Delaware Tech Baseball Finishes 2023 Season Competing in the District Tournament

Delaware Technical Community College's baseball team finished the 2023 season qualifying for and competing in the 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) East District Division II Baseball Championship Tournament.

This year's team finished 33-21 and placed runner-up in the NJCAA Region 19 Division II Baseball Championship Tournament, which allowed Delaware Tech to qualify for the district tournament.

Delaware Tech entered the district tournament as the third seed and upset second-seeded SUNY-Sullivan in the first game 14-9. Delaware Tech lost a close one to top seed Lackawanna College, then fell 6-3 in a rematch with SUNY-Sullivan to determine who would advance to the tournament finals.

"I think it is a great accomplishment to finish runner-up in a very strong region," Head Coach Stu Madden said. "And back-to-back seasons with more than 30 wins as a team is a something to be proud of."

Along the way the team reached numerous milestones. Five players received NJCAA Region 19 All-Region honors, including sophomore pitcher Zach Hart who was named Region 19 Pitcher of the Year. Sophomore Hunter Rauch became the second-fastest player in at least the past 10 seasons to record 100 hits for a career, and sophomore Matt Rodriguez became just the second player in at least the past 10 seasons to have at least 100 career hits and 100 career RBI. Sophomore Christopher Friend also became the first player in at least 10 seasons to hit at least 25 career home runs.

In March, sophomore pitcher Cade Williams threw the program's first no-hitter in at least 10 seasons. And in April, Madden won his 100th game as head coach.

"100 wins felt like it happened very fast," Madden said. "I credit the hard work and commitment of our players and coaches. I have outstanding assistant coaches and we try to recruit goal-oriented student-athletes that have goals beyond our program.

"A coach is only as good as the quality of people/players that he brings into the program. We have been lucky enough to have a great group of young men take a chance on our program and help lead us to national success in recent time."

Delaware Tech was led on the mound by sophomores Kyle Coffey and Hart. Coffey had an 8-3 record with a 3.69 ERA and Hart had a 7-1 record with a 3.71 ERA. At the plate, sophomore outfielder Kory Pritchard batted .391 with 79 hits, sophomore shortstop Hunter Rauch batted .385 with 71 hits, and sophomore outfielder Will Turner batted .363 with 62 hits and 49 RBI. Freshman catcher Mason Morris batted .365 with 50 hits, 11 home runs, and 52 RBI, and sophomore first baseman Rodriguez batted .315 with 45 hits and 50 RBI.

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Delaware Tech's baseball team finished as the runner-up in the 2023 NJCAA Region 19 Division II Baseball Championship Tournament, qualifying the team for the 2023 NJCAA East District Division II Baseball Championship Tournament.