Seven members of the St. John Fisher College baseball team have been honored by the Empire 8 Conference, including sophomore catcher Leo Fusilli and freshman Teagen Barresi, who were named as the Empire 8’s Player of the Year and Rookie the Year, respectively.
Fusilli was also named to the Empire 8 First Team, along with sophomore outfielder Phil Pettinella and freshman first baseman Steve Karnyski. Barresi was selected to the Conference’s Second Team, as were juniors Kevin Wing and Dan Jurik.
Junior Jason Nevada was selected as Fisher’s Sportsman of the Year.
Fisher finished the 2009 season with an overall record of 22-17 and won the ECAC Upstate Championship for the third time in the last six years.
Fusilli led the Empire 8 in hits (55) and slugging percentage (.661) and led the Cardinals with a .455 batting average. He also ranked among the team-leaders in RBI (38), runs (27), doubles (12), homers (3) and triples (2).
Barresi tied for the team-lead with 39 RBI, while starting at third base in 39 of Fisher’s games. He also tied for the team-lead in both runs scored (44) and home runs (six), while batting .384 (53-for-138) and scoring 44 runs.
Pettinella, who was named as the ECAC Championship Most Outstanding Player on Sunday, led the Empire 8 with 13 doubles and five triples. The lefty also drove in 31 runs, while batting .345 with 39 runs scored. His six home runs were tied for the team-lead with Barresi.
Karnyski also drove in 39 runs on the year, while batting .364 (51-for-140). He also scored 37 runs and hit 13 doubles and three homers.
Wing, who started in all 38 games this year, led Fisher with 14 stolen bases and tied for the team-lead in runs scored with 44. He batted .349 for the year (53-of-152) with 13 doubles and 22 RBI.
Jurik started a team-high 10 games on the mound for Fisher and led the team with 53 strikeouts. He tied for the team-lead with five wins and finished the season with a 4.94 ERA.
Nevada, who batted .246, while starting in 34 games at either second base or shortstop, was named as Fisher’s representative on the Sportsman of the Year Team. One member of each team was named that institution’s representative. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.