Union selected preseason favorite in Liberty League baseball
(Clockwise from Top Left): Adam Ashenfarb - Union, Aiden Finch - Rochester, Christ Miller - Clarkson, Sam Lawrence - RPI, Will Gorman - RIT, Mike LeFevre - St. Lawrence, Eric Strickland - Vassar, Ben Murphy - Skidmore, Adam Carafotes - Bard

Union selected preseason favorite in Liberty League baseball

Bookmark and Share

For the second consecutive season, Union College has been selected as the 2017 Liberty League baseball preseason favorite in a vote conducted by the nine league coaches. The Dutchmen are coming off their second league championship in three years and with the departure of only five players, it is unsurprising that they are predicted to finish first in the league standings.

Union headlines the poll with seven first-place votes and 63 points. The University of Rochester was selected second with 53 points while Clarkson University, with one first-place vote and 48 points, narrowly edged out Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) for third. The Engineers (47) were picked fourth and were followed by Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT, 34), St. Lawrence University (31), Vassar College (22), Skidmore College (15) and Bard College (11).  

The Dutchmen had a successful run in 2017 as they tied a program-record 26 wins, posting a 26-14 overall record and advancing to their second trip to the NCAA tournament since 1965. As a team, Union boasted the league’s best earned run average (3.24), thanks in part to Jake Fishman, the 2016 Liberty League Player and Pitcher of the Year. Fishman, who had a perfect 7-0 record and a 0.41 earned run average, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays and signed a professional contract over the summer. Fishman was the team’s ace, so they will have big shoes to fill but the Dutchmen have an arsenal of returning pitchers in senior Adam Ashenfarb (2.41), junior Jake Vesling (2.68), junior Billy Christopher (3.37) and junior Andy Labeck, who returns after taking last season off due to injury. Ashenfarb, an All-Liberty League second team selection, Vesling and Christopher combined for 19 starts and 113 total innings. Senior Kent Curran, also an All-Liberty League second-team selection, will lead the team from the plate. He finished the year with a team-high .376 batting average and 13 doubles. Curran was also among the top-three for runs batted in with 23. Sophomores Joe Ganim (.276, 26 RBI) and Anthony Amoroso (.291) will also be key contributors to the batting order.

Rochester (22-19, 15-9 Liberty League) was the third seed in the league tournament for the second consecutive season. Sophomore Aiden Finch headlines the positional players returning for the Yellowjackets. He put together a team-best .989 fielding percentage, playing in all 37 games for Rochester, splitting time at first base and behind home plate as catcher. He was also one of the team’s top hitters with a .326 batting average and four homeruns. He will be joined in the infield by junior shortstop Tyler Schmidt while senior Will Conroy will anchor the outfield. Junior pitcher John Ghyzel returns to the mound for the Yellowjackets after putting together a very strong season in 2016. He finished the year with a 7-1 record and a 2.97 earned run average. In 11 appearances, he struck out 51 batters over 60.2 innings.

Last season, Clarkson was one of the top teams in the Liberty League as the Golden Knights paced the conference in hitting (.318) and fielding (.970), earning the second seed in the postseason. They struggled at the start of the season last year, going 3-11 in their first 14 games but were able to turn it around to for a 20-18 overall mark (14-8 Liberty League).  Part of that turn around was senior outfielder Chris Miller, who led the team and league in hitting (.449), on-base percentage (.515) and slugging percentage (.659). Junior Will Coleman will also be a key returnee as he helps the team in all facets of the game with his bat (.238), glove (1.000 FP) and arm (4.13). Coleman along with Ted Wilson highlight Clarkson’s pitching returnees as the duo combined for 77.2 innings and 14 appearances. Wilson finished the year with a 3.00 earned run average and compiled a 4-2 record while Coleman went 3-1 with a team-best 31 strikeouts.

RPI went 16-27 last season, including a 13-11 league record, reached the Liberty League tournament and advanced to the championship round before falling to Union. A core group of players return for the Engineers with seven positional starters and eight pitchers (two starters, six relievers). Sophomore Brendan McNerney headlines the pitching staff after a breakout rookie campaign, where he went 6-2 with a 2.66 earned run average, which was tops on the team and good for fifth among league leaders. He allowed 50 hits in 61 innings pitched and recorded 48 strikeouts. Junior Aaron Kalish will join McNerney after making 12 starts for the Engineers last season. RPI also welcomes back seniors Sam Lawrence (.320) and J.T. Sawyer (.271) to pace the offense. Lawrence led the team with 33 RBIs, 65 total bases and 47 hits, including a team-high 13 doubles. Sawyer was a starter in all 43 of RPI’s games last season, where he batted .277 and had four steals in five attempts.

RIT finished the 2016 season with an 18-22 overall record and a 12-12 league record. The Tigers hope for a return to the postseason after reaching the league tournament for the first time in 2015. RIT should have a strong batting order as four of their top-five hitters return after ranking third in the league with a .294 batting average. All-Liberty League first teamer Will Gorman will lead the Tigers from the plate after a career season, where he set single-season marks in hits (61), at-bats (166), home runs (8), runs batted in (52) and total bases (107). He finished the season with a .367 batting average and stole eight bases. Sophomores Jason Schulz and Patrick Mylott will also contribute offensively as both posted batting average above .300 at .330 and .316, respectively. They combined for 53 hits and 16 runs batted in as well as nine doubles. Only one starting pitcher is back for the Tigers in Brian Reed, an All-Liberty League Honorable Mention selection, he made eight starts from the pitching mound last season and stuck out 44 in 49.2 innings.

St. Lawrence was a young squad last season and a year of experience should translate to improvement with the graduation of only five players. Last season, St. Lawrence posted a 14-25 overall record (12-12 Liberty League). All four of the team’s All-Liberty League selections return—junior Liam Rogers, sophomore Evan Reichel, sophomore Taylor Digilio and junior Michael LeFevre. Pitchers Rogers (2.21) and Reichel (3.67) were tops on the team in earned run average and both made appearances in the double figures for St. Lawrence. Rogers, a reliever, made 13 appearances for the Saints, finishing with a 3-2 record and holding opponents to a .263 batting average while Reichel posted a 3-3 record through 11 appearances, including six starts. LeFevre and Digilio were the team’s top batters last season as both hit above .340 at .369 and .346, respectively. LeFevre also had a team-high 30 runs batted in and 13 extra-base hits on eight doubles, two triples and three homeruns. Digilio was impressive in his rookie season with four doubles, a triple, 17 RBIs and 19 runs scored. St. Lawrence also welcomes back seniors Devin Robson (.265) and Mic Regan (.272).

Vassar wrapped up 2016 with an 18-21 record on the year and a 12-12 mark in league play. The 12 victories were the second-most in Brewers program history. Vassar will be under new leadership this season with head coach Matthew Righter at the helm. Righter will have a team that’s a good mix of newcomers with 10 incoming freshman and veteran leadership with a senior class of six. A trio of seniors headline the pitching staff: Adam Erkis (3.25), Robert Winkelmann (4.22) and Trent Berg (4.63). Erkis and Berg both made nine starts for the Brewers, combining for 102 innings pitched and 87 strikeouts. Winkelmann made 17 appearances in relief last season, totaling 21.1 innings pitched and 22 strike outs. Junior Bobby Kinne returned from an injury midway through the season but was still able to make a mark with a .333 batting average against conference opponents and a .316 batting average overall. He was ranked third on the team in batting and also scored 17 runs and drove in 13.

Skidmore returns with the bulk of its lineup from a year ago with the return of seven starting positional players and five starting pitchers. The Thoroughbreds only lost three players to graduation and will have a seasoned squad to open this season. Outfielder Josh Brown is back for his senior campaign, after leading the team in runs (30), hits (48), doubles (15), home runs (4), runs batted in (36), slugging percentage (.542) to go with his .338 batting average. He was also six-for-six in stolen bases for the Thoroughbreds. Other key offensive returnees include juniors Steven Gilbert, who had a team-best .354 batting average, and Eric Damphousse, who had a .344 batting average. Senior Ben Murphy and junior Andrew Aikins headline the Thoroughbreds returning pitchers. Murphy was 2-0 with a 2.52 earned run average in 13 appearances and two starts while Aikins went 4-4 in 10 appearances, all starts, with a 4.41 earned run average and a team-high 32 strikeouts.

Bard returns to the field to open its fourth year of Liberty League play with a new head coach with the promotion of assistant coach Andy Salvatore. The Raptors will still be a young team with 21 underclassmen, however, the graduation of only one player bodes well for the team’s future. Junior David Schlosser (.344) and senior Adam Carafotes (.321) are both back after pacing the team in batting average last season. Carafotes had team highs with 45 hits, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 27 runs batted in and a slugging percentage of .507 while Schlosser scored a team-high 25 runs to go with his 15 stolen bases, good for third among league leaders. Sophomore John Wendt headlines the pitching staff returnees with a team-best 1.14 earned run average. In four starts, he struck out nine and allowed six earned runs. In the bullpen, sophomore Alex Bunnell is the team’s top reliever with 17 appearances and a 1.84 earned run average. He put together a 3-1 record in 17 appearances while striking out 24 and recorded three saves. Bard also welcomes back senior JP Fisher (.303) and junior Matt Lasky (.284). 

2017 Liberty League Baseball Preseason Poll

Place. Team, Points
  1. Union, 63 (7)
  2. Rochester, 53
  3. Clarkson, 48 (1)
  4. RPI, 47 (1)
  5. RIT, 34
  6. St. Lawrence, 31
  7. Vassar, 22
  8. Skidmore, 15
  9. Bard, 11