After suffering a heart-breaking setback in the Region finals only the week before, the Roadrunner Baseball team appears to be back on track.
That was crystal clear Saturday afternoon when the No. 2 seed RCSJ squad -- the two-time defending Division III national champions -- opened the 2025 NJCAA World Series in Auburn, NY by topping No. 7 Oakton, 10-2. The win set up a showdown in round two vs. No. 6 Surry Community College in a second-round game Sunday at 4 pm.
Give plenty of credit to the entire team, but for now let's single out sluggers Nick Slogik and Joe Maier. The pair played a huge role in revitalizing the offense, which was slowed down by Brookdale pitchers in the Region 19 tournament at Rutgers-Camden.
Not this time. Maier cracked a three-run home run and Slogik added a two-run blast to infuse the potent Roadrunner offense, which raced out to a 3-0 early lead before settling the matter with a wave of runs in the mid and late innings. Zach Stichweh and Zack Wallace combined to allow just 3 hits while striking out 11 to stabilize the pitching effort.
"With guys like Stich and Wallace on the mound, we knew we were in good shape," said Maier afterwards. "That made it a lot easier for the hitters to relax and do our jobs at the plate."
Slogik noted the team's confidence took a big step forward vs. Oakton in the opening game of this 2025 series.
"Hey, this is the World Series, and everyone has a great team just like what we saw today against Oakton," he said. "It was good to see our hitters respond the way we did."
Slogik and Maier are also well aware that Coach Rob Valli's team is attempting to win a third straight Division III National Championship -- but they have tossed this goal to the side for now. The road has been tough so far as the Runners fell to GSAC rival Brookdale in the Region 19 championship tournament. Valli's team then needed an at-large invitation to compete in the tournament.
Said Maier: "We're well aware that anyone can bring you down at anytime -- we saw that with Brookdale. So it's up to us to get the job done and play at a high level."
Said Slogik: "Like I said, we're here -- and we need to focus on each team one game at a time. Right now we're just concerned about playing a great team in Surry on Sunday."