SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - After 13 years at the helm of the Union College baseball program, Paul Mound has stepped down as head coach to pursue other opportunities, Director of Athletics Jim McLaughlin '93 announced on Friday.
Mound leaves as the winningest coach in the over 160-year history of the baseball program, boasting a 249-196-1 (.559) record in his time with the team.
"It has been an incredible pleasure to coach here at Union," said Mound. "I have enjoyed working with everyone over the past 13 years. I want to thank the student-athletes I have had the opportunity to watch grow and thrive over the years; coaching them has been a privilege. I also want to extend a special thank you to [head athletic trainer] Cheryl Rockwood and my assistant coaches for their tireless dedication to building our program into a contender in the Liberty League as well as at the regional and national levels."
"I want to thank Paul for his commitment to the College and our baseball program over the last 13 years," said McLaughlin. "In its long and illustrious history, the baseball program reached new heights under Paul's leadership with multiple Liberty League championships and NCAA appearances. We wish Paul the best as he moves on to pursue additional opportunities."
Under Mound, Union won three Liberty League Tournament championships and made three of the program's four all-time NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2022, Mound won his 227th game at Union, surpassing Art Lawrence for the most ever for a baseball coach at Union, and his 249 career victories are the fifth-most of any coach in a single sport at Union. Mound became one of only 10 Union coaches to earn 200 career victories with a win over Skidmore on May 5, 2019.
An Amsterdam Baseball Hall of Fame and New York State Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Mound led Union to six consecutive 20-win seasons from 2013-18, posting a combined record of 151-82 (.648) and winning nearly 69 percent (93-43) of his Liberty League games over that span. In total, his players earned seven All-American honors and combined for 34 All-Region honors, three Liberty League Player of the Year awards, three Liberty League Pitcher of the Year awards, and 70 All-Conference selections during his time in Schenectady.
After setting a then-record with 26 wins and earning Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year laurels in 2013, Mound followed it up in 2014 with the program's first Liberty League Tournament championship and earned the program's first berth in the NCAA Division III Championships with a second straight 26-win campaign.
The 2016 team also reached the 26-win mark to earn the program's second Liberty League Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in three years, as well as Union's third regular-season championship in four seasons. Junior pitcher Jake Fishman led the entire NCAA in earned run average and was the program's first-ever ABCA and D3baseball.com All-American in addition to earning Liberty League Player of the Year honors.
Two years later, Mound led Union to a historic 2018 season, in which Union won a program-best 31 games and won its first game at the modern-day NCAA Tournament with a 10-3 victory over Arcadia at the Mid-Atlantic Regional. Individually, Union boasted the Liberty League Player, Pitcher and Rookie of the Year, as well as a program-record eight All-Conference honorees and the Liberty League Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
A national search for the next head coach of the Union baseball team is already underway.