By DYLAN O’LOUGHLIN
John Swartz and Victor won the Monroe County Division I title. Aaron Reina paced Churchville-Chili to the Division II title and a second seed in the postseason. Derrick Allen helped Greece Athena grab the best record in Class AA. Cam Barbulean led Pittsford Mendon to the top seed in Class A. Evan Bishop and Eastridge earned a share of a divisional title while Jack Kelly led Webster Schroeder to 12 regular season wins and a first-round bye in sectionals. Monroe County coaches honored the six student-athletes with top post-season awards.
Kelly finished 2-1 on the mound, striking out 44 while allowing 19 hits and 15 walks with a 2.00 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP through 31.2 innings to earn Division I Co-Player of the Year. The senior right-hander’s best game this season was against Webster Thomas on April 25th as he struck out six over seven scoreless innings to pick up the win. The St. Bonaventure University commit racked up 144 strikeouts through 105 innings pitched and played six different positions throughout his varsity career. At the plate, the senior posted a .436 batting and a .508 on-base percentage with 24 hits including four doubles. Kelly also collected six stolen bases, crossed home plate 20 times and drove in 12 runs on the season.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM LAURA ACCIAIO.
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Swartz collected 30 hits including eight doubles and one triple for a .406 batting average and a .447 on-base percentage as part of an effort that saw the senior named Division I Co-Player of the Year. He also posted a .580 slugging percentage and 1.027 OPS along with a total of 28 runs and 22 RBI this season. On the mound, the right-hander went 2-2 with two saves. In 33.2 innings, he struck out 16 with 12 walks and posted a 1.57 WHIP. Swartz posted an opening-night league win over Webster Schroeder when he pitched 6.2 innings. Swartz also hurled a two-hit shutout over Hilton on April 28th and picked up the save on May 5th in the bottom of the seventh against Fairport. To go along with his go-ahead homer, Swartz also protected a one-run lead as the senior earned the save against Penfield to secure the title.
Joining Kelly and Swartz on the Monroe County Division I First Team include teammates Tyler Cannon (Schroeder), Matthew Lanning (Victor) and Nick Kriegelstein (Victor). Caden Richards, Mason Davey and Matt Turner all earned honors from Rush-Henrietta while Owen Andreatta and Sam Roselli got the nod out of Fairport. Jack Lander (Hilton) and Joey Bianchi (Penfield) rounded out the Division I First Team squad.
Victor’s Sean Rucker was named Division I Coach of the Year.
Reina (Churchville-Chili) garnered the Player of the Year honor out of Division II. At the dish, the senior ended his varsity career with a .550 batting average, a .582 on-base percentage and a 1.332 OPS. The Saints’ shortstop also finished with a .750 slugging percentage with 33 hits on the season including eight doubles and two triples. To go along with that, Reina drove in 21 runs while adding 14 runs of his own.
Teammates Bobby Rule Jr., Lucas Karelus and Marcus Roney joined Reina on the Monroe County Division II First Team. AJ LaLoggia, Tyler Estelle, Joey Baller and Jake DiCicco all received honors out of Webster Thomas while Brighton’s Wes Sturrup, Nolan Bonnell and Grady Hopkin also earned the honor. Gates Chili’s Jaylen Givens rounded out the squad.
Kevin Neenan (Webster Thomas) and Bob Rule (Churchville-Chili) shared divisional Coach of the Year.
Allen (Athena) and Barbulean (Mendon) shared the Division III Player of the Year honors. Allen finished with a .471 batting average and .662 slugging percentage at the dish with a .560 on-base percentage and 1.221 OPS. The senior notched 32 hits including five doubles and four triples with 19 runs batted in. He also stole 32 bases this season and crossed home plate 25 times as well.
The Niagara County CC commit finished 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and four stolen bases against Pittsford Mendon on April 7th and had another four-hit day against Eastridge on May 9th with a double, a triple, two RBI and three runs. On May 12th, the senior went 3-for-4 with two triples, a stolen base, a run and an RBI against Brockport and on April 23rd vs Canandaigua, Allen collected three hits including a double, three RBI, a run and a stolen base.
On the mound, the senior right-hander went 5-1 with 60 strikeouts for a 2.28 ERA, .200 opposing batting average and a 1.15 WHIP through 46 innings pitched. In a win against Mendon on April 7th, he hurled 5.1 no-hit innings with six strike outs. He struck out 11 in a complete-game shutout on May 12th against Brockport and posted five more strikeouts over six scoreless innings to take down Hilton on May 19th.
Barbulean posted career highs with 29 hits, 24 RBI and eight doubles in his senior campaign. Some of the senior’s best games offensively include a 3-for-3 outing with three RBI against Batavia on May 27th and a 3-4 day with a double, four RBI and two runs on April 14th against Wayne. On April 4th against Aquinas, Barbulean collected three hits including a double, two RBI and two runs and ended 3-4 at the dish with one run batted in a win over Pittsford Sutherland on May 3rd. Against Eastridge on May 6th, the Clarkson University commit went 2-3 including a home run along with four RBI and two scores. In the Class A Far West Regional against Amherst (VI), Barbulean walked it off with a sacrifice bunt to drive in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth to lift Pittsford Mendon to the Class A state semifinals.
On the mound this season, Barbulean went 7-2 in 10 starts. He struck out 98 and issued 21 walks over 57 innings of work and posted an ERA of 1.60. The left-hander surpassed the career milestone of 175 strikeouts. He struck out 16 while allowing one run on three hits over seven innings to earn the win in the Class A Sectional Final against Eastridge. Then in the regionals, he fanned 16 over nine scoreless innings of one-hit ball.
Joining Allen and Barbulean on the Monroe County Division III First-Team include teammates Parker Goodness (Athena), Sammy Saucke (Athena), Noah Sansone (Mendon) and Colden Forney (Mendon). Cole Harris and Jack Clark got the nod out of Canandaigua while Brockport’s Brayden Scaccia and Myles Sherman earned first-team honors.
Pittsford Mendon’s Shaun Caveny was named Division III Coach of the Year.
Bishop (Eastridge) received the Division IV Player of the Year. The senior was 6-1 this season on the mound with 72 strikeouts while allowing 35 hits, 19 walks and eight earned runs through 55 innings pitched. The right-hander posted a 1.02 ERA on the season as well as a .982 WHIP and a .179 BAA. To go along with that the senior reached the career milestone of 170 strikeouts during the season and his best performance comes in the postseason where Bishop struck out 13 while allowing one run on four hits over seven innings in the sectional semifinal against Honeoye Falls-Lima.
At the plate, Bishop posted a .386 batting average with a .527 on-base percentage and a 1.142 OPS. The senior also put up a .614 slugging percentage with 27 hits including eight doubles, one triple and two home runs while driving in 13 runs. Bishop’s best performance at the dish came in the sectional semifinal as the senior hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to break a 0-0 tie and send Eastridge to the Class A final.
Teammate James Dietz joined Bishop on the Monroe County Division IV First Team while Aidan Kress, Tyler Allen and Sam Byrne were all nominated out of Pittsford Sutherland. Bronx Buchholz and Jameson Motyka earned honors representing Batavia while Jack Farabell and Jake Weber were recognized from Honeoye Falls-Lima. Tyler Ashton (Greece Olympia/Odyssey) rounded out the first team.
Eastridge’s Chris Taylor was named Division IV Coach of the Year.
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