Purchase, NY (May 6, 2014) – Six All-Skyline selections, one player of the year and one coach of the year.

For the second straight year, the Purchase College baseball team is all over the conference's postseason awards. Senior Michael Sarni of Purchase has been tabbed the 2014 Skyline Baseball Player of the Year in voting conducted among the conference's nine head coaches.

The Skyline coaches also selected Old Westbury's Tim Ingram as Pitcher of the Year, Kevin Duffy of Mount Saint Mary as Rookie of the Year and Adam Taraska of Purchase as Coach of the Year.

Sarni (SR/Shelton, CT) leads the conference with 35 stolen bases, ranks second in runs scored (33), fourth in batting average (.371) and fifth in both doubles (eight) and on-base percentage (.466). The second baseman has compiled 19 RBI, a team-leading 16 walks and a pair of triples.

Sarni registered his 100th career stolen base on May 3 at the Skyline Championship and is a two-time All-Conference selection.

Last season, the Panthers received the Skyline player of the year (Ronald Echavarria), pitcher of the year (Miller Lulow), rookie of the year (Adam Brant) and coach of the year (Bill Guerrero), and once again dominated the awards this spring as Sarni and catcher John Jonas (SR/Garden, NY) were named to the All-Skyline 1st Team.

In all, Purchase took home six All-Skyline selections a spring after sweeping the big awards and receiving seven all-conference picks.

Ingram owns a 6-3 record and leads the Skyline with 73 strikeouts in 60.2 innings pitched.  A two-time Rookie of the Week selection, Duffy (2-4) recorded a 3.21 earned run average in nine appearances and notched three complete games over five starts in 2014.  

Sarni and Ingram are joined on the all-conference first team by Old Westbury's John Angelino, Kevin Licul, Arismendy Nunez and Nick Yip; Vinnie Carminati and James Nakashian of Mount Saint Mary; Farmingdale State's Anthony Alvino, Edward Bergmann and Alex Weingarten; Dan Diblasi of St. Joseph's-L.I;  Julian Santulli of NYU-POLY and Jonas of Purchase.

The second-team all-conference includes Brian McLaughlin and Matthew Sollin of Maritime; Old Westbury's Jacob Coners; Josh Sharpe of Mount Saint Vincent; Farmingdale State's Kenneth Johntry, Michael Marino and Tom Rydzewski; Leandro Francisco (SR/Bedford Hills, NY), Chris Nast (JR/Pound Ridge, NY), Michael Piekarczyk (FR/Dudley, MA) and Michael Skoller (SR/East Meadow, NY) of Purchase; and Mount Saint Mary's Brandon Lubrano.

Nast had a superb spring with pristine 1.93 conference ERA in the regular season, which included two shutouts, most notably the final regular-season victory against Mount Saint Mary. Nast went a team best 5-1 and held opponents to a .170 batting average, ranking among the best in the Skyline. The lefty later won Purchase's lone playoff game against SJC-LI, taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

Jonas did a great job catching a staff that included two aces in Brant and Nast. He also hit three home runs and established himself as one of the top catchers in the conference for one of the top teams as Purchase finished as the No. 2 seed.  The senior catcher collected 18 RBI in 25 regular-season games, garnering a weekly honor during the season.

Piekarczyk was named Skyline Rookie of the Week earlier in the spring, and batted .305, and played incredible defense at first base. He started 16 conference regular-season games, picking up 18 hits in 16 games.

Skoller, a standout shortstop, may have the best glove in the league at his position. He also batted over .300 in conference play during the regular season, while slugging over .400. The contact hitter had 30 hits in 26 games.

Francisco played well in the outfield and continued to perform well at the plate in his senior campaign, where he was among the best designated hitters in the conference. He batted nearly .400 in league play on the season, collecting 19 RBIs, three doubles and seven stolen bases.

In his first season at Purchase, Taraska, who was an assistant for Guerrero last spring, guided the Panthers to a 12-4 conference record and a share of the Skyline regular-season crown. At 17-12 overall, PC earned a berth in the ECAC Metro Region Championship and will face FDU-Florham on May 9 in the opening round. Taraska is a graduate of the University of Bridgeport with a degree in Human Services.

2014 SKYLINE BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

First-Team School Cl. Pos. Hometown Avg. Runs RBI

John Jonas Purchase Sr. C Goshen, NY .244 17 21
Kevin Licul Old Westbury Sr. 1B Levittown, NY .295 19 18
Michael Sarni* Purchase Sr. 2B Shelton, Conn. .371 33 19
James Nakashian Mount Saint Mary So. 2B Massapequa, NY .365 15 13
Anthony Alvino Farmingdale State Jr. SS Lindenhurst, NY .375 19 31
John Angelino Old Westbury Sr. 3B Shirley, NY .358 15 22
Edward Bergmann Farmingdale State Sr. OF East Meadow, NY .441 40 23
Vinnie Carminati Mount Saint Mary Sr. OF Huntington, NY .392 23 26
Nick Yip Old Westbury Jr. OF Elmhurst, NY .324 31 29
Dan Diblasi St. Joseph's-L.I. Sr. DH Lindenhurst, NY .342 16 24
Julian Santulli NYU-Poly Sr. UT Staten Island, NY .396 9 5

ERA W-L K
Tim Ingram** Old Westbury Jr. P Westbury, NY 3.41 6-3 73
Arismendy Nunez Old Westbury Sr. P Bronx, NY 2.13 6-2 72
Alex Weingarten Farmingdale State So. P East Rockaway, NY 1.60 5-1 34

Second-Team

Kenneth Johntry Farmingdale State Fr. C Yaphank, N.Y. .238 16 7
Michael Piekarczyk Purchase Fr. 1B Dudley, Mass. .264 19 12
Tom Rydzewski Farmingdale State Jr. 2B Franklin Square, N.Y. .296 30 22
Michael Skoller Purchase Sr. SS East Meadow, N.Y. .306 24 18
Brian McLaughlin Maritime Fr. 3B Massapequa, N.Y. .320 12 26
Jacob Coners Old Westbury Jr. OF Selden, N.Y. .353 32 27
Michael Marino Farmingdale State Jr. OF Franklin Square, NY .347 29 23
Josh Sharpe Mount Saint Vincent Sr. OF Ronkonkoma, NY .324 27 33
Leandro Francisco Purchase Sr. DH Bedford Hills, NY .347 15 19
Matthew Sollin Maritime Jr. UT Rockville Centre, NY .232 21 13

ERA W-L K
Brandon Lubrano Mount Saint Mary So. P Mineola, NY 3.05 7-7 28
Chris Nast Purchase Jr. P Pound Ridge, NY 2.25 6-1 28

*Player of the Year: Michael Sarni, Purchase
**Pitcher of the Year: Tim Ingram, Old Westbury
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Duffy, Mount Saint Mary
Coach of the Year: Adam Taraska, Purchase
Tournament MVP: Edward Bergmann, Farmingdale State

-With Skyline Assistant Commissioner Stephen Haug