
