PITTSFORD, N.Y. – It's that time of year again and the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College baseball team is once again included among the elite programs in Division III to begin the 2018 season.  Fisher, which appears in three different national polls and ranks as high as 11th according to Perfect Game, will begin its campaign on Saturday, February 24th in Baltimore, Md. as the Cardinals take on No. 8 Johns Hopkins in a doubleheader before venturing to Florida for seven contests.

The Cardinals, who are coming off their second straight trip to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship and sixth consecutive appearance in the postseason overall, posted a 31-12 overall record last season and secured the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship with a 15-1 mark during the regular season.  With 30 student-athletes set to return this season including six All-Conference selections, three All-Region honorees and five Players to Watch according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, head coach Brandon Potter, who is the winningest coach in program history with 241 wins over eight seasons, has high expectations for his team.

"We have a very balanced team that plays hard and fast and has the ability to play quality defense and pitch," remarked Potter, who coached the Cardinals to a program record 39 wins and their first-ever World Series appearance in 2016.  "This team has a good mix of youth and experience and we're excited for the season ahead."

From an offensive standpoint, power won't be in short supply as the Cardinals led the Empire 8 in several categories including homeruns (34), RBI (307), hits (481), runs scored (348) and total bases (700) over 43 games.  The Cardinals ranked second overall in doubles with 93, slugging percentage (.460) and walks (174) while their .316 team batting average was third-highest in the conference.

Overall, the team returns seven starting position players including Scott Eisenmenger who rewrote the program's record book en route to being named the Empire 8 Player of the Year.  Eisenmenger, who was also named First-Team All-Conference and All-Region by both d3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association, posted a team-leading .381 batting average during his junior season with 61 hits in 160 at-bats.  Eisenmenger's power was on display all season as the Hilton native ranked fourth in the nation with 59 RBI while his 11 home runs was the fourth-most in all of Division III. 

Entering the 2018 season, the senior first baseman, who was named the fifth-best draft prospect in all of Division III by Baseball America, has accounted for more home runs (29) and RBI (147) than any other player in team history while his 171 hits is just 54 away from Hall-of-Famer Andy Campbell's record dating back to 2006.

Eisenmenger isn't the only hitter who can rake, though.  Fisher boasts one of the nation's best lineups from top to bottom.  Sophomore Justin Graham, who was named First-Team All-Conference as a freshman, started 35 games in 2017 and accounted for a .361 batting average with 52 hits, eight doubles, 21 RBI and 35 runs scored while committing just eight errors in 145 chances.  Senior Ryan Fahy, a Second-Team All-Empire 8 selection last season, is coming off a breakout junior year in which he hit .328 with power including nine doubles, one triple, five dingers and 35 RBI overall.  Thomas Pasquale is set to man the hot corner after a freshman year that saw him post a .307 average over 42 games.  Pasquale ranked fourth on the team with 46 hits including eight doubles.  His 28 RBI were the fourth-most of any player on Fisher's roster in 2017 while his 26 runs ranked fifth.  Allen Murphy is perhaps one of the team's more versatile players as the sophomore can play in the field and toe the rubber when needed.  In 38 games last season, Murphy batted .287 with 37 hits including 10 extra base knocks.  Murphy, who was named a starter for the New York Collegiate Baseball League All-Star game over the summer, made six appearances as a pitcher in 2017 where he recorded a 1-0 record and a 2.40 earned run average.  The Richburg native, who routinely surpasses 90 on the radar gun, struck out 14 batters in 15.0 innings.  Victor Konstantinovsky also returns to the fold this season after being named a top draft prospect heading into his junior season a year ago.  The backstop handled one of the top pitching staffs in Division III and had just six errors on the year.

Fisher also has the luxury of a strong bench led by Antony Mantova, Jack Vivinetto and Stephen Edgett as the trio combined to produce 27 hits and 11 RBI.
   
From a pitching standpoint, Potter and assistant coaches Dan Jurik and Justin D'Amato, who in their own right are arguably the two best pitchers in team history, boast a wealth of talent led by sophomore Anthony Brophy who was named the Rookie of the Year by d3baseball.com following a standout freshman season in 2017.  Brophy, the Empire 8 Pitcher of the Year and a First-Team All-Region selection, led all Empire 8 starting pitchers with a 9-1 record and a 1.54 ERA over 70.0 innings of work.  The North Tonawanda native tallied 56 strikeouts and demonstrated control all season with just 16 walks.  Junior Jim Dawson is also back after going 6-2 with a 3.86 earned run average over 67.2 innings as a sophomore. 

In the bullpen, the Cardinals feature a pair of arms that ranked among the best in the region as both Dillan Wilkinson and Kyle Chambers have the ability to throw strikes consistently.  Willkinson pitched to a 4-1 mark and a 1.82 earned run average with 20 strikeouts in 29.2 innings en route to being named First-Team All-Conference by the Empire 8 and All-Region by ABCA/Rawlings.  Chambers showed flashes of brilliance as a sophomore with 36 strikeouts and a team-leading five saves in 29.0 innings as he was named All-Region by d3baseball.com.

Additionally, Caleb Lee, DJ Mendenhall, Jason Wasilnak, Ryan Felske, Matt Toohey, Loukas Brigham and Anthony Loussedes are all expected to contribute down the stretch.

The Cardinals' pitching staff will be bolstered by the addition of several prized newcomers including Jake Hewitt who transferred to Fisher after helping lead Monroe Community College to back-to-back postseason appearances.  Hewitt, a junior who was named one of Division III's Players to Watch by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, has turned heads during the off season with several strong pitches in his repertoire.  Freshmen Alec Teska, Pat Galer, RJ Kuruts, Tim Geissel and Michael Beimel were each decorated players in the high school ranks and should have a successful transition to the collegiate level. 

After their twin billing with the Blue Jays, the Cardinals will compete in the RussMatt Invitational with seven games overall including showdowns against No. 5 UMass-Boston and No. 6 Concordia Chicago.

From there, the squad will play a pair against Penn State Harrisburg on March 17 before duking it out with Kean University the following day.

Two days later, on March 20th, the Cardinals will open up the home portion of their schedule with a single nine-inning game against The College at Brockport before diving into Empire 8 Conference play on March 24th with a twin billing at Elmira.  The two teams will continue their three-game set on Sunday, March 25th with a nine-inning affair.

The Cardinals will play their next five games at Dugan Yard beginning with a non-conference showdown with crosstown opponent Rochester on March 27th.  The following afternoon, Fisher will take on Oswego State, which made its first-ever appearance in the Division III World Series in 2017 before hosting the defending Empire 8 Champion Ithaca College Bombers with a three-game series beginning Friday, March 30th.

Following its home stand, Fisher will spend the next 10 days on the road.  On April 4th, the Cardinals travel to Brockport to battle the Golden Eagles before heading to Scranton for a non-conference doubleheader on April 7th.  On April 10th, Fisher heads to Oswego to close out its season series with the Lakers and will finish out the road trip with another tough non-conference pairing at Rochester Institute of Technology on April 12th.

Stevens Institute of Technology comes to town for a weekend series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 14th followed by a single nine-inning contest on April 15th.  Fisher will continue play on April 18th as it plays host to Empire 8 conference opponent SUNY Canton.  That game will be played in Newark, N.Y. at Colburn Park with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.

From there, the Cardinals will play back-to-back series on the road starting with a three-game set at Utica on April 21st and 22nd, respectively.  On April 25th, the team travels to Rome, N.Y. to face Canton in a twin billing against the Roos.

Fisher will play its final five regular season games at home beginning with a conference series against Houghton on Friday, April 27th.  The two teams will then play a doubleheader the following day before the Cardinals host RIT on May 1st.  Fisher will conclude its regular season on Monday, May 7th against the Keystone College Giants. 

The Empire 8 Championship, which will be played at the highest seed, is scheduled to begin on Thursday, May 10th.
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