2018 Baseball All-Tournament Team and MVP
The 2018 Empire 8 Baseball All-Tournament Team has been announced.
Ithaca – Sam Little (MVP), Webb Little, Adam Gallagher, Emmett Dunn
St. John Fisher – Allen Murphy, Scott Eisenmenger, Justin Graham
Stevens – Charlie Ruegger, Alex Detweiler
Houghton – Tage Johnson
Junior Sam Little helped the Bombers win the Empire 8 Championship over the weekend to earn the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament. Little who hit .550 in four tournament games, was named the Most Valuable Player. He went 11-for-20 with five RBI, two home runs and six runs scored.
Webb Little hit .421 (8-of-19) in the tournament including a grand slam in the Bombers first game of the tournament against Fisher to break the game open in the seventh inning. He also hit a home run the next day against Stevens. He finished the tournament with six runs scored and seven RBI.
Gallagher served as the designated hitter for the Bombers throughout the tournament and hit .412 at the plate over four games played with three doubles, two runs scored and six RBI.
Dunn went 1-0 in the tournament and it was in the game that mattered most, the final game of the Empire 8 Tournament. Dunn allowed two earned runs in seven innings of work. He struck out seven batters and surrendered six hits.
Murphy hit .435 in the tournament including three home runs and eight RBI. He had nine putouts in the outfield.
Eisenmenger was perfect at first base with 47 putouts and two assists over five games played. He went 9-of-23 (.391) at the plate with two doubles and three home runs for 12 RBI.
Graham got hot when he needed to in the tournament and hit two home runs against Ithaca to force the winner-take-all game. He scored 11 runs for the Cardinals in the tournament and recorded seven putouts and 16 assists at shortstop.
Ruegger tossed a complete game on the opening day of the E8 Tournament. He scattered four hits and struck out 12 batters bringing his season total to 92, setting the single season strikeout record at Stevens.
Detweiler hit .500 (6-of-12) in the tournament including a home run and six RBI. He drew two walks and scored two runs.
Johnson went 3-of-7 (.429) at the plate with two RIB. He scored three runs and was perfect in the field with 14 putouts.