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!
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
Narional Semifinal Roundup
RCSJ Gloucester advanced to the championship round in the NJCA Division III World Series with a 5-1 win over No. 2 seed Dallas College Eastfield in a national semifinal Tuesday.
The Runners are now just one win from winning the 2023 D III National Championship!
Prior to the premier matchup between perhaps the two top teamsin the nation, RCSJ Coach Rob Valli said the battle was a game the Runners could not wait to play.
"At some point the two best teams have to battle it out on the field and see what happens," said Valli. "This is a game we looked forward to."
Freshman slugger Cole Fowler led the way with two RBIs and a run scored and paced the early scoring attack for the Runners. He slammed an RBI double in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 1-1 and then scored on a wild pitch moments later to give his team a 2-1 lead.
He then added an RBI single in the third inning, scoring Felix Diaz, to boost his team's lead to 4-1 at that point.
Starting pitcher Ethan Shaub enjoyed a solid second straight playoff outing following a clutch outing in the Region 19 championship game on May 21st. The southpaw out of Haddon Township High School scattered four hits, allowed one earned run and struck out four in four innings of work.
"We were confident that Ethan (Shaub) was the right guy to start against a talented team like Dallas Eastfield," said coach Rob Valli about Shaub, an All-American last season.
Winning pitcher Ethan Dodd finished the job, hurling five innings, allowing just four hits and no earned runs while strikout out six batters.
RCSJ added one more run on an RBI fielder's choice by Scotty Young that brought home A.J. Tropiano from third base for a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth.
The Runners await their next opponent once the elimination brackets are completed on Wednesday. Niagara County plays Northern Essex in the first elimination game at 3:30 pm with the winner advancing to play Dallas College Eastfield at 7 pm.
Day Two Wrapup
The Roadrunners did it all in a second-round outing in the NJCAA Division III World Series in Greeneville, TN, rolling past No. 5 Northern Essex, 11-0, Monday night in five innings.
The triumph advanced the No. 1 seed Runners to the NJCAA D III World Series semifinal round for the first time since 2021.
The win was a nice bounce-backl game for the Roadrunners, who were eliminated from the World Series by Northern Esex a year ago.
"They have a really nice team and we expected a tough match up," said Coach Rob Valli. "But our guys go into every game expecting to win, and they played with great confidence tonight."
Aaron Graeber, Rocko Brzezniak, and Cole Fowler collected 2 RBIs each to lead a relentless offensive assault.
The Runners jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to RBIs by Felix Diaz and Rocko Brzezniak. Graeber extended the lead to 4-0 in the second with a two-run triple while Fowler belted a two-run double to make it 6-0 and put the Runners in clear control of the final outcome. RCSJ added five more runs over the next three innings to close out the scoring.
Winning pitcher Devin Sweeney hurled a masterpiece, allowing two hits and no earned runs while striking out 9 in five innings of work.
"Devin was lights out -- he just had a lot of guys swinging, he was making good pitches, and kept to a low pitch count," said Valli.
The Runners advance to the tournament semifinals. Next up is showdown with No. 2 Dallas College-Eastfield Tuesday in a 5:30 start.
Day One Wrapup
The No. 1 seed Roadrunner Baseball team faced the usual case of opening-game jitters when they squared off against No. 8 seed St. Cloud Tech in Saturday's first-round game of the NJCAA Division III World Series at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, TN,
But in stepped sophomore sluggers Aaron Graeber and Rocko Brzezniak to the rescue as they knocked in a combined 3 runs to lift the Runners past the Cyclones 5-3 to advance to the second round of the championship bracket.
Coach Rob Valli's team, who won their 50th game of the 2023 campaign, will meet the winner of the No. 5 North Essex vs. No. 4 Joliet game that was that was postponed until Sunday due to rain. The RCSJ second-round game date and time will be announced by tourney officials.
The Runners jumped out to a quick 3-1 first inning lead off of Cyclones' starter Christian Lessman. Graeber tripled in a run to tie it at 1-1 while Brzezniak and Cole Fowler followed with a triple and single respectively to score two more runs.
Click Here for Game Photos (courtesy of Kelly Fowler)
But Lessman slammed the door, hurling five straight scoreless innings -- while his teammates tied the score at 3-3 with runs in the second and fifth innings thanks to a pair of RBIs by Cayden Hansen.
"Their pitcher was much tougher than we expected," said Brzezniak. "After the first inning he really bore down on our hitters and kept getting us out. But we knew we weren't going to be stopped altogether -- we came up with the big hits when we needed to."
The Runners finally got back on top as Graeber slammed his second RBI triple, scoring Sean Brown in the seventh and Felix Diaz bounced a single through the left side foe the final of 5-3.
"This was a tough first-round game, but good teams win these kind of games -- and we want to show we're the best team in the country," said Graeber. "We just kept to our routines and had faith in the guys in our lineup."
Three Roadrunner pitchers -- Kevin Opanel, Danny Kerr and Tim Hartman -- combined to shut down the Cyclones over 9 innings. Hartman emerged the winner with 4 1/3 innings of solid work, allowing no earned runs and scattering 5 hits.
"It was great to get the first-game jitters out of the way," said Brzezniak. "We're a confident group now and we'll be ready for anything."
Tournament Preview
The Roadrunner Baseball team has received and earned many accolades surrounding their 2023 season as they enter this weekend's NJCAA Division III World Series at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, TN.
But, as veteran coach Rob Valli will dutifully tell you -- just throw it out the window.
The Runners enter the tournament with an eye-popping 49-5 overall record and the No. 1 overall seed for the tournament. They are coming off an impressive outing in winning the North Atlantic District Region 19 title over Brookdale on May 21st.
"None of this matters when you enter a national championship tournament," noted Valli following the Region 19 tournament. "All of the teams are good and deserve to be there. You have to play these games, and it will be quite a challenge to come out as the national champion."
In opening round play the No. 1 seed Roadrunners take on No. 8 St. Cloud Tech. St. Cloud Tech checks in with an overall mark of 24-10 after capturing the Region XIII Championship over Alexandria Tech. om May 20th.
RCSJ enters with one of the nation's most potent lineups, led by sluggers Aaron Graeber, Rocko Brzezniak, Felix Diaz, and Scotty Young.
The Runners' pithing staff also begims tourney play with good news as sophomore lefty Ethan Shaub, a 2022 All-American, continues his comeback after missing most of the season with shoulder inflammation. He looked solid in two inniungs of work vs. Brookdale last week. He will be supported by a deep staff, including top performers Kevin Opanel (7-1 record), Devin Sweeney (6-0), Danny Kerr (4-0), Tim Hartman (8-0), Steven Maiers (3-0) and Jason Kinnerman (6-0) among others.
See complete first round matchups below for Saturday, May 27th.
NJCAA Division III World Series
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Pioneer Park / Greeneville, TN
Schedule of First-Round Games
No. 6 Camp vs. No. 3 Niagara County, 9:30 am
No. 7 Herkimer vs. No. 2 Dallas College-Eastfield. 12:45 pm
No. 8 St. Cloud Tech vs. No. 1 RCSJ Gloucester, 4 pm
No. 5 Northern Essex vs. No. 4 Joliet, 7:15 pm
