SUNY COBLESKILL’S CERNAUSKUS COMMITS TO SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY BASEBALL PROGRAM

SUNY Cobleskill men’s baseball coach Bill Makarowski announced today that Fighting Tiger standout rightfielder Adam Cernauskus, Cobleskill, NY, Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, has accepted an athletic scholarship to play for NCAA Division II Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT a member of the Northeast 10-Conference. Cernauskus was a two-year starter for the Fighting Tigers earning First Team All-Mountain Valley Conference honors for the team during his freshman year in 2006 and was the program’s Most-Valuable-Player during his senior year in 2007.

This season the Cobleskill, NY native batted .459 going 57-for-124 at the plate with 11 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 35 RBI and 32 runs scored with an on-base percentage of .604. For his career with the Orange & Black, Cernauskus went 101-for-239 at the plate for a .423 batting averaging including 18 doubles, six triples, six home runs, 63 RBI, 64 runs scored and a perfect mark of 16-for-16 on stolen base attempts. The Fighting Tiger co-captain also posted an impressive on-base percentage of .485 while with the program. 

“Our ball club was fortunate to have an athlete like Adam to be a leader through the good and bad times these past two years,” said coach Makarowski. “Even as a freshman he was making noise on the field with his voice, his glove and his bat. It is good to see a player come through our program and develop into someone who can have a potentially significant impact at the Division II level.”

Southern Connecticut State qualified for the 2007 Northeast 10-Conference Championship Tournament this season placing sixth overall in the league’s standings posting a 15-15 conference record to go with a 19-30 overall mark. In 2005, the Owls won the Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship (25-5) and earned the program's first appearance in the Division II World Series by winning the Northeast Regional championship.

Owl’s Head Coach Tim Shea was named Northeast-10 Coach of the Year, NEIBA Division II Coach of the Year, and ABCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2005. The Owls were also named NEIBA DII Northeast Team of the Year in 2005. During his six season’s directing the Owl program coach Shea has compiled a 167-118 overall record for a .586 winning percentage while posting a 113-67 record versus conference competition for a .628 winning percentage versus league competition.