Eight Baseball players make it to MVC All-Conference Team
HERKIMER, NY – The Herkimer Generals baseball team had four infielder, one outfielder, two pitchers and a designated hitter nominated to the 2015 Mountain Valley Conference All-Conference Team.
The Generals four infielders to make it were Matt Lichtman, Patrick Dorrian, Tyler Phillips and John Boland. Lichtman, who was selected to second base, was 19th nationally in runs scored (48), 37th in hits (56), 11th in assists (106) and second in double plays (25). The Smithtown, NY native's best offensive game came against nationally ranked Century College in the Generals second game of the season. The sophomore went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, one home run and three runs batted in. Lichtman's best defensive performance came against Schenectady in the Region III Final Four, recording one putout, eight assists and three double plays.
Dorrian was selected at third base, and was seventh nationally in runs scored (61), fifth in triples (5), fourth in runs batted in (59) and fourth in walks (34). The freshman from Kingston, NY had a season-high five runs batted in against Schenectady Community College, going 2-for-3 at the plate with one run scored, one walk, one double and one home run. Phillips was selected at short stop and nationally ranked in many categories, scoring 67 runs (3rd) with 84 hits (3rd), 20 doubles (3rd), a .486 batting average (4th), .520 on-base percentage (21st), .676 slugging percentage (16th) and 19 double plays (16th). The Hancock, NY native had at least one hit in 47 games and an RBI in 31. Boland was selected at catcher, totaling only one error in 258 chances in 2015. He wasn't just a terrific defender however, ranking fourth nationally in runs scored (65), 15th in hits (69), 17th in doubles (15), 28th in runs batted in (43) and 34th in batting average (.416). The sophomore from Rhinebeck, NY had an impressive four game stretch in the field where he accumulated 33 put outs, one assist and five double plays.
The lone outfielder on the All-Conference Team was Taishi Terashima (Hiranai, Japan). The sophomore was first nationally in runs scored (81), seventh in hits (78), ninth in doubles (17), 14th in stolen bases (21), 10th in batting average (.459) and 6th in on-base percentage (.557). Even more impressive, Taishi had a .514 batting average, .633 on-base percentage and .703 slugging percentage in 11 games played on the road in 2015.
Chris Rave was also a single selection for the Generals, making it to All-Conference Team as a designated hitter. Rave - who is from Middletown, NY – ranked 11th nationally in hits (74), sixth in doubles (18), third in RBI (61), ninth in batting average (.460) and 27th in slugging percentage (.640). In the Generals 48 wins Rave hit .469 with a .503 on-base and .662 slugging percentage with 38 runs scored and three home runs.
The two pitchers selected for Herkimer were Patrick Merryweather and Joe Nellis. Both players tied each other with a team-high eight wins. Merryweather – who is from Baldwinsville, NY – had five victories against the Mountain Valley Conference in 23 innings pitched, allowing two runs on 10 hits with three complete games. That wasn't it however, as Merryweather had an impressive 0.78 ERA with 32 strikeouts which averaged out to 12.52 per appearance. Nellis, a freshman, collected four conference wins in 15 2/3 innings pitched with one earned run allowed on 11 hits. Helping him to a 4-0 record in the MVC was a 0.57 ERA and 17 strikeouts, averaging 9.77 per appearance.
"We were represented well on the All-Conference Team," said Head Coach Jason Rathbun. "I'm glad the other coaches in our conference recognized the terrific year these players had!"
-Giorgio Varlaro