Luebcke Headlines Skyline Baseball All-Conference Team as Player of the Year; Rapp and Camerada Named to Second Team

NEW YORK — Validating one of the best all-around seasons in St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball history, Brian Luebcke (Astoria, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) was selected as the 2016 Skyline Conference Baseball Player of the Year capturing the league's top individual honor in the Bears inaugural season in the conference. Juniors Francis Rapp (Baldwin, N.Y./Oceanside) and Michael Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) also received year-end honors as second-team all-conference selections as the league announced the 2016 Skyline Baseball All-Conference Team today.

The trio helped make the Bears an instant contender in the league and after upset victories over No. 2 seed and defending champion Old Westbury and No. 3 seed Maritime, captured third place in their first Skyline Baseball Championship. The team finished with a 22-20 mark overall, recording their fourth straight 20-win season and fifth straight winning campaign.

Luebcke was among the league leaders in nearly every hitting and pitching category and was named first-team all-conference as both a utility player and pitcher. The only Bear to start or play in all 42 games this season matching a Bears record, the senior capped off his career with a team-leading .389 batting average and led or tied for the league lead in runs batted in (47), total bases (110), sacrifice flies (7), home runs (7) and at bats (167). The three-time Player of the Week—most collected by a player this season—finished second in slugging (.394) and hits (65) and third in runs scored (38). The Monsignor McClancy product set or tied single-season Bears records for at bats, hits, total bases, sacrifice flies, doubles (20), multi-hit games (23) and multi-RBI games (13).

On the mound, Luebcke was just as impressive compiling a 7-2 record and pacing the league in innings pitched (76.0) and complete games (6) and tied for the league lead in wins. Also a one-time Pitcher of the Week, Luebcke posted the second-best ERA in the league and his 61 strikeouts tied the Bears single-season mark. Against Purchase, the Astoria, N.Y. native tossed just the second nine-inning shutout in program history with a four-hitter, striking out seven and facing two batters over the minimum.

Only the second Bear to reach 100 hits as a batter and 100 strikeouts as a pitcher, Luebcke ends his four years with a 14-5 record and 3.06 ERA, the best career winning percentage and lowest ERA in team history. At the plate, he finishes as a career .334 hitter with 87 RBI (6th all-time), seven home runs (5th all-time) and 32 doubles (3rd all-time). He leaves his mark as part of the winningest senior class in program history with 95 wins.

Tabbed the second-team shortstop, Rapp boasted the second highest batting average (.404) among the Bears in conference games, which was also eighth best in the league. The Oceanside High School product started in all but one league game and reached base safely in all 15 of those games, knocking multiple hits in eight of them as the team's No. 2 hitter. Over the playoff-clinching doubleheader against Mount Saint Mary College, Rapp finished 5-for-8 with two runs and also went 4-for-7 with a run and RBI over a twin bill with sibling rivals SJC Long Island. With still a season remaining, the shortstop from Baldwin, N.Y. became the program's all-time assists leader, playing in all-but-four games over his three-year career.

Camerada, selected as a second-team outfielder, proved to be one of the toughest batters to face in the Skyline finishing the regular season ranked second on the team with a .360 average that also placed him in the top 10 in the league while his .604 slugging percentage was fourth in the league and his career-best five home runs ranked tied for third. One of the toughest to strikeout on the team, the Monsignor Farrell High School product struck out only eight times in 127 plate appearances and he assembled a nine-game hitting streak and a 16-game reached base safely streak over the course of the season. In a doubleheader with Mount Saint Vincent, Camerada batted 5-for-7 with four RBI, three runs and a home run, joining the 100-hit club in the process.

The all-conference teams are voted on by the Skyline Conference's nine head baseball coaches based on regular season play. The Bears' three selections are tied for third most. Luebcke becomes the first Player of the Year selection in any sport in St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) history and just the third first-team all-conference honoree. In total, seven Bears and Lady Bears across four sports have garnered all-conference distinction this season.