Hill Named ABCA Coach of the Year
Aug 03 | Baseball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers head baseball coach Fred Hill was named the East Region Division I Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) recently.
The committee for the award is comprised of Hill's colleagues, who honored the Scarlet Knight mentor after completing his 24th year with the program.
"It is a great honor to receive this award," said Hill. "It is even more special to be thought of so highly by my peers who I have the utmost respect for. Great teams are made up of great people and I want to thank my assistant coaches and players for such a great season."
Hill will be presented the award along with the seven other Regional Coaches of the Year at the annual ABCA banquet in January.
Rutgers finished the 2007 campaign 42-21 overall, tying for the most wins in the history of the program. The Scarlet Knights captured both the BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament Championship, advancing to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2003. Hill won his 900th career game at UCF on March 17. He owns a 935-578-6 record in 31 years as a collegiate head coach and a 787-472-6 record in 24 seasons at Rutgers. Hill is one of the top-20 winningest active coaches in the NCAA.
Under Hill's direction, Rutgers clobbered the school's single-season home run record with 63 blasts this past season. The 2007 team also scored the second-most runs (474), drove in the second-most runs (425) and recorded the second-most walks (312) in school history. Hill's 2007 squad had six current student-athletes and one member of its recruiting class selected in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.
