Rivera named PGCBL’s top player
Weeks is Jamestown\'s nominee for award
Amsterdam's Gabriel Rivera was named the PGCBL's Player of the Year on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of PGCBL
Eric Weeks was the Jamestown Tarp Skunks' nominee for the PGCBL Player of the Year award. P-J file photo
Amsterdam's Gabriel Rivera was named the PGCBL's Player of the Year on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of PGCBL
Eric Weeks was the Jamestown Tarp Skunks' nominee for the PGCBL Player of the Year award. P-J file photo
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NEW HARTFORD -- The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League announced Wednesday that Amsterdam Mohawks third baseman Gabriel Rivera from Rutgers University has been named the league's 2026 Player of the Year.
In 36 games with the Mohawks this summer, Rivera hit .378 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs. The 10 home runs were tied for the league lead with his Mohawks teammate, Anthony DeCesare (University of Delaware). Rivera led the league with a .731 slugging percentage; he also hit 12 doubles, and his 22 extra-base hits and 87 total bases also led the league. The 44 RBIs and 48 runs scored each ranked second in the league. On the base paths, Rivera stole 17 bags, which ranked 10th in the PGCBL.
Rivera made his mark on Amsterdam from the very first pitch of the season. He homered in the first two official games of the season and collected seven RBIs in those contests.
On June 18, Rivera homered twice and tied a Mohawks team record from 2013 when he recorded eight RBIs in an 18-3 win over the Glens Falls Dragons. In the following game on June 20, the Mohawks were trailing the Saugerties Stallions 4-2 in the seventh inning, Rivera came up with the bases loaded and hit a go-ahead three-run double as the Mohawks won 6-5.
Rivera homered in four of the five games during a stretch from June 24-29, recording eight RBIs. On June 28, Rivera tied a team record with five hits as he homered and hit two doubles in a 17-13 win over the Glens Falls Dragons.
On the final day of the regular season, Rivera had three RBIs and was at the center of a six-run eighth inning with a two-run single. Amsterdam battled back for a 16-14 win over the Utica Blue Sox and finished the regular season on a nine-game winning streak.
Rivera came to Amsterdam following a freshman season at Rutgers where he hit .310 in 31 games with two home runs, six doubles and 10 RBIs.
He becomes the seventh Mohawk to be named the PGCBL Player of the Year, joining John Nogowski (2013, Florida State University), who played in the majors for the Cardinals and Pirates; Josh Gardiner (2014, Radford University), who played in the minors for the Yankees; Joe Genord (2016, University of South Florida), who was drafted by the Mets; Maxwell Costes (2019, University of Maryland), who was drafted by the Orioles; Gage Miller (2022, Bishop State Community College/University of Alabama), who is currently in Triple-A with the Marlins; and Cade Ladehoff (2024, New Jersey Institute of Technology/University of Michigan), who will be beginning his junior year at Michigan.
Jamestown second baseman Eric Weeks (Canisius University) was the Tarp Skunks' nominee for the league's top honor. In 32 games this summer, Weeks hit .347 with 11 doubles and two home runs in 121 at-bats. He drove in 37 runs and scored 31 while walking 16 times, getting hit by four pitches and striking out just 15 times in 144 plate appearances. Weeks' 22 stolen bases ranked seventh in the league and he was caught stealing just once. Defensively, he made seven errors in 89 chances for a .921 fielding percentage.
Other nominees for the league's top honor were Auburn's Teddy Monahan, Batavia's Jackson Inman, Boonville's Wyatt Lassiter, Elmira's Caleb Delaney, Geneva's Tyler Arno, Glens Falls' Tyler Worth, Mohawk Valley's Jake Haarde, Newark's Mike DeRosa, Niagara's Jordan Gallo, Niagara Falls' David Harris, Olean's Thomas Bates, Oneonta's Nolan Stark, Saugerties' Nick Croce and Utica's Jack Sweeney.