Elmira College Athletics

Corey Paluga finished his fifth season as the head coach of the Elmira College baseball program in the 2018-19 academic year. Under Paluga's direction, the EC baseball team has witnessed tremendous growth in just five varsity seasons.

Under Paluga’s tutelage, the Soaring Eagles have had 15 players earn Empire 8 All-Conference recognition, as well as two All-Region and two All-ECAC selections. He also mentored Elmira native Dylan Bellinger ’17 to an outstanding senior season that was capped off by winning the prestigious EC Male Athlete of Year Award. In addition to individual player recognition, Paluga’s staff was named the Empire 8 Conference Coaching Staff of the Year in 2017.

Paluga has had three players find their way to the professional ranks following their careers at Elmira. Class of 2018 graduates, Conor Bawiec '18 and Dennis Rudolph '18 were the first two student-athletes to put pen to paper. Bawiec signed with the Trinidad Triggers of the Pecos League, while Rudolph continued to ply his trade with the San Inazio baseball club of the División de Honor de Béisbol, based in Bilbao, Spain. Most recently, Nick Cottone '19 signed on to pitch for the Plattsburgh Thunderbirds, of the independent Empire Professional Baseball League (EPBL).

The Soaring Eagles graduated their first class of four-year letterwinners following the 2018 campaign. The Class of 2018 included several key players, such as the all-time leader in runs, hits, strikeouts and wins, Conor Bawiec '18. Bawiec graduated as the first Soaring Eagle to earn E8 All-Conference recognition in all four collegiate seasons and as just the second player to earn D3baseball.com All-Region accolades as a utility player.

In 2017, the program’s third season, EC tied the program record in wins with a 16-19 overall record and it qualified for its second Empire 8 Championship Tournament. Additional highlights of this past season include the program’s first ever win over NCAA Tournament qualifier Ithaca College and its first series win over perennial regional contender Stevens Institute of Technology. 

The Soaring Eagles doubled their win total from their inaugural season to post a 16-24 record in the spring of 2016, just missing out on the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. First baseman Dylan Bellinger '17, one of two Soaring Eagles to earn E8 All-Conference First Team honors, became the first EC player to gain All-Region recognition, as he picked up All-New York Region Second Team awards from both ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com. Bellinger paced the E8 and ranked 12th in all of NCAA Division III with 21 doubles.

As the first head coach in EC history, he guided the Soaring Eagles to eight wins in 2015. Elmira earned its first-ever win and first E8 victory in game one of a doubleheader against St. John Fisher on April 19. The Purple and Gold finished the season strong, winning six of its last eight regular season games, including a doubleheader sweep of Baptist Bible.

Paluga comes to Elmira from Empire 8 Conference rival Stevens Institute of Technology where he has served as assistant baseball coach and recruiting coordinator since 2009.  During his tenure with the Ducks he worked closely with catchers, outfielders and hitters. In his third season at Stevens the Ducks improved by 10 wins to finish the season with a 24-18 record and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Metro Championship. Post-season awards for the team included six Empire 8 All-Conference recipients, two players named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-Region Team and one CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-America Team. The coaching staff was also named Empire 8 Co-Coaching Staff of the Year. Paluga also served as an admissions counselor and assisted the Director of Athletics with NCAA Compliance while at Stevens.

Prior to Stevens, Paluga was a member of Lynchburg College baseball coaching staff for three seasons. The Hornets compiled an 80-45 overall record (41-13 league), captured two regular-season championships (2008 and 2009) and competed in the 2008 NCAA Regional Tournament. The 2008 Regional Tournament was Lynchburg's first NCAA appearance since 1983.

In 2010 and 2011 Paluga served as the Head Coach of the New Market Rebels. The Rebels compete in the Valley League, one of most recognized summer collegiate baseball leagues in the country. Paluga was responsible for recruiting, game-day management and coaching third base for a squad that consisted mainly of top Major League Baseball prospects from NCAA Division I programs. The Rebels earned playoff berths in both years Paluga was at the helm and had four players sign professional contracts.

In addition to Paluga's coaching duties, he will serve a three-year term as the New York Region rep on the ABCA/Rawlings All-American and Coaching Staff of the Year Committees.

Paluga graduated from Lynchburg in 2006 with a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics while earning four varsity letters in baseball. In 2009, he earned his Master's degree in Educational Leadership while serving as the graduate assistant baseball coach for the Hornets. He resides in Horseheads, New York, with his wife, Bridget, and three sons, Steven, Nathaniel and Walter.