Baseball | 5/11/2021 12:55:55 PM
Regular Season Champion St. John Fisher College is the top-seed, as five teams will vie for the 2021 Empire 8 Baseball Championship, which starts Tuesday, May 11. The first round will take place at the higher seed on May 11, The first round winner will advance to the best-of-three semifinals that begins with a doubleheader on Friday, May 14 at the higher seeds. The best-of-three championship round will take place starting with a doubleheader on Friday, May 21 at the highest remaining seed. The Empire 8 Champion earns an automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
The 2021 Empire 8 Baseball Championship schedule is below. For the most up to date information on this year's championship, follow the Empire 8 Conference on Twitter (@Empire8).
Final 2021 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Seeds
#1 St. John Fisher College (17-1 E8, 27-5 Overall)
#2 Houghton College (11-9 E8, 19-12 Overall)
#3 Utica College (9-8 E8, 16-14 Overall)
#4 Keuka College (5-14-1 E8, 5-14-1 Overall)
#5 Elmira College (4-14-1 E8, 6-26-1 Overall)
2021 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Schedule
Empire 8 First Round – Saturday, May 11
#5 Elmira College at #4 Keuka College – 7 p.m.
** Game to be played at Finger Lakes Community College **
Empire 8 Semifinal Round (Best-of-3, Doubleheader Friday, May 14, If Necessary, Deciding Game Saturday, May 15 or Sunday, May 16
#4 Keuka College at #1 St. John Fisher College – 12 p.m. Friday (doubleheader)/1 p.m. Saturday (if game three is neccessary)
#3 Utica College at #2 Houghton College – 2 p.m. Friday (doubleheader)/3 p.m. Saturday (if game three is neccessary)
Empire 8 Championship Round (Best-of-3, Doubleheader Friday, May 21, If Necessary, Deciding Game Saturday, May 22 or Sunday, May 23
Winner of Semifinal Round 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal Round 2 – TBA at Highest Remaining Seed
Top-seed St. John Fisher enters the 2021 Championship with a 27-5 overall record and is receiving votes in the current NCBWA Division III national poll. The Cardinals finished 17-1 to capture the 2021 Empire 8 regular season title and are attempting to win their third Empire 8 Tournament Championship. Eight players are batting at least .300 in 2021. Junior Adam Zebrowski is enjoying an incredible season, batting .521, while leading all of Division III with 16 home runs to go along with 53 RBI. He has 121 total bases, a .617 on-base percentage and is slugging 1.017 for an OPS of 1.634. Noah Campanelli is batting .393 with a team-best 55 runs scored, 17 doubles, three homers and 23 RBI. Justin Graham, St. John Fisher’s all-time career leader in hits, has 16 extra-base hits, while Brian Norsen and James Ward, Jr., have hit five home runs apiece. The Cardinals have hit a league-high 39 home runs as a team this season, are batting .359 as a team and are averaging 11.75 runs per game. Starting pitchers RJ Kuruts and Anthony Brophy have excelled on the mound. Kuruts is 9-1 overall with a 2.59 earned run average and 81 strikeouts in 55.2 innings, while Brophy is 6-0 with a 1.76 ERA and 1.17 WHIP to go along with 49 strikeouts in 46 innings. Overall, the Cardinals have recorded six shutouts.
No. 2 seed Houghton enters the tournament with a 19-12 overall record and finished 11-9 in league play. The Highlanders are making their third appearance in the E8 Tournament. Wayne Rode leads the Highlanders with a .416 batting average, .481 on-base percentage, .742 slugging percentage and 1.223 OPS. He also has team best totals of five home runs, 35 RBI and 66 total bases. Zach Parr is hitting .361 with 12 doubles, three homers and 28 RBI. David Wessells leads Houghton with 45 hits, 37 runs scored, 19 walks and 18 stolen bases, while batting .381. The Highlanders are averaging 7.81 runs per game in 2021. On the mound, Ryan Newtown is 6-1 with a 4.45 earned run average, four complete games and one save, while Kendall Hunter is 4-3 with a team-best 44 strikeouts
Utica enters the tournament with a 16-14 overall mark in 2021. The Pioneers are in the E8 Tournament for the fourth time in program history, looking for their first league crown. Joe Battista leads the Pioneers with a .439 batting average, 1.160 OPS, 43 hits, 33 runs scored, 25 walks, 12 doubles and 30 RBI. John Son has team-best totals of three home runs, 63 total bases and a .630 slugging percentage, while also batting .410 to go along with 15 extra base hits. Six Pioneers starters are batting at least .300 in 2021 and the team is hitting .330 overall, averaging 8.5 runs scored per game. Graduate student Griffin Baur is 5-1 for Utica in eight starts on the mound with a 2.97 earned run average and 54 strikeouts in 39.1 innings. Opposing batters are hitting just .228 off of him this season. James Roeschlaub has 43 strikeouts in just 28.2 innigs.
Keuka earned the No. 4 seed in its first season as an Empire 8 program. The Wolves have four starters batting at least .300 on the season. RJ Murphy leads Keuka with a .349 batting average, while Ryan Seales is batting .333 with a .447 on-base percentage. Tyler Broderick leads the Pioneers with one homer and 15 RBI, while Nick Brown has 10 extra base hits and has driven in 13 runs. On the mound, Adam Pankowski has a pair of wins to lead the Wolves.
Elmira is in the Empire 8 Tournament for the third time in program history and first time since 2017. Myles Littlejohn leads the Soaring Eagles with a .352 batting average with a home run and 18 RBI, while Joe Morrone is hitting .333 with a .987 OPS, 14 extra base hits, including a team-best two home runs and 19 RBI. Mason Ryan is batting .338 with 25 runs scored, 20 walks and 14 stolen bases. Taber Carter leads the team with eight games started, 47.2 innings pitched and 31 strikeouts to go along with three wins and two complete games.
Tuesday’s first round game between Keuka and Utica will mark the sixth meeting of the season between the two programs. The season series is knotted at 2-2-1. The two met most recently on May 9 in Elmira with the hosts winning game one, 4-2 and game two ending in a 7-7 tie, called in the eighth inning due to rain. Houghton won three of the five regular season meetings versus semifinal opponent, No. 3 seed Utica, most recently earning a 21-9 win on May 7. The top-seeded Cardinals went 5-0 during the regular season against both Keuka and Elmira.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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