Following a season in which it made the Liberty League playoffs for the third straight season, the University of Rochester baseball team had seven players recognized with All-Liberty League honors following the 2016 season.
 
The Yellowjackets, who finished with an overall record of 22-19 and 15-9 in conference play had four 1st team representatives, two on the 2nd team and one other named Honorable Mention.  Overall, UR tied with Clarkson for the most players on the 1st team, and was second in overall selections with seven, behind only league champion Union who took home eight awards.  Clarkson and RIT also had seven players named while RPI was fifth with six honorees.  Bard and Skidmore each had five players named while Vassar and St. Lawrence rounded out the conference with four selections each.
 
UR's 1st team honorees are senior pitcher Evan Janifer, sophomore pitcher John Gyhzel, senior catcher Nolan Schultz and senior middle infielder Steve Eychner.  On the second team were senior outfielder Jake Meyerson and senior utility player Dan Warren while freshman Aiden Finch earned a spot on the Honorable Mention list.
  1st Team
Evan Janifer (sr., P, Montclair, NJ/Montclair): Third All-Liberty League honor (1st team RP 2014, 2nd team SP 2015); Janifer ends his Yellowjacket career with another strong season on the hill for UR.  Posted a 4-5 overall record, adding two saves and a 1.84 ERA which ranks in the top-30 in NCAA Division III.  The senior tossed 53.2 innings across 11 appearances (8 starts) and threw three complete games and pitched in two shutouts, one solo and one combined.  He allowed 60 hits, 23 runs (11 earned) and 11 walks while striking out 45 batters.  Opponents hit .276 off the right-hander.  Ranked 2nd in the Liberty League in ERA and was also in the top-10 in strikeouts, wins, saves, fewest walks and fewest earned runs allowed.  Tossed 7-inning shutout over RPI in which he allowed three hits and struck out seven.  Finishes his Yellowjacket career second in career saves (12), fewest walks per nine innings (1.61) and shutouts (3) and fourth in career ERA (2.17).
 
John Ghyzel (soph., P, Centreville, VA/Westfield): First conference award; Ghyzel made great strides on the mound for Rochester, leading the Yellowjacket pitching staff with seven wins on the season.  Overall, finished with a 7-1 record in 11 appearances (10 starts), with a 2.97 ERA in 60.2 innings.  He tossed four complete games, the most on the team, allowed 56 hits, 28 runs (20 earned), 17 walks and struck out 51 batters.  Opponents combined to hit .245 against him, the lowest on UR.  Dropped his ERA by over two runs from freshman season and doubled his strikeout total.  Was top-10 in the conference in ERA, opponents average, innings pitched and strikeouts.  Had a career high 12 strikeouts against RPI on March 27th, the second most ever in a single game by a Yellowjacket pitcher.  Overall, UR was 9-2 in games he pitched in 2016.
 
Nolan Schultz (sr., C, Valrico, FL/Tampa Jesuit): Fourth straight honor (1st team 2013, 2014, 2015); Schultz completed his magnificent Rochester baseball career with his fourth consecutive 1st Team award from the Liberty League.  He finished the 2016 season hitting .386 (51-132) with 13 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs while driving in 26 and scoring 28 times.  He combined to for a 1.013 OPS with a .545 slugging percentage and .468 on-base percentage after drawing 13 walks and getting hit nine times.  The catcher made only three errors in 207 chances and threw out seven base stealers from behind the plate, finishing with a .986 fielding percentage.  He ranked first in the Liberty League in HBP, fourth in batting average and OBP, fifth in doubles, sixth in hits and seventh in slugging.  The senior recorded 18 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI contests, including driving in a career high five runs against St. Lawrence on April 1st.  Finishes his UR career with a .338 average, 171 hits, 96 RBI and 86 runs scored and also is first in Rochester history with 53 runners caught stealing.
 
Steve Eychner (sr., 2B/SS, Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy): First All-LL honor; Broke out in a huge way as a senior, leading the Yellowjackets and ranking in the top-100 of Division III with a .418 average (59-141).  Added a team high 13 doubles, which is fifth best in a single season at UR, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 25 RBI and 29 runs scored.  He also stole 10-12 bases, drew eight walks and was hit three times.  Recorded an OPS of 1.019 after a slugging percentage of .567 and on-base percentage of .452.  Had a team best 21 multi-hit games, including eight of at least three hits, tossing in six multi-RBI affairs.  Finished second in the Liberty League in average, was third in hits, fourth in slugging, fifth in doubles and sixth in on-base percentage.  Also, fielded at a .951 clip in the middle infield and was a part of 18 double plays, seventh in the conference.
 
2nd Team
Jake Meyerson (sr., OF, Rye, NY/Rye): Second conference award (2nd Team 2015); Was only Rochester player to appear in all 41 games this season.  Hit .313 (47-150) with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 30 RBI and 25 runs scored.  Was perfect 6-6 on stolen base attempts, drew 13 walks and added 3 HBP for a .368 OBP.  Ranked second on UR in multi-RBI games (7) and was third in multi-hit games (15).  Ended the season ranked third in the Liberty League in at-bats, eighth in home runs, ninth in RBI and 10th in hits.  Rochester's top hitter at the conference tournament, going 5-9 with two doubles and three runs batted in.  Career high four RBI at Clarkson on May 7th.  Finished career with .301 average, 120 hits, 60 RBI and 74 runs scored.
 
Dan Warren (sr., UTIL, Fairfield, CT/Fairfield-Warde): Second All-LL award (2nd team 2014); Again was UR's only two-way player, both pitching and hitting during the season.  Ended with a career-best .342 average (38-111) which ended third on the Yellowjackets.  Chipped in nine doubles, two triples, 18 RBI and 24 runs scored.  Cleared .440 in both on-base and slugging percentage, adding 19 walks and two stolen bases.  On the mound, was third on UR with a 3.00 ERA in 42.0 innings.  Recorded a 1-3 record and allowed 38 hits (7 XBH), 21 runs (14 earned) and 13 walks while striking out 26 batters.  Threw six innings against #3 Emory in Florida, recording a career-high tying 8 strikeouts in a no-decision against the Eagles.
 
Honorable Mention
Aiden Finch (fr., C/1B, Los Gatos, CA/Los Gatos): First All-conference selection; Great first season on the River Campus, ending with a .326 average (46-141), primarily hitting in the middle of order.  Notched 11 doubles, 1 triple, a team-high 4 home runs and 31 RBI while also scoring 26 runs.  Recorded 71 total bases for a .504 slugging percentage and added a .358 OBP.  Finished with a .989 fielding percentage with only three errors in 276 chances.  Ranked third in the Liberty League in home runs, fifth in fielding percentage, sixth in putouts and seventh in RBI.  Had two grand slams on the season, including one in a 6 RBI game at Medaille, ranking as the third best single game RBI performance by a UR player.  Was a two time Liberty League Rookie of the Week this season.
 
2016 ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE AWARDS
Player of the Year: Jake Fishman, Union
Pitcher of the Year: Jake Fishman, Union
Rookie of the Year: Brad Pearson, Clarkson
Coaching Staff of the Year: Clarkson
 
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE FIRST TEAM:
P- Jake Fishman, Union
P- John Ghyzel, Rochester
P- Evan Janifer, Rochester
P- Brendan McNerney, RPI
P- Ted Wilson, Clarkson
RP- Alex Bunnell, Bard
C- Nolan Schulz, Rochester
1B- Greg Jasek, Clarkson
2B- Steve Eychner, Rochester
3B- Jamie Faber, Union
SS- Anthony Padrazo, Clarkson
OF- Will Gorman, RIT
OF- Chris Miller, Clarkson
OF- Nick Johnson, Vassar
DH- Alec Montecalvo, Bard
UT- Jake Fishman, Union
 
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE SECOND TEAM:
P- Adam Ashenfarb, Union
P- Brandon Cohall, RIT
P- Greg Echeverria, RPI
P- Evan Reichel, St. Lawrence
RP- Liam Rogers, St. Lawrence
C- Brad Pearson, Clarkson
1B- Adam Carafotes, Bard
2B- Zach Zabel, RIT
3B- Jason Schulz, RIT
SS- Taylor Digilio, St. Lawrence
OF- Josh Brown, Skidmore
OF- Kent Curran, Union
OF- Jake Meyerson, Rochester
DH- Harrison Glatt, Union
UT- Dan Warren, Rochester
 
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE HONORABLE MENTION (received votes from 2 or more coaches, but not on the first or second team): 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.