Liberty League Preview

The Liberty League continues to be the toughest conference in the region, top to bottom. Over the last five years, four different schools have gone on to the NCAA tournament as the conference playoff champion: Rensselaer (2015, 2013), Union (2014), Skidmore (2012) and Clarkson (2011). Rensselaer, led by a strong senior class, won the conference regular season and tournament titles last spring en route to the Auburn, New York regional title game against eventual national champion SUNY Cortland.

The conference has swelled to a baseball playing membership of nine with the recent additions of RIT (2012) and Bard (2014). When two-time national champion Ithaca joins the Liberty League in the coming years, no later than 2018-19, the league will have 10 teams making it one of the largest in the region. 

A conference horse race that normally isn’t decided until the final day of the regular season appears to have a clear favorite at the starting line. Union, a 2014 NCAA tournament participant, won 21 games and finished 13-11 in Liberty League play last year but the young Dutchmen missed the conference tournament. A team that lost just three seniors returns almost intact and the Dutchmen appear poised to make a run at their third conference regular season crown in the four years. Union’s juniors and seniors were part of back-to-back conference regular season titles in 2013 and 2014. Junior two-way threat Jake Fishman (.477, 23 RBI, 53 H, 26 R, 17 BB, .543 OBP; 4-2, 1.48 ERA, 6 CG, 1 SV, 42.2 IP, 43 K), a 2014 D3baseball.com second team all-region selection, should be one of the top players in the conference. The majority of Union’s 2015 field position starters will be back in 2016 with other key returnees including all-conference selections Eric Egan (.402, 22 RBI, 41 H, 28 R, 7 TRP, 19 SB), Jamie Faber .365, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 42 H, 22 R, Kent Curran .333, 19 RBI, 38 H, 20 R, Jake Vesling .296, 11 RBI, 32 H, 15 R and utilityman Andy Labeck (3-4, 1.73, 41.2 IP, 8 BB, 20 K .359, 12 RBI, 23 H, 8 R). On the mound, Adam Ashenfarb 4-3, 2.23 ERA, 5 CG, 44.1 IP, 15 BB, 38 K will be part of the conference rotation along with Fishman, Labeck and Ryan Kuchar (2-1, 3.18 ERA, 36 K). Jamie Faber was one of Union’s conference starters in his first two years with the program. A healthy Faber would give Union one of the top rotations in the conference. On the back end of the bullpen, D3baseball.com second team all-region pitcher Bill Christopher (0-0, 0.87 ERA, 6 SV, 10.1 IP, 13 K, 3 BB) notched six saves in limited innings last year. For the Dutchmen to advance to the NCAA tournament, the bullpen will need to improve. Union had no relievers with a sub 4.00 ERA last year.

After Union, the picture gets somewhat muddled r as every other team lost players that were pivotal to last year’s success. RIT made the conference tournament for the first time in program history. The Tigers joined the Liberty League in 2012. The Brick City bunch advanced to the Liberty League title game against RPI, set several school offensive records and just missed tying the program mark for wins. Will Gorman (.363, 7 HR, 46 RBI, 49 H, 34 R, 27 BB, 476 OBP) should be one of the top sluggers in the conference, if not the region. Eight seniors from RIT are back from last season, all are starters paced by the aforementioned Gorman. All-conference picks Brian Battaglia (.328, 1 HR, 20 RBI) and Phil Sammon (.314, 4 HR, 26 RBI, 43 H) each drove in more than 20 runs last year, they’ll look to drive in Zach Zabel (.330, 18 RBI, 38 H, 26 R, 22 BB, 12 SB). Those three will try and fill the void left by the graduation of all-conference performer Skip Flanagan. Inning eaters Rory Little (5-1, 2.15 ERA, 54.1 IP, 43 K, 16 BB) and Brandon Cohall (3-4, 3.64, 2 CG, 42.0 IP, 36 K, 10 BB) are RIT’s top returning arms and provide stability at the top of the starting rotation. But, there are holes to fill for the Orange and Black with RIT bringing in 13 freshmen. How quickly the rookies can mesh with the veterans will tell the tale for the Tigers. 

Across town from RIT’s Henrietta campus, the University of Rochester lurks among the Liberty League’s top contenders. The Yellow Jackets have been a fixture in the top half of the table and that should not change in 2016. UofR will need to rely on its pitching, at least early, as the Yellow Jackets lost four of their top seven hitters and two of their top three run producers. Evan Janifer (5-3, 3.13 ERA, 2 CG, 54.2 IP, 38 K), one of the top closers in the region in 2014, moved into the starting rotation last season. He should form a solid nucleus with staff ace Dan Warren (6-2, 4.28 ERA, 1 CG, 48.1 IP, 32 K), Luke Meyerson (3-1, 4.05 ERA, 2 SV, 33.1 IP, 15 K) and Michael Mondon (2-0, 2.74 ERA, 23.0 IP, 16 K). Mondon pitched sparingly last year and was shut down in late March; when healthy in 2014, he was part of a solid Rochester starting rotation that all returned intact last year. The Yellow Jackets offense will stand of the shoulders of all-league selections Nolan Schultz (.319, 7 HR, 35 RBI, 46 H, 29 R, 6 TRP, 9 HP), and Jake Meyerson (.361, 43 H, 29 R, 3 HR, 14 RBI) 

Pitching will also be a plus in Potsdam where Clarkson looks to make it three-straight conference tournaments. Two-way threats Greg Jasek (365, 33 RBI, 42 H, 14 DBL, 20 R, 15 BB; 2-0, 1.50 ERA, 2 CG, 18.0 IP, 18 K, 3 BB) and 2015 Liberty League Rookie of the Year Will Coleman (.351, 22 RBI; 5-0, 2.78 ERA, 4 SV, 45.1 IP, 25 K, 8 BB) were among Clarkson’s leading hitters and pitchers in 2015. Jasek was limited to mostly hitting last season after being shut down early in the season; when healthy, he has the ability to be the ace of the staff. Will Coleman’s older brother John was the Liberty League Player of the Year in 2015. A four-year starter, the elder Coleman will be hard to replace. Rounding out the pitching staff will be Eddie Miller (2014: 4-1, 2.53 ERA, 2 CG, 32.0 IP) and Ted Wilson (2-2, 3.38 ERA, 40.0 IP, 18 K ); those four project to provide Clarkson with one of the more talented starting rotations in the conference if it stays healthy. The pitching staff will need to carry the team early if the offense struggles. After Greg Jasek and Will Coleman, Clarkson’s leading returning hitters are Dom Pirro (.250, 23 RBI), Chris Miller (.276, 18 RBI) and Anthony Padrazo (.436, 17 H, 11 R).

From Tech to engineering school rival ‘Tute, defending regular season and tournament champion Rensselaer should continue to trend near the top of the table. However, the graduation losses in Troy were deep with the Engineers losing D3baseball.com All-American Sean Conroy, D3baseball.com all-region utility player Jared Jensen and three of their top hitters from 2015. Head coach Karl Steffen, at the helm of the Engineers for over 30 years, always finds a way to re-load and it should be that type of year for the Cherry and White. All-region workhorse Greg Echevarria (7-3, 2.41, 82.0 IP, 70 K) will be the staff ace after racking up over 80 innings last spring. While the Engineers graduated some mighty mashers, Jason Ramos (.341, 19 RBI, 29 H, 18 R), Thomas Desmond (.325, 36 RBI, 40 H) and the Lawrence brothers, Matt (.319, 11 RBI) and Sam (.303, 11 RBI), all batted over .300 last spring and all return. Add to the mix Siena College transfer Yahriel Jimenez and the Engineers should be a tough out at conference tournament time.

The conference dark horse should reside in Poughkeepsie at Vassar. Last year’s inclement weather limited the Brewers to just six non-conference games and 28 tilts overall. If the Brewers are to contend, they’ll need Adam Erkis (3-5, 4.75 ERA, 29 K, 11 BB, 47.1 IP) and Trent Berg (0-2, 8.78 ERA, 27.2 IP ) to return to their freshmen form. Erkis was the Liberty League’s Pitcher of the Year in 2014 and he combined with Berg to go 15-2 in 19 appearances.  In the bullpen, Connor Cucalon (2-0, 1 SV, 9.95 ERA) was an all-region reliever in 2014 but struggled last year and was shut down. If he is healthy at the back end of the bullpen, he instantly makes the Brewers better. Pitching should be the key as the Brewers team ERA rose to over 5.00 and no regular starter had an ERA under 4.00. If Vassar can improve on the mound, that will make the Brewers tough to beat in hitter friendly Liberty League. At the plate, Bobby Kinne (.398, 17 RBI, 39 H, 19 R) and Nick Johnson (.369, 1 HR, 18 RBI, 38 H, 15 DBL) should provide the biggest spark along with former all-conference swinger Brooks English (2014: .371, 25 RBI). Johnson and English were big factors in Vassar’s run to the conference tournament in 2014.

Youth is in in Saratoga Springs (Skidmore) and Canton (St Lawrence). Twelve freshmen will dot the Skidmore opening day roster looking to help the Thoroughbreds race back near the front of the pack. Of the returning veterans that should help are Mike LaVita (.360, 12 RBI, 32 H, 25 R, 8 DBL, 23 BB) , all-league selection Jeb Clarke (.350, 18 RBI, 35 H) and Josh Brown (.310, 3 HR, 25 RBI). St. Lawrence head coach Pete Hoy will have 13 freshmen when the Saints break camp. Adam Reichel (.301, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 34 H, 20 R), Isaac Lewis (-.297, 14 RBI, 35 H, 22 R, 17 BB) and Sam Downes (3-3, 6.29 ERA, 3 CG, 44.1 IP, 24 K) are the top returning players. Among the incoming freshmen to keep an eye on are 6-8 pitcher Emmett Dunn and Evan O’Keefe, an all-state performer from New Hampshire. . 

Regardless of last year’s overall results, the biggest turnaround in the league came in the Hudson Valley at Bard. Baseball returned to Bard in 2013 and last year brought the return of home games and Bard baseball’s on-campus debut with the opening of Honey Field. The barnstorming Raptors struggled to just three wins in 2014 and went winless against league opponents but that all changed last year as Bard won 11 games and triumphed six times in conference. The Raptors will continue to be a work in progress in 2016 with 26 combined freshmen and sophomores, and just one senior. Bard’s top three returning players are Alec Montecalvo (.407, 36 RBI, 48 H, 13 DBL), Adam Carafotes (.350, 34 RBI, 50 H, 31 R, 15 DBL) and David Schlosser (.425, 17 SB, 48 H, 33 R, .536 OBP). If Bard’s gradual improvement continues under skipper Ed Kahovec, the Raptors could play the role of spoiler to potential conference tournament teams.