Eastern Connecticut State University

A three-time all-region second baseman, William M. Hickey was a catalyst on four straight 30-win seasons and played an integral role in advancing the program to second and third-place finishes, respectively, in the 1973 and 1975 NAIA World Series. A native of East Hartford, Hickey was a sure handed defensive player who was second on the team in assists in each of his three seasons as a starter. At the completion of his career, Hickey ranked first all-time in hits (177) and assists (319), tied for first in triples (12) and was second in stolen bases (40). He remains the only player to date to be selected both the team MVP and Most Improved Player in the same season, earning those honors as a sophomore when he led the team in hitting (.342), at-bats (146), hits (50) and innings (294) and all infielders with a .973 fielding average. That year, he became the first player in history to reach the 50-hit plateau, a milestone which he would attain three times in his career. As a junior, Hickey set season records for hits (55), runs extra-base hits (19), total bases (95), home runs (7) and strikeout-to-at-bat ratio (1-14.0) and tied the season mark for triples (7). He becomes the first Hall of Fame inductee among position players from the program’s two NAIA World Series teams.