Union College Athletics

The first All-American in the history of the Union College baseball team and co-captain of the 1965 Eastern Region champions, Rick Crookes was one of the program's first stars on the diamond during a stellar three-year varsity career from 1963-65.
 
Crookes had a season for the ages as a senior, as the righthander won a program-record nine games in 10 starts and went the distance in seven outings on the mound, including a string of six straight complete-game victories. He finished the year tossing a school-record 88.0 innings and striking out 70 batters with a 1.74 earned run average, with his 70 strikeouts remaining the school single-season record for more than half a century. He started and won the program's first NCAA Tournament game, defeating Colby at Yankee Stadium in the Eastern Region semifinals, and then had one hit while manning first base during the title game win over Old Dominion. In addition to his dominance on the hill, the co-captain led the team with a .391 batting average (27 for 68) while driving in 13 runs and scoring 13 times as a senior.
 
The team's opening day starter (and winner) in all three varsity seasons, Crookes posted a 16-4 record and 1.38 ERA with 138 strikeouts and only 22 walks in 170.0 innings. He currently ranks second all-time in ERA, third in complete games (14), fourth in wins, seventh in strikeouts  and eighth in innings pitched at Union, all coming in just three years with the varsity. Crookes also hit over .300 in his three years at the plate for Union, including 19 RBI and 18 runs scored in 30 games over his final two years.
 
Crookes continues to maintain a relationship with Union well after his graduation and has served as a member of the Union Athletics Hall of Fame committee since 2015.