KEUKA PARK, N.Y. — Keuka College Head Baseball Coach Rick Ferchen announced his retirement from coaching following the 2022 season.
The man who has guided the Keuka College Baseball team for the past nine seasons leaves the Wolves with a school record of 134 victories. Over his 39-season career, Ferchen has won 849 games, ranking amongst the winningest coaches in the NCAA.
"My philosophy has always been to develop successful student-athletes first and winning second. I always wanted to show these student-athletes I cared about them, not the things they could do for me. I hope that we can look back and hear people say that we helped make a difference in developing the four baseball programs we have been involved with," said Rick Ferchen.
Ferchen made an instant impact for the Green and Gold. Taking the helm in 2014, he guided Keuka to a school-record 22 wins and a share of the North Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season title. He would make the NEAC Tournament in four of six seasons and also qualified for the Empire 8 Conference tournament in the Wolves' first season of competition in 2021.
"We have been fortunate to have had Coach Ferchen lead our program the past nine years," said Director of Athletics Jon Accardi. "Rick's career success speaks for itself. When he arrived at Keuka, he very quickly established a culture of continuous improvement and student-centeredness - clearly a formula that has served him well. The one thing not everyone saw was the sheer hours and work Rick put in. He loved his players, their families, and this program. Rick regularly curated the field and was always finding ways to make even the smallest improvements. I'm so thankful for where Coach has left the program and proud we played a part in his legacy. "
To say he sprung life into the program is an understatement. With Ferchen's nine seasons at Keuka, his teams own the top six spots on the single-season wins list for the program. He topped his 2014 accomplishment by winning 25 games in 2019, setting a new record, and winning the NEAC regular-season title outright. He was named NEAC Coach of the Year in both the 2014 and 19 seasons.
The first thing every coach will attribute to their success are the great players they coached, and Coach Ferchen has taught some of the best in program history. He had 17 All-North Eastern Athletic Conference selections and another seven earn All-Empire 8 honors. Ferchen has 10 all-region selections by either the American Baseball Coaches Association or D3Baseball.com.
The players' successes extended beyond the foul lines and into the classroom. He had 74 student-athletes recognized as North Eastern Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes. In the Empire 8, he had 35 student-athletes named to the Empire 8 President's List and that number will grow following the final grades from this semester. Under his guidance, he had two student-athletes recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America as a part of their Academic All-America program. Dakota Skinner was the third Keuka College student-athlete in school history to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2017 and then repeated the feat in 2018. In total, Skinner was a three-time Academic All-Region honoree and Nick Kojcan also was named Academic All-Region in 2021.
Rick Ferchen came to Keuka College following a successful tenure at SUNY Oneonta. Over 16 seasons, Ferchen led the Red Dragons to 400 wins and a .624 winning percentage, both school records. He appeared in 13 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournaments and played in the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament 11 times. He was twice named SUNYAC Coach of the Year. In 2010, he guided the Red Dragons to a school-record 31 wins and SUNY Oneonta's first berth into the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Before SUNY Oneonta, Ferchen coached at Hobart College for eight years. He posted a 168-120-5 record for the Statesmen. He guided Hobart to an Empire Athletic Association championship, an ECAC championship, and earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament. He was twice named Empire Athletic Association Coach of the Year, and like his time at Keuka and Oneonta, he is the current school record holder in wins by a coach.
Rick Ferchen began his coaching career at his alma mater, Valparaiso University. He took the Division I Crusaders to a pair of Mid-Continent Conference championship games. They had 147 wins in his six seasons. Ferchen is currently fifth in Valpo history for wins. As with each of his previous stops, he was twice named conference coach of the year.
Ferchen's playing career was at Valparaiso. He graduated in 1977 with a degree in physical education. Ferchen was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in 1978 and spent a season playing for his hometown Niagara Falls Pirates in the New York-Pennsylvania League. He then returned to Valpo and started his coaching career in the 1981-82 school year.
"It has been a good run and I have enjoyed every minute of it and all the people I have met and worked with over the years," Ferchen added.
A national search for the next Keuka College Baseball coach has begun. More information can be found on Keuka College's website, www.keuka.edu.