The best of Section V baseball is represented at ESL Ballpark in downtown Rochester.
The Section V Baseball Hall of Fame member plaques are located toward the first base side, in the first walkway into the stadium.
The class of 2026 was inducted June 21. This year’s inductees into the Section V Baseball Hall of Fame includes former players at Aquinas, Canandaigua, Greece Athena and McQuaid who stood out from 2003-2015.
The new hall of famers also includes the 2017 Livonia Bulldogs, an ace at Fairport in the mid-1970s and Greece Olympia Sports Hall of Fame member Dudley Bailey, better known as “Skip”, the successful coach at Monroe Community College.
Visit this webpage – https://bit.ly/4jLDcjf – to look through a list of Section V Baseball Hall of Famers that goes back to 2011. On top of that list, is a link to nomination form for the Section V Baseball Hall of Fame.
This year’s induction class:
2017 Livonia Bulldogs
The Class B state champions, the first Livonia baseball team to reach those heights. The Bulldogs won 23 out of 25 games with 215 runs scored, 249 hits, a .345 team batting average, while pitching to a 1.62 earned run average with 250 strikeouts in 173 innings. Opponents scored 55 runs and hit .155 against the Livingston County division champions.
Dudley “Skip” Bailey
A Monroe County all-star player in 1974, before joining the first Monroe Community College team to reach the junior college World Series. Bailey later made the jump into Division I baseball with the Colorado Buffaloes. He was an all-conference player on the diamond and student in the classroom.
Bailey rejoined the MCC program as an assistant coach in 1980, and became the head coach in 1996. The National Junior College Athletic Association Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Bailey in 2011, two years after his entry into the Greece Olympia Sports Hall of Fame. MCC put Bailey into its sports hall of fame in 1988.
Chris Bostick
A two-time all-state player at Aquinas who went on to play nine seasons of professional baseball, including parts of two in the major leagues.
Bostick put together batting averages over .500 his high school junior and senior year seasons, in 2010 and 2011. He was named first team all-state and the New York Collegiate Baseball League Player of the Year in 2011, and was drafted that year by the Oakland Athletics. The next year, he was named an all-star in the New York-Penn League. Bostick later was twice named an International League (Triple-A) all-star. He made it to the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017 and later with the Miami Marlins.
Justin D’Amato
A three-year player who set pitching and hitting records at Canandaigua. His high school career batting average was .435, and he pitched to a 1.52 earned run average. The 2010 Daily Messenger Player of the Year and All-Greater Rochester team member set team records for ERA, doubles (28) and single-season batting average (.596) during his senior year.
D’Amato went on to play college baseball at Saint John Fisher College. He was inducted into now Saint John Fisher University’s hall of fame in 2022. The left-handed pitcher was a four-time Rawlings All-American and all-region all-star. He was twice named the Empire 8 conference’s pitcher of the year. His pitching record for the Fisher Cardinals was 36-5 with a 2.11 ERA. The NCAA named D’Amato to its Division III all-decade team in 2021.
Tim Fennell
A three-year starter at Fairport, who was a two-time Monroe County league all-star as he built a 17-5 pitching record. Fennell was a key player on the 1976 Section V championship ballclub at Fairport. He pitched nine innings in the tournament final, striking out 16 batters. The 1977 Monroe County Legion baseball Most Valuable Player went on to pitch at LeMoyne College, where his record was 17-4, including a no-hitter. Fennell helped the Dolphins reach four NCAA tournaments and advance to two Division II College World Series.
Dusty Odenbach
A two-time all-state player who starred on the mound and at the plate for McQuaid from 2003-2006. The two-time City-Catholic League Player of the Year finished with a 22-5 pitching record with 270 strikeouts while pitching to a 0.95 earned run average. He threw a perfect game among two of his no-hitters. Odenbach hit .450 with 20 home runs and drove in 131 runs with the Knights. The right-hander was named second team all-state in 2006, after fifth team recognition the season before.
A two-time team Most Valuable Player at McQuaid, Odenbach played at University of Connecticut 2007-09. The Kansas City Royals drafted Odenbach in the eighth round in 2009.
Johnny Ricotta
Four-year starter who was a three-time Monroe County league first team all-star between 2012-2015. As a freshman, Ricotta was a second team league all-star. In 2015, his senior year, Ricotta was named second team all-state, first team Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester and a Monroe County division player of the year.
Ricotta went on to Monroe Community College, where he set season and career records in power hitting categories and was a first team All-American. He became a second team all-conference player, first team defensive player, at Ball State from 2017-19. He committed no errors as a senior, while hitting .308 with 10 home runs and 48 RBI.
Mike Zaccardo
Power-hitter during three seasons as a starter at Irondequoit from 2000-2003. Zaccardo helped Irondequoit win a Section V championship in 2000, before being named second team all-state in 2003. He set the Section V season home run record (11) and was named a Monroe County league division player of the year in his senior year season.
Zaccardo went on to Monroe Community College, where he was named All-Region III player in 2004. One season after his arrival at SUNY Cortland, Zaccardo was named third team ABCA All-American, the 2007 SUNYAC player of the Year and a recipient of a National Rawlings Gold Glove. The Philadelphia Phillies signed Zaccardo as an undrafted free agent in 2008.
James Johnson, who grew up in the city of Rochester, has worked as a full-time journalist covering high school sports for the Democrat and Chronicle since 1996.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: 2017 Livonia Bulldogs, 7 others join Section V baseball Hall of Fame
Reporting by James Johnson, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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By James Johnson, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | USA TODAY Network
