Skidmore Baseball Wins Coaching Staff of the Year, Head Coach Heads to Hall of Fame

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Skidmore College’s baseball program has been growing in renown in recent years, racking up accolades and sending one of its players and one of its coaches to the majors. Although the 2025 season concluded without a championship, the Thoroughbreds are nonetheless garnering acclaim for their coaching staff, which was named the 2025 Liberty League Baseball Coaching Staff of the Year just one week prior to news that Head Coach Ron Plourde would be inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

Plourde has spearheaded Skidmore’s baseball team since 1998, earning nearly 500 career wins, five Liberty League titles, and four NCAA Division III tournament appearances. He’s also received the Liberty League Coach of the Year honor five times (2005, 2010, 2022, 2023, 2025) and was named the 2010 Eastern College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

Plourde also mentored Jackson Hornung, who in 2023 became the first athlete in school history to be drafted by a professional team when he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the MLB Draft. In 2024, another Plourde mentee, former Skidmore pitching coach Mike McFerran, joined the Oakland Athletics as the team’s pitching performance coach. He returned to the ballclub this year as its minor league pitching coordinator.

Prior to his tenure at Skidmore, Plourde played and coached collegiate baseball at St. Joseph’s College in Maine. He will be formally inducted into the state’s baseball hall of fame later this year. His coaching staff—which includes Matt Karpousis, John Barnes, and J.T. Tellstone—earned its 2025 accolade for the fifth time in Plourde’s career.

In 2025, the Thoroughbreds captured the East Division crown after finishing 9-3 in the division and advancing to the Liberty League Tournament, where they were eliminated by Rensselaer on May 10. Overall, the squad finished 21-17-2 on the season, for a .667 winning percentage. At the plate, standout players included seniors Sam Kornet (1.097 OPS, team-leading 12 HRs and 45 RBI), Zachary Leiderman (1.022 OPS, team-high 14 doubles), Ewen Donald (.990 OPS), and junior Eddie Galvao (.981 OPS, team-high 3 triples). On the mound, sophomore Charles Modlin garnered a 3.47 ERA across 23.1 innings, fellow sophomore Chase Siegel led the team in wins (9) and innings pitched (65.2), and junior Quinn Hocom led the Thoroughbreds in strikeouts with 71.

“Now that it’s come to an end, I can say that Skidmore baseball has been the most profound experience in my life,” said Ewen Donald in his senior testimonial, one of several that heaped high praise onto the program. “I will be forever grateful for my family, coaches, and teammates who showed me what excellence looks like. Skidmore baseball gifted me a strong sense of meaning in life…I am proud to be a Skidmore ballplayer till I die.” 

Meanwhile, Skidmore alum Jackson Hornung continues to impress with Toronto’s High-A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians. His stats this season are the best of his pro career thus far, with a slash line of .284/.375/.407 for an OPS of .782. He’s also knocked out two dingers and smacked two doubles and a triple in only 23 games. This season is Hornung’s second in Vancouver, after he was promoted from the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays following the 2023 season. In September 2024, Hornung was named to the Northwest League All-Star Team.

Skidmore College is also working on building a new turf baseball field on Daniels Road. The $3.4 million project was originally expected to be finished in time for the spring 2025 season but is still under construction.