Hobart first-year shortstop
Jack O'Neil was named the Liberty League Baseball Rookie of the Week by the league office today. Junior third baseman
Cole Conte was also recognized, earning a spot on the league's weekly honor roll.
Hobart went 2-2 last week, defeating St. Lawrence 13-3, dropping a 9-4 decision at Ithaca, rebounding with a 15-14 win over the Bombers and concluding the Ithaca series with a 6-3 setback. The Statesmen finished second in the Liberty League West, earning the right to host the No. 3 team in the East, Bard, in a crossover series this weekend.
O'Neil hit .471 with a team-high eight RBIs on the way to his fourth rookie of the week award. He delivered two hits in every game and now has 15 multi-hit games this season. O'Neil is riding an 11-game hitting streak.
At St. Lawrence, O'Neil scored three runs and drove in one with a single up the middle as the Statesmen run-ruled the Saints. At Ithaca, he delivered a bases-loaded single to bring home a run in the eighth inning. In Hobart's 15-14 win over Ithaca the following afternoon, his two-run single in the seventh gave the Statesmen a 12-10 lead. He scored later in the inning, giving Hobart a 14-10 lead. In the nightcap, he doubled in the first and scored the game's opening run.
A starter in all 33 games he's played this season, O'Neil is leading Hobart with a .386 average and is tied for the team lead in hits and runs.
Conte played in three of Hobart's four games last week, helping the Statesmen to a pair of victories. He hit a team-leading .583, going 7-for-12 with three RBIs. He also walked once for a .615 on-base percentage. Conte scored six runs (twice in each game). At SLU, he was 2-for-2 and drew a walk. At Ithaca, Conte was 3-for-5. The following afternoon in Geneva, he went 2-for-5, driving in two runs with a single up the middle that tied the game at 10.
In 28 games this season, Conte is batting .299 with 14 RBIs and 20 runs scored.
Hobart enters the Liberty League Crossover Series with a 25-11 overall record. The Statesmen were 9-5 in the Liberty League West. Only two teams in Hobart baseball history have won more than 25 games in a season (1994, 27-10; 1991, 26-13).
Bard is 11-20 overall, and went 5-7 in the East. The Raptors and Vassar (13-18, 5-7) tied for third place, but Bard won the tiebreaker by virtue of its 2-1 regular season series win.
The Hobart-Bard crossover series begins Friday, May 1 at 4 p.m. at McDonough Park. Game 2 is set for a 1 p.m. start on Saturday, May 2. If necessary, Game 3 will be played approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.
