ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Freedom Conference announced its annual awards for the 2012 baseball season on Wednesday, with several members of the Manhattanville baseball team being honored for their efforts heading into the Freedom Conference Championship this weekend.
 
Senior Dan Fiorito (Yonkers, N.Y./Fordham Prep) was named Freedom Conference Player of the Year in addition to earning All-Conference first-team honors, while freshman Michael Lyon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) was named the Freedom Conference Rookie of the Year. Three other members were also honored as well, as senior Chris Nardozzi (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), junior Johnny LoVetere (Southbury, Conn./Canterbury) and sophomore Elias Tsouristakis were named to the All-Conference second team.

Fiorito, in addition to his Player of the Year title, was named to the first team for the third straight season after finishing his the season with a batting average above .400 for the second time in his career, while accumulating nine home runs and 31 RBI and leading the conference in runs scored with 48 and finishing second with 21 stolen bases. He also had a .735 slugging percentage, which was 130 points higher than his previous career high two seasons ago.
 
Fiorito adds to his award collection in 2012 after being named one of the top Division III draft prospects entering the season. During the first week in April, Fiorito was named the Freedom Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career, leading to his selection on D3Baseball.com's National Team of the Week. Of the nine players selected on the team of the week, Fiorito was selected as the NCBWA National Player of the Week for a four-game stretch that saw him hit .611 with five home runs, eight RBI and 12 runs scored.
 
Lyon burst onto the scene at Manhattanville with three quick wins in his first three appearances in a Valiant uniform, establishing himself quickly as a top starter for the Valiants. He pitched a season-high eight innings against Delaware Valley while allowing only one run against the Aggies to pick up his fourth win, but his final start of the regular season was perhaps the most important, as Lyon pitched a complete-game shutout against DeSales to help Manhattanville reach the Freedom Conference Championship.
 
In addition to the individual honors bestowed upon the Valiants, Nardozzi, LoVetere and Tsouristakis were all named to the All-Conference second team. For Nardozzi, it is his second straight appearance on the second team and a third straight All-Freedom honor overall, while both LoVetere and Tsouristakis were named to the All-Conference team for the first time in their careers.
 
Nardozzi finished up his final regular season with the highest career batting average amongst four-year players for Manhattanville. Nardozzi finished tied for second on the team with two home runs and third with 29 RBI, and also tied for the team lead with 13 doubles to give him a program-record 53 for his career. Defensively Nardozzi had 257 putouts and finished with a .985 fielding percentage while helping out his fellow infielders on several errant throws.
 
LoVetere played the bulk of the time in 2012 as the Valiant backstop, and despite the wear-and-tear of a season behind the plate LoVetere led the team in hitting with a .437 batting average. His average places him second amongst Freedom Conference hitters at the end of the regular season. While spending the first two-thirds of the season in a prime-RBI position, LoVetere has excelled since being moved to the leadoff spot in the order, hitting .429 since being moved to the table-setter role.
 
Tsouristakis also made the All-Conference second team at the utility position after playing multiple roles for Manhattanville in his first season with the team. Tsouristakis saw time at third base and catcher while seeing the majority of his playing time at designated hitter. This season he played in 29 of the team's 35 contests, getting the start in 22 contests and hitting .303 with five extra base hits and driving in 11 runs while scoring 11 himself.
 
Manhattanville (15-20, 9-12 Freedom) begins the quest for their second Freedom Conference Championship in Quakertown, Pa., on Friday as they take part in the Freedom Conference Championship beginning with a matchup with top-seeded Misericordia at 4:00 p.m.

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