ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Baseball had ten student-athletes earn All-Empire 8 Conference honors. Accolade
s, based upon voting conducted by the league’s head coaches, were announced by the E8 office earlier today.
Senior pitcher/outfielder
Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) and senior shortstop
Zachary Figueras (Apopka, FL/Windermere) were both voted to the first team.
Grimes, who was voted first team for outfield and second team for utility, slashed .333/.444./.529 on the season with five home runs, 31 runs batted in, and 16 stolen bases, finishing in the top ten in the E8 in hits, home runs, at bats, walks, and stolen bases. On the mound, the senior threw 54 1/3 innings while striking out 62 batters and pitching to a 4.14 earned run average. Grimes finished fifth in the conference in earned run average, fourth in opposing batting average, and fourth in strikeouts.
Figueras, one of the ten remaining members of the original RSC baseball team, finished his senior season with a slash line of .343/.439/.562 with three home runs and 33 RBIs. The shortstop was in the top ten in multiple categories across the conference, including runs scored and doubles.
Designated Hitter James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), senior first baseman Jeff Stearns (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union), senior relief pitcher Jaylen Cuevas (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep) and Grimes were the four Gators named to the second team.
Lubanski, the program's all-time leader in RBI (132), hits (157) and doubles (44), finished his season with a .352 average and 50 runs batted in, both of which were Gator-highs, while hitting two home runs. The graduate student found himself in the top-ten among the conference in hits, RBIs, and doubles.
Stearns, who missed some time due to injury, still found himself among the top hitters in the Empire 8. The senior improved his program-best in home runs, hitting six on the season, which was good for a tie for fifth in the conference. The first baseman finished tenth in the conference in runs batted in with 38 in his shortened sample size.
Cuevas, one of the ten remaining members of the original RSC baseball team, was a force in the bullpen for the Gators. The senior tallied 35 innings with just one start and finished with a 31:9 strikeout to walk ratio.
On the third team, junior catcher Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose), starting pitcher Joe Degroot (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), a grad student, and junior relief pitcher Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) represented RSC.
Casey was third among all RSC hitters with four big flies on the campaign. The junior drove in 34 runs and slashed .280/.367/.455 parlayed with strong defense behind the plate to earn the third team selection for backstops.
Degroot, who finished third in the conference in innings pitched with 66, pitched to an earned run average of 4.23. The graduate student was in a tie for complete games with three and walked just 21 batters across his 12 appearances. Green punched out 28 batters in his 31 2/3 innings of work during his first season with RSC to earn his spot on the third team.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2024-25 E8 Baseball Sportsmen 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. Senior catcher Dylan Scherillo (Drums, PA/New Dorp) was Russell Sage's representative.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: RSC, in only its fourth season as a program, built upon the most successful season in program history in 2025…Coming off a 16-2 record in Empire 8 Conference play and an E8 Regular Season Championship, the Gators returned 25 players to go along with 18 newcomers…RSC set program single-season records for both wins and E8 Conference victories...The Gators got off to a 12-0 start in E8 play the spring…RSC clinched a spot in the E8 Championship Tournament for the fourth time with an April 23rd win vs. SUNY Poly...The Gators also reached the finals of the E8 Tournament in 2023...RSC, which entered the playoff ranked second in the Conference with a .313 batting average, scored double-digit runs 18 times...
Lubanski,
Stearns, DeGroot, and
Grimes highlight the returners…
Lubanski,
Stearns, and
Grimes made first team All-E8 Conference, while
DeGroot found himself on the second team…Four others earned all-conference honors in 2024, including senior outfielder
Jared Russell (Colonie, NY/Colonie), who was named third team All-E8…Junior infielder
Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC),
Casey, and graduate pitcher
Frederick Callo (Milton, NY/Marlboro/Utica) headline the newcomers that Head Coach
Nick Pontari brought in…
Pontari and his staff were named E8 Coaching Staff of the Year in 2024…
Stearns was selected the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 16…He hit .435 with 10 runs scored, two homers, and 10 RBI across six games… The senior began the playoffs ranked second in the Conference with a .647 slugging percentage...His 1.127 ops and six homers were both fourth on the circuit...
DeGroot was chosen the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 30…He allowed just one hit across six shutout innings to help RSC start E8 play 3-0 at Houghton…The graduate student concluded the regular season with a 3.77 ERA across 57.1 innings pitched, good for fifth and third respectively in the Conference...Junior pitcher
Xavier Garcia (San Diego, CA/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack) was selected the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the periods ending Sunday, April 6 and Sunday, April 13…The lefty allowed zero earned runs and struck out 11 Keuka batters across six innings of work in the home win on April 4…He then tossed seven shutout innings to get the win on April 11 vs. Alfred…
Garcia allowed just one hit and whiffed 12 Saxon batters to move to 3-0 in his RSC debut spring…The junior was third among Conference hurlers with 65 strikeouts...Opposing lineups were hitting just .184 off the southpaw, second-worst in the E8…
Casey was chosen an E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, May 4…He slashed .583/1.333/.706 with seven runs scored, two homers and seven RBI across the final four games of the regular season...
Figueras, tied for sixth in the E8 with 43 runs scored, ranked third in the Conference with 14 doubles...Numerous Gators have hit career milestones this season…
Lubanski is the program's career leader in RBI (132), hits (157) and doubles (43)...The grad student began the day second in the E8 with 50 RBI and fifth with 55 hits...He surpassed the 100 career RBI mark during the three-game series sweep of Alfred and had career hit number 150 on May 4 vs. Elmira…In April, senior outfielder
Leandro Guzman (New Britain, CT/New Britain),
Russell, and
Figueras tallied career hit number 100…On the mound,
Cuevas became the second Gator to record 100 career strikeouts while saving a 4-2 victory vs. Gordon on March 14...He headed into the postseason atop the E8 with three saves.
