The Oneonta and Unatego/Franklin baseball teams each ended the 2024 season as Section IV champions.
For the Yellowjackets, it was the latest in a long line of title-winning seasons and their second in three years. For U/F, it was the first ever baseball title in either school’s history. Each team was led by players who quieted opposing hitters on the mound and made a lot of noise at the plate themselves.
Those two players, Unatego/Franklin senior Braeden Johnson and Oneonta sophomore Nolan Stark, are the 2024 Daily Star Baseball Players of the Year.
Johnson shared Player of the Year honors in 2023 with South Kortright’s Adam Champlin and is the first repeat winner of the award since Cooperstown’s Philip Pohl in 2007-2008.
Their respective managers, Frank Microni of U/F and Joe Hughes of Oneonta, were named the 2024 Coaches of the Year.
Johnson was dominant as U/F’s number one starter all year long. But he saved his best performance for the team’s biggest game, tossing a no-hitter in Unatego/Franklin’s 4-0 win over Trumansburg in the Section IV Class C title game.
As hard as it might be to believe, Johnson said he was feeling nervous before throwing his 12-strikeout gem.
“I was like, ‘Oh man, this team really beat us good last year so who knows what’ll happen in this game,’” Johnson said. “But honestly the whole week during sectionals, our team woke up every morning and we all had this feeling. Me and coach [Microni] were like, ‘Yeah, I got this.’”
“He didn’t even look like himself,” Microni said. “I think he walked the first kid on four pitches. I talked to my pitching coach and I was like, ‘Is he alright? Is he sick?’ He was like, ‘He’ll be alright, don’t worry about it.’ As the game goes on with him, he gets stronger.”
While U/F would fall to Pulaski 3-2 in the Regional round, the 2024 season was an enormous success for a squad that had struggled to get over the hump in both the Midstate Athletic Conference and Section IV playoffs in recent years.
“I felt like we played our best offensive ball in that week-long stretch,” Microni said of the sectional run. “You need that to come together at that point to meet that goal. They really honed in and focused when they really needed to.”
Pitching was never an issue for U/F with Johnson and his brother Xander providing one of the best 1-2 punches in the area. Braeden ended his varsity career with 422 strikeouts compared to just 54 walks, a 0.86 ERA, a 0.71 WHIP and five no-hitters.
“The last two years he just had command of all of his pitches,” Microni said. “He wasn’t just a fastball kid; he had a changeup, he had a breaking ball and he could throw those for strikes and spot them a little bit which makes him very difficult to hit. You couldn’t just gear up for a fastball because he had other pitches that he could throw when he wanted to. He didn’t have to be ahead in the count. He could be behind in the count and throw a slider or a changeup and be just as effective.”
This year, Microni said Johnson worked on speeding up his delivery and developing a slide-step so that the few batters who reached base couldn’t steal second as easily.
Johnson said that he focused on being more efficient with his pitches and command.
“I’ve always been able to get through complete games pretty easily so I feel like this year I kept on improving on that,” he said. “I was getting through games with 70-80 pitches so that was something I was working on.”
While most of the praise for Johnson goes to his pitching, he was also Unatego/Franklin’s most dangerous hitter, finishing his varsity career with a .444 batting average, a 1.122 OPS, 101 hits and 41 runs.
“I know his goal was to be an improved hitter this year from his junior season and he really did come through,” Microni said.
Reflecting on his time playing for Microni, Johnson said he appreciated how as a coach he held everyone on the team accountable.
“If you’re doing something wrong, he’s not going to point it out to someone else,” Johnson said. “He’s going to point it out to you so you can fix it.”
Johnson will be continuing his baseball career at Cornell University where he’ll be studying animal science. Microni talked about how much he admired Johnson’s commitment to the program and how he never sought the spotlight in places where he might have received more attention.
“He always stuck with that group and played with them in season and out of season,” Microni said. “He’s going to play Legion with our guys. He’s going to show our guys how to play the game the right way. He’s going to be a leader on that team. He’s not going to not go there and play somewhere else in the summer to get exposure. He’s trying to build our program and build our school baseball team and I can’t thank him enough for that.”
As for Oneonta, the Yellowjackets completed one of the best seasons in program history. OHS rolled to a 21-2 record with its only slip-ups coming against Owego Free Academy in the STAC title game and a heartbreaking, extra-innings 3-2 walk-off loss to Little Falls in the Regional final.
“It’s a credit to the kids and their never-give-up attitude,” Hughes said of the team’s success. “They believed in themselves and each other.
“I remember telling our guys after our loss up in Syracuse that I hoped the season started tomorrow. It was a tough pill to swallow that day. We wished we played better but we’re looking forward to next year.”
Oneonta entered the season with sky-high expectations, boasting a roster that was young but loaded with talent. The centerpiece was an outstanding sophomore class headlined by Stark, who said the team wanted to build on a 2023 season that also ended in extra innings in the sectional playoffs.
“We just wanted to pick up where we left off from last year but then also not worry too much about what happened in each game and just rely on each other to be able to do what we needed to do and to get to where we got,” he said.
Stark had as much responsibility as you can put on one player, especially a sophomore, serving as the team’s number one pitcher, leadoff hitter and shortstop when he played the field. But he said he didn’t feel any added pressure because he knew that if he ever came up short, his teammates would be there to step up.
Fortunately, Stark more than held up his end. He went 6-1 as a starter, recording 73 strikeouts and 16 walks while posting a 1.27 ERA. At the plate, he notched a .514 average with 38 hits, 4 home runs, 17 RBI, 36 runs and more walks (13) than strikeouts (10).
“Nolan had a fantastic year and he works as hard as anyone we’ve had in the program,” Hughes said. “His hard work has shown itself and he’s proven to be a high-caliber player. He has a lot of confidence in himself, which he should.”
On a team with no shortage of quality arms — Bruce Mistler threw a no-hitter in the team’s sectional semifinal win against Odessa-Montour/Watkins Glen — Stark established himself as the go-to starter, earning the victory in Oneonta’s 5-3 sectional final win over Waverly and pitching brilliantly in the Regional loss.
“He gained more velocity on his fastball,” Hughes said. “He was able to throw his secondary pitches with more consistency and better belief that he could throw off those secondary pitches any time. He’s developed more and more as a pitcher and was able to command more pitches no matter the count, no matter the situation.”
He might have been even better at the plate. Hughes said Stark’s home run total would have been significantly higher if he didn’t bat from the left side and have to deal with Oneonta’s Major League-sized right field area.
“He has really good power for a leadoff hitter and if the fences were flipped at Oneonta High School, he would probably set the home run record because it’s death valley out there in right field and right center field,” Hughes said.
For Stark, home runs were nice, but at the end of the day it was more important to simply do his job as the leadoff hitter.
“My main focus was just to get on base,” he said. “It didn’t matter if I got a hit or walk or hit by pitch, just to get on and score.”
Hughes, meanwhile, picks up his ninth Coach of the Year award as he continues to maintain Oneonta’s place as one of the premier programs in Section IV.
“He’s just a great coach all around,” Stark said of Hughes. “He’s been around the game for a long time and he knows what he’s talking about. He knows how to make it fun and knows when to be serious about it too.”
Both Stark and Hughes are already anxious for next season to start, and for good reason. Oneonta’s primary starting lineup didn’t feature any seniors, so next year’s squad will be a lethal combination of talented, experienced and hungry.
“We’re all excited,” Stark said about the squad’s future. “We want to get over that hump and then make our way and hopefully win a state championship by our senior year.”
Players of the Year: Braeden Johnson, Unatego/Franklin, senior; Nolan Stark, Oneonta, sophomore
Coaches of the Year: Joe Hughes, Oneonta, 21-2; Frank Microni, Unatego/Franklin, 14-6
No all-state baseball teams were announced for the 2024 season
DAILY STAR BASEBALL ALL-STARS 2024
Center State Conference: Kalen Dempsey, Cooperstown; Emerson Toulson, Cooperstown
Delaware League: Trevor Waid, Charlotte Valley; David Cammer, Gilboa/Windham; Luke Maeurer, Gilboa/Windham; Garrison Ross, Gilboa/Windham; Jacob Strauch, Gilboa/Windham; Sean Wille, Gilboa/Windham; Brandon Harris, Jefferson/Stamford; Jon Michael Leas, Jefferson/Stamford; Darren Dengler, South Kortright; Logan Reinshagen, South Kortright; Cole Thomas, South Kortright
Midstate Athletic Conference: Matthew Carman, Afton; Justin Reeve, Afton; Ryan Wright, Afton; Connor Davy, Bainbridge-Guilford; Damon Seymour, Bainbridge-Guilford; Isaac Marsiglio, Delhi; Zech Begeal, Deposit-Hancock; Blake Fortunato, Deposit-Hancock, Thomas Reis, Deposit-Hancock; Parker Flanagan, Greene; Brayden Sakowsky, Harpursville; Conner Dunagan, Oxford; Quinton Beckwith, Sidney; Elijah Wright, Sidney; Braeden Johnson, Unatego/Franklin; Xander Johnson, Unatego/Franklin; Gavin Nordberg, Unatego/Franklin; Colby Phraner, Walton/Downsville
Southern Tier Athletic Conference: Jameson Brown, Oneonta; Brady Carr, Oneonta; Maddox Imperato, Oneonta; Chase Jervis, Oneonta; Bruce Mistler, Oneonta; Nolan Stark, Oneonta; Britten Zeh, Oneonta
Tri-Valley League: Max Horvath, CV-S/SS; Alex Rockwell, CV-S/SS; Asa Dugan, Edmeston/Morris; Gavin McEnroe, Edmeston/Morris; Evan Clark, Laurens/Milford; Bradyn Dunckel, Richfield Springs; Justin Wolfe, Richfield Springs; Tim Green, Schenevus; Cody Keator, Schenevus; Ryan Spranger, Schenevus