Liberty League announces 2016 Baseball award recipients
The Liberty League has announced its 2016 All-League awards for baseball as voted by league coaches. The major award winners and all-league teams are listed below.
PLAYER & PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Jake Fishman, Jr., P/UT, Union College
Union junior Jake Fishman was selected as the Liberty League Player and Pitcher of the Year as the Dutchmen claimed their second league title in three years. From the pitching mound, Fishman went undefeated at 7-0 for Union this season and leads all of Division III with a 0.31 earned run average (ERA). He is the only pitcher in Division III to record 18 strikeouts in a single game this season and he limited opponents to a .208 batting average with 73 strikeouts on the year. The junior appeared in all 38 games for the Dutchmen, also serving as Union’s starting first baseman. From the plate, he was second on the team in batting average (.371) and runs scored (29) while pacing Union in hits (46). Fishman also produced 11 doubles, three triples and 14 runs batted in.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Brad Pearson, Fr., C, Clarkson University
Clarkson freshman Brad Pearson was selected as the Liberty League Rookie of the Year and for the second consecutive year, a Clarkson rookie has won the award. Pearson was fourth on the team in hitting, batting .323 with 42 hits, seven doubles, three triples and a home run. A two-time Rookie of the Week selection, he was among the top-five league leaders in runs batted in (34) and he finished the year with a .985 fielding percentage from behind the plate.
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Head Coach Jim Kane; Assistant Coaches Jarrod Mattingly and Jerry Coleman
Clarkson head coach Jim Kane and his staff earned Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year honors. The Golden Knights opened the season with a 3-11 overall record and a 0-4 mark in league play but Clarkson was able to turn the season around. The team won 16 of their last 21 games of the regular season, including 14 league victories, finishing the year at 20-18. Clarkson advanced to the league tournament as the second seed for the second consecutive year. The Golden Knights led the league in batting average (.315), slugging percentage (.419), on-base percentage (.388), runs per game (6.7) and fielding percentage (.967).
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
P- Jake Fishman, Jr., Union
P- John Ghyzel, So., Rochester
P- Evan Janifer, Sr., Rochester
P- Brendan McNerney, Fr., RPI
P- Ted Wilson, Jr., Clarkson
RP- Alex Bunnell, Fr., Bard
C- Nolan Schultz, Sr., Rochester
1B- Greg Jasek, Sr., Clarkson
2B- Steve Eychner, Sr., Rochester
3B- Jamie Faber, Sr., Union
SS- Anthony Padrazo, Sr., Clarkson
OF- Will Gorman, Jr., RIT
OF- Chris Miller, Sr., Clarkson
OF- Nick Johnson, Sr., Vassar
DH- Alec Montecalvo, Sr., Bard
UT- Jake Fishman, Jr., Union
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE SECOND TEAM
P- Adam Ashenfarb, Jr., Union
P- Brandon Cohall, Sr., RIT
P- Greg Echeverria, Sr., RPI
P- Evan Reichel, Fr., St. Lawrence
RP- Liam Rogers, Jr., St. Lawrence
C- Brad Pearson, Fr., Clarkson
1B- Adam Carafotes, Jr., Bard
2B- Zach Zabel, Sr., RIT
3B- Jason Schulz, Fr., RIT
SS- Taylor Digilio, Fr., St. Lawrence
OF- Josh Brown, Jr., Skidmore
OF- Kent Curran, Sr., Union
OF- Jake Meyerson, Sr., Rochester
DH- Harrison Glatt, So., Union
UT- Dan Warren, Sr., Rochester
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE HONORABLE MENTION
Andrew Aikins (P), Skidmore; Will Coleman (UT), Clarkson; Thomas Desmond (OF), RPI; Eric Egan (OF), Union; Jamie Faber (RP), Union; Aiden Finch (1B), Rochester; JP Fisher (3B), Bard; Chris Holomakoff (C), RPI; Bobby Kinne (3B), Vassar; Mike LaVita (DH), Skidmore; Matt Lawrence (OF), RPI; Michael LeFevre (OF), St. Lawrence; Rory Little (P), RIT; Mat Marino (3B), Skidmore; Connor Martin (3B), Clarkson; Ben Murphy (RP), Skidmore; Brian Reed (P), RIT; Stephen Schiavone (P), RPI; David Schlosser (2B), Bard; Jake Vesling (SS), Union; Robert Winkelmann (RP), Vassar; Cory Wuenschell (DH), Vassar; Daniel Zeglen (SS), RIT.