EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – East Stroudsburg University is proud to announce the induction of Christian Rishel, Justin Ertel, and Matt Walewski into the prestigious "Bat Club" as part of the 13th class. The induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, October 4, at Creekview Park, following the annual ESU Baseball Golf Classic at The Shawnee Inn on Friday, October 3.

In addition to these celebrations, ESU is introducing the Robert Shebelsky Legacy Award to honor the assistant coach whose 12-year tenure made a lasting impact on the Warriors baseball program. This award recognizes alumni who exemplify leadership, loyalty, and legacy. Brandon Snyder has been selected as this year's honoree for his outstanding commitment to ESU Baseball, both as a player and as a coach.

Weekend festivities will include an intra-squad scrimmage, an alumni and family picnic, and a Sunday matchup against NCC. Additional details, including registration and sponsorship information, are available at the link below.
Schedule of Events
October 3 – Baseball Golf Classic
October 4 – Bat Club Ceremony (10:30 a.m., Creekview Park)

• Intra-Squad Scrimmage 
• Robert Shebelsky Award Recognition
• Alumni/Family Picnic

October 5 – Scrimmage vs. NCC
  Bat Club Inductees

Justin Ertel (1995-99) was a two-way player and standout pitcher who had 12 career wins and a 3.81 ERA, one of the lowest in school history in the 'composite bat' era. He allowed 8.7 hits per nine innings and a .267 opponents average in 189 innings, which rank 15th in school history and were sixth-most upon his graduation. Ertel had 124 strikeouts, pitched in 36 games, and threw a complete game in 11 of 26 starts.

He went 6-1 with a 3.49 ERA in 1998, helping the Warriors to a then-school record 28-16 mark, including 13-10 for a third-place finish in the PSAC East. Offensively, he had 85 career hits, 60 RBI and 65 runs, and hit .284 as a senior in 1999.

Matt Walewski (2013-16) and Christian Rishel (2015-19) overlapped for two seasons on a pair of the Warriors' top teams, the 2015 PSAC runner-up team and the 2016 team that set the then-school record with 38 wins and reached the NCAA Tournament for the third time in a six-year stretch. The 2016 Warriors set and still hold school records for runs per game (8.6), batting average (.347), on-base percentage (.445) and slugging percentage (.524).

Walewski had a career batting line of .342/.421/.462 with 145 hits, 196 total bases, 104 RBI and 87 runs scored as a first baseman and outfielder. After playing in 18 games as a redshirt freshman on ESU's 2013 PSAC championship team, he was a three-year starter and hit .323 in 2014, .392/.468/.500 with 27 RBI and 28 runs in 2015, and .331/.430/.464 with 60 hits, 51 RBI and 41 runs in 2016.

His .392 batting average in 2015 ranked in the top 100 in Division II, and he was 10th on ESU's single-season RBI list in 2016. Upon graduation, he was in ESU's top 25 in career hits, extra-base hits, total bases and runs, and ranked 9th in career RBI.

Rishel compiled a line of .333/.406/.505 as a four-year starter as an outfielder and DH in 2015-16 and 2018-19, missing a year due to injury. He had 184 career hits, 58 extra-base hits including 18 home runs, 128 RBI and 108 runs. Upon graduation, Rishel ranked 12th at ESU in career hits, tied for third in home runs, third in RBI, and in the top 10 in total bases, extra-base hits and doubles.

He stepped in to hit .302 as a freshman, including 7-for-22 with four extra-base hits in the PSAC Tournament run, before contributing to the Warriors' most prolific offense in 2016 and earning first team All-PSAC East honors as a designated hitter. Rishel batted .372/.435/.581 with 71 hits (4th at ESU at the time), 21 extra-base hits including nine homers, 55 RBI and 49 runs. He then followed up with stat lines of .342/.409/.542 as a junior in 2018 and .296/.424/.430 as a senior, helping the Warriors to 122 wins, a .613 winning percentage and three PSAC Tournament appearances in his four seasons.
 
Robert Shebelsky Legacy Award
The Robert Shebelsky Legacy Award celebrates the enduring impact of longtime assistant coach Bob Shebelsky, whose passion and dedication shaped ESU Baseball for more than a decade. Serving as pitching coach for 12 seasons beginning in 2005, Shebelsky guided Warriors pitchers to top PSAC rankings and helped develop three PSAC East Pitchers of the Year—Christian Saveri, Jeremy Gigliotti, and Matt Festa. Under his leadership, ESU captured the 2013 PSAC championship and reached the NCAA Division II Tournament three times.
 

Brandon Snyder has been a member of the program since coming to ESU as a freshman in 2009, contributing as a pitcher and hitter to a pair of NCAA Tournament teams in 2011 and 2013, and the Warriors' 2013 PSAC championship team, their first since 1971.

An Exercise Science major, he enrolled in ESU's graduate program and has never left – earning his bachelor's degree from ESU in 2012, his Master's degree in 2013, obtained a faculty position, and earned his doctorate from California Pa. in 2021. He was promoted to Assistant Professor by the university in 2023.

He has made significant invaluable contributions to the Warriors under Coach Kochmansky as a coach, confidant, operations director, and mentor and supporter of ESU's student-athletes.

 
Golf Outing

The cost is $125 per golfer and the fees include golf, a bucket of range balls, a boxed lunch, hot dogs and hamburgers during/after play. The format for the outing will be a four-person scramble that also includes longest drive contests, a closest to the pin challenge and an opportunity to win a car for a hole in one.

On the day of the outing, registration is set to begin at 11 a.m. with a shotgun start scheduled for 12 p.m.

Individuals will also have the opportunity to make additional contributions through the sponsorship opportunities listed below.

Gold Sponsor ($2,000 and above)

• Foursome in tournament
• Signage on beverage cart
• Signage located on putting green

Silver Sponsor ($1,500)

• Signage on beverage cart
• Signage located on putting green

Bronze Sponsor ($1,000)

• Signage located on putting green
• Tee Sponsors: $200 each hole

Reservations can be made online at www.esufoundation.org/baseballgolf2025 or returned by mail (East Foundation, 200 Prospect Street, East Stroudsburg, Pa. 18301). Please make checks payable to ESU Foundation :
Baseball Golf Link
  Scrimmage & Alumni/Family Picnic
The Warriors' scrimmage is scheduled to get underway at a time to be determined at a later date on Saturday at Creekview Park. At the conclusion of the scrimmage, an alumni/family picnic will be held with free food and drinks.
For questions, more information, or if you're interested in attending any of these events, please contact ESU head baseball coach John Kochmansky at (570) 422-3263 or jkochmansky@esu.edu.