UTICA, NY - This weekend presents a pivotal chapter in the story of Utica Baseball as they engage in a battle for playoff positioning with some direct Empire 8 competition in St. John Fisher. The Pioneers and Cardinals are both currently jockeying for the number three spot in the conference's baseball standings. With only the top three seeds getting an automatic berth to the double-elimination portion of the Empire 8 Tournament, a top three finish is imperative for both teams. The Pioneers will travel to Dugan Yard this weekend for a three-game series with the Cardinals in Pittsford, New York. The two teams will fight for an edge heading down the stretch in this 2024 Empire 8 Baseball Championship rematch. You couldn't ask for anything better as the Empire 8 Baseball Tournament approaches.
 
Here is the schedule for this weekend
 
Saturday, April 12th
12:30 PM - vs. St. John Fisher (Game one) (7 innings)
3:30 PM - vs. St. John Fisher (Game two) (9 innings)
 
Sunday, April 13th
1:00 PM - vs. St. John Fisher (Game Three) (9 innings)
 
Please note that dates and times are subject to change depending on weather and other restrictions. Keep an eye on our social media for updates relating to such occurrences.
 
Streaming Details for this Week's Matchups: You can catch all the action by heading to the "Watch" tab under each matchup on the baseball schedule section of our athletics website or by heading to the link below.
 
Games 1 & 2 stream: https://www.empire8network.com/stjohnfisher/?B=2345509
 
Game 3 stream: https://www.empire8network.com/stjohnfisher/?B=2345517
 
Follow Along with Live Stats: Follow the link below to view live statistics for this week's slate!
 
St. John Fisher live stat link: https://sjfathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
 
Setting the Scene: 2024 - opening round and championship, 2023 - second round, 2022 - championship, 2021 - championship. These are all the recent meetings between the Pioneers and Cardinals in the Empire 8 Baseball Playoffs since the cancellation of the 2020 season. With meetings in each and every postseason since then, this rivalry has been pushing to new heights. With the addition of Brockport to the mix this year, the regular season battle between Utica and St. John Fisher has become even more impactful, with less spots available for entry into the final round of the E8 postseason. Currently, the Pioneers possess a slight edge over Fisher for the crucial third spot in the Empire 8 standings. The orange and blue hold a 6-2 record, narrowly beating out the Cardinals thanks to a slightly superior conference winning percentage with their rivals owning a 6-3 conference record. With Brockport and Russell Sage both undefeated at the top of the standings, and only SUNY Poly preventing a huge dropoff after the top four teams, this weekend's series could ultimately decide who gets an automatic berth to the final rounds of the Empire 8 Tournament. Despite the slight difference in conference record, both teams have 12 points and will look to jump ahead of the other during the three-game set.
 
Empire 8 Outlook: With all this talk about the Empire 8 Tournament, it's time to take a look at how the conference postseason is structured this season. First, here are the current Empire 8 standings:


1: Brockport - 16 pts - 19-2-1 (8-0 E8)
2: Russell Sage - 14 pts - 13-7 (7-0 E8)
3: Utica - 12 pts - 11-6-1 (6-2 E8)
4: St. John Fisher - 12 pts - 11-12 (6-3 E8)
5: SUNY Poly - 10 pts - 9-12 (5-5 E8)
6: Houghton - 6 pts - 11-11 (3-7 E8)
 
7: Keuka - 6 pts - 9-14 (3-9 E8)
8: Elmira - 4 pts - 8-17 (2-9 E8)
9: Alfred - 2 pts - 3-17 (1-7 E8)
 
The conference postseason presents a bit of an unorthodox structure, but one that is sure to create lots of excitement and storylines as this year's champion is crowned. Here's how it works:
 
The 2025 Empire 8 Conference Baseball Tournament will feature the conference's top six teams from regular season play. The No. 5 seed will host the No. 6 seed on Tuesday, May 6. The winner of that game will play the No. 4 seed in an elimination game at the site of the top overall seed on Thursday, May 8. The winner of the 4 vs. 5/6 game will advance to the double elimination portion of the tournament. The double elimination tournament will begin on Thursday, May 8, hosted by the top overall seed. The Empire 8 Champion earns an automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
 
If the season ended right now, this would mean that SUNY Poly would host Houghton in a do-or-die game on May 6th, with the winner traveling to Brockport. That team would then face off with St. John Fisher at Brockport for the right to participate in the double-elimination portion of the tournament. Because of this gauntlet, the top three seeds should be even more sought after than usual, as the importance of advancing to the double-elimination round with minimal effort cannot be understated.
 
Last ups = lock, first ups = ?: Since returning from Florida, the Pioneers have played a plethora of matchups at home, with six of their nine outings taking place in Utica. During this string of showdowns, the Pioneers have used their status as the home team to their advantage, with two come-from-behind victories capped off by two walk-off knocks courtesy of Steve Sclafani (North Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale) and Mike Rockwell (Liverpool, NY/Cicero), while they nearly notched a trio of game-winners but saw their meeting with Skidmore stopped early due to insufficient daylight. The Pioneers have been adept at clutching up late in contests, scoring eight total runs in their last inning at the Plate during each of their six home games. This upcoming stretch of games will cause the team to adapt their playstyle, as they'll need to get hot early in the game with 10-straight road games on the docket. The Pioneers are 3-2 on the road, with not a ton of away experience this season. Their schedule over the next few weeks will give them a lot of insight into how to shift their tactics when getting the initial at-bats of each game. It will also be the most important stretch for seeding purposes, as the standings will most likely shake out based on the next few weeks of results. If the Pioneers play well enough on the road, they could potentially place themselves in the hosting conversation. Something of note regarding that; the Pioneers will welcome league leaders Brockport for the final regular season series in early May.
 
E8 Excellence: With the conference season well underway, it's time to take a peek at the Pioneers' top performers among the Empire 8 ranks. The team as a whole ranks fourth in both offense and defense, providing a balanced approach to the game. With a team average of .293, 8.1 runs scored per game, and nine hits per game, the Pioneer offense still ranks out as a top tier lineup in the Empire 8. Pair that with a 6.28 ERA, 6.8 runs allowed per game, and 8.5 hits allowed per game, and the Pioneers are outperforming their opponents on a game-to-game basis. If this young group can keep improving, then they should be able to really hit their stride over the next few weeks of conference play.
 
On an individual level, the team is littered with standout performers on both offense and defense.
 
Mike Rockwell (Liverpool, NY/Cicero) and Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) currently possess the 12th and 13th best averages in the conference, posting a .356 and .348 average respectively. Ty Montose is not too far behind, with the rookie owning a .306 average, good for 30th in the league.
 
Rockwell and Czternastek are also hitting well with runners in scoring position, with Czternastek owning the 12th best slugging percentage at .565 and Rockwell having the 13th best slugging percentage at .559.
 
In terms of all-around offense, the trio of Rockwell, Czternastek, and Montrose top the charts for the team right now, with much of their offensive success being generated by those three batters. The Pioneer lineup has been solid as a unit though, with Sclafani, Justin Mazovec (Lake Grove, NY/Centereach), Lance Berger (Lindenhurst, NY/Saint Anthony's), and Tanner Warren (Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy) striking the ball well lately.


On the mound for the Pioneers, Kooper Knabe (Cortland, NY/Cortland) has been a one-man wrecking crew, eating up innings at an absurd rate and logging some serious stats as he's stretched his record to 5-0 on the year. That five win total is currently tied for the most wins in the Empire 8 this season. The former Empire 8 Rookie of the Year currently holds the sixth best ERA in the league at 3.21, while also pitching the 11th most innings (28) and striking out the 18th most batters (19). These are excellent marks for a Pioneer pitcher who relies a lot on forcing batters into uncomfortable situations, allowing opponents to hit the ball but often causing them to produce soft contact or easy flyouts. Knabe has allowed the third fewest runs this year, with only 10 runs allowed to his name.
 
The Pioneers' other mound machine has been closer Peyton Newton (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport), who has been absolutely untouchable out of the bullpen lately. While the powerful Pioneer pitcher hasn't hurled enough innings to be eligible among the Empire 8 pitching leaders, he has accrued the third most saves with a total of two this year. He's also tied for 11th in total wins with two, an interesting spot for a closer to be in and definitely a testament to his late-game heroics. The Junior has 14 strikeouts in just 10.1 innings of work, averaging over a strikeout per inning. He's also allowed just five hits, with opposing teams grabbing one hit every two innings against the dynamic righty.
 
Focused on Fisher: The other player in this weekend's war is last year's Empire 8 Champion in St. John Fisher. The Cardinals are off to an 11-12 start to the season, with a 6-3 mark in Empire 8 play. The Cardinals have competed with a couple high-profile opponents, losing a 7-3 decision to a ranked Johns Hopkins side while capturing a 19-17 win in an 11-inning thriller against an Aurora side that was receiving ranked votes. In Empire 8 play, the Cardinals swept Elmira in a three-game set before losing two of three against Keuka. They then defeated Poly in two games before losing a Monday matchup to Brockport earlier this week. The Cardinals will look for some consistency after a flurry of mixed results to start the conference season.
 
The Cardinal offense is led by a quartet of batters who've posted high-ranking stats among the rest of the Empire 8. Fisher has a trio of batters who hold ranks three through five on the RBI list. Jordan Perry is third with 32, Jake Crantz is fourth with 27, and Jack Griffin is fifth with 26. Those three batters combined have gathered 48% of the total RBIs for the Cardinals. In the hits department, Fisher possesses the third, fifth, and seventh highest hit-getters in conference. Griffin (third, 35 hits) and Perry (fifth, 29 hits) land atop the column once again, while a new face holds the seventh spot with Jackson Frey grabbing 28 hits. Griffin, Perry, Crantz, and Frey have compiled 111 out of the Cardinals' 237 base knocks, with those four players owning 47% of all hits for Fisher.
 
On the mound, it's a three man show for the Cardinals, with Ethan Fulton, Robert Leach, and Benjamin Huckens eating up a majority of the innings for the team. The three top hurlers for Fisher have thrown a combined 82 innings, comprising 43% of the total innings pitched for the team. Fulton comes in as the Cardinals' ace, having pitched 36.2 innings so far this season in his seven starts. Fisher's number one option has posted a 3.19 ERA, good for 7th lowest in the conference. Leach isn't far behind, with the sophomore from Orchard Park holding a 4.44 ERA in his 24.1 innings of work. Huckens completes the three-headed monster with a 4.71 ERA in 21 innings of work.
 
This is shaping up to be a superb series between two top-tier Empire 8 programs.
 
After the Weekend Series vs St. John Fisher: Utica will continue their April road trip with a pair of series at Russell Sage and Houghton respectively. The Sage set will include the conclusion of game two between the two teams which is tied 7-7 in the fifth inning, as well as game three of the series. The Houghton series will take place next weekend and will be a full three-game set.