Jack Clifford is going to begin a rare journey after he graduates from Newburgh Free Academy.
The Goldbacks’ senior pitcher and catcher will attend Russell Sage College, where he will be part of the first season of the Russell Sage baseball team.
“Just the thought of building from the ground up really intrigued me,” Clifford said.
In a way, family history is repeating itself.

His mother grew up in Georgia and she attended a newly opened high school and she helped pick out the school colors and the mascot, leaving a mark on the school felt after her own departure.
“That’s really cool,” Clifford said. “I hope people 10 years from now can look back and see what we started. That would be awesome.”
With that can come reservation as Russell Sage has no baseball history. He can’t look at the past five seasons and say whether the program is strong. It’s a total unknown. While he said there was a little of that, there is also great opportunity in playing for a first-year program.
“It feels like I have more of a chance to make more of an impact as a freshman,” Clifford said.
It was Sage’s baseball coach, Nick Pontari, appointed in July who helped alleviate those concerns.
Pontari, who grew up in Troy, was most recently an assistant coach for the Cornell baseball team. Before that, he spent four years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Brockport State. The Gators will play in the Division III Empire 8 conference.
On the field, Clifford was one of the core players that came up to varsity young, and another in a line of good catchers at Newburgh Free Academy.
And he’s recently started pitching.
“He’s got the frame for it and the arm for it,” Newburgh baseball coach Scott Seabury said. “I know he’s got the work ethic for it. He’s working himself as a dual position player and we are planning using him as both.”
That’s a lot of throwing, but Clifford said his coaches have done a good job of monitoring his arm. It also helps that the Goldbacks have another quality catcher in Roberto Reed.
“We really take care of them with their arms,” Seabury said. “I would never put a kid out there if I thought he was going to hurt himself. They’re all strong and they’re all young kids.”
As of right now, the spring season is scheduled to start on April 19 since the fall season has been pushed to March in Section 9. That would be an improvement over last year, which saw the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season four days after practice began in March.
Clifford said losing junior year hurt the recruiting progress as many juniors are looked at by college scouts.
However, he didn’t sit idle between the March shutdown and when he took the field in July for the Cadets Baseball academy. He took the time to build a gym in the basement and never took any time off.
This spring, he’s expected to be a key contributor as a relief pitcher and a catcher and Seabury said he’s made strides behind the plate.
“As young player that was one of his downfalls,” Seabury said. “He’s worked on his stance and working hard and he’s showing big-time improvement. I can expect that it will translate to the field in the upcoming season.”