Rickheim Posts Strong Junior Season at Harvard; Named First Team All-Ivey

Jack Rickheim is coming his best collegiate baseball season at the plate at NCAA Division I Harvard University.

Rickheim, who was named First Team All-Ivy, set career highs in batting average (.303), hits (47), runs (32), home runs (eight), RBI (27) and slugging percentage (.523) in 37 games for the Crimson. He batted .348 in Ivy League play to finish eighth in the conference and ranked third in OPS (1.032) over 21 Ivy League games. He collected 31 hits, 22 runs, 20 RBIs, six doubles, one triple, and six home runs in conference play. His homer total in conference action was second among Ivy League players.

“It went well,” Rickheim said about his junior collegiate season. “As a team we did not perform as well as we should in the conference. Overall, it was disappointing. We were a very talented team. It was a big bummer that we didn’t perform the way we should have. But it was still a great experience.”

The 2023 graduate of Fellowship Christian School set career highs at Harvard in games (42) and games started (42) as a sophomore. He also set career-bests with 156 at-bats, nine doubles, 21 walks and six stolen bases that season.

In his Harvard career, Rickheim has collected a career batting average of .284 with 107 games, 105 starts, 395 at-bats, 69 runs, 112 hits, 22 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 70 RBIs, 43 walks and 12 steals.

For the third consecutive summer, Rickheim is honing his games with the North Shore Navigators of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL).

“It’s a good league,” Rickheim said in a recent interview. “We’re only three games into the season. It’s a great opportunity to keep playing baseball and compete in another 45 games. That’s why I do it. It’s been so fun. A plus is that we have a lot of players from the Ivy League [in the NECBL]. It helps us mesh well. One of the coolest things about the summer league and the Ivy League is that you play with and against a lot of the same guys. You get to go back to school and play your buddies.”

A History of Science major at Harvard, Rickheim is excited about returning to school in September and play his senior collegiate baseball season.

“Our goal is to win conference and go to the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “We need to continue competing as a team and learn how to win. The academics, friend and team chemistry and the opportunity to play baseball at Harvard is a big blessing.”

As a team, Harvard finished 11-26 overall in 2026. The team swept a three-game series at Princeton University to help the Crimson notch its third consecutive 9-12 mark in Ivy League play. But the streak was not enough to get Harvard into the postseason.

Unfortunately, this spring marked the team’s lowest overall win total since Rickheim began his Harvard career in 20224. The Crimson posted a 14-28 overall record in 2025 and were 13-26 in 2024.

The decision to play summer baseball is an easy one for Rickheim, who wouldn’t trade the opportunity to play in both the Ivy League and the NECBL.

“I want to play baseball until I can’t play anymore,” he said. “I aspire to [play professional]. That’s my driving factor and why I love the game of baseball. I am blessed to be where I am.”

He credits the Fellowship baseball program for helping his development.

“It was so much fun there,” he said. “Coach O has done a great job with team culture. I think that has been crucial to building that program. It’s amazing to see the growth of the school, the program, the field and how many good kids have come out of the program.”

Rickheim, who played the first season of varsity baseball on the turf at Winchester Field at Paladin Park as a senior, is among a group of 13 baseball players from the Classes of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 who played at some level of collegiate baseball in the 2025-26 school year.

“I try to go back to Fellowship every year after school finishes up,” Rickheim said. “I keep up with a lot of the guys. It was cool this summer when I went there to hit in the cage, and I actually hit with some of guys who were eighth graders I got know during my senior year at FCS. It was great to share some tips with them. I like to give back where I can.”

(Photo courtesy of gocrimson.com)