Derner Signs with Independent Baseball Team

After an outstanding final season with the William Paterson Pioneers, first baseman Adam Derner of River Edge will now take his bat and glove out to Illinois where he joins the Frontier-league Normal Cornbelters.

Derner was named to both D3baseball.com and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-America First Teams in his senior year.

He is a two-time member of theD3baseball.com National Team of the Week(April 2, April 9) and the March 26 NJCBA and NJAC Player of the Week, Derner added a .413 batting average (third in league), 15 doubles (tied-fifth in NJAC), 40 runs scored (tied-seventh in conference), four sacrifice flies (tied-sixth in league) and 59 hits (tied-ninth in NJAC) this spring. 

“Adam can supply power from the left side,” said CornBelters Player Personnel Director Nick Belmonte in a press release.  “I’m anxious to see him continue on the outstanding career he started at William Paterson.  Every time I sign a player from there, they deliver.”

While at William Paterson, Derner played in 42 games for the Pioneers in 2012, he hit .413 with a .804 slugging percentage, 115 total bases, 62 RBI and 13 home runs. Among other statistics, he led the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) in slugging percentage, total bases, RBI and home runs.

Derner was also selected to the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association (NJCBA) All-State Team and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Mid-Atlantic All-Region First Team.

The former Golden Hawk was a triple crown winner in 2007 with a .614 batting average, 13 home runs, and 48 RBI. He also set school records at River Dell in batting average, RBI, and slugging percentage.

The Business Adminstration major began his post-high school career at the University of Rhode Island where he competed from 2009-10, hitting .220 in 2009 and then .260 the following year. He returned to Northern New Jersey in 2011 to lead the Pioneers with a .387 batting average and a .589 slugging percentage.

The CornBelters will play their first home game of the 2013 season at The Corn Crib on Tuesday, May 21, 7pm against the Windy City ThunderBolts.

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