Ten Tribunes move on to four-year schools

By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With a run to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II World Series in the not too distant past, Monroe Community College Baseball is reaping the benefits of a successful postseason run.

Ten former Tribunes are moving on to four-year schools including a quintet of student-athletes who will play in NCAA Division I.

“Ultimately, they’re talented athletes who needed an opportunity to grow, needed instruction, needed shining up in a sense,” said head coach Dave Brust. “And they got that opportunity.”

Aidan Gallagher (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./ John Jay East Fishkill), Connor Osier (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena), Braedon Reina (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili), Michael Sardou (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) and Jaden Sherwood (Batavia, N.Y./Notre Dame-Batavia) will all continue their careers at the Division I level.

Osier committed to the University of Cincinnati of the Big 12 in late May. The 6-foot-5 right-hander hurled eight shutout innings when Monroe defeated host UConn-Avery Point, 4-0 in the East District qualifier. The win was the first of six straight for the Tribunes.

One week later, Osier hurled five innings in the Tribs mercy-rule shortened win (13-3) over Mercer County in the district championship tournament.

Sherwood, who made a team-high 20 appearances on the mound, will continue his career at Valparaiso University in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The right-hander finished with four wins and four saves over 49.2 innings of work.

Sardou led a Tribune lineup that finished tied for 13th in the nation with a. 344 batting average. The sophomore second baseman posted team-highs in batting average (.426), on-base percentage (.544) and slugging (.750). His 11 triples were tops in the nation.

Sardou will attend St. Bonaventure University of the Atlantic 10.

Reina will move on to Fordham University of the Atlantic 10.

Reina led all Tribune hitters with six home runs, none bigger than his three-run shot in the 10th inning to help MCC secure a 16-9 victory over Iowa Central CC in the first round of the NJCAA Division II World Series.

Gallagher will continue his academic and athletic careers at Bryant University of the America East Conference.

The Tribunes’ leadoff hitter and centerfielder paced MCC with 65 hits in 171 at-bats.

Zane Barron (Ormond Beach, Fl./Seabreeze) will attend Flagler University of the DII Peach Beach Conference while Cos Zeiser (Victor, N.Y./Victor HS) moves on to Oklahoma Baptist of the Division II Great American Conference. Ben Buxton (Marysville, ON/St. Theresa Catholic Secondary) will continue at Georgian Court University of the Division II Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

Parker Holden (Rochester, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) and Jadon Wanat (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) will take their talents to Division III SUNY Fredonia.

“They were able to learn how to win and learn the things that help you win in higher-level baseball,” Brust said when asked what helped his former players get recruited to four-year schools.

Brust pointed out his squad’s ability to move runners, take extra bases and pitch ahead – characteristics of a team with a high game acumen that should translate well at the NCAA level.

“All simple things on paper, all complex on a baseball field, but an important place to learn how to do it is playing at our level of baseball… I can’t say enough about how well this team mastered complimentary baseball. And learning how to make the routine plays routinely.”

Gallagher was among five Tribunes who earned All-NJCAA Academic honors. Part of an overall effort that saw MCC Baseball post a 3.08 team GPA.

“A lot of that goes back to the moms and dads,” the 14th-year coach said of his team’s success in the classroom. “They already had some good habits built in, and we expect those habits. They find that the overall culture is you go to class and you take care of your business in the classroom.”

Tristan Pappas (Richmond Hill, ON/St. Therese of Lisieux CHS) garnered First Team honors All-Academic while Stefano Peloso (Ottawa, ON/ St. Pius X) was named to the Second Team.

“It’s a compliment to the parents,” Brust said. “We have a culture of academic success, and we certainly want to sign more players that have that culture already built into their home life. Roughly three quarters of our team had a GPA of 3.0 or better. And a quarter of our team had a GPA of 3.5 or better.”

Gallagher was named to the Third Team along with Wanat and Jayden Pavao (Hamilton, ON/Bishop Tonnos Catholic).