California University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Jason Foreman was a four-year starting third baseman and pitcher for the Cal baseball team from 1999-2002.

He earned all-conference honors in both positions in each of his final two seasons after earning all-conference pitching honors in 1999 and all-conference third base accolades in 2000.

Foreman started as a freshman on a rebuilding team whose 24-player roster consisted of 12 freshmen or sophomores. He made an immediate impact, leading the team in hitting with a .342 average and on the mound with a 2.84 ERA.

As a sophomore, Foreman batted .384 with 21 doubles and 44 RBI while compiling a 6-3 pitching record with three saves and a 1.82 ERA. The 2000 Vulcans won 29 games, which tied the 1979 PSAC title team for the second most single-season victories in school history at the time.

In 2001 Foreman was named the PSAC Baseball Athlete of the Year after helping the Vulcans and head coach Mike Conte win the program’s first PSAC-West championship in 16 years. Foreman batted .351, with 50 hits, six home runs, 37 RBI, 24 walks, 13 doubles and 35 runs scored. He went 6-2 on the mound with 41 strikeouts, a team-high 62.1 innings pitched and a 2.74 ERA. Cal went 29-17 overall and won the division title with a 16-4 mark.

Foreman helped the Vulcans repeat as PSAC-West champions in 2002, when he batted .320 while earning three pitching victories with 43 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched. The Vulcans posted a 16-3-1 divisional mark.

The four-time all-conference star believed Cal’s slow finish in 2000 motivated the players to become champions his final two seasons.

“I felt like we let him (Conte) down after my sophomore year and we hit the weights and worked hard that following off-season,” Foreman said “We were very close, nine of us lived together in a house across from the Copy Cat. We had some good players, pushed each other and became hungrier and more mature. We did the extra work you need to do. If practice started at 1 we’d be there by noon.”

Eight years after his collegiate career concluded, Foreman is still listed among the top 10 in seven career offensive categories: 50 doubles (tied for first), 573 at-bats (third), 201 hits (third), 129 runs (fourth), 123 RBI (fifth), 88 walks (fifth), and .350 batting average (10th).

His 17 wins and 3.04 ERA still rank fourth in the school record books, and his 43 appearances rank fifth.

Despite his impressive individual accomplishments, Foreman sacrificed possibly more dominant statistics to help the team by playing two demanding positions.

“It was rough to be truthful but Coach gave me a lot of trust and we needed someone to anchor the rotation,” said Foreman. “I love to hit and pitch and I just wanted to do whatever I could to help the team to do well. Back then I didn’t feel any aches because I was younger and we had a great training staff that took good care of us. I’m feeling it more now then anything.”

Foreman is the second player from the Conte era to be inducted into Cal U’s Hall of Fame and joins fellow 2010 inductee John Kovalchick ‘53 as the 23rd and 24th baseball players to receive the honor. His respect for Conte is evident and the two keep in touch regularly. Foreman helped Conte recruit current all-conference and all-region outfielder Troy Handza. The two were talking about other players on the phone this past summer when Conte informed him of making the Hall of Fame.

“My first reaction was thanks and it brought back a lot of good memories,” Foreman said. “I always tried to make Coach proud and he knows I’d run through a wall for him. I wanted to move on to the next level and Mike steered me straight early on. Physically he made us beasts and gave me the opportunity to be as good a player as I could be. He’s a good guy.”

Following his senior season, Foreman went on to pitch two seasons for the Washington Wild Things and Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints of the Independent Frontier League. Before turning pro, Foreman earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Cal U.

While he was effective in pro ball, Foreman preferred playing at the collegiate level.

“Obviously it was a completely different. I enjoyed it and it was something to experience,” he said. “ I did not like the bus rides and traveling from city to city became tiresome. The Wild Things were a first class organization. You had some friends on the team but it wasn’t the same camaraderie as in college when you knew all your buddies had your back.”

Originally from Glenshaw, Pa., and a 1998 graduate of Shaler Area High School, Foreman was a three-year starting pitcher and third baseman as a high school player. He helped the Titans advance to the 1998 WPIAL Class AAA semifinals and the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals, and he set the school’s batting average record. Foreman also was a member of the golf team.

For the past six years, he has worked for Metz & Associates, a contract management company, where he is Senior Area Manager. Foreman believes his education and overall experience at Cal U helped make his mark in the corporate world.

“Cal gave me a lot of business sense in working with the real world and being diplomatic,” he said. “It helped me understand people better and being a more polished. I could see that in myself after college days. Cal was a good school.”

Foreman still pitches occasionally in the Pittsburgh Federation League and coaches AAU Programs for the Pittsburgh Prowlers at the Greentree Sportsplex.

He is understandably looking forward to returning to the campus for his induction and to see how the campus has changed.

“Troy (Handza) tells me all the time how beautiful the place us and I really can’t wait to see it,” he said. “Some of my buddies want to spend the night down there which should be something.”

Foreman and his wife, Kelly, reside in Allison Park, McCandless Township. The couple is expecting their first child this February.