Claremont, Calif. – The Ithaca College baseball team (6-2) beat Pomona-Pitzer 9-5 Friday; the win was the 1,000th in the career of George Valesente, Ithaca's long-time head coach.

Valesente, who is in his 34th year as head coach at his alma mater and his 40th year as a head coach, now owns a career record of 1,000-450-7.

He is the sixth NCAA Division III coach to reach the milestone and one of just four active coaches. A total of 50 coaches at any level of college baseball have won 1,000 games dating back to the sport's 1859 inception.

A 1966 graduate of Ithaca College, Valesente has served as the Bombers' head coach since 1979. He is a member of Ithaca's Hall of Fame and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame.

As a collegiate athlete, he lettered in soccer, basketball and baseball and played on NCAA playoff teams in all three sports. From Ithaca, Valesente entered the professional baseball ranks. He spent four seasons in the minors, advancing as far as the Triple A level with the International League's Buffalo Bisons, the top farm team of the Washington Senators, in 1969.

Following his playing career, Valesente coached baseball at Brockport and at New Paltz for two seasons each. He was baseball and soccer coach at Maritime for two years before returning to Ithaca in 1978 to take his current post.

Valesente has guided the Bombers to two national championships (1980 and 1988), nine World Series and 27 NCAA postseason berths in all. His teams have never had a losing season and have won nearly 70 percent of their games.

He has been honored many times for his coaching accomplishments. The Ithaca Journal selected Valesente as its male coach of the year in 1980 and 1988, he was voted the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division III coach of the year in 1980 and 1988 and he earned district coach of the year recognition in 1980, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992 and 1994.