
Stearns Earns E8 Torchbearer Award
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Baseball senior infielder Jeff Stearns (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union) earned the 2025 Empire 8 Conference Baseball Torchbearer Award.
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Baseball senior infielder Jeff Stearns (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union) earned the 2025 Empire 8 Conference Baseball Torchbearer Award.
The health sciences major received the honor for having the highest GPA among student-athletes that competed in Saturday's Finals of the E8 Championship Tournament.
Stearns, a second-team All-Conference selection, overcame an mid-season injury to help the Gators set program single-season records for wins and Conference victories en route to a second-place finish in the E8.
Despite the shortened sample size, he tied for fifth on the circuit with six homers and finished tenth in the Conference with 38 RBI.
Stearns, who had career hit number 100 during the playoff run, closed the season as the program career record holder for batting average (.372), homers (16), on-base percentage (.464) and slugging percentage (.628).
Gator Bites with Papa John's: RSC, which just completed its fourth season as a program, built upon the most successful season in program history in 2025…Coming off a 16-2 record in Empire 8 Conference play and an E8 Regular Season Championship, the Gators returned 25 players to go along with 18 newcomers…RSC, which got off to a 12-0 start in Conference play, set program single-season records for both wins and E8 Conference victories…The Gators clinched a spot in the E8 Championship Tournament for the fourth time in as many seasons with an April 23rd win vs. SUNY Poly...RSC reached the finals of the Tournament, held May 8-10 at No. 12 SUNY Brockport…The Gators also reached the finals of the E8 Tournament in 2023...RSC, which entered the playoff ranked second in the Conference with a .313 batting average, scored double-digit runs 18 times...10 Gators earn All-Conference honors...Senior pitcher/outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa/SUNY Adirondack) and senior shortstop Zachary Figueras (Apopka, FL/Windermere) were both voted to the first team...Grimes, who was voted first team for outfield and second team for utility, slashed .333/.444./.529 on the season with five home runs, 31 runs batted in, and 16 stolen bases, finishing in the top ten in the E8 in hits, home runs, at bats, walks, and stolen bases. On the mound, the senior threw 54 1/3 innings while striking out 62 batters and pitching to a 4.14 earned run average...HE finished fifth in the conference in earned run average, fourth in opposing batting average, and fourth in strikeouts...Figueras, one of the ten remaining members of the original RSC baseball team, finished his senior season with a slash line of .343/.439/.562 with three home runs and 33 RBIs. The shortstop was in the top ten in multiple categories across the conference, including runs scored and doubles...Outfielder James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), a graduate student, Stearns, senior relief pitcher Jaylen Cuevas (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep) and Grimes were the four Gators named to the second team...Lubanski, the program's all-time leader in RBI (132), hits (157) and doubles (44), finished his season with a .352 average and 50 runs batted in, both of which were Gator-highs, while hitting two home runs...The graduate student found himself in the top-ten among the conference in hits, RBIs, and doubles...Stearns, who missed some time due to injury, still found himself among the top hitters in the Empire 8...The senior improved his program-best in home runs, hitting six on the season, which was good for a tie for fifth in the conference...The first baseman finished tenth in the conference in runs batted in with 38 in his shortened sample size...Cuevas, one of the ten remaining members of the original RSC baseball team, was a force in the bullpen for the Gators...The senior tallied 35 innings with just one start and finished with a 31:9 strikeout to walk ratio...On the third team, junior catcher Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose), starting pitcher Joe DeGroot (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), a grad student, and junior relief pitcher Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) represented RSC...Junior pitcher Xavier Garcia (Greenfield Center, NY/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack), Lubanski and Grimes earned All-Tournament Team accolades.