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A prominent figure on the 1993 Indian Hills Baseball JUCO World Series team, former pitcher Rafael Carmona will be inducted into the Indian Hills Athletics Hall of Fame Saturday night at halftime of the men's basketball game at the Hellyer Center.

A native of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, Carmona put together one of the most dominant individual performances on the mound during his lone season in Centerville. With an arsenal of pitches to work with, Carmona posted a 2-0 record on the mound along with 13 saves, second-most in a single season in school history. The Warriors went on to win 32 games that year and advanced to the program's fifth appearance at the JUCO World Series.

While Carmona's regular season efforts proved to be essential in making a run to Grand Junction, CO, the hard-throwing righty stepped up when it mattered the most – the postseason. Looking to make a second consecutive appearance at the World Series, Indian Hills sat at 13-13 late in the year before a 14-game winning streak catapulted the team into the regional tournament.

Carmona, the anchor of the bullpen, earned the save in a 3-0 victory over Southwestern in the tournament opener. In the winner's bracket, Carmona propelled the squad to the championship game with a second consecutive save in a 3-2 victory over Muscatine before Indian Hills cruised to the region title with a 7-0 win over Southwestern.

With a berth in the JUCO World Series on the line, Indian Hills needed two wins against North Hennipen (MN) in the NJCAA District Championship to advance. Trailing 2-1 in the top of the ninth of game one, Indian Hills rallied with three runs to take the lead. Carmona's number was called once more and the freshman delivered with his third scoreless appearance in the postseason to earn a third save. Indian Hills took a 13-8 victory in the nightcap to earn another JUCO World Series appearance.

Indian Hills ultimately fell short in Grand Junction, but the late season heroics of Carmona and his teammates left a lasting impact on the program.

Carmona's dominant season caught the eyes of Major League Baseball scouts. Following his freshman campaign, Carmona was drafted in the 13^th round (353^rd overall) of the MLB Amateur Draft by the Seattle Mariners. Carmona wasted little time ascending to the major league ranks as he made his big league debut just two years later on May 18, 1995. Carmona made his first-career big league start on May 29, 1995 against the New York Yankees which happened to be the major league debut of Derek Jeter.

Carmona followed up his rookie campaign with 53 appearances in 1996 and proved to be a key figure in the Mariners' bullpen. Carmona suffered an injury following the 1997 season, but made a valiant comeback to the majors in 1999 before his career concluded in 2000. Carmona posted 11 career MLB wins to go along with 17 wins in the minor leagues.

Following his playing career, Carmona pursued coaching opportunities with minor league teams as well as stints with the men's and women's national baseball teams in Puerto Rico.

Carmona passed away in 2021 and will be inducted into the Indian Hills Athletics Hall of Fame posthumously. Members of Carmona's family will be in attendance at Saturday night's induction ceremony to accept the honor on his behalf.

Former Indian Hills Assistant Baseball Coach Larry Scully on Carmona

"Rafael was a great leverage type arm who put out fires as well as saved a lot of games for us. Rafael pitched 90-94 with his fastball and would spot it on both sides of the plate. He threw an above average changeup, which had fade or could dump it just low in the zone. He threw both a curveball and slider that had swing and miss. He showed poise and was ahead in his class with adding and subtracting on his pitches. The one thing that stood out for me was that he threw from different arm slots and added deception because of it.

Work ethic and character were off the charts - Rafael led by example. I enjoyed watching him grow and develop into not just a better pitcher but also as a young man. It was a pleasure to coach him and I enjoyed our World Series appearance."