By PATRICK WALSH
Carson Joint led Honeoye Falls-Lima on a late-season surge. Hilton’s James Capellupo broke Section V’s single-season shutout record. Irondequoit’s Connor Gresens earned the honors for the second straight season. Michael Sardou helped Churchville-Chili to the top seed in sectionals. The three seniors and one junior were named 2023 Players of the Year for their respective divisions as announced by Monroe County coaches.
Capellupo finished with a 7-1 record to lead the Cadets and was named Monroe County Division I Player of the Year. A First Team All-County performer his sophomore and junior seasons, Capellupo logged an ERA of 0.27 over 52 innings pitched. He struck out 88 batters on the season and had six shutouts. The University of Massachusetts-Lowell commit broke a Section V record with his sixth shutout of the year when he hurled two-hitter against Brighton. Of the six shutouts, one was a no-hitter on May 8 against Webster Schroeder (3-0), two were two-hitters against Brighton (4-0) and Victor (3-0) and in three Capellupo only allowed one knock. In all six of his starts, Capellupo fanned double-digit batters, with the most being 17 in his no-hitter against Schroeder. The senior led Hilton to a 16-4 regular season record and a Monroe County Division I title.
Teammates Steven Kraus and Jeffery Broadnax joined Capellupo on the Division I All-County team. Kraus batted .400 and slugged .631. Of his 26 hits on the season, Kraus connected on six doubles along with three long balls. On the mound, he was 4-2 with an ERA of 3.69 and fanned 38 batters. Broadnax batted for .373, with a .593 slugging percentage. He drove in 14, scored 17 and launched two home runs.
Carter Fink, Weston Elkovitch and Cooper Loyal were named Division I first-team for Victor. Fink, a Niagara University commit, hurled 47.2 innings, striking out 62. At the dish, he batted .313, drove in 12 and smacked five doubles. Elkovitch batted .350, slugging three home runs and drove in 20. Elkovitch struck out 50 in 39.0 innings of work. Loyal recorded a .271 batting average, hitting two long balls and driving in 12.
Webster Schroeder teammates Jack Kelly and Jack Cannon received All-County Division I honors. Kelly posted a 2-1 record on the mound and had a 1.75 ERA. From the batter’s box, Kelly put up a .277 batting average and scored eight runs. Cannon batted .403, smacking three triples, one home run and scoring 20 runs. Cannon had a 2-0 record and a 2.45 ERA during the regular season.
Fairport’s Sam Miller and Antonio Jorge also made the first team. Miller pitched to a 5-1 record on the mound with a 0.78 ERA, striking out 55 over 44.2 innings. At the plate, Miller strung together a .469 average, three home runs, driving in 29 and scoring 24 runs. Jorge had a 4-1 record and an ERA of 1.27 over six games pitched.
Alex Young made the All-County team from Penfield. The catcher had a .377 batting average and slugged two home runs while driving in 10. Rush-Henrietta’s Evan Brock rounded out the first team. Brock connected for 29 hits, four home runs, 16 RBI and had a batting average of .446.
Michael Sardou led Churchville-Chili to the top seed in Class A1 and earned Monroe County Division II Player of the Year. The junior sprinkled 28 hits, two of which were long balls. He had a .400 batting average. Sardou brought home 30 runs and scored 23. On the mound, Sardou won five games. Against Greece Athena on April 11, Sardou went 2-for-4 and drove in four while going 5.1 innings on the mound, allowing one run on five hits and striking out five in a 7-1 Churchville-Chili victory.
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Sardou’s teammates Cooper Romich and Braedon Reina also made the Division II first team squad. Romich strung together 23 hits, one home run and drove in 21 runs for a .359 batting average. Reina batted .453 and slugged one home run of his own. The junior shortstop drove in 11 and scored 21 times.
Josh Butka, Shane Talbot and Eddie Frusci all made the team from Webster Thomas. Butka, a senior, smacked 26 hits for a batting average of .400, drove in 10 and scored 19 runs. Talbot posted a 1-1 record on the mound with a 1.40 ERA and struck out 13. At the plate, Talbot accumulated a .286 average, driving in 13 and scoring 18 runs for the Titans. Frusci smacked a .407 batting average, consisting of 22 hits and drove in 13 runs.
Spencerport teammates Zachary Lamberton and Frank Grad IV made the Division II first team. Lamberton registered a 6-1 record in eight starts. The sophomore fanned 53 batters while walking 12. He allowed nine earned runs. Grad batted .403 with eight extra-base hits including two home runs, 15 RBI and 12 runs scored. Brighton’s Wes Sturrup and Gates Chili’s Zac Antinelli rounded out the Division II team. Antinelli connected on 16 hits, driving in three and scoring six.
Connor Gresens garnered Division III Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. Behind the plate, Gresens erased 6-of-17 attempted base stealers and back-picked one runner. At the plate, the three-time First Team All-County performer hit .397 with a .500 on-base percentage. The senior had seven multi-hit games, recording three hits twice, one against Pittsford Sutherland on May 5 and against Gates-Chili on May 7. Gresens drove in 18 and scored 23 times, with one home run and nine steals.
On the mound, Gresens recorded three wins and had a perfect 1.000 save percentage (3-for-3). He had an ERA of 0.62. The senior was sure-handed on the year, committing no errors.
Teammate Carraig Jones joined Gresens on the Division III team. Jones slashed .435/.514/.700 with two home runs, 22 RBI, 23 runs scored. The junior had three triples, seven doubles and 12 steals.
Connor Osier, Sammy Saucke, Derrick Allen and Riley Catena all made the team from Greece Athena. Osier hurled 52 innings on the mound, compiling a 5-1 record. The junior struck out 83 and finished with an ERA of 1.06, leading to his third All-County nomination. At the dish, he drove in 18 runs and scored 10. Saucke hit .407 with 14 RBI, and 20 runs scored. Allen compiled a .339 average, consisting of 21 hits including six doubles with 17 RBI and 15 runs scored. Catena had a .368 batting average, strung together 21 hits and drove in 11 runs.
Brockport teammates Brayden Scaccia and Cooper Harvey both made the Division III team. Scaccia hit .324 with a .364 on-base percentage and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging) of .828. The junior had eight doubles and one triple. He appeared eight times on the mound and struck out 22 batters over 22 innings. In the field, he played errorless with 64 chances over the course of the season. Harvey also appeared eight times on the rubber, posting an ERA of 2.77 and striking out 44 over 43 innings.
Matt Pawlicki and Parker Drees rounded out the Division III team. Pawlicki made the team from Canandaigua with a .323 batting average. He smacked four doubles and drove in 19 while scoring 18. The center fielder did not commit an error in 38 put-out attempts during the regular season. Drees slashed .421/.673/.592 with one home run, 16 RBI and 18 stolen bases.
Honeoye Falls-Lima senior Carson Joint earned Division IV Player of the Year honors. Halfway through the 2023 campaign, the Cougars sat at a 5-5 record and then rode a five-game win streak to the Class A2 sectional title. Joint spearheaded an offense that scored 7.43 runs in its last seven games. The senior notched a .426 batting average, recording nine multi-hit games and driving in 15 runs while scoring 15.
Joint toed the rubber seven times out of the bullpen, logging a 1-1 record with four saves and a 1.91 ERA. His longest outing was three innings of one-hit ball against Brockport on May 5 when he struck out two batters. Joint fanned 13 batters over 11 innings of work on the year.
Cougar teammates Nate Weber and Landon Hammond also made the All-County team. Weber started nine games this regular season for Honeoye Falls-Lima, compiling a 5-5 record, fanning 51 over 65.1 innings pitched. At the dish, Weber notched 20 hits, driving in 10 while scoring 11. Hammond batted .302 during the regular season, bringing home four runs and scoring four of his own.
Pittsford Sutherland comrades Paul Byrne, Thomas Carter and Max Vorrasi all joined the Division IV All-County team. Byrne hurled 43 innings, posting a 5-0 record with a 1.46 ERA, 1.09 WHIP (walks + hits/inning) and 66 strike outs. Batters had a .166 average against Byrne. Carter fanned 77 over 53 innings of work with an ERA of 2.60. He finished with a WHIP of 1.2o and opposing batters hit .216 against the right-hander. The senior had a 7-3 record. Vorrasi had a .327 average at the plate with five doubles and drove in nine while scoring 10.
Bronx Buchholz, Cole Grazioplene and Shawn Kimball made the team from Batavia. Buchholz went 5-0 on the mound hurling four complete games and striking out 46 in 33 innings. Grazioplene batted .381 with 15 RBI, one home run, 15 stolen bases and scored 15 runs. Kimball struck out 69 in 48 innings of work and threw three complete games.
Noah Lerner-Morelle and Brennen Russo rounded out the Division IV squad. Lerner-Morelle posted a 4-3 record with a 2.10 ERA during the season. He hurled six complete games, one shutout, and struck out 42 over 50 innings of work. Russo batted .433, connecting on three bombs and driving in 17 while scoring 23.
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