Ithaca Chosen to Claim Empire 8 Baseball Title
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – For the first time in Empire 8 history, the conference will play the 2015 baseball regular season with six teams, and the first-ever conference tournament with seven programs. The coaches of the Empire 8 have selected Ithaca College to win its 13th league crown at season’s end.
A conference tournament has been constructed now that first-year program, Elmira College and affiliate member, SUNY Canton (
Thursday release) joined the Empire 8.
Ithaca (26-10 in 2014) earned 25 points and five first place votes, while St. John Fisher College (31-11) picked up one first place vote and 20 points to slide into the second spot. Stevens Institute of Technology (27-15), the lone team from the conference to reach NCAA play, was chosen to finish third this season with 18 points. Houghton College (12-19) is fourth with 12 points, Utica College (9-23) took fifth with 10 points and newcomer Elmira was picked to finish in sixth with five points. Canton did not factor into the preseason poll and none of the other six teams will play the Kangaroos during the regular season.
Top Returners/Team Breakdown in the Conference
The Bombers claimed the Empire 8 Championship last spring with a 10-2 conference record. Ithaca returns D3baseball.com Preseason All-American John Prendergast to its pitching staff for his senior season. Prendergast, the anchor of the Bombers’ staff and last year’s E8 Pitcher of the Year, went 9-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 69.1 innings pitched with three complete games. Matt Connolly (.291 BA, 34 H, 15 SB) and Stephen Yanchus (.302 BA, 4 2B, 15 RBI) are the Bombers’ top returners on the offensive side in 2015. Jimmy Wagner (2.36 ERA, 4 saves) and Benji Parkes (3.26 ERA, 2 CG) will also be counted upon to eat up a lot of innings pitched for Ithaca this spring.
Fisher is coming off another 31-win season in 2014 - the third in five years - and an ECAC Upstate/Metro Championship. The Cardinals return last season’s Rookie of the Year, Marc Iseneker, to their pitching staff after a 7-1 freshman campaign with a 2.05 ERA and a .145 opponent’s batting average. Cody Wiktorski (.403 BA, 54 H, 33 RBI) will lead Fisher at the plate, while Joe Simmons Simmons is the conference’s top returning base stealer with 27 in 2014. Malcolm Kelsey started in 39 games for the Cardinals and hit .304; Kelsey was named a Top 20 Atlantic League prospect over the summer.
All but four players return for Stevens this season, who set a program record in wins a year ago and won its first-ever NCAA game in the New York Region. The Ducks boasted one of the nation’s top pitching staffs in 2014 with the most strikeouts per nine innings (9.7), the second-best hits allowed per nine (7.21), the third lowest ERA at 2.30 and and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.25), and the fourth lowest WHIP (1.13). Jayson Yano, a two-way player, was the “toughest to strikeout” in Division III last season, fanning just once in 157 at bats.
Houghton is eligible this season for NCAA postseason play and games against the Highlanders will count in conference standings. Michael Knapp, Michael Kerr and Seth Cornell headline Houghton’s roster this season, as all were named second team all-conference in 2014. Knapp batted .337 and started in all 30 games for Houghton with 34 hits and seven doubles. Kerr started and played in 28 contests with a .318 average and drove in a team-best 18 runs. Cornell tallied three wins with a 2.92 ERA and fanned 48 batters in 49.1 innings.
The Pioneers wrapped up their 2014 campaign with an overall record of 9-23. UC lost eight games by two runs or less including six one ruin defeats. Utica returns 23 players from last year’s roster including 10 seniors, seven juniors and five sophomores. Utica’s 10 seniors include catchers Eric Rightmier and Thomas Dinnen, first baseman and pitcher Ryan Watson, second baseman Benjamin Hobaica, outfielder and pitcher Vincent Burillo, outfielder Nick Perkins, infielder Christopher Wooten, along with pitchers Ronald Mannella and Stephen Szatko. The Pioneers welcome senior transfer Daniel Priore who will help out in the infield.
Elmira will participate in its first-ever season of collegiate baseball in 2015. Head Coach Corey Paluga has assembled a roster for 24 players for the Soaring Eagles from 11 states and one Canadian province. Elmira will play its home games at historic Dunn Field and will host its opening game against Utica on April 3. The Soaring Eagles were scheduled to be the first Empire 8 school to start the 2015 season with a game at Washington & Lee on February 16, but it was postponed due to weather.
Canton is coming off its best season in the program's 10-year history with a 15-19 overall record. The Roos women's hockey participates in the newly formed ECAC North Atlantic Conference. SUNY Canton is also in its third and final year as a provisional Division III member of the NCAA and expects to be a full-fledged NCAA member beginning in the 2015-16 academic year.
Season Openers Delayed
Due to the inclement weather in the Mid-Atlantic region, Elmira had its trip to Virginia cancelled from Feb. 16-22, Fisher also called off its three-games in Virginia and Stevens postponed its contest at Kean on Feb. 20.
Houghton’s opener takes place on the 23rd, while Ithaca begins the season on the 27th at St. Joseph’s-Long Island. Utica’s opener is slated for March 7 at St. Joseph’s-Long Island, as does Canton’s season against Medaille.
2015 Empire 8 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Ithaca |
25 (5 first place) |
|
St. John Fisher |
20 (1) |
|
Stevens |
18 |
|
Houghton |
12 |
|
Utica |
10 |
|
Elmira |
5 |
|
Canton |
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