General | 5/4/2026 1:00:00 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on May 4, 2026, for games played from April 27-May 3, 2026. It is the 36th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2025-26 season. Sports featured include baseball, softball, men’s tennis and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
BASEBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Lance Berger, Utica, Sr., INF, Lindenhurst, NY/Saint Anthony’s
Berger was outstanding during a big week that saw the Pioneers go 5-1 in Empire 8 play. He batted .476 across his six games played, logging 10 hits in 21 at-bats while also contributing seven RBIs, 10 runs scored, and slugging .952 as he hit three home runs. Berger was also disciplined, drawing four walks and stealing two bases during the five-win week. His efforts helped Utica come from behind to snag the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Tournament.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Evan Grimes, Russell Sage, Sr., P/U, Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa
Grimes hit .615 (8-for-13) with eight runs scored and five RBI across the three-game sweep over Elmira to wrap up the regular season. He totaled 18 bases, tallied three doubles, tripled twice and cleared the fence once. Grimes, the winning pitcher in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, slugged 1.385 and reached base at a .667 rate against the Soaring Eagles. Factoring in Tuesday's victory at Skidmore, which was saved by the southpaw, he went 9-for-16 (.563) with nine runs scored, eight RBI and 22 total bases. Across the 4-0 week, Grimes, who also homered in the Skidmore win, slugged 1.375 and had a .600 on-base percentage.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Kooper Knabe, Utica, Sr., P, Cortland, NY/Cortland
Knabe had a historic outing this past Monday against Elmira, not only becoming the Pioneers’ all-time leader in career pitching wins but also doing so on a seven-inning no-hitter as he kept the Soaring Eagles out of the hit column during a 19-1 win. Knabe tossed all seven innings, while striking out six batters and not allowing a single base knock throughout the entire game. The win was his 18th career victory, landing him alone at the top of the Pioneer record books.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Hunter Fales, St. John Fisher, Fr., C, Galway, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic
Fales hit .545 (6-for-11) with two doubles, six RBI and three runs scored. He drove in three runs in a win over SUNY Poly Wednesday and followed that up with a double and two more RBI in a win over Houghton on Saturday. It is his second E8 weekly honor of the season.
SOFTBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Hailey Jasinski, Keuka, Jr., SS, Buffalo, NY/North Collins
Jasinski exploded for eight hits in 10 at-bats (.800), including three doubles, two home runs, five RBI, five runs scored and four walks to close out the regular season. She went 6-for-6 with three doubles in her final two E8 games of the season at Russell Sage on Friday and homered twice and drove in five runs in a win over Alfred State on Sunday.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Molly Whitmeyer, Alfred, Jr., 1B, Enola, PA/Trinity
Whitmyer went 6-for-9 with three RBI (all in game two) and scored three runs in a doubleheader sweep of SUNY Brockport to clinch the No. 3 seed. Out of her six hits, she had one home run and one double. Whitmyer batted a .667 in the conference twin bill and added one hit in a non-conference road game at Penn State-Behrend on Monday. In the first game against Brockport, Whitmyer tied her career-high defensively with 10 putouts and added two assists in the game.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Gabriella Petroski, SUNY Geneseo, Jr., P, Lancaster, NY/Sacred Heart
Petroski continued her dominant season on the rubber for the Knights, picking up three wins in four games as the Knights clinched the regular season title and No. 1 seed for the postseason. Petroski earned both wins against Russell Sage, throwing a complete seven innings in game one with only one earned run allowed, then she came on in relief of game two for three more innings to secure the 7-6 victory in eight innings. She capped off the week with a complete game shutout win over Houghton, only allowing two hits. It is Petroski’s fourth E8 weekly honor of 2026.
MEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Tyler Hernandez, St. John Fisher, Jr., Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park
Hernandez was named the 2026 Empire 8 Men’s Tennis Championship Most Valuable Player after leading the West No. 1 Cardinals to their first ever Empire 8 Championship. Hernandez began the weekend by rolling to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Jaxson Redmond of Norwich University in the semifinals at first singles, as the Cardinals earned a 4-0 win. He then defeated Ricardo Alvarez Janik at first singles in the championship match by a score of 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to give the Cardinals a key point in the 4-3 victory for the title. It is his fourth E8 weekly honor of the 2026 season.
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK – Sean Brown, St. John Fisher, Sr., Mt. Juliet, TN/Wilson Central
Finn Whitaker, St. John Fisher, Fr., Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon
Brown and Whitaker picked up decisive wins at second doubles to help lead St. John Fisher to its first Empire 8 Men’s Tennis Championship in program history over the weekend. On Friday, the duo rolled to a 6-0 win against Norwich in an eventual 4-0 win and took the second doubles spot in the E8 title match against Alfred, also by a 6-3 score to give Fisher the crucial doubles point, as they recorded a 4-3 win over the Saxons to claim the E8 title.
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
CO-TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Derek Grimshaw, SUNY Brockport Jr., Sprints, Syracuse, NY/Liverpool
Grimshaw was named the 2026 Empire 8 Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet after winning three sprint events from the Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the campus of St. John Fisher University on May 1-2. He took the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.75 seconds (ran prelims in 10.66), 200-meters in 21.81 seconds and was part of the winning 4 x 100-meter relay team that emerged victorious in 41.57 seconds.
CO-TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Ryan Hagan, SUNY Geneseo, Sr., Middle Distance, Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Hagan traveled to Duke University on Sunday, May 3, to compete against some of the best competition in the country in the 1500-meters in the Duke Twilight Invitational. Racing against some of the best competition in Division I, Hagan finished third overall in the race and broke his own Division III national record with a time of 3:37.19.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Graden Heichberger, Nazareth, So., Throws, Springville, NY/Springville-Griffith
Heichberger was named 2026 Empire 8 Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet from the Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the campus of St. John Fisher University on May 1-2. On Saturday, Heichberger set an Empire 8 Championship meet record by winning the shot put with a toss of 16.91 meters (55’ 5.75”), which moved him into 16th nationally in Division III. On Friday, Heichberger finished second in the hammer throw with a toss of 56.48 meters (185’ 4”).
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Abigail Dorunda, St. John Fisher, So., Sprints, Westfield, MA/Wilbraham and Monson Academy
Dorunda was named the 2026 Empire 8 Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet from the Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the campus of St. John Fisher University on May 1-2. On. She took the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.25 seconds and was part of the winning 4 x 100-meter relay team (48.38 seconds). Dorunda was also part of the 4 x 400-meter relay team that placed second, while she also finished third in the 200-meters (25.44 seconds) and placed sixth in the 400-meters (59.45 seconds).
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Allie Cary, Utica, Jr., Throws, Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Cary was named the 2026 E8 Empire 8 Women's Outdoor Championship Field Athlete of the Meet from the Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the campus of St. John Fisher University on May 1-2. On. Cary won both the shot put with a hurl of 13.10 meters (42’ 11.75”) and discus with a throw of 42.72 meters (140’ 2”). She also placed fourth overall in the hammer throw with a toss of 45.76 meters (150’ 1”).