Washington – Josiah Gray '24 was honored with a surprise personal graduation ceremony in front of family and friends at Nationals Park on Saturday prior to a Nats home game against the Atlanta Braves.
Gray was taken 72
nd overall in the 2018 MLB Draft following his junior season with the Dolphins, made his Major League debut in 2021 and was named an MLB All-Star for the first time in 2023 in the midst of a stellar season with the Nationals.
Throughout his professional baseball journey, Gray worked diligently towards completing his degree at Le Moyne, and this year he graduated summa cum laude but was unable to attend the commencement ceremony on May 19.
Gray, the Nationals player ambassador to the Youth Baseball Academy, was the keynote speaker at the Academy's eighth-grade Scholar Athletes graduation ceremony on Saturday morning, then he was surprised with a ceremony of his own that afternoon at the ballpark.
Josiah Gray with Nationals Youth Baseball Academy eighth grade Scholar Athletes graduates
Le Moyne College Vice President for Advancement and Innovation and Dean of the Madden College of Business and Economics Jim Joseph '83 Ed.D. '23 presented Gray with his diploma and stole at home plate. They were joined on the field by Josiah's mother Monica, his brothers Jayson and John, and his girlfriend and Le Moyne classmate Riley Wilde '19, M '20, who was a member of the women's soccer team during her time on the Heights.
A video was then shown on the Jumbotron featuring congratulatory messages from MLB Commissioner and former Le Moyne student Rob Manfred, Gray's family, friends, former professors Renee Downey Hart and Dennis O' Connor and MLB Breakthrough Series participants.
Le Moyne baseball head coach
Scott Cassidy '98 was also in attendance for the ceremony on Saturday to celebrate his former player's accomplishment.
Josiah Gray and Le Moyne baseball head coach Scott Cassidy '98 following Saturday's game
"I had no idea, honestly," Gray said of the surprise, according to an article on mlb.com. "That was really sweet that they did that. For all my friends to come – my family, obviously, as well – for them to put that together, it's a touching moment."
The ceremony concluded with Gray and the Academy's scholar athletes tossing their caps into the air.
In three seasons as a right-handed pitcher on the Le Moyne baseball team from 2016-2018, Gray compiled 12 wins, 10 saves and 136 strikeouts in 116.1 innings pitched. He also tallied 49 hits, 27 runs, 10 doubles, four triples, three home runs and 35 RBIs combined at the plate during the 2016 and 2017 seasons when he also played shortstop for the Dolphins.
During the 2017 campaign Gray recorded 10 saves, which is the fourth-most saves by a Le Moyne pitcher in a single season in program history, in 13 relief appearances. He allowed just one run, seven hits and two walks with 22 strikeouts in 14.1 innings pitched and held a 0.63 ERA with a .143 opponent batting average.
During the 2018 campaign Gray went 11-0 in 13 starts with a 1.25 ERA, three complete games and 105 strikeouts in 93.1 innings pitched.
His 11 wins are the third-most by a Le Moyne pitcher in a single season in program history, and his 105 strikeouts are tied for the third-most in a single season by a Le Moyne pitcher.
Gray's dominance helped the Dolphins earn a spot in the 2018 NCAA Championships East Regional. In game one of the regional against Merrimack, Gray led the Dolphins to a 3-2 victory after limiting the Warriors to three hits, one earned run and two walks with nine strikeouts in 9.0 innings.
