When a team finishes the season as a Class B state finalist, a regional and a sectional champion, you know that it's going to get some well-deserved honors.
That was the case for Briarcliff (20-7) as ten Bears earned post-season awards.
“Obviously to have the number of guys that we did get honored tells you that you are a pretty talented team,” Coach John Consorti said. “More than that you have a team that believed in each other, believed in the team, basically were very resilient. It says a lot.”
Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Leading the way for the Bears was all-section junior second baseman John Fussell who raked at an amazing rate with a .506 batting average in addition to 36 RBI and six home runs.
“When you have someone of that caliber offensively, you always have a shot,” Consorti said. “He was consistent the whole year. To get to the numbers he had was pretty impressive.”
Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Another Bear who had an impressive season was all-section honorable mention junior pitcher/first baseman Paul Henshaw.
“Paul was very solid,” Consorti said. “He does the little things. He did a great job in pitching and the same at first base. He was unbelievable at first base. He’s just an all-around good player.”
Stepping up his game when it mattered the most was all-league senior pitcher Josh Miller, who was named Section 1 Class B tournament MVP.
“Josh had a good year regular-season wise and just took off pretty much toward the end of the season,” Consorti said. “He pitched against a lot of tough teams and gave us a shot to win and when playoffs rolled around he was pretty much unstoppable. He just took it to another level. He was very impressive.”
All-league junior catcher Colin Orr showed his skills by throwing out over 50 percent of the opposing base-runners, pretty much shutting down the running game of Briarcliff’s opponents. Offensively, he showed his hits counted as evidence by being second on the team in RBI to Fussell with 21.
“He had an outstanding year all-around,” Consorti said. “His play was another reason why we got to where we were.”
All-league senior third baseman Zach Ship excelled on the field and in the classroom. He was one of 10 Section 1 recipients of the Diamond 9 award, which combines academic and athletic excellence.
“Zach just does whatever you need,” Consorti said. “He was an excellent leader, he set a great example. He just seemed to get it done when we needed something to get done. He was very reliable. His presence and talent were important to us this year.”
Earning all-league honorable mention were senior shortstop Brendan Weinstein, senior right fielder Steve Hemberger, sophomore pitcher/left fielder/third base Spencer Kulman, sophomore shortstop/designated hitter Lou Carrafiello and sophomore center fielder Ryan Huegel.
Consorti said that him and his assistant coach, John Schrader, were very fortunate to coach a group of players that came together as the epitome of team.
“We had a talented team,” Consorti said. “Sometimes though when you have a talented team, things don’t fall into place sometimes, players aren’t willing to make sacrifices for the betterment of the team. But this group did whatever it was asked to do, no questions asked. Whatever was best for the team, they were in favor of.”
