The New Jersey City University baseball team extended its winning
streak to six consecutive games, its longest since 1988, and earned
15th-year head coach Ken Heaton his 200th career victory as the
Gothic Knights swept a non-conference doubleheader from Polytechnic
University, 19-10 and 7-6 on March 27. Heaton is the winningest
coach in the history of the NJCU baseball program.
NJCU, which began the season at 2-4, is now 8-4, and has already
matched last season's win total with more than two-thirds of the
season remaining.
Heaton became NJCU’s career leader in wins on April 14, 1998, when
he directed the Gothic Knights to a 13-1 victory over the U.S.
Merchant Marine Academy. He concluded the 1998 season with 135
career victories, seven more than NJCU Hall-of-Famer Larry Babich.
Heaton was
chosen as the Coach of the Year by the New Jersey Athletic
Conference and the New Jersey College Baseball Association after
guiding then-Jersey City State to a school-record 19 wins in
1995. The Gothic Knights reeled off 11 wins in their final 13 games
en route to their first-ever NJAC Tournament berth.
A 1983
graduate of the University of Delaware, Heaton came to Jersey City
State from the prestigious Delbarton School in Morristown, New
Jersey. His teams at Delbarton captured one county championship
under his guidance.
Heaton has
also directed several community outreach programs for New Jersey
City University. In October of 1998, he directed Baseball Fest, a
one-day youth clinic at Yogi Berra Stadium that served as a benefit
to the Mountainside Hospital Foundation. He has also conducted
numerous clinics for Jersey City youth groups in his ten-year tenure
at the University.
A native of
Dover, New Jersey, Heaton is a 1978 graduate of Delbarton where he
was a three-year letter-winner in baseball, basketball and football.
A standout baseball player, Heaton was a First Team All-Prep
Conference selection in 1976 and 1977. He was also selected First
Team All-Morris County and First Team All-State by the Newark
Star-Ledger in 1977.
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