General | 4/14/2025 12:55:51 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on April 14, 2025, for games played from April 7-April 13. It is the 32nd Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2024-25 season. Sports featured include baseball, softball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and men’s tennis.
BASEBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Zach Eldred, SUNY Brockport, Gr., P/OF, East Greenbush, NY/Columbia
Eldred continued his historic two-way season in a 4-0 week for the Golden Eagles. In a 7-0 shutout win over Fisher, Eldred tossed seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts, while going 2-4 with a HR, run scored, and two RBI. On the week Eldred went 10-for-18 (0.555) at the plate, totaling 12 RBIs, seven runs scored, and five extra-base hits. Eldred recorded a home run in each of Brockport's four games on the week while also extending his program record hit streak to 28 games. It is his fourth E8 weekly honor of the season.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Xavier Garcia, Russell Sage, Jr., P, Greenfield Center, NY/Saratoga Springs
Garcia tossed seven shutout innings to get the win on Friday night against Alfred. He allowed just one hit and whiffed 12 Saxon batters in the 11-0 win to earn his second straight E8 weekly honor.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Ty Montrose, Utica, Fr., U, Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro
Montrose recorded four hits, four RBIs, and four runs scored in the three-game set at St. John Fisher over the weekend. Montrose launched a solo shot in the middle matchup of the series, giving the Pioneers a slight edge in an 8-7 win Sunday. He also nabbed two walks as he posted an on base percentage of .429. To top it all off, he was crucial in the clutch, logging a slugging percentage of .583 during his three-game stretch.
SOFTBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Emily McManus, St. John Fisher, So., OF, Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili
McManus went 9-of-12 for a .750 batting average and 2.167 OPS, while driving in eight runs over four games this past week. She belted a pair of home runs, including a three-run shot on Sunday against Keuka. She also added two doubles and leads the league with 11 home runs on the season. It is her third E8 weekly honor of the season.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Olivia Simone, SUNY Brockport, Sr., OF/C, Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro
Simone had a strong showing for Brockport at the plate, across the Golden Eagles' 8-game slate, recording at least one hit in each game during the week to extend her hitting streak to 11. Across all eight games she went 18-for-31 (.581 batting average) with four doubles and one triple. Simone came all the way around to score 11 runs and even registered five runs batted in. In the 8-game week she had six multi-hit games and drew two walks. Simone currently leads Brockport across the board with a .457 average, 1.180 OPS, 37 hits, 24 runs scored, nine doubles, and five triples to go with her 18 RBIs.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Ainsley Evanetski, St. John Fisher, Sr., P, Rochester, NY/Brighton
Evanetski threw her first collegiate perfect game in a doubleheader sweep of Keuka College on Sunday afternoon, striking out 14 of the 21 batters she faced, including the first 10 in a row, in the 4-0 win. On Saturday, Evanetski struck out a career-high 18 batters in a 7-2 win over Elmira on Saturday. She scattered four hits and a walk and recorded a miniscule 0.36 WHIP on the week with 32 strikeouts to just one walk. Evanetski has now struck out 60 of the 86 batters she's faced over her last four games. It is her third E8 weekly honor of 2025.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Lincoln Crosby, Nazareth, So., Chevy Chase, MD
Crosby defeated Nathan Gillette of Keuka College, 9&8 in match play from Ravenwood Country Club in Victor, NY, on Sunday afternoon.
WOMEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Bethany Wineburg, Nazareth, Fr., Homer, NY/Homer
Wineburg finished tied for 18th at the Martin/Wallace Invitational, hosted by SUNY Cortland and held at Cortland Country Club over the weekend. She recorded a two-day total of 180 (plus-36), lowest among all E8 student-athletes. She shot a 91 on Saturday and followed that up with an 89 on Sunday.
MEN’S LACROSSE
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Anthony Marrone, Russell Sage, Gr., A, Monroe, NY/Monroe
Marrone registered 14 goals on 27 shots across two games. The E8 leader in points, goals, and goals per-game netted six goals on Wednesday at Hartwick and eight in Saturday's victory at Keuka. The eight goals were the second-most in a game by an RSC player and put the graduate student as the program's single-season leader for goal scoring.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brady Mason, St. John Fisher, Sr., A, Silver Spring, MD/Montgomery Blair
Mason recorded 11 points on nine goals and two assists, as the Cardinals exploded for 49 goals in a pair of wins this week. He scored a career-high six goals and added an assist to lead the Cardinals to a commanding 17-5 victory over SUNY Geneseo on Wednesday. In a 32-7 win over SUNY Poly on Saturday, Mason had three goals and one assist. He passed Mitch Ritchie (162 career points) for 10th on the program's all-time points list.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Tyler Manning, St. John Fisher, Jr., G, Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake
Manning was tremendous between the pipes in St. John Fisher’s win over SUNY Geneseo on Wednesday, stopping 11 shots and allowing just five goals, recording a .688 save percentage, as the Cardinals remained unbeaten in league play. He also allowed just one goal in 30 minutes of action against SUNY Poly Saturday. It is his fourth E8 Goalkeeper of the Week honor.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sydney Carpenter, St. John Fisher, Sr., M, Rochester, NY/Hilton
Carpenter recorded 13 points on six goals and seven assists and added 15 draw controls to lead the nationally-ranked Cardinals to wins over SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Poly. Carpenter led the Cardinals with four goals, six points and seven draw controls in a 14-7 victory over Geneseo on Wednesday. Carpenter had two goals, five assists and eight draw controls in one quarter of play in St. John Fisher’s 27-0 win over SUNY Poly on Saturday. It is her third E8 weekly honor of the season.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kristen Vaccarelli, Hartwick, Sr., M, Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West
Vaccarelli was a force on both the offensive and defensive ends, recording nine goals and an assist, while picking up 12 ground balls and causing nine turnovers as Hartwick out-scored E8 foes Russell Sage and Alfred 33-8 in two wins this week. She began the week with three goals, while causing eight turnovers in the win over Russell Sage and added six goals and seven points in the 19-4 win over Alfred. It is her second E8 weekly honor of the season.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Arianna Reed, SUNY Brockport, So., G, LaFayette, NY/East Syracuse Minoa
Reed led Brockport to a pair of wins on the week, making 15 saves. During their game against Alfred on Wednesday, Arianna Reed had a total of seven saves in between the pipes. Reed then recorded eight saves in a win over Utica.
MEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Samuel Garay, Houghton, Fr., Oakwood, OH/Oakwood
Garay was a perfect 6-0 on the week in singles and doubles play. He claimed straight-set victories in fourth singles over Nazareth, Oswego and St. John Fisher and teamed with Preston Tobolski for 8-3, 8-1, 8-2 in second doubles wins across those three matches.
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK – Terrance Bayly-Henshaw, Norwich, Sr., Scottsville, NY/Wheatland-Chili
Jaxson Redmond, Norwich, Fr., Kennebunkport, ME/Kennebunk
The tandem of Terrance Bayly-Henshaw and Jaxson Redmond turned in a resilient performance at No. 1 doubles in a road matchup at Thomas College, earning Norwich’s only doubles point of the day. The pair edged out their Terrier opponents in a back-and-forth 8-6 battle, providing early momentum for the Cadets in what would ultimately be a tightly contested 6-3 team loss. The duo improved to 3-0 together in conference play.
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Charlie Wilson, SUNY Geneseo, Gr., Distance, Romeo, MI/Romeo
Wilson smashed a 22-year-old Empire 8 record in the 10,000-meter run at the Bison Outdoor Classic hosted by Bucknell University on Saturday with a time of 29:40.95. He became the first E8 student-athlete to break 30 minutes in the event, breaking the previous mark, set in 2003 by Mike Styczynski of Ithaca College. Wilson climbed to 11th nationally in Division III in the event.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Gabe Giannini, SUNY Brockport, Jr., Jumps/Multi, Rochester, NY/Aquinas
Giannini won the decathlon at the Brockport Multi and Outdoor Meet over the weekend, finishing with a score of 6,033 points. He won six of the 10 events and moved into 22nd nationally in the event with his score. He cleared 4.65 meter in the pole vault, which is also top-30 nationally.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Penelope Greene, SUNY Geneseo, Sr., Distance, Sag Harbor, NY, NY/Pierson
Greene shattered the Empire 8 record in the 10,000-meters by cruising to a decisive win by over a minute at the Bison Outdoor Classic hosted by Bucknell University on Saturday with a time of 33:42.16. She broke the previous Empire 8 record held by former national champion Amy Regan of Stevens, set in 2016 and posted the second fastest time in the event in all of Division III this season.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Anne Spila, Alfred, Sr., Multi, Mechanicsburg, NY/Trinity
Spila broke her own school record in the heptathlon on Friday when she recorded the 13th best score in Division III to date this season, totaling 4,341 points at Susquehanna University where she finished third overall. She hit a personal record in the shotput with a toss of 10.24m (33’-7.25”) while almost hitting a personal record in the javelin with a throw of 31.09m (102’-0”). Spila’s 100-meter hurdle time of 15.50 earned her highest scoring event total with 777 points.
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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