The TROY Trojans baseball team is not only making history with this year’s post-season success; it is filling the University’s students, faculty, staff and alumni with a tremendous sense of pride.
Last weekend, the Trojans defeated Rider and Miami and then beat the regional host Florida Gators twice to win the Gainesville Regional and reach their first ever Super Regional. TROY will host Little Rock in the best-of-three Super Regional beginning on Friday at Riddle-Pace Field with the winner advancing to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
“We often ask, ‘Why not TROY?’ A few years ago, we made the investment in our baseball program and facilities, not just to be successful in the Sun Belt Conference but to compete for a national championship,” said Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Chancellor. “We are excited to host the Super Regional and to share our baseball program, our university, and our community with a national audience. We are very proud of Coach Meade, our coaching staff, and our incredible players for their success and the way they have represented TROY. They have brought a tremendous sense of pride to our university and to Trojans worldwide.”
Jack Weaver, President of the Troy University Alumni Association, said the team’s success has generated tremendous excitement among alumni.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity host a Super Regional and showcase our beautiful campus and the pride that our students and alumni have in TROY,” Weaver said. “Since the team won the Gainesville Regional, I have had numerous calls and messages from alumni saying how proud they were to be a Trojan. I think our alumni base is fired up for this weekend and ready to cheer on our Trojans to even greater heights.”
Weaver said he believes the team’s success has some long-term impacts on the University and its alumni.
“I believe we have an invigorated body of alumni right now, thanks in large part to the success of this team,” he said. “We are proud of the players and coaches and what they have accomplished. I think this has served to further unite us and inspire us to work hard for the University, not just on the athletics side but on the academic side as well.”
This is not the first time TROY baseball has experienced success on a national stage. The Trojans won back-to-back NCAA Division II National Championships in 1986 and 1987 under legendary head coach Chase Riddle. To see the program reach new heights in Division I has been extremely exciting for former players.
Jude Rinaldi was the Most Valuable Player of the 1987 NCAA Division II World Series and is a member of the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 2020). Rinaldi earned All-America First Team honors following the 1987 season in which he set the school record with a .431 batting average. During the 1987 season, he drove in 45 runs to go along with 16 home runs and just nine strikeouts in the Trojans 47 games.
Now, almost 40 years after Rinaldi blasted a crucial three-run home run out of Montgomery’s Paterson Field to break a 4-4 tie with Tampa in the title game, the former first baseman is thrilled to see the success of this year’s team.
“What this team has done has been nothing short of amazing,” Rinaldi said. “I didn’t think that this was ever going to be possible. (Head coach) Skylar (Meade) has put together a hell of a team. This year’s success really puts TROY up a notch. We have always had a good program, but I think that it is going to bring more people and recruits in and is going to help TROY get even better, which is hard to imagine given where we are right now, hosting a Super Regional.”
Rinaldi made the trip to Gainesville to cheer on the Trojans in the regional play and said he saw something special in this team.
“This year’s team kind of started out the season like our 1987 team did. We started out 12-8, but once we came together and gelled as a team, we finished 38-10,” he said. “This team started a little slow, but once they gelled, they began playing very well and just haven’t looked back.”
Jody Singleton, a member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, played outfield for the Trojans during the 1990 and 1991 seasons. During his TROY career, the right fielder hit for a .344 batting average with 96 hits, 21 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 77 RBIs. During his senior season in 1991, Singleton led the Trojans with a .348 batting average and was named to the All-Gulf South Conference Team in addition to the All-Region Team. Singleton was also the first player in Troy State history to be named to the CoSIDA-GTE Academic Team. He was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.
Singleton said seeing the team enjoy this type of success has been extremely gratifying.
“It means so much to so many,” Singleton said. “I have stayed involved through the years, and I have seen us have some really good teams come so very close. To see this come to fruition with this team against the likes of Miami and Florida is very rewarding for me, both as a letter winner and an alumnus. I thought this could eventually happen, but I didn’t think I would see it in my lifetime.”
Singleton said the team’s performance in the Gainesville Regional was very special.
“To see the progress that (head coach) Skylar (Meade) and this team have made is truly remarkable,” he said. “I feel like this team has a lot of maturity and to see them play as loose and free and as well as they did in the regional in that environment was very special. I want to enjoy every bit of this ride wherever it leads.”
Faith Byrd, Director of Alumni Affairs, also takes significant pride the accomplishments of this year’s team. The success provides another example of TROY’s continued growth as a university, she said.
“I am very proud of our baseball team, and I am excited that because of their hard work and success on the field, we have the opportunity to host a Super Regional,” Byrd said. It is truly amazing how far TROY has come and how much it has grown since I was a student. I am in awe of what this does for our university, and the tremendous sense of pride that it has created among our alumni. I have always been proud to be a Trojan, but I think I am even prouder now than ever.”
