In the 2016-17 school year Freeman will begin his fourthseason as the team's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.
"I am excited to have Coach Freeman here at Stevens" said Aldins. "He helps our players reach their potential both on and off the field. He is a very talented pitching coach and an even better person. Our team’s improvements and accomplishments on the mound speak for themselves in terms of what type of educator Coach Freeman is."
As pitching coach, Freeman helped the staff to a 3.08 ERA while being part of the Empire 8 Conference Coaching Staff of the Year , and saw Jayson Yano become the first student-athlete in Empire 8 history to be named Player and Pitcher of the Year in the same season in 2015.
Under Freeman's eye, Yano also received several other major awards including d3baseball.com 2nd Team All-American, d3baseball.com New York Region Player of the Year, ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-Region, ECAC Upstate All-Star, and d3baseball.com First Team All-Region. Junior Robert Robbins also was recognized by being named d3baseball.com Third Team All-Region and First-Team All-E8. Yano repeated as Pitcher and Player of the Year in 2016, while both Robbins and Yano became the first two pitchers under Coach Freeman to earn professional contracts. Robbins inked a deal with the Joliet Slammers, while Yano signed with the Windy City Thunderbolts, both of the Frontier League.
In 2014, the Ducks tied a program record for victories with 27. Statistically the Ducks were ranked in numerous key categories including second nationally out of 369 schools in strikeouts per nine innings (9.6), second in hits allowed per nine innings (7.21), third in E.R.A. (2.27), third in strikeout to walk ratio (3.29), fifth in shutouts (5), tenth in stolen bases (113), and eighteenth in stolen bases per game (2.57). At the conclusion of the season seven student-athletes were named to the Empire 8 All-Conference Team, five to the CUNY All Conference Team, five New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association (NJCBA) honorees (including D2/D3 Rookie Pitcher of the Year Zeph Walters), two to the D3baseball.com All-Region Team, and one to the ABCA All-Region Team.
Academically the Stevens baseball team also has continued to improve and shine. The Ducks baseball scholar-athletes posted a 3.373 team gpa in the fall 2014 semester and are slated to be named an Empire 8 All-Academic Team for the fourth time in the last five semesters. Currently the Ducks are proud to maintain a cumulative team gpa of 3.332.
Summer collegiate baseball also was a highlight from the 2014 season as now junior right-handed pitcher/second baseman Jayson Yano was named Perfect Game Collegiate League Pitcher of the Year, Third Team Summer All-American (only Division III player on this list), and the #30 Professional Pitching Prospect in the league. Yano and fellow junior Greg Jakusik, a left-handed pitcher, subsequently were placed in the Northwoods League (Rochester Honkers) for summer 2015. Northwoods is considered by many to be the top summer collegiate baseball league in the nation. Additionally junior Robert Robbins, a right-handed pitcher, will be playing for the Forest City Owls of the equally prestigious Coastal Plain League. In addition to Northwoods, Coastal Plain, and Perfect Game, the last three summers have seen Ducks athletes placed in several top exposure environments. These opportunities have included Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, Texas Collegiate League, New York Collegiate Baseball League, Beach League and South Florida Collegiate Baseball League. Year round commitment to the game of baseball has quickly become a cornerstone of the Stevens Baseball experience.
Before accepting the position at Castle Point, Freeman was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Division II Felician College in Rutherford, N.J. In his one season at Felician in 2013, the Golden Falcons pitching staff recorded 400 strikeouts in 463 innings pitched. Freeman mentored six hurlers who posted sub-4.00 earned run averages in at least 12 appearances.
Prior to his stint at Felician, Freeman was an assistant at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. in 2011-12 and Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla. from 2008-11. During his time in Florida, Freeman was part of three teams that reached the South Regional Tournament, and in 2008, Barry reached the No. 1 spot in the national poll. Freeman began his coaching career in Biddeford, Maine at the University of New England in 2007.
From 2012-2014 Freeman was the head coach for the D.C. Grays franchise of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. He led the team to a 23-21 record in summer of 2013 missing the playoffs by only percentage points.
Freeman also honed his coaching craft in the prestigious and Cape Cod Baseball League in 2008-09 as a pitching coach for the Chatham Anglers. He also had a one-year stint in Covington, Va. coaching the Lumberjacks that compete in the Valley Collegiate Baseball League, helping the team to the playoffs.
He holds a master's degree in Sports Management from Barry University which he obtained in 2011 and earned his bachelor's in Physical Education at Plymouth State University in 2001.
