SUNYAC Releases 2024 Baseball Annual Awards
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The SUNYAC is honored to recognize the 2024 baseball top award winners including the Bob Wallace Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Don Axtell Pitcher of the Year, Clark V. Whited Rookie of the Year, Walter Nitardy Coach of the Year and the All-Conference teams as voted on by the conference coaches.
Bob Wallace Player of the Year - Jelani Hamer, Oswego
In 2024, Hamer led the league with an .842 slugging percentage including 16 doubles and four home runs. He also was No. 1 with 27 runs in 18 games. Overall Hamer was first in the conference with 21 doubles and a .725 slugging percentage. He finished the season second in the conference with 24 RBI and third with a .474 batting average in conference play. Over 37 games he was second with a .443 batting average and 54 runs and he finished third with 66 hits, 39 RBI and seven homeruns. Oswego finished the regular season ranked No. 3 and ended the season with a 23-17 overall record.
Bob "Sparky" Wallace Player of the Year - Bob "Sparky" Wallace graduated from Cortland in 1953 and began coaching the Red Dragons in 1958. In his 24 seasons as head coach, his team compiled a 366-207-3 record, winning 10 SUNYAC titles and making an NCAA appearance in 1981. Wallace was inducted into Cortland's C-Club Hall of Fame in 1979, and Cortland's baseball field is named in his honor.
Defensive Player of the Year - Alex Kornblau, Plattsburgh
Kornblau led a defense that helped the Cardinals finish the regular season No. 4 to advance to the SUNYAC championship tournament. He had 25 putouts and 44 assists in conference competition and held a .920 fielding percentage. In 39 games he was first in the league with 101 assists including 12 double plays. At the plate, Kornblau contributed 25 hits with three doubles, two triples and three homeruns in 18 conference games. He finished league play with a .357 batting average, 10 RBI and eight stolen bases. Overall he had 29 RBI and 16 stolen bases ending the season with a .372 batting average. Plattsburgh finished the 2024 season with a 24-16 record overall.
Don Axtell Pitcher of the Year - Luis Misla, Cortland
Misla led the league with a 1.62 earned run average in six appearances and recorded five wins in 39 innings pitched during conference competition. He also was No. 1 with 58 strikeouts averaging 13.38 strikeouts per game. Overall Misla is No. 1 with 70 innings pitched, seven wins, 103 strikouts (13.24 per game) and a 2.31 earned run average so far this season. The Red Dragons were the No. 1 seed going into SUNYAC postseason, but lost to New Paltz in the championship game. As the No. 1 ranked team in Region III, the team received an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III tournament.
Don Axtell Pitcher of the Year - Don Axtell was the baseball coach at Oneonta for 30 years, leading the Red Dragons to many successful seasons. His teams won or shared 10 SUNYAC titles, made the school's only visit to the ECAC Championships (1974 and 1975), and was selected as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year four times. His last Coach of the Year Award came in 1989. He also was inducted into the SUNY Oneonta Hall Of Fame in 2001 and the Waverly High School Hall of Fame.
Clark V. Whited Rookie of the Year - Nolan Smith, Cortland
In his first season with the Cortland Red Dragons, Smith played in every game including 18 conference games and 43 games overall. He finished conference competition with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage recording 72 putouts. At the plate in league play, he held a .375 batting average with 13 RBI and 11 runs on 18 hits including four doubles, one triple and one homerun. Overall Smith totaled 43 hits, 26 RBI, 23 runs, six doubles, three homeruns and one triple with a .381 batting average. Smith will play in his first NCAA tournament as Cortland hosts a four-team, double-elimination regional Friday through Sunday, May 17-19.
Clark V. Whited Rookie of the Year - Clark Whited coached the Brockport Golden Eagles for 22 years (1947-68), amassing a 128-93-1 overall record during his tenure. His 128 wins were the most of any baseball coach at the school until 2003. Whited was inducted into the inaugural class of the SUNY Brockport Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, and the current baseball/softball complex at Brockport is named in his honor. Whited passed away on October 29, 2005.
Walter Nitardy Coach of the Year - Thomas Seay, New Paltz
In his sixth season as the New Paltz head baseball coach, Seay and his team made history this season winning the program's first-ever SUNYAC baseball championship. The team finished the regular season No. 2 and beat No. 1 Cortland back-to-back to win the conference crown. Six athletes were named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament team including the MVP, Tommy Kreider and five athletes were named to the All-Conference team. The Hawks will make their first appearance in the NCAA Division III baseball tournament after earning an automatic bid. New Paltz will travel to play Eastern Connecticut State in the first game of the regionals Friday, May 17 at 2:30 p.m. The Hawks are currently 30-14 overall.
Walt "Doc" Nitardy Coach of the Year - Walter Nitardy coached the Oswego baseball team to 503 career wins in his 29 seasons. Along with being named SUNYAC Coach of the Year seven times, Nitardy compiled nine conference titles and was named the 1966 NCAA College Division East Coast Coach of the Year.
2024 Baseball All-Conference Teams (PDF)
| First Team | ||||
| Name | Pos. | School | Yr. | Hometown/High School |
| Luis Misla | P | Cortland | Jr. | Tampa, FL / Riverview |
| Xavier Zykoff | P | New Paltz | So. | Poughkeepsie / Spackenkill |
| Andrew Veit | P | Plattsburgh | Gr. | Yaphank / Bellport |
| Logan Hutter | C | Oneonta | Jr. | Smithtown / SUNY Cobleskill |
| Nolan Smith | 1B | Cortland | Fr. | Hamburg / Hamburg |
| Michael Boccarossa | 2B | New Paltz | Gr. | Port Chester / Port Chester |
| Trey McGowan | 2B | Oswego | So. | Bluepoint / Bayport-Bluepoint |
| Joey Dwyer | 3B | Oneonta | So. | Shoreham / Shoreham Wading |
| Tommy Kreider | SS | New Paltz | Jr. | New City / Clarkstown South Senior |
| Chris Bonacci | OF | Cortland | Jr. | Syracuse / West Genesee |
| Mat Bruno | OF | Cortland | Gr. | Rye / Rye |
| Jelani Hamer | OF | Oswego | Sr. | Bronx / Avon Old Farms (CT) |
| Matt Sarni | RP | New Paltz | So. | Levittown / Gen Douglas Macarthur Senior |
| Mitchell Kelly | DH | Cortland | Jr. | Webster / Webster Thomas |
| Sean Liquori | U | Oneonta | 5th | Thiells / North Rockland |
| Second Team | ||||
| Name | Pos. | School | Yr. | Hometown/High School |
| Justin DelVecchio | P | Brockport | Gr. | Cicero / Cicero-North Syracuse |
| Devin Georgetti | P | Cortland | Jr. | Rochester / Gates Chili |
| Jake Danyluk | P | Oswego | Sr. | New Windsor / Newburgh Free Academy |
| Jonah Shearer | P | Oswego | So. | Lowville / Beaver River |
| Jason Mansell | C | Brockport | Jr. | Lancaster / Lancaster |
| Zachary Kringdon | C | Cortland | Jr. | Larchmont / Mamaroneck |
| Kyle Cremin | 1B | Plattsburgh | Jr. | Yorktown Heights / Kennedy Catholic |
| Dylan Mackenzie | 3B | Cortland | Jr. | Canandaigua / Canandaigua Academy |
| Blake VanDreason | 3B | Oswego | Sr. | Sherrill / Vernon-Verona-Sherrill |
| Alex Kornblau | SS | Plattsburgh | Sr. | Pound Ridge / Fox Lane |
| Zach Eldred | OF | Brockport | Sr. | East Greenbush / Columbia |
| Michael Ascanio | OF | New Paltz | Jr. | Armonk / SUNY Plattsburgh |
| Tishawn Featherstone | OF | Oswego | Jr. | Port Jervis / Port Jervis |
| CJ McCarthy | OF | Oswego | Gr. | Pawling / Trinity Pawling |
| Sean Dertinger | RP | Oswego | Sr. | Nanuet / Nanuet |
| Cole Traudt | DH | Brockport | So. | Guilderland / Guilderland |
| David Belsito | U | Brockport | Sr. | West Seneca / St. Francis |
