Baseball | 5/9/2017 1:07:00 PM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – For the third consecutive year, the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College baseball team will play for an Empire 8 Championship as the No. 14 Cardinals host the four-team tournament at Dugan Yard beginning Thursday.  Fisher, which is hosting for the second straight season, will face off against fourth-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology at 11 a.m. on Thursday while second-seeded Ithaca College squares off with third-seeded Elmira at 2:30 p.m.  The tournament, which is a double elimination format, has added meaning this season as, for the first time, the winner of the Empire 8 will receive the conference's automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, which is slated to begin next weekend.

Fans unable to make the trip to Dugan Yard can still catch the action using the links below: FRESHMEN PHENOMS: Fisher carries perhaps one of the strongest freshmen classes in all of Division III as Justin Graham, Antony Mantova, Allen Murphy, Dillan Wilkinson Anthony Brophy and Thomas Pasquale have had a significant impact on the team's success to date.  Graham ranks second on the team with a .368 batting average along with 30 runs scored while Pasquale is hitting .339 with 43 hits and 27 RBI through 35 games.  In 20 games this season, Mantova is hitting .327 (16-for-49) while Murphy has 25 hits in 86 at-bats.  Murphy has also proven to be an effective pitcher as the Richburg native has posted a 2.77 earned run average over 13.0 innings of work.  Wilkinson is one of the Empire 8's top relievers after going 3-0 with this season with 17 strikeouts in 21.1 innings.  To date, Wilkinson owns a 0.00 ERA – the lowest of any pitcher in the conference.  Brophy leads the team and the Empire 8 in several pitching categories including wins (8-0) and earned run average for a starting pitcher (1.26).  In 15 appearances this season, Brophy has tallied 50 strikeouts in 57.0 total innings.

VERTERAN LEADERSHIP: So the freshmen can play, but the upper classmen on the team have set the bar high.  Shortstop Evan Ryan, who was named Fisher's Male Athlete of the Year on Monday, ranks second on the team with 49 base knocks including nine doubles, one triple and three home runs.  Ryan is hitting .333 on the season and has accounted for 36 runs scored and 25 RBI.  Utility man Jack Trotman has had a strong senior season as well after hitting .352, which ranks third on the roster.  Trotman has accounted for 16 RBI on 25 hits and ranks second on the team with a .477 on-base percentage.  Ryan Fahy has put together a solid junior season with a .343 average to go along with 35 hits, eight doubles, one triple, three homers and 16 walks.  His 30 runs driven in ranks second on the squad while his .529 slugging percentage is second as well.  Malcolm Kelsey closed out the regular season on a tear as the Piscataway, N.J. native finished with a .322 batting average along with 28 hits, four doubles, one triple and four diners.  Kelsey, who mashed three home runs and two doubles in just four starts a couple weeks back, was named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week for his efforts.  Additionally, Ryan Prevost has caused problems for opposing backstops all season and leads the team with 13 stolen bags while hitting over .300.  Nate Roethel has had a power surge this season as 12 of his 28 hits this season have gone for extra bases.  Frank Carnevale and Victor Konstantinovsky have combined for 27 hits and 28 runs scored.

SCOTT EISENMENGER: The kid gets his own game note after what he did in the regular season.  Eisenmenger led the team in nearly every category.  In 36 starts, the first baseman hit .408 with 53 hits, 53 RBI and 43 runs scored.  The Hilton native had 11 doubles and nine homers this season while slugging .700…you read that right…700.  Eisenmenger also showed discipline at the plate and drew a team-high 23 walks.  He practically rewrote Fisher's record book this season as the junior ranks first in program history in home runs (27) and RBI (141).  He can also field his position as he did not make an error in 346 chances this season.  Look for him to put his mark on this weekend's championship.

PITCHING, PITCHING, PITCHING:  What good is it to score a run if you can't stop the other team from doing just that?  This season, Fisher has held its opponents to just a .260 batting average and boasted a conference-low 3.20 earned run average.  The Cardinals were also controlled on the mound as the staff yielded just 119 walks in 312.1 innings.  Fisher's big three was even better.  Brophy (8-0), Jim Dawson (6-0) and Dominick Pisciotto (5-0) combined to notch 122 strikeouts against just 42 walks this season and pitched to a 2.33 ERA over nearly 163 combined innings.  Out of the bullpen, Wilkinson has been equally impressive with a 1.17 WHIP while Kyle Chambers has a team-leading four saves.  Chambers is a strikeout machine with 34 Ks in just 25.1 innings.  Also pitching out of the pen, Bradley McAfee and Matt Toohey have pitched to a 0.00 and 1.17 ERA, respectively, while Trevor Rumsey owns a 2.08 earned run average in eight appearances.  Kevin Berge has also been called on to record a big out over the season and has two saves under his belt.

SCOUTING ITHACA: The Bombers earned the second overall seed after playing to a 12-4 mark in conference play.  Ithaca, which is 25-11 overall, has gone 4-3 against this year's championship field after having its final two games against Fisher cancelled over the weekend.  At the plate, Andrew Bailey leads the way with a .384 average on 38 hits.  Ryan Henchey is hitting .364 on the season while Sam Little and Domenic Boresta hit .344 and .327 overall, respectively.  Henchey leads the team with 52 hits and 41 RBI while Webb Little's 44 base knocks ranks second on the roster.  As a team, Ithaca can rake.  The Bombers ranked second in the conference behind Fisher with 408 hits and 600 total bases including 83 doubles, 23 triples and 21 home runs. 

Ithaca's pitching has been solid, too as the Bombers own a 4.86 team ERA, which ranks third in the Empire 8.  Jake Binder leads the way with a 7-1 record while Robby Buffis is 6-2 on the season.  Chris Marinaccio leads the team with a 1.88 earned run average on 24 innings while Jack Morello has tallied a team-best 34 strikeouts on the hill.    

SCOUTING ELMIRA: The Soaring Eagles had to earn their way into the Empire 8 Championship the hard way.  Elmira's postseason chances came down to needing to beat Utica and have Canton do the same – both of which happened.  At 9-9 in the conference standings, Elmira's numbers don't jump out at you, but it plays hard.  To date, the Soaring Eagles rank fifth among all conference teams with a .289 batting average while their 5.85 ERA ranked fourth.  Dylan Bellinger leads the team with a .364 average along with 26 RBI while Conor Bawiec has 40 hits in 112 at-bats (.351).  Joey Florio is hitting .333 in 21 appearances this season and Tommy Fogarty bats .290 overall.

Elmira's pitching is led by Andy Reed's 5-3 mark while Bawiec has posted a 4-2 record in seven starts.  Scott Logue leads the team with a 3.29 ERA while Nick Sampogna has tallied 34 strikeouts in 51.1 innings.    

SCOUTING STEVENS:  The Ducks were also aided by Utica losing its final two games and earned the fourth and final seed into the Championship via a 9-9 mark against conference competition.  Stevens, which outlasted Fisher in a 13-inning thriller back in April, enters the weekend having lost five of its last seven games.  The Ducks boast a pair of players who each bat over .400 led by Harrison Kaye's .403 average.  Kaye has 25 hits in 62 at-bats along with seven RBI while Alex Detweiler is 38-for-95 (.400) with 24 runs driven in.  Michael Mule' leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 54 base hits including 12 for extra bases. Zeph Walters (.320) and Shaye Bartnick (.307) have combined to post 83 hits and 33 runs scored.

On the mound, Stevens is led by Danny Piodomani's 5-4 record and 2.91 ERA while Walters owns a 4-3 record on the hill.  Michael Frissora has been solid out of the bullpen with a 3.07 earned run average and eight strikeouts in 14.2 innings.  As a team, Stevens has pitched to a 4.43 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .258 batting average. 

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