CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or Sarah Boggess (518) 629-8071
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, April 18, 2002
http://www.hvcc.edu
Hudson Valley Community College's baseball team, ranked No. 7 in the nation among Division III junior colleges in the most recent poll, released yesterday, will play a doubleheader at Cooperstown's historic Doubleday Field on Sunday, April 21. The two games, against SUNY Cobleskill, will be played at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
"This is a great opportunity for Hudson Valley Community College's student-athletes," said Drew Marrochello, Hudson Valley's director of athletics. "They're going to play on the same field that legends like Babe Ruth have played on. Doubleday Field is where Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame game is played each year. This is truly an honor for our players."
Doubleday Field, built in 1939, is dedicated to Abner Doubleday, the man credited with the invention of baseball. According to many sources, Doubleday laid out the first baseball diamond, on farmland where Doubleday Field now stands, back in 1839.
Doubleday Field, which is currently owned by the Village of Cooperstown, was featured in the movie A League of Their Own.
At the conclusion of Sunday's doubleheader, the Vikings plan to visit the adjoining National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Hudson Valley, which was not ranked in the previous Division III poll (the weekly poll encompasses approximately 80 teams from across the United States), is 17-10-1 overall. SUNY Cobleskill is 1-10.
Jason Martin (Pine Bush H.S.) and Bobby Krogh (Troy H.S.) lead the Vikings.
Martin is batting .375 with three home runs and 23 runs batted in. He is 2-0 on the mound with a 1.13 earned run average. Krogh, meanwhile, has a 4-0 won-lost record with a 3.41 earned run average and 23 strikeouts. He is hitting .320 with eight doubles.
"I'm so excited to play at Doubleday Field," Krogh said. "This is baseball history. We're going to play where it all started."
In the 2000-01 academic year, Hudson Valley's athletic teams combined to win 72 percent of their contests. The ice hockey team won the NJCAA championship, the baseball team earned a berth in the NJCAA World Series and the football team won the Region III title. The women's basketball team earned a No. 1 national ranking and turned in a 24-3 record while the men's hoop squad competed in the Region III championship game. Additionally, two Vikings earned Region III Player-of-the-Year status, 20 were named All-Region III performers, and 10 were honored with All-American status.
