Baseball | 5/12/2009 3:11:27 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - Nine members of the RIT baseball team earned All-Empire 8 postseason honors, as the league announced its 2009 award winners on Tuesday.  Senior Jeremy Tosh (Woodbine, MD/Glenelg) (Woodbine, MD/Glenelg) and junior Geoff Dornes (Landsville, PA/Hempfield) (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) were named to the first team.  Sophomores Justin Smith (Livonia, NY/Livonia) (Livonia, NY/Livonia), Dave Kernan (North Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) (North Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) and freshman Ben Robertson (Mecklenburg, NY/Trumansburg) (Meckenlburg, NY/Trumansburg) were named to the second team.  In addition, four players earned honorable mention accolades.

Tosh broke two 29-year old records held by RIT Hall of Famer Jeff Hall '80 in 2009.  He became the single season leader for runs batted in with 41 and was the first Tigers to go over 100 RBI in a career (103).  This was done in just three seasons, as Tosh was a pitcher in his first season at RIT.  Overall, Tosh hit .363 with four home runs, 41 RBI and 25 runs scored.  He finished his Tiger career in the top-10 in nearly every offensive category and was an All-Empire 8 first team selection for the third time (2006, 2008).

Dornes, the 2007 and 2008 Empire 8 Player, shrugged off a slow start, to enjoy a solid season.  Dornes was second on the Tigers with a .366 batting average and led the team with 49 hits, 33 runs scored, nine doubles and four triples.  He was a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts.  Dornes also had a 4-4 mark, 3.10 earned run average and just 11 walks allowed in 58 innings on the mound.  He was an All-Empire 8 first team selection as a hitter for the third time in three years, in addition to garnering honorable mention accolades on the hill.  Dornes is just three hits away from the all-time lead at RIT and has a chance to set numerous offensive records in 2010.

Smith tied the single-season record for stolen bases, set in 2008 by Matt George (Walton, NY/Walton).  Smith stole 23 bases in 24 attempts and hit .333 with 31 runs scored, 21 RBI and four triples.  He had the third highest on-base percentage on the team (.428).

Robertson emerged to lead the team with a sparkling .479 batting average, with 35 hits in 73 at-bats.  It was the second best single-season average in the program's history.  He recorded a .576 on-base percentage, best in one season at RIT and stole nine bases. 

Kernan, a catcher/designated hitter slammed four home runs, including a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning against Stevens on April 10.  Kernan also drove in 22 runs and was the selection as a designated hitter.

Junior Josh Rodems (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park), along with Ed Hughes (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) and Cory Langtry (Moravia, NY/Moravia) (Moravia, NY/Moravia) were honorable mention selections.

Rodems, a catcher hit .342 with 15 RBI , while Hughes spent time at second base, shortstop and third base, coming on late in the year to hit .305 with 20 runs scored, 15 RBI, eight extra base hits and seven stolen bases.  Langtry, a pitcher, tied for the team lead with four wins and tossed four complete games.

Senior first baseman Matt Austin (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport) (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport) was RIT's representative as the Empire 8 Sportsperson of the Year.  He ripped nine extra-base hits.

One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2009 Baseball Sportsman of the Year Team.  Empire 8 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.

RIT finished the season with a 19-20 overall record and were second in the Empire 8 with a 9-7 conference mark.