Worcester colleges boast some amazing sports teams. However, this is not a recent trend.

Read on to find out which college had the first college football team in the area (it’s not who you think), where the first perfect game in professional baseball was thrown and other interesting facts that give Worcester colleges a place in sports history.

Assumption College
The Assumption College Greyhounds lay claim to being the only college baseball team to ever have two future baseball hall-of-famers on staff at the same time. Jesse Burkett and Rube Marquand served as coach and assistant coach, respectively, for two seasons: 1931 and 1932. Though neither season were particular successes – four wins, seven losses in ’31 and three wins, eight losses in ’32 – both Burkett and Marquand maintained their statuses as baseball legends, and each was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Burkett in 1946 and Marquand in 1971.

Becker College
On June 12, 1880 – after taking a final exam at Brown University in Providence, his train arriving just in time for the game – J. Lee Richmond pitched his way into history when he threw professional baseball’s first perfect game on the Worcester Agriculture Fairgrounds, the present location of Becker College’s Worcester Campus. The spot is located on the school’s main quad, and a stone marker commemorates the event. Richmond was pitching for Worcester Ruby Legs, who beat the Cleveland Blues 1-0. Another little known fact: Becker is the only Worcester-area college with an official equestrian team. The Equestrian Center is located on 30 acres in Paxton and includes expansive turn-out pastures for the horses, an indoor riding arena and a large outdoor ring. Becker students can also major in equine studies.

College of the Holy Cross
Holy Cross is probably the best-known college in Worcester for sports. However, what you may not know is that two Boston Celtics legends and Hall of Fame inductees are alumni – Bob Cousy (’50) and Tommy Heinsohn (’56), who, after his playing days, served as both a coach and then as a color announcer for the team’s game broadcast. Heinsohn became Holy Cross’s all-time leading scorer with 1,789 points, an average of 22.1 points per game. During his senior year, Heinsohn set a school record with 51 points in a game against Boston College. Other notable sports names: Dan Shaughnessy (’75), a Boston Globe sports columnist, and Bill Simmons (’92), an author most known for his love for the Red Sox and for being “The Sports Guy” for ESPN.

MCPHS
Despite being the only Worcester college without an official sports team, Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences offers numerous intramural and club sport teams for students seeking to quench their thirst for athletics. The Sports Club was specifically designed to provide students with the chance to participate in Worcester’s various recreational teams, including indoor soccer, softball and baseball. Other clubs on campus include a ski club, running club and tennis club.

WPI
Although WPI is best known for its brains and famous innovative alumni inventors, the college has another claim to fame: The Engineers were Worcester’s first college football team and are one of the oldest teams in the country. Founded in 1887, the Engineers did not have their first official full-length football season until 1889. This year marks the 126^th season for the team. As a Division III team and a member of the Liberty League, the WPI Engineers will face off against rivals MIT and RPI in the coming season.

Worcester State
Worcester State offers a variety of sports in both men’s and women’s leagues, including baseball, basketball and cross country. However, unlike many other schools in the city, the university has an increasingly large range of intramurals and sports clubs, which includes dodgeball and home run derby. Worcester State is also the only college in the city to boast an intramural Ultimate Frisbee team. The university has a longstanding sports history. John F. Coughlin was the most successful hockey coach at Worcester State, and there is now a scholarship set up in his name, providing $500 a year to students who receive it. Also recently, university alumnus Ben Libuda was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 26^th round of the MLB Amateur Draft. The school also contains the Lancers Hall of Fame, which houses all of the Worcester State Hall of Famers from 1986 to present day.

Worcester Country Club
Although it’s off campus, it’s worth noting that Worcester Country Club was home of golf’s first official Ryder Cup tournament in 1927, a biennial men’s golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States (the U.S. won the 1927 tournament). The course also hosted the U.S. Open in 1925 and the U.S. Women’s Open in 1960.

By Ryan Cashman | Kim Dunbar contributed to this article.