Old Westbury junior second baseman Jesse Russo has been named the Skyline Conference Player of the Week for game played March 20-26, announced Monday by league officials. Senior right-handed pitcher Trey Pizzutello earned a spot on the Skyline Conference Weekly Honor Roll for the second time in his career.
Russo, batted .619 (13-for-21) with 12 runs scored, four RBI, five extra-base hits (three doubles, two triples), four walks and seven stolen bases in a 3-3 week for the Panthers. The Westbury, New York native hit safely in all six games and produced four multi-hit games, including a 4-for-4 performance at the plate with a RBI single to go with three runs scored, two doubles and two stolen bases in game two versus SUNY Maritime (Mar. 26). He also drove in the game-winning run with a RBI triple in the 18-7 game one (3-for-4, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 SB) win versus Yeshiva University (Mar. 24) and then crossed the plate to score game two’s winning run to secure the conference-opening sweep.
On the season, Russo is batting .431 (28-for-65) with 23 runs scored, 11 RBI, nine extra-base hits and 14 stolen bases. He leads the conference in triples (5) and stolen bases while ranking among the league leaders in batting average (9th), slugging percentage (9th, .642), on-base percentage (8th, .519), runs scored (2nd), hits (3rd) and doubles (10th).
Pizzutello logged his third-career complete game outing by logging seven innings to earn the 3-2 game one win versus Castleton University (Mar. 25). Pizzutello scattered three hits and fanned a season-high seven batters (one walk) while allowing a pair of unearned runs.
The Stamford, Connecticut native is 3-3 on the season with a 4.50 earned run average. He has 19 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched to hold the opposing batters to a .250 average. Pizzutello currently ranks among the conference leaders in wins (T-3rd), strikeouts (5th) and innings pitched (6th).
