Yearly Awards For Yano, Little, Fisher Staff
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the 2
016 Baseball All-Conference team as voted on by the conference coaches. In addition, the Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year have been selected.
Senior Jayson Yano of the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team was named Empire 8 Conference Pitcher and Player of The Year while the St. John Fisher staff was voted the Coaching Staff of the Year. Sam Little Ithaca College was tabbed the Rookie of the Year.
For the second straight season, Yano was named both Pitcher and Player of the Year honors. The senior batted .385 with 62 hits, 14 doubles, three home runs and 47 runs scored. On the base paths, Yano swiped 32-of-36 bags. He eclipsed the 200 hit mark for his career, and became the all-time leader in hits in program history, as Yano collected his 209th hit against Amherst College.
Yano went 5-3 on the mound in 2016, and had a 2.15 earned run average. In 83 2/3 innings, the Foothill Ranch, Calif. native struck out 69 against 15 walks, while also picking up his first career save against Amherst. Opponents batted a mere .232 against him this season.
The St. John Fisher coaching staff, led by sixth year head coach Brandon Potter, collected 34 wins and were the runner-up in the Empire 8 Conference Championship. Pitching coach Mike Ham guided the pitching staff to a 2.76 earned run average, and 277 strikeouts. Four pitchers won six games or more, and seven batters hit .300 or better.
Little batted .329 in 42 games to lead the Bombers to an Empire 8 Conference Championship. The first-year player had 48 hits, seven doubles, five home runs and 41 RBI’s and committed only four errors in the field. The Fayetteville, N.Y. native became the first Bomber since 2013 to claim Rookie of the Year honors, when Matt Connolly won the award in 2013 and John Prendergast did the same in 2012. Little ended the season on a five-game hitting streak, including a 4-for-4 performance against St. John Fisher in the championship game.