ROCHESTER, N.Y. — DI Red’s John Gassler (Pittsford Sutherland/New York University) and DI Blue’s Bobby Sellers (Rush-Henrietta) were named Pitcher and Player of the Week as announced by the Upstate Baseball League (UBL), Monday. Sal Cutaia (DII Blue/Avon) and Jacob Jones (DII Blue/Avon) earned UBL DII weekly honors.
DI PITCHER OF THE WEEK
John Gassler – DI Red – Pittsford Sutherland/New York University
Gassler hurled six shutout innings over two appearances. The left-hander struck out 13 and walked none. He allowed just two hits and faced two batters over the limit for the week. Gassler, who will continue his career at New York University where he will head this fall, registered a first strike percentage of .842 for the week.
John Gassler gets the ball for DI Red. @ubl_baseball pic.twitter.com/8kDT9edi3i
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 4, 2018
DI PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Bobby Sellers – DI Blue – Rush-Henrietta
Bobby Sellers contributed at the plate and from the mound. Sellers drove in a league-high seven RBI and scored two runs connecting on a bases-clearing triple and a grand slam in DI Blue’s victory on Saturday. The right-hander also tossed 4.1 shutout innings for the week. He struck out three, walked two and went 1-0.
DII PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sal Cutaia – DII Blue – Webster Schroeder
In two relief appearances, Sal Cutaia tossed four shutout innings. The right-hander struck out eight, walked one and three hits. Cutaia held opposing batters to .214 at the plate and registered a first-pitch strike percentage of .733 for the week.
DII PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jacob Jones – DII Blue – Avon
Jacob Jones hit .500 for the week and finished with an on-base percentage of .700 over 10 plate appearances. Jones drove in six runs and scored another two. He walked on four occasions and had one stolen base. He had a slugging percentage of .833 and OPS of 1.533 for the week.
NOT TO BE OVERLOOKED
Several players turned in impressive weeks: Nick Vogt (DI Gold/Webster Schroeder) hit .750 with six hits including a double. Shane Harisis (DI Orange/Eastridge) finished with a batting average of .625. Walker Wright (DI Orange/Rush-Henrietta) hit .556 and tossed three scoreless innings on the mound. Chris Sleeper (DI Red/Rush-Henrietta) drove in three runs and scored twice. Jorge Oropeza (DI Gold/Greece Athena) only had two RBI, but those runs came in a 3-2 win with Oropeza driving in the eventual game winner. He also hurled 1-2-3 7th to seal a 6-3 victory. Ryan Coughlin (DI Red/Greece Athena) fanned five in two shutout innings of five. Jack Willard (DI Gold/Webster Schroeder) struck out five and walked none over four shutout innings. Christian Brown (DII Red/Victor) fanned four and walked none over three scoreless frames.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
Not much thought went into this one. Bottom of the seventh. Two outs. Trailing 5-1. Andrew Sanchez left his mark (no, really he did) at Towers Field.
Turn up the volume! You will want to hear this blast off the bat of Andrew Sanchez as it caroms off the @URbaseball scoreboard. Oh yeah that was a 2-our GRAND SLAM in the bottom of the 7th. pic.twitter.com/cDhRLHTHxY
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 4, 2018
Not sure what was louder: Bat hitting ball? Or ball hitting scoreboard?
LEATHER WORK NOT CAUGHT ON CAMERA
Plenty of sparkling plays made on the defensive side over the last week including an around the horn double play in the first inning of the season. We had others like this:
That’s Andrew Wallman grabbing the pop up for the final out of the game. @ubl_baseball pic.twitter.com/abmoNU9wqw
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 2, 2018
And this:
Jaden Nelomes goes to the backhand and delivers a strike across the ???? Mid 3: DI Grey 1 DI Green 1 @ubl_baseball pic.twitter.com/385kgdTaIv
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) July 30, 2018
There were also those plays which occurred when the camera was not rolling. AJ DeBalso (DII Blue/Canandaigua) made a spectacular diving stop of a line drive at third. He alertly beat the runner to the bag for a double play. Joe Thompson (DI Gold/Webster Thompson) snared a line drive at third and doubled off a runner at second. Alan Michael LeFrois (DII Red/Churchville-Chili) smoothly fielded a ground ball ball up the middle during Saturday’s first game and turned the 6-3 GDP. Ethan Hurwitz (DI Red/Pittsford Sutherland) saved a throw across the diamond from going into foul territory when he climbed the ladder and in one motion came down and tagged the runner for the out. DJ White (DI Green/Rush-Henrietta) made an impressive over-the-shoulder grab in foul territory on ball just past first base. Then there is Jarod Signorelli (DI Blue/Victor) whose 11 assists lead all shortstops. Smooth and easy up the middle of the diamond, Signorelli has a habit of making difficult plays look routine. And there was Drew HerrNeckar (DI Gold/Hilton):
Tanner Frank works into his third inning. Drew HerrNeckar makes a sliding stop for the first out of the 3rd. DI Gold up 1-0. pic.twitter.com/7ryLnnOANT
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) July 31, 2018
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