Henry Van Zant: April NESCAC Player of the Month

Henry Van Zant '15 delivering a pitch against Bates. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/ Tom Van Zant)
Henry Van Zant ’15 delivering a pitch against Bates. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/ Tom Van Zant)

Editors Note: Statistics are through all April games.

More so than in any other sport that we cover, one player – in this case, an ace – on a NESCAC team can have a massive effect on a team’s record. Because the NESCAC regular season is structured with only weekend games one starting pitcher can start (at least) 33 percent of their NESCAC games. Having that one starter who you can rely on for a victory every time out is an enormous advantage. With apologies to all the other elite aces in the NESCAC (all three Wesleyan starting pitchers, Sean Meekins ’15, Tim Superko ’17, etc.), no player represented that more than Henry Van Zant ’15 for Bowdoin. After his junior year was mostly lost because of a shoulder injury, Van Zant was able to come back better than ever as a senior. He pitched his best throughout the month of April when he could be relied upon every game he pitched to give Bowdoin a chance to win.

Van Zant made five starts in April, four of which were NESCAC games and a fifth one against West-division foe Wesleyan. He also made a start on March 27 against Tufts where he went all seven innings and allowed zero earned runs. Over the course of April, he went the distance three times and threw 40 innings in total. During April, Van Zant tossed up a 2.03 ERA and 7.43 K/9. He also had a WHIP of 1.08. He went 5-0 in his starts. In that non-conference game against Wesleyan Van Zant held the Cardinals scoreless the entire game to give Bowdoin the 1-0 win. That game represented Wesleyan’s only loss to a NESCAC opponent until its loss to Amherst yesterday.

An appropriate comparison for Van Zant is 2001 Curt Schilling as powerful righties with above-average fastballs that rely mainly on a two-pitch combination. The biggest difference (alright, there are bigger differences. .. whatever) between them is their secondary pitches. Schilling was known for his split-fingered fastball while Van Zant relies on a vicious slider beside his fastball. Those two pitches are really it. He says that he also can throw a changeup, but “If those pitches [fastball and slider] are working, I can usually get by with just that.” Both pitches are ones that he can throw and consistently miss bats with. His fastball is so effective because of his ability to control it while also having a lot of movement on it. Van Zant throws a two-seam fastball that tails towards righties. He feels comfortable throwing it when he just needs a strike or when he wants a strikeout.

Catcher Chris Nadeau ’16 says that the approach for Van Zant does not change very much from game to game. Everything begins by establishing the fastball early on in the game. Then the slider starts to get used more and more as the game goes along. Van Zant rarely disagrees with the pitches that Nadeau calls. Van Zant says he “couldn’t ask for a better catcher than [Nadeau].” This is Nadeau’s first year as a full time starter, but he caught Van Zant down the stretch of last season so the two had a good feel for each other coming into this year.

The most impressive accomplishment of Van Zant’s April was a five-day stretch from April 24-28. On Friday he took the mound and went all nine innings to secure the win. He had to labor through more than 130 pitches and get out of a few early jams to overcome a rocky start, by his standards. Then, on three days’ rest, he took the mound against Bates in a must-win game for Bowdoin to have a chance of making the playoffs. He looked unsteady to begin the game allowing four runs through three innings. Then, with more than 200 pitches already in the last five days, Van Zant reared back and managed to throw five scoreless innings and left the game after the eighth with the score 12-4. He again threw more than 130 pitches in the game.

When asked about that heroic stretch Van Zant said, “It came down to wanting a chance at playoffs more than caring how my elbow currently felt. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get through half that many innings without the rest of the boys fighting for it with me.” First baseman Chad Martin ’16 said Van Zant’s stuff did not show the effects of all those pitches at the end of the Bates game. “In the eighth, his fastball was still moving and the slider still had a lot of bite to it.” One of the strongest players on the baseball team, Van Zant makes sure to take good care of his body year round.

In the end Van Zant would come up just short of getting the Polar Bears to the playoffs, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. That start against Bates ended up being the final one of Van Zant’s career, but there is nothing he could have done to have things turn out differently. He won all five of his NESCAC starts, which coincidentally were Bowdoin’s only five wins in conference. His statistics are of course impressive, but they only begin to tell the full story. During the month of April, Van Zant came as close as possible to making a team game into an individual showcase. For that, he is Nothing but NESCAC’s Player of the Month for April.

Bevy of Seniors Look to Bounce Back: Bowdoin Baseball Season Preview

Peter Cimini (#25) will be a big part of the Bowdoin lineup this season. (Courtesy of CIPhotography.com)
Peter Cimini (#25) will be a big part of the Bowdoin lineup this season. (Courtesy of CIPhotography.com)

2014 Record: 18-16-1 (5-7, Fourth in the NESCAC East)

Postseason Outcome: Missed NESCAC Playoffs

Returning Starters: 9 (6 Position Players, 3 Starting Pitchers)

Projected Starting Lineup (Stats are from 2014)

2B Aaron Rosen ’15 (.331/.396/.496, 0 HR, 19 RBI)
LF Cole DiRoberto ’15 (.301/.358/.376, 1 HR, 10 RBI)
CF Peter Cimini ’16 (.279/.367/.404, 1 HR, 20 RBI)
DH Chad Martin ’16 (.333/.362/.496, 4 HR, 30 RBI)
3B Sam Canales ’15 (.304/.368/.363, 0 HR, 13 RBI)
1B Erik Jacobsn ’15 (.277/.358/.349, 1 HR, 11 RBI)
C Chris Nadeau ’16 (.196/.327/.217, 0 HR, 3 RBI)
SS Sean Mullaney ’17 (.180/.349/.180, 0 HR, 6 RBI)
RF Joe Gentile ’18

RHP Henry Van Zant ’15 (1-2, 1.95 ERA)
RHP Erik Jacobson ’15 (3-3, 4.09 ERA)
LHP Harry Ridge ’16 (4-2, 2.87 ERA)

Offensive Overview:

The offensive core returns for Bowdoin as six of the top seven OBP performers from last season are back. The bad news is that this group sputtered in conference play finishing with the second fewest runs scored. The top of the lineup should be very good with Aaron Rosen ’15, First Team All-NESCAC in 2014, getting things started. Peter Cimini ’16 and Chad Martin ’16 will look to build off of their breakout sophomore campaigns. Those two were two of the biggest positives from last season. They will need to provide most of the power for this lineup.  Sam Canales ’15, Erik Jacobsen ’15 and Cole DiRoberto ’15 are line drive hitters who will be very solid cogs for Bowdoin. The bottom of the lineup is a big question mark. Both Chris Nadeau ’16 and Sean Mullaney ’17 played occasionally last season and hit below the Mendoza line. Joe Gentile ’18 is the frontrunner to grab the final outfield spot and has above average speed, but freshmen regularly struggle to adjust to collegiate pitching. The bottom of the lineup needs to be serviceable while the guys who have proven themselves must be special.

Defensive Overview:

First of all, we lack the advanced stats or the extensive scouting that allow us to break down defense like they do at the professional level. From what we know, the Bowdoin defense was neither a strength or weakness overall, but they made some critical errors in conference that cost them. Cimini will have to replace speedy centerfielder Kyle LeBlanc ’14, and he is flanked by DiRoberto and Gentile, two players who are question marks defensively. The infield should be a strength with the duo of Rosen and Mullaney a potent double-play combination. Nadeau only threw out three of the 18 base runners who attempted to steal against him. That percentage must, and should, go up by a lot. The defense is unlikely to be a game-changer for Bowdoin, but they should be more sure handed and commit fewer errors than last season.

Pitching Overview:

The strength of Bowdoin is a pitching staff that was very good despite injuries to their presumed top two starters. Now the staff that had the second best overall ERA behind Tufts returns their top four starters and closer. Ace Henry Van Zant ’15 was only able to pitch near the end of the season, but he looked great tossing a casual 1.95 ERA in 27.2 innings. Harry Ridge ’16 and Erik Jacobson ’15 both return after posting solid though not remarkable numbers. Jon Fraser ’15 emerged as a legitimate weapon out of the bullpen with an eye-popping 0.76 ERA to go with a 11.03 K/9 rate. Michael Staes ’16 also pitched very well and looks to be the first guy up if someone in front of him stumbles or gets hurt. Finally, keep an eye on freshman Logan Simon ’18, a freshman from recent baseball powerhouse Harvard-Westlake in California. He will get innings early on in Florida to get a good look at what he can do.

Storylines to Watch

1. How much do they steal?

Though Bowdoin doesn’t lose a lot of production from last year on offense, a good deal of their 40 steals from a year ago are no longer on the roster. Rosen is the only significant threat to steal a base, and even he only stole eight times in 2014. Cimini has good speed, but Manager Mike Connelly might be loathe to let him loose if Martin bats behind him. If the back end of the lineup gets on base more, Connelly might set them loose in order to create havoc on the base paths. On the other hand, the Polar Bears might choose to simply eschew stealing for the most part and instead concentrate on smart, safe base running.

2. Does SP Harry Ridge ’16 wear down again?

In each of the past two seasons, Ridge has started the season off by pitching a few games beautifully before seeing his numbers dip significantly in the second half. This might make sense if Ridge was a power pitcher unused to throwing so many innings, but he is actually a control pitcher who strikes few guys out even when he is pitching well. Why he has struggled so much in the second half is somewhat of a mystery, but the third time might be the charm. One of the problems for Ridge was the defense behind him committing a lot of errors with him on the mound. Some of that is because pretty much everybody puts balls in play against him, but he should have better luck this season.

3. Can the entire lineup hit?

This is probably the biggest question for the Polar Bears. The bottom three hitters in their lineup do not project to hit very well. That impact is huge as pitchers are able to relax and pound the zone for a couple of hitters. The best hitters for Bowdoin will not see as good pitches because opponents will depend on getting Bowdoin hitters out with runners on base. Big innings become very hard also. The best NESCAC teams have threats at every spot in the lineup.  The Polar Bears don’t need Mullaney, Nadeau and company to hit like rock stars down there, but they need to at least put the ball in play and make the defense get them out. Bowdoin was near the league lead in strikeouts last season.

Biggest Series: At Bates April 3 and 4.

The good news for Bowdoin is that the second spot in the East behind Tufts looks wide-open, and they probably have the most returning talent of any of the remaining four teams. Bowdoin opens the NESCAC season against Tufts, but their series the next weekend against Bates will tell us whether this team is capable of returning to the playoffs. Taking two out of three will go a long way towards getting Bowdoin to the top of the heap. Last season Bates took two of three from Bowdoin in what turned out to be a huge series for the Bobcats. Also, we would be surprised if these games happen at Bates on schedule given all the snow still on the ground.