Newark Athletics

New Brunswick Athletics

R. Keith Williams

Keith Williams made his seventh season with the Scarlet Raptors one of the best in the long history of Rutgers-Camden baseball as his team posted a 28-11 record (the second-highest victory total ever), reached the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs, peaked at No. 26 in the nation and posted four wins over nationally-ranked clubs in 2005.

All that success helped Williams capture his 100th coaching victory at Rutgers-Camden and hike his career record over .500 at 125-124-1, climbing out of the 7-49 hole from his first two seasons when he was building the program. Since that time, the Scarlet Raptors have gone 118-74-1, posting four winning seasons in the last five years. They are the four winningest seasons in school history.

The Scarlet Raptors won eight straight games from March 18-31, the second-longest winning streak in program history. They posted a 5-2 victory over Rowan University April 8 when the Profs were 16-0 and ranked No. 1 nationally, and they also went 2-1 during the year against NJAC regular-season champion Kean University, including a 6-5 comeback win in the conference playoffs May 6. Overall, the Raptors played nine games against nationally-ranked teams in 2005, posting a 4-5 record. The Raptors themselves reached No. 26 in the Division III national poll on March 29.

The 2005 season produced numerous honors for Rutgers-Camden athletes, including the NJAC Fireman of the Year and NJCBA Div. II/III Relief Pitcher of the Year awards for senior Matt Novella, who set program marks for saves in a single season (9) and career (13). Another senior, Matt Ulmer, set the program's career record with 18 wins, breaking the 45-year-old mark of 17 set by Gar Miller from 1957-60.

Williams' second win of the 2004 season (6-4 at Albright College March 8) was his 83rd victory with the Scarlet Raptors, passing the program mark of 82 set by Frank Trotman from 1986-1992. Last season his third victory (12-7 over Wisconsin-La Crosse March 13) made him the first coach in program history to reach 100 wins.

Williams turned the baseball program around during his third year at Rutgers-Camden in 2001, setting a school mark for wins with a 21-15 record. That raised the standard set by Trotman's 20-17 team in 1987, and set the stage for a remarkable 2002 campaign when the Raptors went 32-10, qualified for the NJAC playoffs for the second time in program history, earned their first post-season win (a 10-inning 9-8 triumph over William Paterson in the NJAC playoffs May 5) and played in their first ECAC Metro Tournament.

The Scarlet Raptors continued their amazing three-year run in 2003, posting a 21-16 record which was capped by winning the ECAC Metro championship with a 5-0 win at FDU-Florham May 11. It was the first post-season baseball title in program history and gave Rutgers-Camden a three-year record of 74-41.

The streak of three straight winning seasons was snapped in 2004 when Rutgers-Camden posted a 16-23-1 record in a tough-luck campaign which included seven losses by one run and three others by two runs. A pair of Raptors, junior pitcher Matt Ulmer and senior center fielder Brian Murphy, earned All-NJAC Honorable Mention.

The 2003 Scarlet Raptors saw five players selected to the NJAC all-star teams, two earn All-ECAC Division III Metro honors and a pair of players capture post-season recognition as NJCBA all-stars.

Capping off the 2003 season, Williams saw the first player of his tenure get selected in Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft. Senior closer Dan McKenna was drafted in the 27th round by the Milwaukee Brewers on June 4.

The 2003 Scarlet Raptors posted a winning record (11-7) in NJAC play for only the third time in their 20 seasons of conference play. Coming on the heels of a record-setting 12-6 mark during conference play in 2002, it was the first time Rutgers-Camden produced back-to-back winning seasons in the NJAC. With their 10-6 NJAC mark in 2005, the Raptors have now had three winning conference records in four years.

Williams' 2002 team set nearly every school record while steamrolling its way to a 32-10 record, 11 more victories than the previous school mark set in 2001. Along the way, the Scarlet Raptors won their first 17 games B easily setting a school record for consecutive victories B and found themselves in previously-uncharted territory by reaching the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Division III national poll. The Raptors made their debut in the poll at No. 23 on March 25, and peaked at No. 19 on April 8.

The Raptors' success led to their first berth in the NJAC playoffs since the top-four team format was adopted in 1990. The only previous trip to the NJAC playoffs came in 1987 when the team finished second in the NJAC Southern Division.

Those accomplishments helped Williams capture the 2002 NJAC Coach of the Year and Rutgers-Camden Coach of the Year awards and become one of five men honored as the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Div. II/III Coaches of the Year.

The Raptors' success in 2002 led to a flurry of post-season honors, including six Raptors listed among the NJAC's First, Second and Honorable Mention teams. Five players were honored by the NJCBA and third baseman Ricky Flores also earned ECAC Metro and Mid-Atlantic Regional All-American honors.

Williams' first two teams (1999 and 2000) combined to post a combined 7-49 record, while he was working hard to rebuild the program. That hard work culminated in a 21-15 season in 2001, led by the Bob Diepold, the school's first All-NJAC First Team player since 1997. Freshman Brian Murphy set a host of records en route to earning Second Team All-NJAC honors and becoming the first NJAC Rookie of the Year at Rutgers-Camden.

Another 2001 highlight came when junior pitcher Mike Murphy hurled a perfect game against Lincoln University, March 8. It was the first perfect game in the history of Rutgers University, including the Camden, Newark and New Brunswick programs.

During Williams' tenure, the Raptors' roster has multiplied from his first season B when his team finished with eight players - to roughly 40 players. The program has gone from a team which had to forfeit five games in 1999, due to a lack of players, to one which is so popular that a junior varsity club was formed in 2002.

The Scarlet Raptors added another milestone in 2002 when they started playing their home games at Campbell's Field, a state-of-the-art facility on the Delaware River waterfront. That park, which opened in May, 2001, also serves as the home of the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

In addition to its downtown stadium, the Rutgers-Camden baseball program sports annual alumni games, instructional clinics and golf outings. The Scarlet Raptors have taken a pair of trips to Cooperstown, New York, during the fall seasons in 2000 and 2002, playing a game at Doubleday Field and visiting the National Baseball Hall of Fame each year. In the fall of 2001, the team took a trip to Virginia Beach, Virginia Wesleyan and Colonial Williamsburg. The team made annual spring trips to Ft. Pierce, Florida, until beginning an annual spring trip to California in 2004.

The Raptors' success off the field has been mirrored in their on-field performance. Their on-field personality reflects Williams' own philosophy that hard work, dedication and team unity form a foundation for success.

Williams' accomplishments as a head coach are a continuation of the success he has found at all levels of the game. He has been a top-notch baseball player for years in South Jersey, where he played on the state champion Cherry Hill Babe Ruth team in 1985, and was a three-year American Legion starter for Medford Post 307 (1986-88). His 1988 Legion team finished third in the state.

A 1987 graduate of Bishop Eustace High School who will be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in October, 2005, Williams played baseball, soccer and basketball for the Crusaders, earning All-Parochial honors in baseball. He led the 1986 Olympic Conference National Division champions in seven offensive categories. He helped the 1987 team capture the South Jersey Parochial B title, the Diamond Classic championship and the top ranking in South Jersey. Williams also earned All-Parochial, All-Conference and All-State soccer honors at Bishop Eustace.

Williams continued his education and baseball career at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was a four-year starter and a team captain in baseball, and graduated in 1991 with a Bachelors degree in Biomedical Engineering.

Following college, Williams spent two years in Australia, where he served as a player/coach and built his Ryde-Eastwood Leagues team into a Pacific Coast power, winning two league championships.

Returning to the United States, Williams actively pursued a coaching career. He was an American Legion coach for Medford Post 307 in 1991, and served on the Haddon Heights Legion staff from 1995-2000. He also was an assistant coach at Camden Catholic High School from 1995-97. He helped the Irish compile a 43-21 record and win the 1996 South Jersey Parochial A title. He added his expertise to another South Jersey baseball power in 1998, serving as an assistant at Eastern High School.

Williams also has served as an assistant coach with the West Deptford Storm of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, and as a player/coach for Mazzucco of the semi-pro Rancocas Valley League. That team won the South Jersey Semi-Pro Baseball Tournament in 1996.

Williams received his Master of Science in Administration, Sport and Recreation from West Chester University in August, 2003, and was hired in February, 2004, as Rutgers-Camden's Assistant Director of Recreational Services. Prior to taking that job at Rutgers-Camden, the Haddon Township resident served as a high school teacher at Camden Catholic, Bishop Eustace and Eastern, and worked with the family business, Lumps Express, in Cinnaminson.

Keith Williams' Rutgers-Camden Record: