RIT Hall of Famer

Shari (McNamara) Gerevics

 Shari McNamara Gerevics will long be remembered for her pitching prowess. She helped guide the RIT softball team to a four-year 103-51-3 record that included winning the ECACs in 2004. Four times she was named All-Empire 8, including Player of the Year honors in 2002 and 2003. In 2001 she was the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year. In 2003 she was also named to the ECAC All-Star Team.

She set several school marks, including most career wins (55), shutouts (22) and strikeouts (513). In her four seasons, she had an outstanding 1.59 earned run average. As a freshman, she helped guide RIT to the NCAA Championships in 2001. The native of Rome, NY played in 100 career games, starting 89 and completing 86. She was also named Athlete of the Week multiple times.

Shari received her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 2005 and her master's degree in Imaging Science in 2007.

ROME — Softball has been a significant part of Shari (McNamara) Gerevics’ life since a young age.

With two older sisters, Samantha and Shelley, who played the game and were pitchers in the mid-1980s for Rome Free Academy, her interest was piqued early on. It helped that playing the sport “was something I got to do with my dad,” she said.

“I grew up at the ball field watching (my sisters). As I grew up, I wanted to pitch. I just naturally went in that direction,” Gerevics said during a recent phone interview with the Daily Sentinel. “It was a ton of fun.”

She carved out her own path as a pitcher, becoming arguably one of the most dominant in the circle in Rome sports history. Her pitching prowess with Rome Catholic before an impressive, record-filled career at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has helped earn her a spot in the Rome Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2025.

“(Being part of the Rome Sports Hall of Fame) is a huge honor. I’m very excited,” said Gerevics, who was inducted into the RIT Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. “I had a great team in high school and it was so much fun. I was trying to think back on all those fond memories. Having them come back is just amazing.”

She said the news of her inclusion in the Rome Sports Hall of Fame came as a surprise. Her parents, John and Artys, remain in the area and are “super excited” about Gerevics being part of the Class of 2025.

During three seasons pitching for Rome Catholic High School, she tossed 12 no-hitters and four perfect games. She had a role in helping the program claim a Section III championship in 2000. There were also a pair of runner-up finishes the two previous seasons for the team.

“I feel like I was able to pick up being accurate (while pitching) fairly early when I was young. To be able to be accurate was good. That made it a lot of fun for me with wanting to get better and do better,” said Gerevics, who noted she appreciated playing under coach Perry Novak. “When I was in ninth or 10th grade, work with a pitching coach helped me immensely with my mechanics. But, starting out and being a good athlete made it fun for me. Because I wanted to get better.”

She also shined at the plate, batting .463, .429 and .417 in three varsity seasons. Her resume includes earning Center State Conference all-star honors in each season along with being named league MVP her senior year, when she also was selected All-State first team. She also earned conference academic accolades three consecutive years.

She credits “spending a lot of time hitting with my dad.”

“We’d grab a bucket and go hit for a couple hours. It was just a lot of fun,” Gerevics said. “It was exciting to hit well in a game and feel that excitement.”

Novak called Gerevics “the hardest-working, most outstanding softball player I coached or saw in my 10 years at the varsity level.”

“She was a brilliant student and a great teammate with unmatched sportsmanship,” Novak said.

Gerevics remembers the enjoyment she had with Rome Catholic teammates.

“It was a lot of fun playing together,” Gerevics said. “There was a group of us in my grade that played together when we were young all the way up to high school.”

At RIT, she was named Empire 8 Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003 and all-conference four times. In the process, she set a plethora of school records, that still stand more than 20 years later. In June 2024, she was among more than 50 players selected to the Empire 8 Softball 25th Anniversary Team.

Included among her RIT marks are most career games (100), starts (88), wins (55), shutouts (22), strikeouts (513) and innings pitches (610). Her 1.59 ERA is second all-time in RIT’s record books.

In three consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2003, she had 20 or more complete games. Her 86 complete games lead the record books and are 15 more than the next player.

“There’s a lot of pride,” Gerevics said when asked about what stands out about her time at RIT. “We had some great players at RIT. I had a fun of playing with the team.”

Gerevics, who earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2005 and her master’s degree in imaging science in 2007, lives in the Rochester area with her husband, Jeremy, and their three children.

She’s remained close to softball since her playing days. That includes helping as an assistant coach at RIT for six seasons as well as Nazareth University.

“I enjoy working with younger players that enjoy softball as much as I did,” Gerevics said.

Her two daughters are softball players and her son is playing baseball. Most recently, Gerevics has served as Fairport Little League’s executive director for softball and the director of softball for the organization’s Junior/Senior divisions.

“(My kids) seem to enjoy (playing) so far,” she said.

She also recently transitioned into another form of coaching, becoming a wellness coach with a focus on helping “active professional moms” and chronic health challenges.

“As my family grew, I stepped away from (my engineering job) to focus on my family. As I was dealing with health issues, I realized I wanted to help other people,” she said. “I like being able to help people when they haven’t been able to find help.”

The 2025 Rome Sports Hall of Fame class includes Gerevics, former Rome Free Academy three-sport standouts Justin Davis, Bill Arthur, Josh Bartell, Melissa (D’Antonio) O’Rourke and Scott Parsons. The inductees will be honored during the Rome Sports Hall of Fame and Museum’s 47th induction ceremony and banquet at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Beeches Manor.

With regard to her speech during the hall of fame ceremony, she is “definitely not going to wing it.”

The awards dinner Sunday will be preceded by a public reception at 2:30 p.m. at the Rome Sports Hall of Fame, located at 5790 Rome-New London Road.