Baseball | 5/13/2026 9:59:33 AM
Empire 8 Champion Russell Sage took home four of the five major awards, as the Empire 8 Conference announced its 2026 Baseball All-Conference awards on Wednesday, May 12. The awards are voted on by the league's head coaches.
Senior first baseman Jack Griffin of St. John Fisher University was named the 2026 E8 Player of the Year. Russell Sage swept the rest of the individual honors as senior Evan Grimes was named the Pitcher of the Year, senior catcher Collin Casey earned E8 Defensive Player of the Year honors, while outfielder Nick Irizarry was named Rookie of the Year and head coach Matt Marsh and his staff were named Coaching Staff of the Year.
Griffin, a native of Clifton Park, NY, is enjoying a tremendous season at the plate, second in the league with a .423 batting average, while leading the E8 with a .542 on-base percentage, .744 slugging percentage, 1.286 OPS, 24 doubles and 116 total bases and is in the top-five in the league with 66 hits, 52 runs scored, 54 runs batted in and 35 walks. Griffin hit .494 with a 1.476 OPS, 17 doubles, four homers, 35 RBI and 33 runs scored in 22 regular season E8 contests. He has reached base in 41-of-42 games this season and is the tenth different Player of the Year in program history.
Grimes, a senior from Clifton Park, NY, enters the NCAA Tournament with a sparkling 7-1 record and 2.70 earned run average, while striking out 80 batters in 66 2/3 innings pitched. Opposing batters have hit just .206 against him this season. He went 5-0 with a 2.39 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with 42 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings. Grimes has also excelled at the plate with a 1.160 OPS, 27 extra base hits (13 doubles, seven triples and seven home runs), 36 walks, 55 RBI and 28 stolen bases in 30 attempts.
Casey, a senior catcher from Marlboro, NY, has a sparkling .987 fielding percentage for Russell Sage with just four errors in 313 total chances behind the plate this season. He has thrown out 11-of-32 would-be base stealers this season and catches a pitching staff that recorded a sparkling 2.91 earned run average in league play, while opposing batters hit just .220 against the Gators in league play during the 2026 season.
Russell Sage outfielder Nick Irizarry has enjoyed an excellent debut for the Gators to earn 2026 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year honors, batting .358 with 63 runs scored and 36 RBI, while leading the Empire 8 with 44 stolen bases in 47 attempts. In 22 Empire 8 league games, Irizzary, a native of South Plainfield, NJ, stole 25 bases, drove in 25 runs and scored 33 times.
Russell Sage head coach Matt Marsh and his staff of assistant coaches Matt McGowan, Smoke Allard and Nick Lemire were named the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year. The Gators went 21-1 in league play and won their first Empire 8 Championship. Russell Sage enter the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament with a 36-6 overall mark, ranked 11th in the NCAA National Baseball Index. Overall, 10 different Gators earned 2026 All-Empire 8 honors.
Russell Sage led all institutions with six first team selections and 11 total All-Conference picks. St. John Fisher had three All-E8 first team selections and also 11 total All-Conference picks, while SUNY Brockport, Elmira, Houghton, SUNY Poly and Utica each had one first team selection. Evan Grimes earned All-E8 first team honors for the third straight season, while Christian Tortorici of Houghton University and Griffin of St. John Fisher were both named All-E8 first team honorees for the second straight year.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2026 Baseball Tomorrow’s Leaders Team. This team honors a student-athlete who has emerged as a leader not only on the field of play, but in the classroom and in the community. In addition, they “compete with honor and integrity” and have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
“Developing character and integrity is a hallmark of the Empire 8,” said E8 Executive Director
Chuck Mitrano. “This series is proof that Empire 8 and our member institutions are committed to intercollegiate athletics’ important role in higher education.”
2026 Empire 8 Baseball All-Conference Selections
Player of the Year: Jack Griffin, Sr., 1B, St. John Fisher
Pitcher of the Year: Evan Grimes, Sr., P/OF, Russell Sage
Defensive Player of the Year: Collin Casey, Sr., C, Russell Sage
Rookie of the Year: Nick Irizarry, Fr., OF, Russell Sage
Coaching Staff of the Year: Russell Sage, led by Head Coach Matt Marsh
Empire 8 First Team
Catcher – Christian Tortorici, Sr., C, Houghton (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont)
First Base – Jack Griffin, Sr., 1B, St. John Fisher (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa)
Second Base – Anthony Rizzo, Sr., 2B, Russell Sage (Latham, NY/Shaker)
Shortstop – Joseph Karpierz, Sr., SS, Russell Sage (Cohoes, NY/Shaker)
Third Base – Jayden Kennedy, Jr., 3B, Russell Sage (East Patchogue, NY/Patchogue Medford)
Outfield – Evan Grimes, Sr., OF/P, Russell Sage (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa)
Outfield – Jordan Perry, So., OF, St. John Fisher (Malone, NY/Franklin Academy)
Outfield – Mike Rockwell, Sr., OF, Utica (Liverpool, NY/Cicero)
Utility – Jordan Barthel, DH/P, Elmira (Scituate, MA/Austin Prep)
Designated Hitter – Michael Norton, Gr., DH, SUNY Brockport (Dunkirk, NY/Dunkirk)
Starting Pitcher – Evan Grimes, Sr., OF/P, Russell Sage (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa)
Starting Pitcher – Justin Christensen, Fr., SP, St. John Fisher (South Glens, Falls, NY/South Glens Falls)
Relief Pitcher – Trevor French, So., RP, SUNY Poly (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville)
Relief Pitcher – Tyler Murray, Jr., RP, Russell Sage (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia)
Empire 8 Second Team
Catcher – Collin Casey, Jr., C, Russell Sage (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro)
First Base – Luke Landis, So., 1B, SUNY Poly (Moravia, NY/Moravia)
Second Base – Lance Berger, Sr., 2B, Utica (Lindenhurst, NY/Saint Anthony’s)
Shortstop – Austin Droge, So., SS, St. John Fisher (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley)
Third Base – Ryan Smith, Fr., 3B, Utica (Wappingers Falls, NY/Beacon)
Outfield – Evan Brock, Jr., OF, SUNY Brockport (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta)
Outfield – Qingyang Feng, Sr., OF, Houghton (Qianjiang, China Nanjing Dongshan)
Outfield – Nick Irizarry, Fr., OF, Russell Sage (South Plainfield, NY/South Plainfield)
Utility – Ty Montrose, Jr., P/U, Utica (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro)
Designated Hitter – Jordan Barthel, DH/P, Elmira (Scituate, MA/Austin Prep)
Starting Pitcher – Aidan Green, Sr., SP, Russell Sage (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro)
Starting Pitcher – Robert Leach, Jr., SP, St. John Fisher (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)
Relief Pitcher – Brenden Pajak, Sr., RP, SUNY Brockport (Bethlehem, NY/Bethlehem)
Relief Pitcher – Dean Ennis, So., RP, Utica (Middle Island, NY/Longwood)
Empire 8 Third Team
Catcher – Hunter Fales, Fr., C, St. John Fisher (Galway, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic)
First Base – Matthew Coon, Gr., 1B, SUNY Brockport (Elmira, NY/Elmira)
Second Base – Jacob Penafeather, Fr., 2B, St. John Fisher (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville)
Shortstop – Kody Czternastek, Sr., SS, Utica (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro)
Third Base – Ryan Vanderlip, So., 3B, St. John Fisher (Buffalo, NY/West Seneca)
Outfield – Evan Cuba, Jr., OF, Keuka (Honeoye, NY/Honeoye)
Outfield – John Leonard, Fr., OF, SUNY Poly (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai)
Outfield – Jackson Frey, Jr., OF, St. John Fisher (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island)
Designated Hitter – Mario Cubello, Gr., DH, St. John Fisher (Bethlehem, NY/Glenmont)
Utility – Nick Chicaway, So., INF, Russell Sage (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes)
Starting Pitcher – Tyler Polhman, Jr., SP, SUNY Brockport (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)
Starting Pitcher – Xavier Garcia, Sr., SP, Russell Sage (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse)
Relief Pitcher – Dylan Becker, RP, Sr., St. John Fisher (Schoharie, NY/Cobleskill Richmondville)
Relief Pitcher – Justin Notargiacomo, Jr., RP, Utica (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa)
Empire 8 Tomorrow’s Leaders Team
Will Timpiano, So., C, Alfred (Orillia, Ontario/Patrick Fogarty Catholic)
Liam Pytlak, Jr., 3B, SUNY Brockport (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)
Brady Buttice, Sr., OF, Elmira (Afton, NY/Afton)
Vincent Lucyszyn, Sr., SS, Houghton (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili)
Derek Novicki, Sr., 1B, Keuka (North Haven, CT/North Haven)
Zach Place, Sr, U, SUNY Poly (Scotia-Glenville, NY/Scotia Glenville)
Nick Irizarry, Fr., OF, Russell Sage (South Plainfield, NY/South Plainfield)
Michael Bowler, Sr., P, St. John Fisher (Geneva, NY/Geneva)
Aidan McCue, Sr., P/INF, Utica (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park)