Dave Sica was the starting shortstop for Rutgers-Newark from the first day that he stepped on the diamond in Scarlet & Black – authoring an outstanding four-year career capped by a championship MVP trophy.
A career .301 hitter, Sica left his name throughout the Scarlet Raider record book. His 160 hits, 117 runs, 111 walks, nine sacrifice flies and 41 stolen bases remain among the top 10 career totals. His 511 career assists still tops the Raider fielding chart.
After hitting .315 with eight doubles, a triple, three home runs and 25 runs batted in to make the New Jersey Baseball Coaches Association All-Rookie Team in 2003, Sica earned second team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference laurels as a sophomore after committing just six errors in 160 chances in the field.
As a junior, the team captain upgraded his status to first team All-NJAC by hitting .366 with 10 doubles, four triples, five home runs and 34 runs batted in while stealing 14 bases in 17 tries. He made just eight errors in 237 chances to continue his superlative glove work.
As a senior, Sica drew a school-record 44 walks while battling through injuries.
He stole 41 bases in 49 tries and collected 47 extra-base hits to finish with a .453 slugging percentage. His 111 walks upped his on-base percentage to .426. The shortstop drove in 100 runs.
Sica served as an assistant coach for head coach Mark Rizzi in 2007 and 2008.
He earned a bachelor of arts in biology from Rutgers-Newark in 2006. Sica earned a masters in secondary education at New Jersey City University in 2012.
The Budd Lake resident is in his fifth year as a high school biology teacher for the Palisades Park Board of Education. He also is an assistant coach for soccer and a head coach for varsity softball for the system.
