Russell Sage Baseball clinches No. 1 seed in Empire 8

AMSTERDAM, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — Russell Sage Baseball swept a doubleheader on Saturday, securing the #1 seed in the Empire 8 tournament. The Gators took down the Houghton Highlanders 2-1 in game one, and 7-0 in game two.

The doubleheader began with a Senior Day ceremony before game one. Christian Brown, of Troy, Matthew Denatale, of Rhinebeck, Sean Berry, of Red Hook, and Ricky Parks of Guilderland were all honored to kick off the day.

Game one ended in dramatic fashion after outfield grad student James Lubanski broke the 1-1 tie with a walk-off double. The win secured Russell Sage’s #1 seed in the Empire 8.

In game two, infielder Jeff Stearnes went deep twice for his ninth and 10th homers of the season. This was the junior’s third multi-homer game of the week, the last two coming against Cobleskill and Union.

“I’m seeing the ball real well,” said Stearnes. “I feel so loose and fluid in the box right now that no matter what is thrown at me, I can handle it… This team is great through and through. It’s a group full of committed and gritty guys who don’t expect praise or reward but put in the work because they love [it].”

Stearnes offensive output was complemented by Matthew Denatale’s complete game shutout, striking out five and securing the win.

“This team’s resilience is special,” said infield and assistant coach Justin Pangburn. “They’re a gritty group of guys who will do anything to get the job done for one another.

The Gators finished 16-2 in conference play, 23-15 overall. In just their third season, they will host the conference tournament.

“The young men in our program have done a great job over the duration of the season of handling many challenges and a ton of adversity,” said head coach Nick Pontari. “We’ve been fortunate at Sage to have a group of guys who find a way to compete on a daily basis, no matter the circumstance. I’m extremely proud of the discipline our team has, and the ability to bounce back and continue to fight day in and day out, no matter what’s in front of us. We’ve earned the right to host the Empire 8 tournament with a mindset of coming together and treating each other with respect, and paying the price the day asks of us.”

Pontari went on to explain the team’s slogan “rents due” and how his team has rallied around the idea of putting in work and seeing the work pay off.

“We have a slogan painted on our locker room wall, “rents due”. The guys take that to heart and want to come to practice every day ready to put great effort in and pay the price to get to where we want to go. We’ve still got a lot we want to accomplish moving forward, and that’ll come through our daily habits.”

Centerfielder and Colonie native Jared Russell echoed that sentiment, and credited the role everyone plays on the roster.

“Every single guy on our roster has played a role in what we have. We’ve had guys step up in ways that pushed our regular season championship. For me, it’s nice to host the conference championship in the third year as a program, but it doesn’t stop there. I’m ready to win the conference championship as the one seed and keep advancing.”

Junior outfielder and Clifton Park native Brendan Espinal also commented on how everyone on the team has each other’s back.

“Our success this year can be attributed to a combination of factors, but the biggest thing was that we stuck together with our approach. Every time a mistake was made on the field, we knew that one of our brothers was going to pick us up… Honestly, I could not be more proud of this team and I know there’s way more to come.”

“I can’t wait to see what lies in front of us,” Stearnes added. “Not only because it’s a first for many of us and many firsts for this program, but because I can’t wait to experience it with this group of guys no matter what the outcome may be.”

The Gators finished second in the 2023 Empire 8 Championship Tournament and will look to finish one spot better with the tournament starting Thursday. They’ll take on Houghton once again starting at noon at the Central Park A Diamond Field in Schenectady.

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