About
News and Publications
Newark Academy’s Tom Clancy Signs with Cornell to Play Baseball
For the third straight year, Newark Academy baseball is sending a student-athlete to pitch at the Division-I level.
Thomas Clancy has committed to compete in the Ivy League at Cornell University. Thomas was preceded by Lucas Rich ’20 (Lehigh University) and Matt Ciconne ’19 (Rutgers University).
“It definitely helped me just to get some advice from older guys. They were very supportive and they were always quick to help me out because I got a chance here in my freshman year to actually play and start in varsity,” Thomas said. “But a lot of it was I had confidence for the first time, just because I knew that I had these guys behind me and I didn't have as much pressure because I knew that. They kind of acted like coaches to me as well as our coaches.”
Thomas is a four-year Varsity baseball player, looking forward to leading the Minutemen as a captain for his senior year. He did not get to play a game for Newark Academy his junior year, due to the season's cancellation because of COVID-19. While he played as a freshman and sophomore, his recruitment came as a result of his strong performances in summer showcases and tournaments with his travel team, the Locked-In Expos. In three years he has added 14-15 mph to his fastball and the right-hander is now topping out around 90 mph on a consistent basis.
“This is a tremendous achievement and speaks to the hard work and dedication that Tom has put in to improve his pitching and overall strength and athleticism,” third-year NA coach Bryan Tavares said. “I have every confidence -- and I told anyone who would listen -- that Tom would have had a spectacular 2020 season. I thought he would easily be one of the best pitchers in the conference (along with Lucas Rich), and likely beyond. …. I fully expect him to meet and exceed the expectations we had for him in 2020 on the baseball field.”
Thomas feels well-prepared to balance life as a student-athlete at Cornell University next year thanks in large part to the rigors of the Academy.
“Time management's probably the single greatest skill that I've learned and they've emphasized since sixth grade,” Thomas said. “I remember having those classes with Middle School Principal Mr. Ashburn just hammering into our heads that we just need to get our time management skills and that's how we're going to succeed at the school. I think that that's going to carry with me throughout the rest of my life and it has on and off the field as well. Just being able to balance the workload here and being able to train in those few hours that you have after school in between bed. So that's probably going to be the greatest thing that I've learned to learn that'll help me for the rest of my life.”
An independent school for students in grades 6-12