Looking Back, Glancing Forward: East Division

Bates: The first team to play games up north, Bates swept their three game series against SUNY Old Westbury to improve on the season to 4-6. Seniors Kevin Davis ’14 and Griffin Tewksbury ’14 have led the way at the plate for the Bobcats. Tewksbury in particular has been raking with a .371/.463/.629 slash line highlighted by his two homeruns. The defense, which cost them some games down south, was better for Bates as they had two or fewer errors in each of the three games against Westbury. They have doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday against Salem State and Husson.

Bowdoin: Bowdoin sits at 6-2 on the season now mostly on the strength of contributions from players who saw little time last year. In particular first baseman/outfielder Chad Martin ’16 and outfielder Peter Cimini ’16 have been on fire at the plate. Combined the two have hit for a .550 avg, nine runs, and nine runs batted in. In the first meeting between two NESCAC teams Hamilton bested the Polar Bears 2-1. The game ended in dramatic fashion with the tying run for Bowdoin gunned out at home after a single by Cole DiRoberto ’15. Bowdoin finishes their Florida trip with doubleheaders Wednesday and Friday.

Colby: The Mules have to wait until Sunday to get the season started against Bard. More importantly we want to offer our condolences to the Metto family and Colby community for the tragic loss of Griffin Metto ’15. Colby Echo and Campus Mourns Loss of Griffin Metto.

Trinity: An uneven start isn’t overly shocking given the amount of turnover in both players and coaches, but an 11-1 thrashing at the hands of Western New England is cause for concern. The offense got off to a great start tallying 13 runs against Denison in the first game of the season, but has only tallied five runs in the last three games. The good news is that Peter Burrows ’14 was impeccable in his first start going six scoreless with eight strikeouts. Trinity has a lot of time to get it going down in Florida, where they will be through Sunday, and plays Endicott later today.

Tufts: The Jumbos are a perfect 4-0 so far showing that they have the capability to win both low and high scoring games. Andrew David ’16 struggled in his first start on the mound allowing five runs against MIT including four in the sixth inning, but the Tufts bats were all over MIT from the start with six runs in the first two innings. Complete coverage of Tufts exciting win in the second game of the doubleheader against MIT can be found here. The depth of the Tufts rotation is already showing as the three other starters for the Jumbos allowed at most only one run. Wade Hauser ’15 is his usual self with a homer already to go along with .381 on-base percentage. Tufts is not as far south as other NESCAC teams as they are playing in North Carolina and Virginia. We are not sure what the impact of the latest winter storm will be, but Tufts has had to already postpone one game.

Trinity Season Preview

Trinity (27-19, 8-4 in 2013)

What they lost:

The losses of Joe Papa and Alex Almeida will be huge for the offense, and departed outfielder Marc Crowley also hit over .300 in 2013. This offense will need a number of juniors to step up with only two senior position players on the roster, both of which saw limited time last year. Ben Goldberg, the only graduating pitcher, will be missed, but Trinity certainly has enough talent to fill that spot with the combination of Peter Burrows ’14, Scott Huley ’15 and Sean Meekins ’15. While Trinity is still young, they did not lose a lot in the offseason and should be looking forward to a tight-knit, experienced team this spring.

2014 MVP: P/OF Scott Huley ’15

A two-way player at pitcher and outfielder, Huley led the team with an outstanding .500 OBP last year, and placed third with a .371 batting average. With Papa graduating, Huley will likely move from the 5-spot to the 3-spot in the lineup. He also led the team in batting average against and was third in ERA on the mound. He will look to fill the void left by Papa and Almeida, who both bested him in batting average last year. If Huley can add some power to his 6’4’’ 175 lbs. frame, Trinity will remain atop the league in average in 2014.

2014 Pitcher of the Year: Peter Burrows ’14

After a junior campaign in which he led the team in innings pitched, strikeouts, and complete games, the senior captain will look to improve upon a 3.38 ERA in 2014. The powerful righty will replace Goldberg as the team’s ace and will look to improve on allowing 60 hits in 50 innings pitched in 2013. He is leading a young staff that struggled a bit last year, so he will have to have confidence to start off 2014 in the right way.

Season Outlook:

The coaching change is the biggest news for Trinity as Bryan Adamski, a former assistant at Amherst, replaces last year’s interim coach, Mark Lambert. Regardless of who is at the helm, Trinity should have another great year. Look for the Bantams to make a run for their third straight finish atop the East standings this spring. Offensive production may be a problem early on, but Trinity should quickly rebound on the heels of experienced pitching. Huley’s two-way abilities are certainly their largest asset, and they should capitalize on five returning starters that batted over .270 last season.