The Rutgers-Camden baseball team is setting itself up to make history with a chance to secure its second NJAC championship.

​Last season, in 2025, the Scarlet Raptors secured an award that has eluded them since they first merged into the New Jersey Atlantic Conference (NJAC) in the mid-1980s. That award is the NJAC championship.

Before the 2025 campaign, the closest thing that Rutgers-Camden has ever gotten to the NJAC championship was by winning the NJAC regular season in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons under former Head Coach Dennis Barth. Being crowned the NJAC regular season champs is given to the team with the best conference record in the regular season.

The 2025 Scarlet Raptors, under Head Coach Ryan Kulik, finished the season with a 30-17 record (25-15 in the regular season). During the NJAC Tournament, the Scarlet Raptors ripped through their competition to secure their first-ever Conference Championship.

Rutgers-Camden came out on top in a 4-0 sweep against the likes of Kean, Montclair State, Rowan, and The College of New Jersey. With this level of dominance, Rutgers-Camden secured a spot in the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, where they would secure a win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in game two. However, game four against John Hopkins University and game five against RPI again did not go as planned, as Rutgers-Camden fell to both teams.

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A bittersweet ending for a successful campaign as the team walks away with some hardware still. Now, the 2026 Scarlet Raptors are looking to run it back with their eyes on another Conference Championship trophy. At least, according to Austin Dubler, a junior on the team. When asked to share his thoughts on when he knew that they were going to be NJAC Champs, Dubler stated: “I think that’s the goal and the standard from the beginning of the season that when you come in, that’s what we’re shooting for.”

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While every team has their goals to win the NJAC tournament, it is still no easy feat. One that Dubler knows very well, he was asked to share his thoughts on how the baseball team can come out on top against their conference opponents with which he commented, “I think it’s just showing up every day and bringing that energy that it’s going to be a tough game and it’s going to be a long day, but you still got to fight through it. You know, that’s what we work for. And the NJAC is a tough team [Conference], so we’re just ready for it, and we prepare for it.”

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While the NJAC is difficult to win, let alone dominate, the 2026 Scarlet Raptors are currently holding a 6-1 record when facing opposing teams in their conference. Before their first loss, against Rowan, Dubler shared his thoughts on being repeat NJAC champs by stating, “Yeah, that’ll mean everything, we leave no doubt in the whole NJAC that we can do it again. That just wasn’t a one-time thing. And yeah, I mean, you know, we have a real shot, a real good shot. We put ourselves in a good spot starting off 6-0, so we just got to keep working and keep moving forward each day.”

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The Scarlet Raptors are still on a hot run since defeating three of the remaining nine NJAC teams. The first three teams that Rutgers-Camden defeated, in doubleheaders, were William Paterson, TCNJ, and Rutgers-Newark. The rest of the teams consist of one more Rowan game, Ramapo College, Stockton, Montclair State, Kean, and New Jersey City University (NJCU).

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If the Scarlet Raptors are able to come out on top, once again, by securing another NJAC championship. They might very well be the team to beat in the New Jersey Atlantic Conference.

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Senior Katie Moore will be graduating from Rutgers-Camden this year after a record-breaking tenure in the RUC tennis program. So far, Moore has amassed an overall career record of 69 wins, placing her firmly in second place behind alumni Amanda Hickman, who has 78 overall wins. Hickman set that record between 2012 and 2016.​

When asked about her thoughts about the record, Moore had this to say, “It’s really motivating, honestly. I’ve played for almost all my life, so that competitive aspect is definitely kind of pushing in there. I really do want to win that record. I really am trying to get my coach to schedule matches.”

Speaking of coaches, head coach Lloyd Pearson was asked to share his thoughts regarding Moore making RUC tennis history, stating, “It’s a testament to her overall skills, commitment to her schoolwork that allows her to play, and a really good commitment and love for the sport.” 

It is not just Moore who is making program history, as fellow co-captain and senior, Ashton Sirko, is also on the all-time wins list. She holds an overall win record of 48 wins, with a chance to become the sixth player in program history to achieve over 50 wins.

When prompted about their names being etched into history, Sirko stated, “When you’re kind of going through the motions and stuff like that, it doesn’t really hit you, but now, being a senior and graduating and kind of seeing everything really written down in our records, it’s pretty cool.” 

Looking back at Moore’s career at RUC, there is one game that was mentioned as one of her best performances. Sirko reminisced about the game, stating, “I remember we had one playoff match, I think it was, not last year, but the season before that, against Kean. It was a complete shutout and our coach came up to us and said that was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen in a Rutgers doubles women’s team history.” (Senior Ashton Sirko).

The head coach also shared, “Probably her best performance that I remember, singles and doubles at the same time, was when we played against Kean. She played a graduate student who was transferred from a Division I school. And Katie played a really complete match and beat that girl straight sets. That girl had a UTR [Universal Tennis Rating] rating that was way higher than Katie.” An Universal Tennis Rating is designed to properly rate players on a global scale. 

They are both referring to a game from the 2023-24 season, on April 5th, when Moore and Sirko swept Kean’s duo, Grace Del Pino and Maria Torres, for an 8-0 win. Grace Del Pino was ranked higher than Moore, yet was bested during the Singles matchup in two games: 6-3 in game 1 and 6-1 in game 2.

Outside of tennis, Moore has been described as reliable and a leader by her team. Coach Pearson stated, “If I don’t know something that has to do with the campus, or if other kids are going to be late, I can always rely on Katie. Also, what makes her really reliable, she takes the time to scout upcoming opponents, and she remembers who’s coming back and who left and how that team was two years ago. She’s really reliable in a lot of aspects.”

As for Sirko, she said, “I think they definitely see her as a leader. I almost sometimes think of her as one of our other coaches. So she’s definitely a leader in that aspect, and I think everyone on the team can agree.”

For the team itself, they currently hold a 7-3 record. Regarding the team’s plan on finishing out the season, Moore had this to say, “I’m trying to stay as positive as I can about it. I’m really trying to push the girls. I’m more of a coach mentality. I want to see the younger ones succeed. I want to see them keep going, keep training, keep pushing.”

As for why she pushes so hard, she states, “Rocky Amidal, one of the best tennis players in the world, he says he always treated the next match as his last one. Because sometimes you never know. You could have that career-ending injury. So I just try and treat everyone as my last one.” 

Moore has given her all during her tenure as a student-athlete at Rutgers-Camden. She will finish out the season with the team as they get ready to come back on March 29th.

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The Softball team has been hard at work during the offseason, looking to improve their skill set and chemistry for the upcoming 2026 season. The team is driven by one large goal: a tournament appearance.

Third Baseman, Alana Gannon, shared the team’s goals for this season: “Well, our goal is we’re trying to make it into the tournament.”

The team’s veteran pitcher, Sammie Friel, spoke on the team’s chances of accomplishing their goal: “I think this is a very promising team, and we’ve all been having a lot of fun together and getting along really well, so I like our chances for this year.”

During the 2024 season, the current roster reached its first NJAC tournament appearance, with 17 wins under its belt. The Scarlet Raptors were unable to secure a victory, falling to both Kean and Stockton University during the tournament.

After a successful year, the 2025 season looked promising as the team ramped up to return for a deep playoff run. However, luck was not on their side, as the team won only five games throughout the season.

Current Head Coach, Meredith McCarthy, regarding the drop in wins, stated, “Overall, I think mentally, we needed to get a lot tougher. And that’s something that we’ve made the top priority this season. I will say this group’s been great, and they’ve bought into everything that we’ve asked of them as a coaching staff. And we knew at the end of last season that we just needed to be a lot more mentally tough, myself included, you know, across the board.”

When asked about any foreseeable challenges that the team could face, pitcher Sammie Friel shared, “I think just making sure we all can execute. We’ve been working really hard in the offseason, so just making sure that we can continue to bring that out onto the field and working together more, especially since softball can be a very mental game.” ​

Aside from improving their mental fortitude, the Scarlet Raptors are addressing another part of their game. The Head Coach addressed the offensive end where she stated, “So we need to have productive at-bats and be productive outs when we’re outs and move runners and, you know, be selfless in how we’re going to produce runs this year.” 

Gannon was also in agreement as she stated, “So, definitely hitting, we didn’t score enough runs last year. We’re working to be better at stringing our hits together. More productive at bats, I guess you could say, is the main thing.”

The Softball team has been hard at work this offseason, taking time to help each other improve. Gannon spoke on the team’s dynamic by sharing, “We’ve been challenged more in practice recently, and I do think that it’s paying off. As much as we all don’t like it, we do hit live a lot.”

A challenge that Gannon herself struggles with lies in hitting Screwballs. Screwballs, sometimes called a “reverse curve,” are a type of rare pitch where the ball moves away from an opposite-handed batter and towards an identical-handed batter. When asked about the reasoning for pitching screwballs, Friel stated, “You know, she’s a very talented hitter, so she challenges me as a pitcher in order to improve my pitches, and I help challenge her [Gannon] as a hitter to focus on some of the pitches that she wants to work on.”

The head coach shared a bit of her strategy for the year as she stated, “I think it’s really important that we get the splits, you know, we win one and give up one if we have to. But, you know, I think we’re realistic with the plan as far as like, we don’t need to beat everybody. Yeah, it would be nice. But like I said, it’s such a tough conference that we need to make sure that we’re prepared and ready for the ones that we need to beat.”

Due to weather, the softball team’s season opener, scheduled on February 22nd, was canceled. Pushing the season opener to March 5th instead, as they defend home field against Gwynedd Mercy University at Rutgers-Camden Community Park at 4 p.m. for their double header.

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During the 2025-26 season, Rutgers-Camden’s Head Coach, James Boney, reflects on his potential first winning record as the Women’s Basketball head coach. The chance to finish off the season with a 13-12 overall record, the third-best record in program history, last seen in the 2011-12 season.

​Coach Boney entered the season with a winner’s mindset as he was on the cusp of making Rutgers history by tying the record of most wins in a single season in Women’s Basketball, with fifteen. A record that was accomplished in both the 2015-16 and 2018-19 seasons.

​When asked about the potential record-tying achievement, the fourth-year head coach had this to say, “I’m a in the moment kind of coach. I always tell my kids, ‘Whatever game is the next game or tonight’s game, that’s the biggest game, and then once that game is over, it’s just another game.’”

Evidently, his mentality was shown throughout the season when the Scarlet Raptors held two out of three winning records in the past three months. They held a 4-3 record in November, a 2-2 record in December, and a 5-4 record in January. Adding up to an 11-9 overall record with five games left in the season.

​However, February has not been fortunate enough to warrant a program tying record as the team dropped to a 1-3 record so far. The team now holds a 12-12 overall record as they look to win one last game of the season.

​Compared to Coach Boney’s first three seasons, he has found more success this season. His wins since becoming Head Coach started from four wins in his first season, to one win in his second season, to nine wins in his third season, and now twelve wins as of this season. 

Now, while the record itself is not something that he dwells on. The record is proof of his commitment to winning every game of the season with his players. When asked about his newfound success this season as compared to before he shared, “My goal when I got here is to build a successful program, and we talk in business terms, not just pro. Build a successful business. So nothing has changed from what I’ve done.” 

​Looking back on his coaching career, how exactly did he get to that point? Coach Boney credits many people for his initial success. Starting with giving his parents crucial respect and admiration for who he is today.

​On the other hand, according to Coach Boney, approximately 40% of his coaching style he attributes to coaches he has worked alongside and against during his tenure at Kean, St. Peter’s, and Cumberland County College. Naming specifically Former Head Coaches Michele Sharp, Mike Tomlin, and Pat Summitt, to current Head Coaches Marc Mitchell and Dawn Staley.

For the rest of the percentages, Coach Boney says, “If we could break it down in percentage, I’m probably 60% Jamie Hoffman.” Coach Boney credits the majority of his coaching ability and successful program-building skills to former Head Coach Jaime Hoffman at his alma mater, Montclair State.

Coach Boney skillset will be put to the test as the team competes to qualify for the upcoming 2025-26 NJAC tournament. A final win over NJCU, on February 18th, will push the roster to a 13-12 overall record and a 10-8 conference record. That kind of record could give the Scarlet Raptors legitimacy as a contender in the NJAC tournament.

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