Six Baseball Vikings Garners All-Region Honors
CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Wednesday, May 17, 2023
The Hudson Valley Community College baseball program had six individuals recognized with NJCAA Region 3 All-Region honors, including four Vikings receiving first-team accolades following a successful 2023 season.
Luis Misla, Michael Talavera, Josh Foglia and Juan Abreu all garnered All-Region First Team honors while Jaden Ross was named to the Second Team and Jacob Lapham was placed on the All-Region Third Team, as voted on by the Region 3 coaches.
Misla has been one of the best left-handed pitchers in the Region over the last two seasons. In 2023, he posted a 5-2 record in nine starts and 12 appearances and pitched 40.1 innings with three complete games. Misla allowed 24 runs on 38 hits and struck out 72 batters, while posting a 3.79 ERA and a 16.07 K/9 ratio, which was tops on the team.
Talavera continued to hit the ball all over the field as he concludes his record-setting, two seasons at HVCC with over 100 career hits, which puts him among the best hitters to play at the valley. Talavera's 105 hits put him fifth on the Vikings career hits list. He collected 62 hits this season (one of six Vikings in program history to reach 60+ hits), which ranks third in the NJCAA Region 3 and he finished tied with a team-best .431 batting average. Talavera was a menace on the bases as he swiped a team-best 36 bases and set the Vikings career stolen base record with 60 total steals in two years.
Foglia also closes out a spectacular career for the Vikings. He finished the season tied for the team-lead with a .431 batting average and collected 56 hits, nine doubles, three triples and 40 RBIs. His .431 batting average and 56 hits both ranked sixth in the NJCAA Region 3. Foglia rarely struck out at the plate, a total of 20 times in 220 at-bats over 76 games played. He is a career .391 hitter with 86 career hits and scored 61 runs (43 in 2023) and drove in 63 career runs.
Abreu was a mainstay in the lineup as the Vikings cleanup hitter all season long and he produced. He hit .419 on the season with 44 hits, 23 runs scored and 27 RBIs. Abreu stole 22 bases as the Vikings led all of Region 3 with 179 stolen bases. In the 37 games played, Abreu recorded 105 at-bats, walked eight times and had a .471 on-base percentage and a .486 slugging percentage at the plate. In the field, Abreu was a nominee for the All-Region Glove team as he recorded 34 putouts and committed just 2 errors for a .944 fielding percentage.
Ross struggled in the early months of the season, but he quickly turned it around as he finished near the top in batting average, stolen bases to hit .393 on the season. Like Talavera, Ross was a speedster on the bags as he stole a team-high 36 bases (53 in his career). Ross now sits second, behind Talavera on the all-time steals list. Ross was a defensive anchor and a 2022 All-Glove team, was always able to make the hard plays look easy, especially in the sub-regional series against Genesee as he made game-saving diving catches in centerfield, which played a direct result in the Vikings securing the series sweep of the Cougars.
Lapham is a pitching workhorse over the last two seasons and this season was no different as he led the team with 53.1 innings pitched, 82 strikeouts and posted a team-best 3.69 ERA over his 10 starts on the mound. Lapham had a big showing in the Vikings 4-3 win over Genesee in the NJCAA Region 3 Sub-Regional round last weekend when he tossed 7.2 innings and allowed one run on four hits with eight strikeouts. His performance over Genesee earned Lapham the Region 3 Baseball Player of the Week.
The baseball program reached the NJCAA Region 3 Championship round for the first time since 2018 after sweeping Genesee last weekend at Joe Bruno Stadium on May 13. The Vikings are set to take on top-seeded Herkimer Generals on Friday, May 19 at 2 p.m. at Falcon Park in Auburn, NY as they begin their journey for a national championship berth.