NORTH ROCKLAND HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1979

Jim Rooney has dedicated decades to baseball as a player, coach, scout, coordinator, educator, and advocate for athlete development.

He is a 1979 graduate of North Rockland High School, where his seasons on the mound earned him All-County, Section 9, and Daily News First Team honors in both 1978 and 1979. At the plate, he led Rockland County in RBI in 1978.

However, it was on the mound where Jim was most feared, and he is remembered as one of the hardest throwers and most successful high school pitchers in Rockland County history.

Jim didn’t just win games — he dominated. He is also an inductee into the North Rockland Sports Hall of Fame.

Jim was a highly recruited college prospect and chose to attend Cornell University, where he pitched in 1980 and quickly caught the attention of scouts.

He then played in the prestigious Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League that summer, solidifying his status as one of the top pitching prospects in the country.

Seeking greater opportunity, Jim transferred from Cornell to Morris Community College in New Jersey. There, he delivered outstanding performances, including a no-hitter against one of the top Division III programs in the country, William Paterson College, during the fall of 1980.

He continued to attract the attention of Major League Baseball (MLB) scouts.