UTICA — The poll has closed, the votes have been counted, and readers of the Times Telegram and Observer-Dispatch have picked Proctor Raider Radhames Emaniel from among 13 candidates as their 2025 baseball player of the year in online polling.
Emaniel batted .378 as a senior, drove in 17 runs and scored 14 during a 12-6 season that saw the Raiders earn a No. 2 sectional playoff seed and reach the Class AAA semifinals.
Almost 34,000 votes were cast over the past week and Emaniel received 15,170 (44.7%), placing him first ahead of junior teammate Joshua Martinez (8,744, 25.8%). Caden Blue Devil Cayden Grygiel finished third with 17% of the vote, and Frankfort-Schuyler Maroon Knight Brayden Wisheart and Whitesboro sophomore Aiden Nofri rounded out the top five finishers.
These are the nominees:
BROC BARKER, Sauquoit Valley: Junior batted .491 and stuck out once while hitting seven doubles, scoring 17 runs and driving home 12.
CARTER COOKINHAM, Poland: Senior struck out 91 batters with a 2.94 ERA in 57 2/3 innings and a 6-4 win-loss record; also batted .388, stole 13 bases and scored 19 runs.
RADHAMES EMANIEL, Proctor: Senior batted .378 with 17 runs batted in and 14 runs scored.
CAYDEN GRYGIEL, Camden: Senior batted .403 with 25 hits, 12 of them doubles, and drew 17 walks while stealing 11 bases, driving in 18 runs and scoring 16.
NICK HAYS, Oriskany: Senior batted .413 with 31 hits, seven walks, 28 stolen bases, 29 runs scored and 13 runs batted in.
AUGIE JONES, Holland Patent: Junior went 6-0 on the mound with 63 strikeouts and a 0.68 ERA in 41 1/3 innings while batting .271 with 16 RBIs and 12 runs scored.
CHASE KOENIG, Oriskany: Senior went 8-0 on the mound with 66 strikeouts and a 1.00 ERA in 35 2/3 innings while hitting five doubles and three home runs, and driving in 25 runs.
DEAN KOENIG, Oriskany: Sophomore batted .385 with nine doubles, 18 stolen bases, 21 runs scored and 21 batted in, and went 3-1 on the mound with 49 strikeouts and a 1.03 ERA in 27 2/3 innings.
JOSHUA MARTINEZ, Proctor: Junior struck out 57 batters in 29 2/3 innings while batting .325, reaching base 34 times with 16 walks and five times hit by pitch, stealing 24 bases, scoring 21 runs and driving in 11.
AIDEN NOFRI, Whitesboro: Sophomore batted .463 with six doubles and 13 runs batted in.
NICHOLAS SERVICE, Frankfort-Schuyler: Junior batted .500 with five doubles among his 24 hits, 13 runs scored and 13 batted in, in addition to posting a 5-3 pitching record with 53 strikeouts and a 1.43 ERA in 49 2/3 innings.
BRAYDEN WISHEART, Frankfort-Schuyler: Senior was 2-1 with a 0.33 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings in an injury-shortened season.
EDDIE WRIGHT, Oriskany: Junior won each of his eight pitching decisions while posting a 0.61 ERA with 112 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings, all while batting .429 with 12 walks in addition to his 27 hits, 23 runs batted in and 25 runs scored.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Poll results: Readers pick area’s top high school baseball player from among 13 candidates
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
