The Yellow Jackets eSports program captured its first East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship since the inception of Randolph-Macon’s eSports program in 2017. The Yellow Jackets Hearthstone Team brought home the Conference Championship, winning 3-0 against St. Francis University on April 29.

The Yellow Jackets began their season 1-4, but then won an astounding eight straight matches to finish the regular season 4-4, earn a spot in the playoffs, and emerge as the ECAC champions. 

The Yellow Jackets began their playoffs climb by taking down the #1 seed University of Delaware in the second half of a back-to-back four-hour double header consisting of 10 total matches, in which the Yellow Jackets emerged 3-2 in each round. Next, the Yellow Jackets faced the CyBears of New York Institute of Technology, clearing the quarter-finals with another 3-2 win.

In the semi-finals, the Yellow Jackets faced the defending conference champions, the State University of New York at Albany, and soundly brought home the 3-0 win to Ashland. The Yellow Jackets took home the final win over St. Francis University with a final score of 3-0.

The Yellow Jackets Hearthstone Team is led by team captain, Josh Brown ’22. The Hearthstone roster is rounded out with Seth Cogbill ’23, Marshall Fox ’24, Savannah Ritter ’22, and Jonathan Scholl ‘24. Additionally, Brown, Cogbill, and Fox have earned Legend Rank in North America, which is only achieved by the top 1% of players in each region.

The Yellow Jackets are coached by Alex Gunnerson who joined the Yellow Jacket family in October 2019 as the Director of eSports. Under Alex’s guidance, the Yellow Jackets’ eSports teams have continued to build skills and confidence with all nine competing teams making it into their respective play-offs this spring. Additionally, the eSports Program has announced that it will expand in the Fall of 2021 to include Madden and Super Smash Brothers.