University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

    Prior to enrolling at Pitt-Johnstown in 1978, the name Dave Hoff was very well known in the Apollo and Indiana County baseball communities.   Dr. Hoff was a two-time American Legion All-State performer, who later became Pitt-Johnstown’s first athlete drafted and signed to a professional baseball contract, when the Milwaukee Brewers made him their eighth-round selection in the June 1981 Major League Baseball Draft.  Dr. Hoff was an outstanding pitcher and first baseman for three years on Head Coach Ken Keiper’s Mountain Cat baseball team, where he led NCAA Division II in strikeouts per nine innings at nearly 13 per game in 1981.
     After being drafted by the Brewers, Dr. Hoff was assigned to Butte, Montana, where he helped lead his team to the Class A Pioneer League Championship.  Dr. Hoff, a graduate of Apollo-Ridge High School, also played professionally in the California Winter League for the Brewers in 1982, but was released by the team later that year.  He had the opportunity to continue his professional baseball career with contract offers from the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets, but declined in order to further his education and begin his career outside of Major League Baseball.
     After graduating from Pitt-Johnstown in December of 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, Dr. Hoff continued his education at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.  In 1985, Dr. Hoff graduated summa sum laude, fifth in a class of 200, with his Doctor of Chiropractic degree.  Today, Dr. Hoff owns and operates four full-service healthcare facilities.  The main office is located in Indiana, Pa, with satellite offices in Apollo, Blairsville and State College.
     The end of his professional career did not keep Dr. Hoff off of the baseball diamond.  He has continued to play competitively on the local and national levels, and was inducted into the Indiana County Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments.  Dr. Hoff holds a record for an incredible 58-game pitching winning streak in the Indiana County League, and has been the key pitcher on Pittsburgh’s 10-time National Championship men’s over-30 baseball team.  The most recent championship was played in November 2009 when his Pittsburgh team bested a field of 70 teams from the United States, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.  He was named the Most Valuable Player, winning two games, saving one, and being clocked at 85 mph in closing out the Championship game.
     Dr. Hoff, his wife Kim and their two children, Kaitlyn and Ryan, reside in Indiana, Pa.
     “I am extremely grateful and flattered to be inducted into one of the earliest Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame Classes” Dr. Hoff said.  “It is gratifying to see the University finally putting the ‘Hall’ together.  With the long list of outstanding athletes who have walked the halls, and left their blood, sweat, and tears on the gym floor, wrestling mats, and playing fields, it is such an honor to be considered one of the best who has played at Pitt-Johnstown.  My special thanks to Coach Ken Keiper, who gave me not only the guidance and opportunity to succeed on the baseball field, but more importantly, in the bigger game of life.”