Liberty League announces 2015 baseball award recipients
2015 Liberty League Baseball Awards
The Liberty League has announced its 2015 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: John Coleman, Sr., Shortstop, Clarkson University
Clarkson senior John Coleman led the Golden Knights to the Liberty League tournament for the second consecutive season as the team finished the year with a 24-9 overall record and a 16-6 mark in league play. Coleman was tops in the league in many offensive categories, this season, including batting average (second, .438), slugging percentage (fourth, .605) and on-base percentage (fourth, .525). He paced the Clarkson offense in hits (52), runs (35) and total bases (72) and was also second in walks (19) and extra-base hits (14). He also registered one of the team’s best fielding percentages at .964, committing only six errors in 107 chances. This past winter, Coleman was named the Liberty League Co-Player of the Year in Men’s Basketball and he was also selected as the Capital One/CoSIDA Scholar Athlete of the Year.
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Sean Conroy, Sr., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute *
RPI senior Sean Conroy headlined one of the Liberty League’s top pitching staffs, this season, as the Engineers captured the 2015 league title. Conroy posted a 6-1 record, along with a team-best 1.83 earned run average. He hurled four complete games and allowed 15 earned runs in 73.2 innings pitched. In 11 starts for RPI, Conroy limited opposing batters to a .213 average while striking out 77 and issuing 18 walks.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Will Coleman, Fr., Utility/Pitcher, Clarkson University
Will Coleman made an immediate impact for the Golden Knights with his arm and his bat in his rookie campaign as he was a starter in 30 of Clarkson’s 32 games this season. As a pitcher, the five-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week selection, compiled a 5-0 record in six starts and posted league-best four saves with a 2.78 earned run average. He struck out 25 and walked eight while limiting opposing batters to a .228 average. From the plate, Coleman finished fourth on the team with a .351 batting average, third in runs batted with 22 and third in hits with 39.
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Karl Steffen and his staff guided the Engineers to their second Liberty League title in three years as the top seed in this year’s championship after finishing conference play with an 18-6 record. RPI became the first team in league history to capture the title after dropping its first game in the double-elimination tournament. The Engineers were one of the top offensive teams in the league with a .305 batting average and a league-best 77 doubles. The pitching staff finished the year with a 4.09 earned run average, striking out a league-high 273 batters. Steffen is assisted by Keith Glasser, Cody Vincent and Evan Kirsch.
FIRST TEAM
P- Sean Conroy, Sr., RPI *
P- Greg Echeverria, Jr., RPI
P- Rory Little, Jr., RIT
P/DH- Jake Fishman, So., Union
RP- Bill Christopher, Fr., Union
C- Nolan Schultz, Jr., Rochester *
1B- Adam Carafotes, So., Bard
1B- Skip Flanagan, Gr., RIT
2B- Tim LeSuer, Sr., RPI
SS- John Coleman, Sr., Clarkson *
3B- Brian Munoz, Sr., Rochester
OF- Eric Egan, Jr., Union
OF- Will Gorman, So., RIT
OF- Mark Syron, Sr., St. Lawrence
DH- Alec Montecalvo, Jr., Bard
UT/P/OF – Jared Jensen, Sr., RPI
* denotes unanimous selection
SECOND TEAM
P- Adam Ashenfarb, So., Union
P- Brandon Cohall, Jr., RIT
P- Evan Janifer, Jr., Rochester
P- Andrew Schreyack, Sr., St. Lawrence
RP- Michael Lee, Fr., Rochester
C- Brian Battaglia, Jr., RIT
1B- Greg Jasek, Jr., Clarkson
2B- David Schlosser, Fr., Bard
SS- Nick Palmiero, Sr., RPI
3B- Bobby Kinne, Fr., Vassar
OF- Kent Curran, So., Union
OF- Nick Johnson, Jr., Vassar
OF- Jake Meyerson, Jr., Rochester
OF – Sam Slutsky, Sr., Rochester
DH- Jeb Clarke, Jr., Skidmore
UT/P- Will Coleman, Fr., Clarkson
HONORABLE MENTION
Josh Brown (OF), Skidmore; Kyle Casey (2B), Vassar; Thomas Desmond (OF), RPI; Brendan Garry (1B), Rochester; Conor Herlihy (P), RIT; Ethan Humbert (P), RIT; Andy Labeck (P/3B), Union; Phil Sammon (3B), RIT; Tyler Schmidt (SS), Rochester; Josh Schulman (P), Rochester.