Liberty League unveils 2017 Baseball Awards
The Liberty League has announced its 2017 All-League awards for baseball as voted by league coaches. The major award winners and all-league teams are listed below.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Will Gorman, Senior, OF, RIT
RIT senior outfielder Will Gorman was selected as the Liberty League Player of the Year as the Tigers claimed their first league title with a 33-7 overall record this season. Gorman paced the team from the plate with a team-high .349 batting average, 12 doubles, three triples, eight homeruns and 39 runs batted in. He also had 52 hits and scored 46 runs. Gorman tied his own single season school mark in homeruns, set last season, while also becoming the program’s career leader in home runs (25) and runs batted in (151).
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Brian Reed, Junior, RIT
RIT junior Brian Reed was selected as the Liberty League Pitcher of the Year. The ace of RIT’s pitching staff compiled an 8-1 record to go with his league-best 1.64 earned run average. In 60 and a third innings pitched, he struck out a league-high 63, including a career-high 12 in a game in April. He allowed only 11 earned runs on the year and held opponents to a .216 batting average. The two-time Liberty League Pitcher of the Week selection also had four complete games.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Evan Trausch, 1B, Vassar
Vassar College freshman Evan Tausch was recognized as Liberty League Rookie of the Year. Trausch helped the Brewers to the Liberty League tournament as the fourth seed and they finished the season with a 19-19 overall and an 11-9 league record. Against Liberty League opponents, Trausch led the league with his .433 batting average and was among the top-three in slugging (.600) and on-base (.493) percentage. On the year, he hit a team-best .362 and led Vassar with 10 doubles, 21 runs scored and 19 runs batted in. He also had a .972 fielding percentage from first base.
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: RIT – Head Coach Rob Grow; Assistant Coaches Greg Keagle, Tyler Leichtenberger, Dave Kajganich, Wayne Childs and Adam Potter
RIT head coach Rob Grow and his staff earned Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year honors. They directed the Tigers to one of their best seasons in program history as the team set a program record for wins (33) and claimed their first-ever Liberty League title. RIT also set program records in fielding percentage (.973), doubles (102), total bases (611), slugging percentage (.460), runs batted in (279) and strikeouts (263). In the regular season, RIT set league records with a 22-1 mark and a .957 winning percentage in league play. RIT’s pitching staff has a 3.12 earned run average, good for ninth among all of Division III and the Tigers currently have a .309 batting average, ranking them second in the Liberty League. RIT will be making their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance by virtue of the league’s automatic bid and they head to York, Pennsylvania in the midst of a 12-game winning streak.
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
P-Brian Reed, Jr., RIT
P-Jake Vesling, Jr., Union
P-Ted Wilson, Sr., Clarkson
P-Daniel Zeglen, So., RIT
RP-Brett Bouchard, Jr., RIT
C-Patrick Geiger, So., Skidmore
1B-Sam Lawrence, Sr., RPI
2B-Navada Waterman, Fr., RIT
SS-Ethan Meister, Jr., RPI
3B-Matt Martino, Fr., Vassar
OF-Kent Curran, Sr., Union
OF-Will Gorman, Sr., RIT
OF-Dom Pirro, Sr., Clarkson
DH-Brett Kajganich, Sr., RIT
UT-Jake Vesling, Jr., Union
UT-Daniel Zeglen, So., RIT
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE SECOND TEAM
P-Stevie Branche, Fr., RIT
P-Adam Erkis, Fr., Vassar
P-John Ghyzel, Jr., Rochester
P-Jameson Moran, So., RIT
P-Christopher Palmiero, Fr., RPI
RP-Adam Aponte, Sr., RPI
C-Mike Myers, Sr., RIT
1B-Evan Trausch, Fr., Vassar
2B-Anthony Amoroso, So., Union
SS-Tyler Schmidt, Jr., Rochester
3B-Adam Reichel, Sr., St. Lawrence
OF-Matt Catalfo, Fr., Union
OF-Chris Miller, Sr., Clarkson
OF-Devin Robson, Sr., St. Lawrence
DH-Josh Brown, Sr., Skidmore
UT-Will Potter, So., Skidmore
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE HONORABLE MENTION
P-Jack Denzer, So., Rochester
P-Emmett Dunn, So., St. Lawrence
P-Ryan Kuchar, Jr., Union
P-Evan Richardson, So., Bard
RP-Jon Madsen, Jr., Vassar
C-Anthony Butler, So., St. Lawrence
C-David Rieth, Fr., Rochester
1B-Adam Carafotes, Sr., Bard
1B-Joe Fraser, Fr., Clarkson
2B-Bobby Kinne, Fr., Vassar
SS-Daniel Capra, Fr., RIT
3B-Andy Labeck, Jr., Union
OF-Mat Marino, Sr., Skidmore
OF-Dom Scialabba, Jr., RIT
OF-Taylor Smach, So., Vassar
DH-Cam Bando, Fr., Clarkson
DH-Michael LeFevre, Jr., St. Lawrence