Malave, Novenche, Musk, Lanning, Dorrian and Kiesow selected All-Region
HERKIMER, NY – The Herkimer Generals baseball program had six players make it to the All-Region Team, four selected to the first and two selected to the second team, helping Head Baseball Coach Jason Rathbun to a 34-11 overall record in 2016 and his fourth consecutive Region 3 championship game appearance.
Making it to the first team for the Generals was Christian Malave (Milford, CT), John Novenche (Clifton Park, NY), Greg Musk (Rotterdam, NY) and Gage Lanning (Central Square, NY). Malave – a Liberal Arts & Sciences: General Studies major - made it as an infielder. He was second in the region in home runs (7), third in runs batted in (47), ninth in slugging percentage (.586), 19th in batting average (.368) and 24th in hits (49). One of his better games came against Schenectady in a 19-5 win where Malave went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI.
Novenche – a Liberal Arts & Sciences: General Studies major - made it as an outfielder. The sophomore was third in hits (68), fourth in runs scored (55) and batting average (.420), fifth in doubles (15) and slugging percentage (.623), ninth in home runs (4) and 11th in triples (3). He had three games where he was perfect at the plate, all of which resulted in wins. Novenche went 4-for-4 with a double and RBI against Genesee (17-7), 3-for-3 against Columbia-Greene (13-0) with two doubles and one RBI and 3-for-3 again against Columbia-Greene (15-4) with two doubles and two RBI.
Greg Musk – a Liberal Arts & Sciences: General Studies major – made it as a pitcher. The sophomore had a perfect 7-0 record before the Region 3 championship game, finishing the season 7-1. In April Musk threw 15 total innings, helping the Generals defeat SUNY Adirondack 12-2, Fulton-Montgomery 13-1 and Mohawk Valley 11-1. In each of those wins Musk collected a complete game, only allowing four earned runs between all three starts, racking up 24 strikeouts compared to just two walks. The left hander finished fourth in the region in shutouts (1), fifth in wins (7), and 11th in strikeouts (48).
Gage Lanning – a Business: Accounting major – made it as a catcher. The sophomore was second in the region in doubles (20), third in slugging percentage (.690) and runs batted in (47), eighth in batting average (.405) and on-base percentage (.503), 23rd in runs scored (36) and 29th in hits (47). He had three games with four runs batted in and one with five. Four RBI performances came against SUNY Adirondack (21-5), Columbia-Greene (15-4) and Fulton-Montgomery (11-5). His five RBI performance came in a 19-5 win over Schenectady in April where Lanning went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and home run.
Selected to the second team was Patrick Dorrian (Kingston, NY) and Justin Kiesow (Frankfort, NY). Dorrian – a Liberal Arts & Sciences: General Studies major – made it as an infielder. Dorrian was fourth in the region in triples (5), seventh in doubles plays turned (14), 10th in assists (79), 11th in doubles (12), 12th in hits (56), 13th in runs batted in (37) and 14th in runs scored (43). His best game of the season came against SUNY Adirondack in April where the left hander went 3-for-3 from the plate with two runs scored, one double and a season-high five runs batted in. As for Kiesow – the Business: Business Administration major – made it as a designated hitter. The sophomore in only 114 at-bats was 22nd in home runs (3), 38th in doubles (8) and 50th in hits (36). His best performance of the season came against conference rival Mohawk Valley at home where Kiesow went 2-for-3 in each game of the doubleheader with a home run and three runs batted in.
-Giorgio Varlaro