ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Empire 8 Athletic Conference released its Baseball All-Conference teams on Tuesday, as two Soaring Eagles garnered postseason honors for their accomplishments during the regular season. Junior Connor Stone was selected to the second team, while senior Matteo Salvati was named to the Sportsman of the Year Team.

One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2025 Empire 8 Baseball Sportsman 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.

For Elmira College, the Sportsman of the Year recipient was senior outfielder Matteo Salvati. He started and played in 37 of Elmira's 38 games this season, while batting .306 with 38 hits, two home runs, and 22 runs batted in. All-time for the Soaring Eagles, Salvati ranks in the top five of several different offensive categories, including batting average, runs, hits, doubles, runs batted in, walks, and hit by pitches.

Stone garnered his first all-conference recognition as a member of the second team at catcher for Elmira. He is the second catcher for the Soaring Eagles to earn all-conference accolades in program history (Jourdan Plaisted '21, second team, 2023). This marks the 10^th straight season that the Soaring Eagles have had a player named to the second team.

Stone batted .319 through 34 games played this season for Elmira, with 29 hits, four doubles, two triples, seven home runs, and 29 runs batted in. His seven home runs tied him with Erik Charnetski '24 for the most in a single-season for the Purple & Gold, while his 12 career home runs rank second behind Dylan Bellinger '17, who hit 13 home runs.  


Empire 8 Baseball Major Award Winners:
Player of the Year: Zach Eldred, Sr., P/OF/1B, SUNY Brockport
Pitcher of the Year: Anthony Lapine, Sr. P, SUNY Brockport
Defensive Player of the Year: Jason Mansell, Sr., C, SUNY Brockport 
Rookie of the Year: Jordan Perry, Fr. OF, St. John Fisher
Coaching Staff of the Year: SUNY Brockport, led by head coach Justin Beach


ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com and YouTube.