The Union County College baseball coaching staff has been making outstanding strides in progressing the baseball program and the student-athletes' baseball careers. Every fall the team has been hosting a Scout Day and inviting NCAA baseball coaches and Major League Baseball scouts to promote their athletes for future recruitment opportunities.
Scouts from four year colleges that attended were Queens College, Caldwell College, Concordia College, Arcadia College, NJCU and Fairleigh Dickenson University. There were also professional team scouts in attendance from the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals. From these efforts five student-athletes will be continuing their baseball career at the NCAA level with four of the five attending Division II institutions.
Ismail Abdul-Wahid #21 outfielder from Linden, NJ was a keystone player on the Union County College baseball team for the past two seasons. Ismail was named to the 3rd Team All-Region as a Designated Hitter and was an Academic All-Region player. Along with those accolades he led the team this year with 21 RBIs, 5 home runs along with a.326 batting average. As a freshman, Ismail had a batting average of over .400 which is impressive at any baseball level.
He had scholarship offers from 5 schools but ultimately decided on Division II Eastern New Mexico University.
Brett Bonn #25 infielder from Whitehouse Station, NJ transferred to Union County College from Mercer County Community College this past spring semester and had an immediate impact throughout the team. Brett was tied for the team lead in homeruns with 5 while also having 20 RBIs and a batting average of .323 for the 2014 season.
Brett also had a few different scholarship offers which he selected NCAA Division II East Stroudsburg University to continue playing baseball.
Jon Gribbin #7 pitcher from Westfield, NJ transferred to Union last year from University of Rhode Island, a NCAA DI institution. He was one of the best players and athletes on the Union baseball team leading the owl's pitching staff in almost every pitching category such as wins, innings pitched, strikeouts and lowest earned run average.
This season Jon concentrated solely on pitching and earned himself an amazing scholarship to NCAA Division II Caldwell University.
Robert Pons #13 infield and catcher from Elizabeth, NJ transferred into Union last year from Coastal Carolina University. Robert was one of the hardest workers on the team and a proven team leader on the field. His consistent hard work the past two seasons paid off this season when Robert had 18 RBIs and a batting average of .333.
Robert also accepted a scholarship with Division II Caldwell University and will continue to be catcher for Jon Gribbin.
James O'Rourke # 5 outfielder from Westfield, NJ transferred into Union from Gettysburg College this past spring season. At Gettysburg James was a standout football player but did not play baseball. James was a great addition for the owls on and off the baseball field. In his first semester he had a 4.0 GPA and was a team leader on the field. He battled through an arm injury all season but never let it get to him. James's season at Union was also successful on the field too with stealing 9 bases and a batting average of .279.
James had offers from schools all over the country to play baseball and has decided on returning to Gettysburg College to play baseball.
Union County College and the athletic department want to congratulate the five baseball players along with all of the other Union County College athletes who will be moving on to a four year institution and continuing to play the sport that they love.