Baseball | 5/16/2017 10:38:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY – A record 12 members of the RIT baseball team earned 2017 All-Liberty League Baseball honors, as the league announced its postseason awards on Tuesday, May 16. Will Gorman (Nassau, NY/Columbia) was named the Liberty League Player of the Year, Brian Reed (Rochester, NY/Penfield) won Pitcher of the Year honors, and head coach Rob Grow and his staff were named the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Gorman, Reed, Daniel Zeglen (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville), Brett Bouchard (Fairport, NY/Fairport), Navada Waterman (Coudersport, PA/Coudersport), and Brett Kajganich (North Royalton, OH/Holy Name) were All-Liberty League first team selections, while Stevie Branche (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz), Jameson Moran (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo), Mike Myers (Hamlin, NY/Brockport), were second team picks. Daniel Capra (North Salem, NY/North Salem) and Dom Scialabba (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) garnered honorable mention accolades.
 
Gorman became RIT's first Liberty League Player of the Year since the university joined in 2012. He is also RIT's first three-time All-Liberty League first team selection. Gorman has appeared in all 40 games for the Tigers in 2017, shuttling between right field and center field. Offensively, Gorman leads the Liberty League with 46 runs scored, eight home runs, 39 runs batted in, 94 total bases, and a RIT single-season record 31 walks. He also leads the team with a .468 on-base percentage and a .631 slugging percentage. Gorman is RIT's all-time leader with 25 homers and 151 RBIs. Named the NCBWA Division III Hitter of the Week on April 27, Gorman is also a two-time Liberty League Performer of the Week in 2017 and was named RIT's Senior co-Male Athlete of the Year on May 8. He was also named to the Liberty League Championship All-Tournament Team.
 
Reed, a junior, is the ace of RIT's strong pitching staff, leading the team with eight wins, a 1.64 earned run average, four complete games, 63 strikeouts, and 60 1/3 innings pitched, while opponents are hitting just .216 against him. In six Liberty League regular season starts, Reed was 6-0 with a 1.89 ERA and four complete games with 42 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched. He was a two-time Liberty League Pitcher of the Week and was named to the Liberty League Championship All-Tournament Team. He is RIT's first Liberty League Pitcher of the Year.
 
Zeglen was a first team selection as both a pitcher and utility player. On the mound, he is 6-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 46 2/3 innings of work to go along with three complete games, while opponents are hitting just .207 against him. At the plate, Zeglen is hitting .343 with nine doubles, two homers and 29 RBIs, while compiling a .515 slugging percentage. He drove in 17 runs in 16 Liberty League contests, while winning all six of his starts with a 2.15 ERA. On May 1, Zeglen was named the Liberty League Player of the Week and a day later, was named to the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week.
 
Bouchard, a junior, is RIT's top bullpen arm, appearing in 21 games (second all-time in one season at the university) with a 5-1 record, six saves and a 1.97 earned run average. Bouchard has struck out 32 batters, while walking just two batters in 45 2/3 innings in 2017. He was 2-0 with five saves, 18 strikeouts and zero walks in 21 2/3 innings during Liberty League regular season play. Five of Bouchard's six saves were longer than one inning, including two different 3 2/3 inning efforts against Skidmore and Union.
 
Waterman has stepped right in and provided a major spark both offensively and defensively. Serving as RIT's leadoff hitter for most of the season, Waterman is hitting .306 with 43 runs scored, eight doubles, three triples, and 23 RBIs, while stealing a team-high seven bases. Defensively, Waterman, a freshman, has made just four errors in 163 chances, recording a .975 fielding percentage. He hit .388 in 23 Liberty League games, scoring a team-best 27 runs, while recording a .465 on-base percentage, and .506 slugging percentage.
 
Kajganich, a senior designated hitter, broke the RIT single-season record for doubles in a season with 16. He is second on the team in hitting with a .344 batting average to go along with a team-best 53 hits. In addition, Kajganich has two home runs and 37 RBIs, while slugging .500 to go along with a .438 on-base percentage. He was named to the Liberty League Championship All-Tournament Team.
 
Branche is in the midst of a dominant freshman season, compiling a 4-1 record with 62 strikeouts in just 42 1/3 innings, while opponents are batting just .178 against him. He was 3-0 in Liberty League play with 46 strikeouts in 30 innings. On April 14, Branche struck out 15 batters without a walk in a win over Rochester. He was named the Liberty League Pitcher of the Week on May 1.
 
Moran has enjoyed a breakout sophomore season on the mound for RIT, compiling a 6-0 record and one save with a 2.20 ERA to go along with 44 strikeouts and just 11 walks allowed in 45 innings pitched, while holding opponents to just a .212 batting average. He was dominant in Liberty League play, going 4-0 in six appearances with an incredible 0.33 ERA and 0.70 WHIP, striking out 31 batters and walking four in 27 innings. He was named to the Liberty League Championship All-Tournament Team and was the Liberty League Pitcher of the Week on May 15.
 
Myers, one of RIT's three captains, has excelled both offensively and defensively in 2017. The senior catcher is batting .272 with 11 doubles, five homers and 33 RBIs, while helping RIT's pitching staff maintain a 3.12 ERA, which is among the best in Division III. Defensively, Myers, the 2017 Liberty League Tournament Most Valuable Player, has thrown out 13 would-be base stealers this season. He was the Liberty League Player of the Week on May 15 and earned a spot on the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week on May 9. In addition, Myers was awarded RIT's prestigious A. Stephen Walls Leadership Award on May 8.
 
Capra emerged as RIT starting shortstop and has enjoyed a tremendous freshman season, both offensively and defensively. Capra, the Liberty League Rookie of the Week on May 15, is hitting .306 with 10 doubles, a team-best four triples, and 13 RBIs, while drawing 19 walks in 35 games. Defensively, Capra has made just three errors and has a sparkling .977 fielding percentage.
 
Scialabba, a junior centerfielder, is hitting .330 in 30 games with six doubles, two triples, and 17 RBIs. He led all RIT players by hitting .400 in 18 Liberty League games with a .471 on-base percentage, and .533 slugging percentage.
 
Grow and his coaching staff, which includes Dave Kajganich, Greg Keagle, Wayne Childs, Tyler Leichtenberger, Adam Potter, and Zach Zabel (Clarence, NY/Clarence) helped lead the Tigers to their best season in program history. The Tigers set Liberty League records by winning 22 games in regular season play, along with a .957 winning percentage, while cruising to their first regular season title. RIT won its first Liberty League Postseason Championship, defeating Vassar, Union, and Clarkson in consecutive contests by a combined 26-11. RIT enters the national tournament as arguably the hottest team in Division III, having won 12 games in a row and is 26-1 over its last 27 games. Grow also won his 450th career game at RIT on April 29.
 
The Tigers (33-7) are in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship for the first time in program history. RIT will play in the double-elimination Mid-Atlantic Regional at PeoplesBank Park in York, Pa. as the No. 4 seed and open against No. 5 seed Alvernia University (28-13-2) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 17.