Hudson Valley Graduate at World Series

A graduate of Newburgh's Free Academy in Orange County back in 2007, Ricky Pacione has made it to the World Series.

According to the Times Herald Record, Pacione will be at the World Series starting tonight with the Cleveland Indians. Although he isn't on the active roster, Pacione will be there as the Cleveland Indians bullpen catcher.

Pacione told the Record he's excited to be a part of history: “Excited is an understatement, I never thought in a million years that I would be in this position.”

Pacione also said that,

You dream of playing in the World Series, but at this point, no matter how you can get to it, you get that same feeling and same adrenaline inside, it still hasn’t hit me and I'm sure it won’t until first pitch.

Pacione's professional baseball career started in 2011 when he was drafted by the Angels in 2011, he had played two seasons in Class A for the Angels before being cut.

After being cut, he approached Indians manger Terry Francona about a job and was hired, as Cleveland was looking for a young catcher to groom as a possible minor league coach in the future.