A year ago, Patrick Taney had a pretty good seat to watch the NJCAA Division III Baseball World Series. In 2024, he upgraded.
As an injured member of the Rowan College of South Jersey Gloucester baseball team, Taney accompanied his teammates as the Roadrunners won the 2023 championship. “I was there every day, and it was a great time. I was so, so happy when we won,” Taney said.
While celebrating a national championship was an incredible experience, Taney couldn’t wait to play a bigger role in 2024.
The Cherry Hill native, who attended Christ the King Regional School in Haddonfield, would get his chance after a long road to recovery.
Taney had thrown a lot of pitches during his years at Roman Catholic High School, Philadelphia, and Cherry Hill High School West. He then worked even harder during his first college season at RCSJ in Spring 2022. Fall ball was next, and Taney was partially ignoring some of the warning signs of a significant injury.
In December 2022, it finally gave out. Taney suffered a tear to his ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm.
“The week before [the injury] I was pitching against Rowan University, and my elbow felt a little sore,” Taney said. “I thought it was pretty normal for a pitcher. Then the entire week leading up the game where I got hurt, I was feeling kind of weird but kept brushing it off. I got in the game, and I couldn’t throw a strike. My arm was just ringing. Luckily, it didn’t explode on the mound. But I knew. My pinky and ring finger were just tingling.”
The injury required Tommy John Surgery, which can take an athlete more than a year to regain strength and form to pitch again. Taney rehabbed and was able to throw off a mound nine months later. But it wasn’t until the following spring that he was able to throw in a real game. Because he missed the entire 2023 season, Taney was still considered a sophomore at the two-year junior college and had a year of eligibility left to play baseball. He seized the opportunity.
“The start of the season was definitely bumpy,” Taney said. “I was in the starting rotation the first weekend of the season and I didn’t throw very well in my first outing. I think there were a lot of nerves. Then my shoulder flared up so I was out for a few weeks. But after that, it was kind of smooth sailing from there. I found my groove. and I was able to start pretty consistently throughout the entire year.”
Taney finished his season with a team-best 1.60 earned run average in 33 and two-thirds innings. He had 53 strikeouts and allowed just eight walks. More importantly, he was the starting pitcher for the Roadrunners in the final game of the season as RCSJ defeated Dallas College Eastfield, 18-3, on May 29 at Falcon Park in Auburn, N.Y.
Taney took the hill first and got the first three outs of the game pretty smoothly before the Roadrunners went to work at the plate. RCSJ scored seven times in the first inning and were well on their way to repeating as national champions.
“I think before we even had an out, we had three or four runs,” said Taney, who threw three scoreless innings. “At that point, I knew the game was over.”
The Roadrunners finished the year 51-8 and won their ninth overall title in program history and third under head coach Rob Valli. Taney wasn’t the only player on the team with South Jersey Catholic School ties. He celebrated alongside Gloucester Catholic High School graduate R.J. Mustaro and Bishop Eustace Preparatory School grad Danny Kerr.
“It was fun coming from one winning program and going to another,” said Mustaro, who won a Non-Public B state championship with Gloucester Catholic last year and watched his brother Jack win at the school this year. “We had a great group of guys here. It was great.”
Mustaro will return to RCSJ for his sophomore year while Taney will continue his education at West Chester University in Pennsylvania next year.
Taney, too, will continue with a winning program as West Chester’s Rams were 43-9 last year, setting a school record for wins and winning their first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament title since 2016.
“They were the first school that reached out to me,” Taney said. “I’m a health and physical education major and not a ton of schools have that. It just ended up being a good fit.”
He leaves RCSJ with two championships and a lot of great memories.
“I will remember mostly my teammates and obviously the two championships,” Taney said. “I made some great relationships and friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life. Some of these guys will probably be in my wedding. They will definitely be the best memories.”
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