Baseball | 4/3/2023 10:30:02 AM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on April 3, 2023, for games played from March 27-April 2. It is the 30th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2022-23 season. Sports featured include baseball, softball, men’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s tennis, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field and men’s volleyball.
BASEBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brian Norsen, St. John Fisher, Sr., 1B, Hamburg, NY/Frontier
Norsen hit .500 with a .750 on-base percentage and 2.125 OPS, blasting a pair of home runs, while driving in five runs in three games for the Cardinals. He opened the week by hitting a home run, double and driving in two runs at Medaille on Tuesday. Just 24 hours later, Norsen homered, walked twice, scored three runs and drove in three more at Rochester. He added three walks in Sunday’s win over Keuka.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Matthew Denatale, Russell Sage, Gr., P, Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck
Denatale tossed seven shutout innings to earn the win on Sunday at Elmira. The lefty allowed just five hits and struck out four in the road victory.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Jake Crantz, St. John Fisher, Fr., INF, Kingston, NY/Kingston
Crantz hit .444 (4-for-9) with a .500 on-base percentage across a pair of games last week. He scored a pair of runs and drove in three, while stealing two bases. On Tuesday, Crantz was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, a run scored and RBI in a win at Medaille. He added two more hits and two more RBI at Rochester on Wednesday.
SOFTBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Lauren Paul, Utica, So., U, Guilderland, NY/Guilderland
Paul provided spark to the Utica offense last week, batting .450 (9-for-20) and slugging .850 with two doubles, two home runs and nine RBI over five games. Her top performance came in game one against Union on Saturday where she went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, a home run and five runs driven in. She also homered, drove in two and scored a pair of runs against SUNY Poly on Wednesday.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Ainsley Evanetski, St. John Fisher, So., P, Rochester, NY/Brighton
Evanetski fired 10 2/3 scoreless innings over two outings last week. She opened the week by firing 3 2/3 perfect innings of relief with seven strikeouts in a win over RIT Tuesday. She followed that up by hurling a complete-game six shutout, striking out eight batters in a 2-0 win at Ithaca on Sunday. It is Evanetski’s second E8 weekly honor of 2023.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – RJ Juodatis, St. John Fisher, So., Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell
Juodatis shot a first round total of 78 to lead the Cardinals at The Hershey Cup, hosted by the University of Rochester and held at Hershey Country Club on Sunday. This serves as a tune-up for the 2023 E8 Spring Championship at Hershey, set for April 15-16.
MEN’S LACROSSE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kevin Matson, Alfred, Jr., A, Chenango Bridge, NY/Chenango Forks
Matson claimed sole possession of the Alfred University and Empire 8 single-game goals record in Saturday’s big win over Russell Sage College. On Saturday, Matson scored 10 goals and added two assists. All of his shots on goal found the back of the net as he fired off a total of 14 shots. He was credited with the game-winning goal and had one man-up goal. Matson added three ground balls in the dominant win. He shattered the previous mark of nine goals, set four-times, most recently by former Saxon Jake Lynch in 2018. It is Matson’s third E8 weekly honor of 2023.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Scott Kimiecik, Alfred, Gr., G, Randolph, NJ/Randolph
Kimiecik earned his second Empire 8 win in a row as he made eight saves in goal and only allowed three scores during the 28-7 win at Russell Sage College on Saturday. He tacked on a ground ball in the win.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Katrina Marten, Hartwick, So., A, Middlesex, NY/Marcus Whitman
Marten recorded a goal, 16 assists and 17 points in two wins for the Hawks last week. He began the week by racking up seven assists to go along with one goal in Hartwick’s 20-1 win over SUNY Poly Wednesday. Marten followed that performance by dishing out nine assists to help the Hawks defeat Medaille 17-11 in their Empire 8 opener Sunday.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Alyssa Piechota, Alfred, Jr., G, Webster, NY/Webster Thomas
Piechota became just the sixth player in Alfred University history to surpass 400 career saves as she totaled 29 saves in two games on 50 shots (.580 save percentage). She recorded a season-high save percentage of .613 on Wednesday at Morrisville, making a season-high 19 saves. Piechota picked up her first win of the season with the Empire 8 opener against Keuka College Friday. She added six ground balls and one caused turnover on the week as well.
MEN’S TENNIS
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Nathan Allen, Nazareth, Sr., Macedon, NY/Penfield
Allen played four sets in the Nazareth men’s volleyball match against No. 11 St. John Fisher Friday night and then came back to lead the Nazareth men’s tennis team to a pair of Empire 8 wins on Saturday and Sunday over Utica and Medaille. The 2022 E8 Tournament Most Valuable Player was a perfect 4-0 combined at first singles and first doubles as Nazareth won both matches by 9-0 scores. Against Utica, he won a pair of tie-breakers to win at both doubles and singles.
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Andy Hadasz, Utica, Jr., Sprints, Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro
Hadasz had a phenomenal day on the track, qualifying for regionals in all three of his events Saturday at the Hamilton College Invitational. He ran a personal best in the 100-meters (11.01 seconds) placing third, and in the 200-meters (22.04 seconds) finishing second. Hadasz was also part of the men's 4x100-meter relay team which took first place along with Zuriel Wright, Shane Tinney, and Ethan Kain running a time of 43.14 seconds.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Noah Rivera, Russell Sage, Jr., Throws, Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy
Competing at the Hamilton Continental Invitational, Rivera set a school record and finished in second place in the triple jump. He turned a performance of 12.95 meters, bettering the mark set last season by teammate sophomore David Adadjo of 12.93 meters. Rivera was 13th in the long jump with a leap of 5.64 meters.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Rachel Domaracki, Houghton, Sr., Distance, Selinsgrove, PA/Selinsgrove
Domaracki cruised to a nearly 35-second win in the 10,000-meter run at the Geneseo Early Season Invitational on Sunday, crossing the finish line first in a time of 38:37.48. Three of the top five finishers were Empire 8 student-athletes in what could be a preview of the race at the Empire 8 Championships next month.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Jane Fahy, Utica, Sr., Throws, Oriskany, NY/Oriskany
Fahy won the shot put at the Hamilton College Invitational on Saturday with a toss of 12.94 meters, which is currently 16th best in Division III to date this season. She also fired the discus 34.46 meters, which is second best in the Empire 8 this season. Fahy earned E8 honors for the second straight week.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Owen Wickens, Nazareth, Jr., S/RS, Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit
Wickens set a Nazareth single-match record with 33 kills, while hitting .417 with seven digs and three assists in Friday’s five-set thriller against St. John Fisher. It is Wickens’ sixth E8 weekly honor of 2023.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Alex Vega, Elmira, Fr., OPP, North Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse
Vega tallied 10 digs and seven assists in Friday’s four-set contest against MIT. It is his third E8 weekly honor of the 2023 season.
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.
EMPIRE 8 SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube –
Facebook –
Twitter –
Instagram