General | 5/13/2024 12:00:00 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on May 13, 2024, for games played from May 6 – May 12, 2024. It is the 35th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2023-24 season. Sports featured include baseball, softball and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
BASEBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – James Murphy, St. John Fisher, Sr., 3B, Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna
Murphy was named the 2024 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Most Valuable Player, batting .417 (5-for-12) with a home run, two double, four runs scored, and 11 RBI in the three St. John Fisher wins over the weekend. On Thursday, Murphy was 2-for-5 with a double and four RBI in St. John Fisher’s 15-6 win over Utica University and followed that up by hitting a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to lead the Cardinals to a 5-3 win over Houghton University Friday in the winner’s bracket. Murphy reached base four times and hit a clutch three-run double in the bottom of the fourth inning that gave the Cardinals the lead for good in the 13-4 championship clinching win over Utica in the title game Saturday. Murphy earned E8 Player of the Week honors for the second time in 2024.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Cam Kingsley, St. John Fisher, So., P, Fairport, NY/Fairport
Kingsley appeared in all three games in relief during the Empire 8 Tournament and played a key role in helping lead the Cardinals to their fourth straight Empire 8 Championship. On Thursday, Kingsley threw two hitless innings in relief to close out Utica in the 15-6 opening round game. On Friday, Kingsley came in with the bases loaded and one out in a 1-1 game in the top of the seventh inning and allowed just one inherited runner to score and limit a big inning, as Fisher came back to defeat Houghton, 5-3 in 10 innings. On Saturday, Kingsley was the first pitcher out of the bullpen and picked up the win, as the Cardinals scored seven times in the fourth and fifth innings in the 13-4 clinching win over Utica.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Jackson Frey, St. John Fisher, Fr., OF, Grand Island, NY/Grand Island
Frey hit .333 (4-for-12) during the Empire 8 Tournament with seven runs scored, three walks, a double, triple and two RBIs in helping lead the Cardinals to their fourth straight Empire 8 Championship. He went 3-for-5, finishing a home run shy of the cycle with three runs scored and a pair of RBI in St. John Fisher’s 15-6 win over Utica to kick off the league tournament. Frey walked twice, had one hit, and scored four times in the E8 title game, a 13-4 win over Utica Saturday to earn his third E8 weekly accolade.
SOFTBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mari Spitz, St. John Fisher, Jr., C, Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima
Spitz was named the 2024 Empire 8 Softball Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player, batting .467 (7-for-15) with two home runs, six RBI and five runs scored in the four games. Spitz went 3-for-4 with a three-run home runs and two runs in St. John Fisher’s 8-7 win in nine innings over Alfred University in an elimination game on May 10 and was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in St. John Fisher’s 9-1 win over Utica University in the decisive game of the tournament on May 11.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Ainsley Evanetski, St. John Fisher, Jr., P, Brighton, NY/Brighton
Evanetski won a pair of elimination games for the Cardinals, helping lead them to the 2024 Empire 8 Softball Championship over the weekend. She threw two scoreless innings in relief in St. John Fisher’s 7-2 win over Russell Sage to open the E8 Tournament Thursday. On Friday, Evanetski came on in relief with the Cardinals down 3-0 in the first inning and went the distance, allowing nine hits and four runs, including five consecutive scoreless innings to end the game in St. John Fisher’s wild, 9-8 win in nine innings of Alfred University Friday afternoon in an elimination game. On Saturday, Evanetski went the distance in St. John Fisher’s 9-1 win in five innings over Utica in the decisive game of the E8 Championship. It is her third E8 weekly accolade of the season.
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Andy Hadasz, Utica, Jr., Sprints, Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro
Hadasz set a Utica University record of 21.36 seconds in winning the 200-meter dash at the Farley Inter Regional Extravaganza, hosted by Williams College over the weekend. Hadasz, won the 100- and 200-meter championships at the 2024 Empire 8 Championships, moved into 35th nationally in the event. He broke the previous school mark of 21.38 seconds, set by recent Utica Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Nicodemus Gambill. Hadasz also teamed up with Nyles Rogers, Connor Dean, and Ethan Kain for a sixth-place finish in the 4x100 meter relay. The quartet got the stick around at 42.89. It is Hadasz’s second E8 weekly honor of the season.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Kaiden McCaskill, Utica, So., Jumps, Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy
McCaskill cleared 2.01 meters (6’ 7”) in the high jump to place second at the Farley Inter-Regional Extravaganza hosted by Williams College on Saturday. It was a personal best for McCaskill, number three all-time mark in program history and puts him 36th nationally to date this season.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Lauren Bendall, Nazareth, Sr., Sprints/Hurdles/Jumps, Syracuse, NY/Westhill
Bendall shaved nearly a second off her personal best time in the 400-meter hurdles at the Farley Inter-Regional Extravaganza hosted by Williams College over the weekend with a time of 1:07.45. Her previous best was 1:08.12 as a junior at the Central New York Last Chance meet of the season at Utica in 2023.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Hannah Allison, Utica, Sr., Jumps, Norwood, NY/Norwood-Norfolk
Allison tied the Utica program mark in the high jump at the Farley Inter Regional Meet hosted by Williams College on Saturday. Allison's high jump of 1.60 meters (5’3”) is now a new personal best and would sit in a tie for 12th among AARTFC competitors based on performance lists from the start of Saturday's competition. She was fourth against a challenging field while tying the second highest mark before tiebreakers were enacted to determine a finish order. She entered the top-75 nationally with her jump as well.
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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