By ANTHONY SAMBROTTO
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — In a July 8th game against the Rochester Ridgemen, Caleb Lang had a double, a triple, a single, a stolen base and four RBI en route to an 8-3 win for his Niagara Power. That was just a typical game for Lang, in his second season with the Power, in the New York Collegiate Baseball League this season. And for that, Lang was rewarded the NYCBL’s top honor of Player of the Year.
Lang (Cairn University) was a key cog all season long in the middle of the Power’s lineup and helped propel the team to a 21-8 start to the season and a trip to the second round of the playoffs.
“It is a blessing to be named player of the year this summer,” said Lang, a native of Batavia, New York. ” There are a couple other players in the league that could have easily been given this honor and to be chosen above them is humbling. This is a team honor in disguise as a personal one.”
Lang played in every regular season game for the Power and all six postseason games. He finished second in the league in hits, first in doubles, first in triples, and tied for first in RBI.
“He is a bulldog,” Niagara Power manager Josh Rebandt said. ” He has played in 101 consecutive games for us over the last two years and we know that we could rely on him in any situation this year.”
In the playoffs, Lang drove in six runs and also belted a home run in the second round against the eventual champion Olean Oilers.
For Lang, he focuses just as much on what he does at the plate to what he is able to do in the outfield.
“I take tremendous pride in my defense and really enjoy the outfield,” Lang said. “I believe that the success I was able to have in centerfield had an impact on the voting.”
It is hard to argue with Lang there. He had a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000 and came in second in league outfielders with 77 putouts.
“He is fantastic defensively,” Rebandt said. “He saved a lot of runs for us this year and it was a big for us to have the stability of him in the outfield for the pitchers and the rest of the team.”
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Lang is 6’0″ and 205 pounds, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he tracks balls in the outfield.
“You have a lot of room to cover in center and it is about getting jumps. I run a 6.7 (40-yard dash) but I make up for it with good jumps off the bat and this place (Sal Maglie Stadium) is so big that the ball hangs up there and I can make the plays and the pitchers love it,” Lang said earlier in the year.
Despite Lang being a threat all season long, opposing teams were forced to pitch to him because of other weapons in the Power offense. For a player with Lang’s numbers, one would expect a great deal of walks, intentional or not. Lang finished the year with only eight.
“Having guys like Mason Irby (Jones County Junior College) and Conner Combs (East Texas Baptist University) hitting behind me forced other teams to attack the strike zone more when I was at the plate,” Lang said.
“He’s always tough at the plate,” Geneva Twins manager Andy Weeks said. “He’s never an easy out. When you’re able to battle and compete like that at all times, a pitcher will make a mistake. I thought he capitalized. He did it all season long.”
With less pressure to perform, Lang was able to yield a free bat that sparked Niagara’s season.
“Protection for Caleb was a huge difference from last year to this year,” Rebandt said. “It really opened up the opponent because you couldn’t pitch around him and that led to a ton of RBI opportunities. Our four, five and six hitters were able to give him some of the help he didn’t really have last year and they played so well that you couldn’t avoid him and he was able to put the ball in gaps with guys on base.”
Lang said earlier in the year that baseball is his passion and that he hopes to keep that alive beyond this extraordinary summer.
“I’d like to keep playing baseball for as long as possible if it’s the Lord’s will,” Lang said. “If not, I am getting a business finance degree and a biblical studies degree so wherever the Lord leads and opens doors I am willing to do whatever. I love this sport, though, and want to play it as long as possible.”
Sherrill’s Kevin Brice earned the NYCBL’s 2014 Player of the Year.
2015 Player of the Year voting
Caleb Lang (3) 142
Bubba Hollins (Olean/St. Petersburg College) (5) 120
Conner Simonetti (Geneva Twins/Kent State) (1) 109
Nick Ippolito (Genesee/Cal St. Stanislaus) (4) 104
Jordan Bradley (Oneonta/Wofford) (1) 89
Jimmy Latona (Hornell/Mercyhurst) (1) 78
Marty Napleton (Geneva Twins/St. Joseph’s College) (1) 58
Lucas Tevlin (Syracuse Salt Cats/Binghamton) (1) 48
Vince Apicella (Geneva Red Wings/Carson-Newman) (3) 42
Brian Bilello (Syracuse Salt Cats/Concordia) (1) 31
A.J. Compton (Geneva Red Wings/Elmhurst) (1) 26
First-place votes received in parentheses.
Others receiving votes: Stephen Goldstein (Hornell/Kansas University), J.T. Pittman (Geneva Twins/Le Moyne), Shane Trevino (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/IPFW), Zephan Kash (Cortland/Mansfield), Evan Holland (Syracuse Salt Cats/Florida International), Jacob Bass (Hornell/Newberry Coll), Trevor Putzig (Oneonta/Tennessee Tech), Julian Gallup (Cortland/Niagara U), Jonny Lapolla (Olean/Suffolk), Conner Combs (Niagara/East Texas Baptist), Kellen Brown (Hornell/St. Petersburg College), Mason Irby (Niagara/Jones County JC), Justin Healey (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/Widener), Corey Andrade (Genesee/Anna Maria), Kenny Collins (Wellsville/Hamilton), Alex Rodriguez (Geneva Red Wings/Methodist), Alex Perry (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/Salve Regina), Colin Winn (Rochester/Santa Ana), Jake Dyer (Sherrill/Fort Scott CC), Zack Blonder (Oneonta/Maryville), Nick Banman (Sherrill/Fort Scott CC), Donny Kilian (Wellsville/State University of New York at Buffalo).
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