ROCHESTER, NY - A program record nine members of the Utica University baseball team were named Empire 8 All-Conference selections, as announced by the conference on Wednesday.
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) earned first team honors and was also the second-highest vote getter for Empire 8 Player of the Year. The junior is slashing .362/.472/.562 through 34 games and starts in center field for the Pioneers while each of his batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage rank within the top-10 in the E8. He has also totaled two home runs this season and has driven in a career-high 25 runs while owning a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in the outfield.
Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) was named to the first team as an outfielder after finishing the regular season as the league's batting champion. McCullough remains the leading hitter in the conference through the semifinals with a .418 batting average over 79 trips to the plate. The outfielder has also set career-highs this season with 33 hits, 25 runs scored, 22 RBI, as well as his batting average.
Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) was named to his second straight all-conference team, this season as a first team honoree after earning second team honors in 2021. The infielder is 10th in the league batting .346 while his .481 on-base percentage ranks sixth in the E8. After a slow start to the season where he was 6-for-26 at the plate, Muentener heated up once the calendar turned to April as he owns a .384 average (30-for-78) while having hits in 21 of his last 27 outings. He also has set new career-bests with 30 runs scored and 26 RBI and leads the team with a .481 on-base percentage
Zac Cronk (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) received his second consecutive second team honor as a second baseman. The senior has slashed .267/.337/.320 so far this season and has averaged an RBI per hit (20-20). Over 75 at-bats, Cronk struck out a mere five times while working 10 walks while also totaling 24 bases and scoring 16 runs for the team.
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) was named second team shortstop as well as second team relief pitcher. In his first season with the Pioneers after transferring from SUNY Cortland, May is fourth on the team and within the top-10 in the E8 with a .342 batting average over 34 games and 114 at-bats. He leads the team with a 1.007 on-base plus slugging percentage as he is tied for the team lead with four triples, is second with three home runs and 30 RBI and is third with 39 hits and 33 runs scored. On the mound, May has thrown 15 innings of relief over 11 games, including the final 2.1 innings in game three of the semifinals against Sage. May is 0-1 on the season with a 3.00 ERA and four saves, which is the second-most in a single season in program history. He has also totaled 22 strikeouts to eight walks while opponents have his just .161 off of the hard-throwing righty.
Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) earned second team honors after leading all designated hitters in batting average (.331), hits (42), home runs (4), and runs driven in (35) amongst other statistics. Battista tops Utica with 35 games played/starts, 42 hits, 12 doubles, four triples, four home runs, a .583 slugging percentage and 74 total bases over a team-high 127 at-bats. The 2021 New York ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-Region selection and 2021 Empire 8 First Team All-Conference selection is also three hits away from becoming the 17th player in program history to reach 100 for his career.
Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was named as a second team starting pitcher and was the second-highest vote getter for the league's Pitcher of the Year award. As a freshman in 2021, Cardone pitched 18 innings over seven games while owning a 7.50 ERA as a primary third baseman. This season, Cardone leads Utica and is tied for second in the E8 with five wins (5-1) while his 2.08 ERA is second in the conference and is the seventh-lowest for a single season in program history. Over 199 batters faced, 52 innings pitched and nine appearances, opponents have hit .236 on the sophomore while he has also struck out 44 batters to issuing just 10 walks.
Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) earned second team honors as a relief pitcher. After appearing in eight games with 13.2 innings pitched in 2021, Mangino has appeared in a team-high 15 games out of the bullpen for the Pioneers in 2022. Over 17.2 innings of relief, the junior has a 4-0 record with a 3.57 ERA and a .243 batting average against as well as 21 strikeouts over 70 batters faced.
Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland) was Utica's recipient of the Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year Award. One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2022 Baseball Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference 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.
