Pittsford, NY---The Empire 8 Conference announced its 2022 Empire 8 Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team on Wednesday, May 18. Graduate student Michael Beimel of St. John Fisher was named the Empire 8 Tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the Cardinals to their second straight league title and fourth in program history.
A first-year varsity program, Russell Sage College earned a spot in the Empire 8 Tournament and had a pair of players lauded for their play in the 2022 tournament. Head Coach Nick Pontari directed the Gators to a 9-11 record in the Empire 8 and the No. 4 seed, while the team produced a 14-27-1 overall record. Along the way, Gators earned key league wins, including a 9-8 win over the eventual champion, St. John Fisher College to snap their seven-game win streak.
Sophomore Will Simkin (Canberra, Australia/Canberra Grammar) and graduate player Dillon Maxon (Troy, NY/Tamarac) were both named to the team.
Maxon batted .727 for the tournament through three games and added eight hits with a double and a .818 slugging percentage. Simkin, who led the Gators to a 4-1 win over league runner-up Utica College in the tournament, had a 1.29 ERA in seven innings of work with three strikeouts and limited the Pioneers to a .174 batting average.
On the year, Maxon led the Gators at the plate with a .365 batting average, having started 29 of 31 games played and added seven doubles with a homerun, while adding a .482 slugging percentage and a .960 fielding percentage. Simkin started 10 of 14 games on the mound and was 2-7 with a 6.75 ERA. He led the team with his 45.1 innings of work and struck out 28 batters.
2022 Empire 8 Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team
Angus Adams, Sr., P, Elmira
Jourdan Plaisted, Gr., C, Elmira
Dillon Maxon, Gr., C, Russell Sage
William Simkin, So., P, Russell Sage
Michael Beimel, Gr., C, St. John Fisher *
Noah Campanelli, Jr., 2B, St. John Fisher
Brian Norsen, Jr., 1B, St. John Fisher
Ryan O'Mara, Jr., P, St. John Fisher
Ryan Cardone, So., P, Utica
Joe Crossley, Jr., OF, Utica
Brendan May, Jr., SS, Utica * Named Most Outstanding Player
