Freshman shortstop Blake Fortunato of the SUNY Brockport Men’s Baseball team was awarded his second Empire 8 Rookie of the Week award following a strong four-game streak in Florida, where Fortunato went 7-for-20 at bat, while notching eight runs batted in (RBI) and scoring four runs of his own.
Following a two-hit showing against No. 2 ranked Johns Hopkins, Fortunato began Empire 8 conference play, going 5-for-13 in a three-game set against Keuka College. Fortunato scored three runs and eight RBIs in the 3-0 sweep of the weekend.
“Awesome feeling, the work you’re putting in is paying off to start, never being satisfied with your accomplishments, but always working on my craft,” Fortunato said. “Also, it’s awesome representing our program across the Empire 8 and being present in that aspect.”
Having committed from an extremely small community in Deposit NY at Hancock High School, Fortunato recognizes major differences from his small high school to traveling nationally and competing against the best teams in Division III Baseball.
“First of all, I’ve never played baseball out of the state of New York,” Fortunato explained. “Coming from a really small town in Deposit, I graduated with 40 kids, so I didn’t really get exposed to that. When you live with your teammates for ten days, you learn a lot of things about them and get a lot closer through the process.”
Fortunato appreciated recognition from the conference, but it only reinforced his ‘no days off,’ mentality.
“It’s good to see your name on the roster, but at the end of the day, your teammates and coaches are the ones pushing and teaching you to get better,” Fortunato said. “Our goal is to win the conference and play out our best baseball at the end of the year. And we are on the right track right now, but we can’t take any days off.”
Although Fortunato and company left Florida, winning only three of eight games, he feels confident that the Golden Eagles can compete at the highest level of college baseball, against any team in the country.
“Game-wise, we played great baseball, just coming up short in a lot of games and not being able to cash in with runners in scoring position,” recalls Fortunato. “The top teams in the country we faced were good, but not anything special, or out of reach for us. That shows that we are right their skill-wise; we just have to have better execution at the right times.”
The three games Brockport Baseball won began their Empire 8 play. Fortunato felt as though there wasn’t a need to prepare differently, yet the feeling of entering conference play changed the vibe of the dugout.
“I wouldn’t say you treated it differently; there was just a different vibe leading up to it and in the dugout, knowing it was an E8 game,” Fortunato stated. “The preparation stays the same every week. Your goal as a hitter is to beat the pitcher, and that’s what you prepare for. The mindset going into every game is that we will score as many runs as we can, and then we can look at the scoreboard at the end of the game. Before each game, we do mindfulness to calm our thoughts into effective and clear thoughts about the challenges we’re about to face. Also, knowing you have to make adjustments on the fly every single pitch to win each one is a big thing for our culture.”
Fortunato highlights the efficiency of both Brockport’s batters and pitchers in their sweep of Keuka.
“[We] ended the trip off on a high note with three games over Keuka,” Fortunato said. “It was great to get team wins where everyone was hitting and not just a select few, while our pitchers dominated on the mound.”
Although leaving a legacy would display a dominant career through his time at the Nest, Fortunato believes skill is not what you are remembered for. Rather, you are remembered by the person you aim to be.
“I would say it’s good for my personal accomplishment, yes,” says Fortunato. “But when you look at past players here, you don’t remember how many hits, home runs, or RBIs they had. You remember what kind of person and teammate they were and how they treated you as well as the program. I want to leave a legacy that I was a selfless baseball player and would do anything in my power to make the team win baseball games, no matter my personal performance.”
Although still young, there is plenty of regular and postseason play for the Golden Eagles remaining. Fortunato believes that this year’s baseball team is primed for a national championship run, assisting his brothers in any way possible to reach the big game.
“Our goal is to win every single game moving forward and to get better every day,” Fortunato stated. “Our main goal is to win the national championship realistically. We want to be meshing as a single unit in every way possible at the end of the year and be playing our best baseball. This award means that I’m helping the team win baseball games, and that’s what motivates me the most. My goal is to help the team win baseball games, no matter what, at the end of the day.”
Brockport (7-13/3-0) continues its season back in New York as the Golden Eagles have their home opener Wednesday, April 1 hosting Houghton (8-4/2-1). First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
