WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- The 1998 Eastern Connecticut State University NCAA Division III national championship baseball team will join women's basketball alum Wendy A. Rogers and former track & field great Jason D. Edwards as 2021 inductees into the Little East Conference Hall of Fame and will be honored as part of the Eastern Athletics Alumni Hall of Fame banquet Oct. 16 at the campus's Student Center.
 
Joining the 1998 baseball team, Rogers and Edwards as honorees at the Eastern Athletics Alumni Hall of Fame Oct. 16 will be 2020 LEC Hall of Fame selections Scott C. Chiasson (baseball) and Marc A. DiGiovanni (men's lacrosse). Chiasson and DiGiovanni were not honored in 2020 after the Eastern Hall of Fame banquet was cancelled due to the pandemic.
 
Eastern has had 11 individuals and one team recognized since the creation of the LEC Hall of Fame in 2012. Beginning with the 2019 induction, institutions have begun honoring their LEC Hall of Famers with a recognition ceremony of their choosing on their respective campuses.
 
In 1998, Eastern baseball was the second Little East Conference team in as many years to capture a NCAA Division III national championship, which was just the second year of the sport's sponsorship by the Little East Conference.
 
Little East Hall of Fame head coach Bill Holowaty's squad posted an overall record of 40-11 in 1998, tying the then program record for wins in a season as the Warriors laid claim to their third DIII baseball national title.
 
Eastern won the second of 13 LEC regular season titles (through 2021) by one game with a mark of 12-2 in league play, and secured the first of nine LEC tournament championships (through 2021) after going 3-0 with victories over sixth-seeded Western Connecticut (5-4), third-seeded UMass Dartmouth (3-2) and fourth-seeded Plymouth State (17-2). A total of eight Warriors earned All-LEC honors. Chiasson (RP), George Davis (DH), Jon Gersz (OF), Lance Podlesney (3B), Brian Rivers (P) and Nick Tempesta (SS) were voted to the first team and Jonathan Krot (OF) and Anthony Formato ( C) were second-teamers. Krot was named LEC tournament MVP that season.
 
Chiasson and Podlesney went on to be named first team All-America by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).
 
As a team, Eastern led the LEC that season in pitching ERA and fielding average that year. Chiasson led the conference in saves and ERA and Scott Czerwinski shared the LEC lead in pitching winning percentage, and Gersz topped the conference in triples and  Krot in stolen bases.
 
Following the LEC tournament, Eastern hosted the six-team NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship at its new stadium, and ran the table to capture it seventh NCAA regional crown. Eastern opened the regional with a 3-2 victory over LEC rival and defending NCAA Division III national champion Southern Maine before defeating Trinity (Conn.), 9-6, and posting back-to-back victories over UMass Dartmouth by scores of 7-2 and 10-3 to secure a seat at the national tournament.
 
Eastern got off to a fast start at the national tournament at Salem, VA, opening the tournament with a 9-3 triumph over Wisconsin-Oshkosh before defeating Aurora, 4-3, and Montclair State, 11-4, to guarantee itself a spot in the championship round. Following a meaningless loss to SUNY Cortland in a throw-away game where Eastern did not use any of it top pitchers, the Warriors routed Montclair State, 16-1, to secure the 1998 national championship.
 
Senior co-captain Chris D'Amato following up his New England Regional MVP award by being named national tournament MVP after reaching safely in 19 of 22 plate appearances. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Czerwinski and Chiasson.
 
Chiasson became the first player from that 1998 Warriors' squad to be inducted into the LEC Hall of Fame with his enshrinement in 2020. Holowaty was inducted into the LEC Hall of Fame in 2016.
 
First established in 2012, the LEC Hall of Fame now includes 93 individuals and two teams.
 
Ten former student-athletes, two former head coaches and one team comprise the LEC Hall of Fame's eighth induction class:
 
Wendy A. Rogers (Eastern Connecticut) - Women's Basketball
Jason D. Edwards (Eastern Connecticut) - Men's Track & Field
1998 Eastern Connecticut Baseball Team
Tyler Kathan (Keene State) - Men's Basketball
Kelly Smith (Keene State) - Field Hockey
Becky Campo (Plymouth State) - Volleyball
Kelly Landry (Plymouth State) - Volleyball
Kyle Allaire (Rhode Island College) - Baseball
Eileen Fenton (UMass Boston) - Women's Basketball
Rachael Barbarossa (UMass Dartmouth) - Women's Soccer
Ray M. Cabral (UMass Dartmouth) - Women's Soccer Coach
Katariina Pulkkinen-Hoaas (Southern Maine) - Women's Basketball
Jody Rajcula (Western Connecticut) - Women's Basketball Coach