Skidmore’s Jackson Hornung Wraps Up Successful Double-A Season

SARATOGA SPRINGS — No player in the history of Skidmore College’s baseball program has gone further than Jackson Hornung.

In 2023, the former Thoroughbred became the first Skidmore athlete drafted by a professional team when he was selected in the 16th round (484th pick) of the MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. In retrospect, that pick might’ve been a steal for Toronto.

Hornung started at the bottom of the Blue Jays’ organization at Single-A Dunedin, where he struggled in 62 plate appearances, managing an OPS of just .442. But in 2024, his career took off with the High-A Vancouver Canadians. In 116 games, he rocketed his OPS to .715, smashing 6 homers and 25 doubles. He led the team in both hits (105) and multi-hit games (27). At the end of the season, the Skidmore ‘23 grad was named to the Northwest League All-Star Team. The performance kept him stationed in Vancouver, where he returned the following season with a vengeance.

In 2025, Hornung’s .855 OPS with the Canadians marked his best offensive output since college. He had a slash line of .308/.396/.459 with 3 homers in 44 games. The bigwigs in Toronto had seen enough and promptly promoted Hornung to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 

Since joining the Cats in late June, Jackson has earned the team’s fifth-best OPS (.787), third-highest slugging percentage (.446), third-highest batting average (.269), and fifth-best on-base percentage (.341). In other words, he instantly became one of New Hampshire’s best players.

On Sept. 5, the Fisher Cats placed Hornung on the 7-day injured list. If he comes off it at the end of this week, he would likely be available for only two or three games before the regular season ends. With the Cats at the bottom of the Eastern League Standings, those final contests may be Hornung’s last chances for at-bats before 2026.

Hornung’s trajectory has been both a successful and intriguing one. One unanswered question is where he will fit onto a roster defensively. There’s little doubt he can hit, but Toronto seems unsure of which position to play him at. He was a first baseman and catcher in Dunedin; first baseman, catcher, and outfielder in Vancouver; and most recently, a first baseman and left fielder in New Hampshire. Using fielding percentage as a somewhat useful metric, Hornung appears to play best in the outfield. Interestingly, he hasn’t played catcher at all in 2025, despite that being listed as his official position on the Fisher Cats roster. A promotion to Triple-A is certainly a possibility in 2026, though it could be dependent upon how Hornung fits (or doesn’t fit) into the Buffalo Bisons lineup.

Back in Saratoga Springs, Hornung’s career has helped increase the quality of Skidmore baseball recruits, Thoroughbreds Head Coach Ron Plourde told Saratoga TODAY prior to the start of the 2024 season. Plourde also had this to say when Hornung was drafted in 2023: “We couldn’t be happier for Jackson, as this is an incredible accomplishment for him and our entire program… He’s done everything the right way and is in this position because of his abilities, work ethic and great attitude.”

With Skidmore, Hornung was an NCAA Division III All-American, and was twice named Liberty League Player of the Year. In 98 career games, he recorded a batting average of .430, with 22 homers, 106 RBI, and a .540 on-base percentage. In his senior year, he hit .424 with 12 dingers and 41 RBI, leading the Liberty League in slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

Despite losing their star player after the 2023 season (when they finished with a .600% 24-16 record), Skidmore has maintained comparable winning percentages for the last two years (.528 in ‘24 and .550 in ‘25). With a new turf baseball field currently being constructed on Daniels Road, the future is looking rosy for both the Skidmore baseball program and its brightest star.