Nothing But NESCAC

The Weekend Preview April 25

The Overview:

This weekend is shaping up to be the best kind of weekend New England can offer. There’s some beautiful spring weather on the horizon, I might not have a massive paper to write, and of course, there’s a full slate of NESCAC baseball games to enjoy. Every NESCAC team is in action this weekend, and every in-conference series has implications for playoff seeding. So, without further ado, let’s dig into these match-ups.

The Marquee Matchup: Wesleyan at Amherst

There is a clear series that stands out as the pivotal battle of the weekend, and that would be Amherst versus Wesleyan. The Jeffs and the Cardinals have been locked in a season-long battle for supremacy in the West, and they come into this series tied at 8-1 in the league, with Amherst holding a better record overall by one game (22-5 vs. 21-6). The winner of this series is assured of a number one seed from the West, and has a very good shot of reaching the NESCAC final.

Wesleyan can attribute much of their success to a wonderfully efficient offense, which has posted a league leading batting average (.321) and one base percentage (.416). Their pitching staff has come into its own during NESCAC play, posting a 1.70 ERA since league play began, making this team truly complete. The offense is spearheaded by freshman phenom Robby Harbison ’17 (league leader in hitting at .427), and Sam Goodwin-Boyd ’15, who paces the NESCAC with 29 RBI. The table is set for the solid hitters up and down the lineup by Andrew Yin ’14 and Donnie Cimino ’15, who get on base at .476 and .443 clips, and lead the league in runs with 31 and 32, respectively. The pitching staff is led by flame-throwing ace Nick Cooney ’15, who comes in at 5-1 and leads the league in strikeouts with 50 in 46 innings. Gavin Pittore ’16 and Jeff Blount ’14 round out the weekend starters.

Amherst comes in with an equally dangerous lineup. They are led by MVP-candidate Mike Odenwaelder ’16, who’s hitting .419 with a 1.057 OPS. He is flanked by shortstop Taiki Kasuga ’14, who’s hitting .392, and centerfielder Alex Hero ’14, who’s hitting .337 and is second in the league in steals. Like Wesleyan, Amherst’s table-setters, Kasuga and second baseman Andrew Vandini ’16 (.427 OBP) do a fantastic job getting on base in front of the sluggers in the middle of the order, making for a potent lineup. In the rotation, Dylan Driscoll ’16 continues to set the standard for NESCAC pitchers this season, with a 1.26 ERA and 6 wins. Fellow starter Jeff Cook ’15 has been great this season with 43 strikeouts and just 3 walks in 35 innings and earned NESCAC Pitcher of the Week honors last week. The big question for Amherst is whether SP Fred Shephard ’14, who tossed a no-hitter earlier this season, will be able to go. Shephard missed last week’s start against Middlebury with elbow pain. Keenan Szulik ’16 started in Shephard’s place against Middlebury and did an admirable job, but Wesleyan’s hitters should be licking their chops if they get a chance to face Szulik instead of Shephard.

Despite the offensive firepower that both teams possess, this series will be determined by the pitching. The two southpaws, Cook and Cooney, will likely meet up this afternoon. Driscoll and Blout are usually the seven-inning game starters for both squads, so look for them to pitch game one on Saturday, while the series finale should pit Pittore against Shephard or his replacement.

The race for best pitcher in the West:

While the East’s pitching is indisputably deeper than that in the West, Amherst and Wesleyan’s starting rotations can match up with anyone. That will be on display this weekend in Amherst, as Cooney, Driscoll and Cook battle for the ERA crown. All three pitchers have excellent stuff, and can strike out anyone in a big spot. The one wart on Cooney’s resume is his control issues (3.39 BB/9), which can sometimes get him into trouble. Driscoll very rarely hurts himself (5.57 K/BB), and that is the main explanation for his miniscule 1.26 ERA. However, Cook might have the best stuff of the group. He matches Cooney’s velocity with Driscoll’s accuracy. Cook has 43 K’s in 35 innings and just three walks (14.33 K/BB). He gets hit only because he is consistently in the strike zone. Right now, Driscoll leads the way in ERA, but Cooney (2.70) and Cook (2.83) are not far behind.

Around the League:

Bates, Bowdoin and Colby are all pretty close in the race for the second seed in the East, so this weekend will decide the race. Barring a major upset this weekend when Tufts travels to Brunswick to play Bowdoin, the winner of the Colby at Bates series will make the playoffs as the second seed in the East. Bates currently sits at 4-3, and has two games remaining with the Jumbos after this weekend. Colby and Bowdoin, meanwhile, are 4-5. With just two wins, Bates will secure their playoff spot because they hold the tiebreaker over Bowdoin (unless Bowdoin can sweep Tufts).

The series between Hamilton and Williams has no implications for the postseason, but the two squads are fighting for the third seed in the West.

Trinity and Middlebury have no more playoff hopes going into this East vs. West matchup, but pride is still a motivating factor in these games, which is part of what makes sports so great. Both teams have been disappointing to this point, and want to prove that they won’t roll over. I fully expect the games between Middlebury and Trinity to be hard fought, competitive and fun to watch, just like those between Amherst and Wesleyan.

Here’s a look at Friday’s schedule:
Tufts at Bowdoin 3 PM
Colby at Bates 3 PM
Wesleyan at Amherst 3 PM

Enjoy the final weekend of a full NESCAC slate.

Power Rankings

As always, all picks are made by a committee of one. If you have any complaints about where a certain team is then please feel free to comment. And no I did not put certain teams purposefully low in order to get you angry.

1. Amherst (21-5, 7-1) – They don’t have the best record in the conference, or even their own division, but no team is as complete or playing as good baseball as Amherst. While Tufts has better top-end talent in the pitching department, Amherst has the deepest pitching of anyone. And while Amherst is third in the league in runs scored, the difference between them, Wesleyan and Tufts is minimal. Of course Amherst could prove me completely wrong if they don’t show up against Wesleyan. One way in which that could happen during this weekend’s critical West series is if Amherst’s defense lets down its talented staff. While Taiki Kasuga ’14 is usually great up the middle, the Jeffs’ infield defense combined for four errors last weekend against a Middlebury team that did not hit the ball on the ground too often, striking out 19 times over the course of three games, and centerfielder Alex Hero ’14 had an ugly error on a line drive right at him, the product of a lapse in concentration. On the season, Amherst is tied for the fewest errors in the NESCAC, but one miscue can decide a game between two very talented teams.

2. Tufts (25-2, 6-1) – I predicted earlier in the year that Tufts would finish with less than eight wins. With only seven regular season games left that looks pretty good given they can lose a maximum of five games between the NESCAC and NCAA tournament (if they make it). We have talked at length about how good their pitching, but the concerns about their hitting are very real. Even though they roughed up Scott Goldberg ’15, the other Colby starters gave the Jumbos a tough time. At some point the time will come when the offense needs to pick up the staff, but will the bats be ready?

3. Wesleyan (21-6, 8-1) – Considering that they were the last team undefeated in conference and still hold the best record, Wesleyan fans are sure to take this ranking as disrespect. Know that the difference between the top three is razor thin. In a three game series I would not be surprised to see Wesleyan beat Tufts or Amherst, but I just have more questions about Wesleyan than I do the other teams. I am not sure if their pitching is going to hold up down the stretch or if their hitting is really as good as it seems given how they have struggeld at times in conference. This is the case of a team being great at many things, but not the best at any of them.

4. Bates (14-11, 4-3) – The gap between Wesleyan and Bates is big enough for an aircraft carrier to pass through. I almost left fourth place empty to make my point clear, but Bates has done enough in recent weeks to justify this spot. I don’t think they have a chance come playoffs, but I like them this weekend against Colby. Their senior class has been playing incredible, picking up the slack for a team that has otherwise underperformed preseason expectations.

5. Colby (14-9. 4-5) – Just a really tough weekend for Colby against Tufts. It was rough being swept, but losing two one run games is particularly heartbreaking. Now Colby falls right back into the mire in the middle of the East. Of course, if they win the series this weekend against Bates they make the playoffs, unless Bowdoin somehow sweeps Tufts, because Colby would own the tiebreaker against both Bates and Bowdoin.

6. Bowdoin (16-11-1, 4-5) – Most likely Bowdoin will finish the season without making the NESCAC tournament in what is a disappointing, albeit defensible, season. I say defensible because of all the injuries that occurred to the pitching staff. A lot of younger players stepped up, but it looks like it won’t be enough. You can count on Bowdoin fighting tooth and nail every pitch this weekend though.

7. Williams (8-13, 4-5) – The pitching just hasn’t been there for Williams all season to be competitive in the West. Their team-wide 7.67 ERA is easily the worst in the NESCAC. The offense has been very, very good for most of the season, but was not quite as good when it really mattered against Wesleyan and Amherst. They still have a chance to finish above .500 if they sweep Hamilton, which would be a great finish for the Williams seniors who have had long successful individual careers.

8. Trinity (11-16, 4-8) – Trinity is the beginning of the bottom tier of the NESCAC (who would have guessed back in March that we’d be saying that now?), but the bottom three teams are much closer than they have been in years past. Trinity has shown that they are not far away from returning to the top of the league next season. They have lost a ton of close games in conference and are just one or two impact players away. Those players are most likely already on the roster, and the final weeks of the season will help the coaching staff identify those potential contributors.

9. Hamilton (2-6, 9-11) – Hamilton holds onto the ninth spot by virtue of handing Wesleyan their first conference loss in a comfortable 7-1 win. They showed they don’t have the depth to stay with the top teams, but they have a nice young core that is going to be coming back. A strong finish against Williams will move them up the rankings, but they could finish in the cellar because of how the last place team has been playing recently.

10. Middlebury (4-15, 2-10) – It pains me to put Middlebury last because they have been playing better than that in the last few weeks, but they haven’t garnered enough victories to justify moving them out of this spot. If they had stolen one from Amherst then they would have moved up. The good news is that the team is playing better and better and getting plenty of improvement from its young players. The pitching and infield defense have really been transformed since the team returned from Arizona, but the bats have yet to follow suit. Nevertheless, the future is looking a lot better than it was just three weeks ago.

Stock Report April 21

The playoff picture is beginning to solidify in both Divisions. In the West, Wesleyan and Amherst know that they will be playing tournament baseball this May, and the regular season West crown will be decided this weekend when Amherst travels to Middletown, CT. As for the East, the Jumbos remain on top, though with five games still to play in conference a slump would drop Tufts from the number one seed. Everyone but Trinity is still afloat on the East side of the ledger. We have one full weekend of NESCAC play remaining, and here we discuss who’s hot and cold heading into the final week of conference play.

Stock Up

1. Bates (13-11, 4-3) – No team had a better weekend than the Bobcats did. They took two out of three against Trinity to take care of business, but more importantly saw Colby lose three tight games to Tufts. Bates cruised in game one behind another great start from Brad Reynolds ’14, and won game two by mashing their way to 12 runs. Griffin Tewksbury ’14 hit his conference leading fifth homer of the season as well. The Mules and Bobcats will meet next weekend in a series that should finally decide who will get the second spot in the East. I say “should” because Bowdoin could surprise Tufts and win multiple games to give them a chance. Bates also has two games still to play against Tufts which have been rescheduled to May 3. This has the potential to be a huge help to Bates because Tufts will most likely have nothing to play for. They could rest a bunch of their regulars, or at least not play them the entire game. Even if they ended up losing both games to Tufts, Bates can all but assure a playoff spot if they win two games against Colby. 6-6 might be all it takes to make it in the East.

2. Nick Cooney ’15 Starting Pitcher (Wesleyan) – Hamilton had a hard time figuring out the junior southpaw as Cooney had 12 strikeouts on the way to his fifth win of the season. Last week he won NESCAC Pitcher of the Week, and his performance this week was just as impresive. He has put an uneven start behind him in conference play with three great starts against Middlebury, Williams and Wesleyan. The in-season improvement by the entire staff has been the big difference in the Cardinals’ play in conference. Cooney has emerged as an ace and workhorse by leading the conference in innings pitched this season.

3. John Cook ’15 Starting Pitcher (Amherst) – We admit that we wrote Cook off a little bit when he let up 11 runs to Southern Maine in the beginning of the year. Since then the junior has rebounded in a big way, but he saved his best for last weekend. Middlebury was keeping Amherst on the ropes with a great pitching performance by Eric Truss ’15, but Cook matched him every step of the way, holding Middlebury to one run as the game went to extras. After a Tyler Jacobs ’15 homer put the Jeffs up by one in the tenth inning, coach Brian Hamm showed his confidence in his pitcher by sending Cook back out to start the bottom of the tenth. Cook calmly delivered, going three up three down. Considering Cook allowed 11 runs in one game, his 2.83 ERA is almost a miracle, and a testament to his recent dominance.

Alex Kelly '14 was among the few bright spots for Middlebury against the Amherst staff, going 6-13 in his last NESCAC series atop the Panthers' lineup. Courtesy of Rachel Frank — Alex Kelly ’14 was among the few bright spots for Middlebury against the Amherst staff, going 6-13 in his last NESCAC series atop the Panthers’ lineup.
Courtesy of Rachel Frank

Stock Down

1. Colby Offense – First we should give credit to Soren Hanson ’16 and Greg Ladd ’15 for stepping up big time and giving the Mules a chance to win the last two games of the series after Tufts managed to rough up ace Scott Goldberg ’15 in the first game. The offense, however, could not get anything going which is why the weekend ended without any victories for Colby. Yes, Tufts has some of the best pitching in the league, but Colby missed two golden opportunities to grab a game. Their best chance was in the top of the sixth in the second game when a double left runners on second and third with one out. On a groundball to second Jason Buco ’15 was thrown out at home trying to score the go-ahead run, and a Tyler Starks ’16 strikeout ended the inning with two runners still on base. The offense needs to regroup before the weekend for Colby to reach the playoffs.
Check out this amazing catch by catcher Nick Cutsumpas ’14 that helped the Jumbos sweep the Mules.

2. Hamilton’s Supporting Cast – Again, we don’t intend to single out a certain player on Hamilton for their poor play, but we draw attention to this in order to shed light on Joe Jensen’s ’15 play. Over the weekend Jensen was his usual havoc-wreaking self with five stolen bases in three games. Hamilton has faded in conference play after we highlighted them as a potential spoiler in the West, but it hasn’t been because of Jensen. He now sits at 18 stolen bases and a .512 OBP on the season. With nine games remaining he has a chance to match the 29 he had in 2013. The problem is that he just hasn’t gotten any backup from his teammates. He has ten more hits than anyone else on the team, and Hamilton has nobody in the middle of the lineup hitting for extra bases that would move Jensen quickly around the bases.

3. Harry Ridge ’16 Starting Pitcher (Bowdoin) – Since he started conference play with a gem against Trinity, Ridge has struggled to be the number one starter Bowdoin needed him to be because of the injuries to Henry Van Zant ’15 and Christian Martin ’14. Against Bates and Colby, Ridge couldn’t manage more than three innings in each game, and while he pitched six innings against Williams, he allowed five runs (three earned). His ERA sits at a respectable 3.00, and it is true, like we wrote last week, that his defense has let him down. Still, whether it is fair or not, Bowdoin needed him to be more than that in order to contend. His season is sadly reminiscent of last year when he went through similar stretches of uneven pitching. All that being said, don’t count him out to have a rebound this weekend as Bowdoin prepares for their last stand against Tufts.
You can catch the highlights of Saturday’s Williams-Bowdoin doubleheader here, courtesy of Bowdoin athletics:

Friday Roundup

Really quick whip around the NESCAC to get you caught up on the action this afternoon. Please follow the links for full recaps and stats for games.

Kyle Slinger ’15 proved once again how dominant he is with eight innings of one run ball. Th offense got rolling as the game went on led by shortstop Matt Moser ’16. Tufts dominated in Game One against Colby in the pivotal East Division series.

In the West Wesleyan continued their strong play winning comfortably 10-4 over Hamilton. Nick Cooney ’15 had another great start, and Robby Harbison ’17 went yard twice. The Hamilton website has a complete recap.

Trinity’s defense let down their pitching with seven errors against Bates. The Bobcats capitalized scoring nine runs in the game. Brad Reynolds ’14 got his fourth win of the season as Bates moved to 3-2 in the NESCAC.

Amherst sweated out two wins against a Middlebury team that has seen their pitching and defense go through an enormous mid-season improvement. Dylan Driscoll ’14 went seven scoreless innings, but that wasn’t even the most impressive pitching performance of the day. John Cook went TEN innings in the second game. Amherst won in extras 2-1 on a Tyler Jacobs ’15 homer. No recap is available, but here are the stats and play by play.

In non-conference play, Bowdoin hung with D3 power Southern Maine before succumbing 5-3. Henry Van Zant ’15 had his longest outing of the season throwing five innings.

The Weekend Preview April 18

Two weekends of conference play remain, and a full weekend of games promises to sort the conference out further. In the West, it’s the calm before the storm of Wesleyan vs. Amherst next weekend. The East promises further clearing of the cluttered standings. Colby looks to prove it’s for real against Tufts while Bates hopes to start a late season run against Trinity. It promises to be another great weekend.

Marquee Matchup: Tufts (20-2, 3-1) vs Colby (13-6, 4-2)

Not many people expected this to be a matchup of the two top teams in the East at the start of the season, but Colby showed its hot start was for real when they went to Brunswick and took two out three. Meanwhile, Tufts showed its first signs of weakness against a Trinity team that came out inspired to beat them. Colby isn’t going to surprise Tufts like they might have if they played earlier in the season. The winner of this weekend is almost assured of hosting the NESCAC championships so both teams are sure to give everything they have.

Expect every game in this series to be a low scoring affair given the quality of pitching both teams possess. Nobody has a better trump card than Tufts does in Kyle Slinger ’15, and Tim Superko ’17 is no slouch either. The Friday matchup of Goldberg vs. Slinger is the best pitching matchup of the season, bar none. The big righty, Goldberg, has come into his own this season while Slinger has taken his game to another level. The rest of a surging Colby staff will look to continue their success. Soren Hanson ’16 got the loss against Bowdoin despite striking out ten, and Greg Ladd ’15 has been spectacular locating pitches and forcing weak contact.

Both teams have questions of depth behind their top starters. What cost the Jumbos against Trinity was their bullpen allowing seven runs in the first game of the doubleheader. While Tufts has a ton of talent, there are real questions on how deep their pitching staff is. Last year, Andrew David ’16 had a stellar season and took home one NESCAC Pitcher of the Week award, but he has pitched sparingly in the last couple of weeks. Matt Moser ’16 and Tom Ryan ’15 are good pitchers, but Moser has only pitched seven innings and Ryan gave up the losing run against Trinity. Superko never goes late in games, and if Slinger struggles for the first time this year then the bullpen will be stretched. Tufts has seen top relievers Lucas Geoghegan ’14 and Dakota Rabbitt ’14 struggle in recent weeks as well. They don’t usually get the headlines, but bullpens are vital in close games. As Lee Corso famously says about it ‘coming down to special teams!,’ the same is true for the bullpen.

On the offensive side Colby needs its stars Jason Buco ’15 and Kevin Galvin ’14 to come up with big hits. Ryder Arsenault ’17 has to continue getting on-base in front of them at a torrid pace as well. After that there is a pretty big drop off in production. This has forced Hanson to become a two way player with great results in limited at-bats so far. His .448 AVG and .500 OBP are tops for the Mules. Tufts has a more balanced attack with six players boasting an OBP north of .400 and at least 50 plate appearances. Another good measure of their depth is that six different players have hit homers, though nobody has more than one. Despite all that fire power Colby has a decent chance at slowing down the Tufts offense. In four conference games the Jumbos have yet to bust out averaging 4.25 runs per game.

We don’t usually make predictions because the NESCAC can be so unpredictable, but expect Tufts to win two of three. Slinger is too dominant to be beat, but after that it is a tossup in the other two games. Trinity proved Tufts is just another NESCAC team despite their gaudy record, but the Jumbos will still finish at the top of the East.

Three to Watch

1. Andrew Vandini ’16 Third Baseman (Amherst) – We gave Amherst a lot of love in our Mid-season Awards earlier this week, but Vandini didn’t get a lot of ink, besides an Honorable Mention for Most Improved. In general, the sophomore has flown under the radar overshadowed by his ultra-talented classmate Mike Odenwaelder ’16 and the stellar Amherst pitching, but Vandini is the engine at the top of the Amherst offense. He isn’t flashy with only one extra-base hit and three stolen bases, but his .471 OBP makes it pretty clear why he bats lead-off. He has more walks (11) than strikeouts (10) and is tied for fourth in the league for hits. His defense has also been good with only three errors at a difficult position. Vandini and Taiki Kasuga ’14 play great defense on the left side of the infield are a nasty duo at the top of the lineup that leaves opposing pitchers worn out when they get to the middle of the Amherst lineup.

2. Nate Pajka ’15 Outfielder (Bates) – The Bates offense has been a mess besides the stellar pair of Griffin Tewksbury ’14 and Kevin Davis ’14. While ideally an on-base machine would emerge in front of them, it doesn’t look like that guy is currently on the Bates roster. Pajka is instead a guy with a lot of power (three homers) but a below average batting average (.274). He had a good weekend against Bowdoin with two multi-hit games, and he will look to continue that hitting as Bates returns to conference play. Bates will have a difficult time with a still dangerous Trinity team, but they need a big weekend since they still have five games remaining against Tufts and Colby. If Pajka becomes a little more consistent, Bates will have a threesome of mashers in the lineup to give teams trouble.

3. Sam Goodwin-Boyd ’15 First Baseman (Wesleyan) – Your NESCAC RBI leader with 24 is none other than the junior from Florence, Massachusetts. His OBP of .396 and SLG% of .487 don’t jump out at you, but Goodwin-Boyd has reason for so many RBIs besides bountiful opportunities to accrue them. Eleven of his hits have gone for extra bases meaning runners on-base are able to advance multiple bases. The Cardinals offense was its usual self one weekend after they struggled to score against Middlebury. They can’t falter and give up a game in the standings to Amherst before they meet in their titanic matchup next weekend.

Here’s the schedule for this weekend:
Friday:
Amherst at Middlebury (DH) 2 PM
Colby at Tufts 3 PM
Bates at Trinity 3 PM
Wesleyan at Hamilton 4 PM

Saturday:
Amherst at Middlebury 12 PM
Wesleyan at Hamilton (DH) 12 PM
Colby at Tufts (DH) 12 PM
Bates at Trinity (DH) 12 PM

Power Rankings April 18

1. Tufts (20-2, 3-1)

Not much has changed since we last put out power rankings, other than Queen Elsa reclaiming her icy hold on the NESCAC lands. Tufts is still dominating the league with their 70’s Orioles-like pitching staff, although Trinity did hand them their first NESCAC loss on Saturday in a 8-7 nail biter that took 9 innings. There does appear to be a chink in Tuft’s armor, however. They are only hitting .212 in NESCAC play, good for ninth in the league. This is probably just a slump, and their pitching is making up for it, but if it’s a bigger issue, it could set the Jumbos train off the tracks.

2. Wesleyan (18-5, 6-0)

In our previous power rankings, we put Amherst over Wesleyan, and clearly Wesleyan listened. They are the only undefeated team in league play, sitting at 6-0. Although it is true that their wins are over Williams and Middlebury, two struggling teams, the level of dominance that they’ve asserted cannot be ignored. The weekend of April 25 pits Wesleyan against Amherst, in a series that should settle the West supremacy debate, at least until the playoffs.

3. Amherst (18-5, 4-1)

Much like Wesleyan, Amherst has been playing very well, both before league play and in NESCAC. The Lord Jeffs are 4-1, the only blemish being the loss to Williams that puts them below Wesleyan in these rankings. Again, the Jeffs face off against Wesleyan on the 25, a series that is looking more and more like something ESPN should cover, based on it’s importance to the league.

4. Colby (13-6, 4-2)

The teams behind Tufts were locked in a tight battle for second for most of the season, but Colby has separated themselves from the pack with a strong showing in NESCAC play. The Mules are 4-2, including an impressive series win over Bowdoin last week. Colby doesn’t have many stars, but they are solid and play well as a team, which, as numerous sports movies can tell us, is usually more effective.

5. Bowdoin (13-9-1, 4-5)

While Colby has separated themselves with strong NESCAC play, Bowdoin has been struggling somewhat, after a strong start. They’ve lost 4 of 6, losing series to rivals Colby and Bates. The problems lie mainly in a struggling offense, which is performing far below preseason expectations. Like Tufts, Bowdoin’s offensive struggles could just be a slump, but it will have to end soon, as their pitching is not good enough to carry them through a prolonged drought.

6. Bates (11-10, 2-2)

Bates has been one of the more consistent teams throughout the year, sitting at 11-10 and 2-2 in NESCAC. Their team stats have remained remarkably the same, avoiding some of the offensive struggles that have plagued other teams. However, Bates’ consistency does not add up to enough talent for them to compete in the tough Eastern division.

7. Hamilton (8-9, 1-4)

Like the middle of the Eastern pack, the bottom of the West is a close race, although there is not quite as much talent. Although Hamilton is only 1-4 in the league, their overall “success” puts them barely above Middlebury and Williams. However, Middlebury seems to have found something of a rhythm, and if those two trends continue, Hamilton could easily sink to the bottom.

8. Trinity (9-14, 3-6)

This has been a tough year for Trinity, who came in to the year with very high expectations. First year coach Brian Adamski’s squad has struggled in most categories, translating to a last place ranking in the East. However, they were able to steal a game in the Tufts series, and if they can sweep their upcoming series’ against Bates, a playoff push could still be in the cards if everything breaks right.

9. Williams (7-11, 2-7)

Williams and Middlebury have become almost interchangeable at the bottom of the east, but they are trending in different directions. Williams has lost 4 in a row, and the pitching staff that has held them back all season has not improved in any measurable way.

10. Middlebury (4-12, 2-7)

The Panthers, on the other hand, seem to have found some small measure of rhythm in their season. They took two of three from Hamilton last weekend, and seem to be gaining confidence as the young players get more experience. A strong showing this coming weekend against Amherst, coupled with continued poor play from Williams and Hamilton, could catapult the Panthers out of the cellar and finally into the sun.

Mid-Season Awards

With a few weekends left before the season draws to a close we thought now was a good time to put forth our awards for the year thus far. We took into account the entire season, but weighted conference performance above all.

West Division

MVP – Mike Odenwaelder ’16 Outfielder/Pitcher (Amherst) – Odenwaelder wins by a thread over many other deserving candidates. Odenwaelder is thumping the ball all over the place with a .447 average and top-notch .697 slugging percentage. He leads Amherst with 21 RBIs and is tied with Connor Gunn ’16 with three homers. All that being said, what puts him over the top is his mound dominance. The sophomore is so talented that he has pitched 20.2 innings for a team loaded with pitching. His 1.74 ERA is the sixth best mark in the NESCAC and he has held opponents to a .123 average. The only runs he has allowed were in his first appearance of the season. Odenwaelder is not one of the weekend starters (yes, Amherst is that talented), but his arm is one of the most electric in the league.

Honorable Mention- Joe Jensen ’15 (Hamilton), Donnie Cimino ’15 (Wesleyan), Alex Kelly ’14 (Middlebury) and Matt Kastner ’14 (Williams)

Most Valuable Pitcher – Dylan Driscoll ’14 (Amherst) – Amherst garners another award because one of the main reasons Odenwaelder isn’t starting is the performance of the Jeffs’ other starters, Driscoll in particular. The only team that has gotten to Driscoll is Williams, who roughed up the righty for six runs. Besides that, Driscoll has allowed one run in four starts which all lasted at least seven innings. A 1.50 ERA through 36 innings is nothing to scoff at. He barely walks anybody, yielding only four free passes on the season, but he still strikes batters out at a 8.50 K/9 rate. The senior is the leader of a staff that is deep in experience and talent.

Honorable Mention- Jjay Lane ’15 (Hamilton), Nick Cooney ’15 (Wesleyan) and John Cook ’15 (Amherst)

Most Improved Player – Joe Jensen ’15 Outfielder (Hamilton) – Last season Jensen was a stolen base savant who got on-base at an about league average rate of .347. This season, however, the Hamiltonian lead-off man has morphed into an on-base machine still capable of wreaking havoc on the base paths. A big reason for his .514 OBP is that he doesn’t strike out often while also drawing a lot of walks. He has as many walks, 10, as strikeouts. That, coupled with speed that earned him a second-place finish in the 400m final at the March NCAA Indoor Championships, Jensen maximizes his chances of getting on-base even when he doesn’t connect with the ball well. He has been carrying the Hamilton offense for most of the season.

Honorable Mention – Andrew Vandini ’16 (Amherst), Luke Pierce ’16 (Williams) and Max Araya ’16 (Middlebury)

Rookie of the Year – Jack Cloud ’17 Outfielder (Williams) – Wesleyan’s Robby Harbison is making a strong push for this award right now, but Cloud’s body of work is better at this point. An OBP of .459 and slugging percentage of .600 would be exceptional for a senior, and to do it as a freshman is almost unheard of. After only striking out only once in his first 11 games, Cloud has been rung up 10 times in his last six contests, but he is still getting on-base, having hit safely in five of those last six. He has not kept up the torrid pace he established at the beginning of the season, but those numbers were almost impossible to continue.

Honorable Mention – Robby Harbison ’17 (Wesleyan), Ellis Schaefer ’17 (Wesleyan), Kenny Collins ’17 (Hamilton) and Jason Lock ’17 (Middlebury)

East Division

MVP – Jason Buco ’15 Outfielder (Colby) – This pick might come as a surprise to some. Nobody in the East sticks out from the crowd, but Buco gets the nod over a number of others. A case could be made that teammate Kevin Galvin ’14 is having a slightly better season offensively. His OBP of .469 is 50 percentage points better than Buco’s, more than making up for Buco’s 48 percentage points advantage in slugging percentage. One big difference is that Buco’s defense has been much better. Galvin plays a more demanding position in third base, but his fielding percentage of .806 is still far too low. Buco’s four home runs is tied for tops in the league. Also a star on the football team, Buco is helping to turn around two programs at Colby that are hitting new heights.

Honorable Mention – Kevin Galvin ’14 (Colby), Chad Martin ’16 (Bowdoin), Kevin Davis ’14 (Bates), Griffin Tewksbury ’14 (Bates) and Max Freccia ’14 (Tufts)

Most Valuable Pitcher – Kyle Slinger ’15 (Tufts) – No award is easier to hand out than this one. That is saying a lot considering that the top four and nine of the top 11 league leaders in ERA pitch in the East. Despite that, no pitcher can touch Slinger’s dominance so far. To quickly reiterate what we wrote on Monday, Slinger has a 0.66 ERA and .136 opponents’ batting average for the season. He strikes out one batter an inning and hasn’t allowed a run in his last three starts. The only wart on his resume is the 19 walks he has handed out thus far, but the walk issue is the equivalent of punctuation error in a Pulitzer Prize novel. Slinger has been so good that he garnered consideration for MVP of the East. A plethora of other pitchers are throwing great this season, but nobody can match the Tufts ace.

Honorable Mention: Scott Goldberg ’15 (Colby), Tim Superko ’17 (Tufts), Brad Reynolds ’14 (Bates) and Harry Ridge ’16 (Bowdoin)

Most Improved Player – Scott Goldberg ’15 Starting Pitcher (Colby) – When Goldberg got off to a fast start this season some questioned his ability to maintain it given how much he struggled last season. And yet, Goldberg has actually gotten better as the season goes on. He stumbled a bit against Trinity before tossing a gem against Bowdoin going eight innings while allowing two (unearned) runs. A season after posting a 5.50 ERA, he is the justified owner of a mark five times as low: 1.05. Goldberg is also striking out batters at a prodigious rate of 10.52 per nine innings. This award could just as easily have gone to fellow Mule Kevin Galvin ’14, who is enjoying a huge bump in production as well.

Honorable Mentions: Peter Cimini ’16 (Bowdoin), Brian Wolfe ’15 (Trinity) and Kevin Galvin ’14 (Colby)

Rookie of the Year – Tim Superko ’17 Starting Pitcher (Tufts) – If it wasn’t for how well Slinger has been pitching, Superko would be neck and neck with Goldberg for best pitcher in the East. For now he has to be content with being seen as the understudy to Master Slinger. Keep in mind, he is no slouch of an understudy, the owner of a 1.04 ERA and eye-catching 11.77 K/9. His two wins undersells the impact he has had for the Jumbos as a freshman. Last weekend the bullpen blew a lead after Superko threw five innings of one run ball. One knock of him is that he has only pitched 26 innings while never going more than six in a start. As Tufts takes any restrictions off him, Superko will only continue to improve. As an aside, the East is definitely lacking in impact freshmen overall when compared to the West.

Honorable Mention – Ryder Arsenault ’17 (Colby) and Tom Petry ’17 (Tufts)

Tell us what you think, where we went wrong and who we missed in the comments section.

Stock Report April 14

Stock Up

Robby Harbison ’17 Designated Hitter (Wesleyan) – The DH with the slick locks must have noticed we didn’t talk about him in our First Year Spotlight. In the first game of the weekend his two-run double in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie. He followed that up with two 3-4 games in the Saturday doubleheader. On the weekend he totaled three runs and five RBIs. His .410 batting average is the best on Wesleyan, and he has reached base in 13 of Wesleyan’s last 14 games. His hot bat helped Wesleyan to a weekend sweep of Williams. The Cardinals are 6-0 in the NESCAC and look like they could enter the series against Amherst at 9-0.

Scott Goldberg ’15 Starting Pitcher (Colby) – Last season the right hander sported a 5.50 ERA and a .318 opponents’ batting average. This season has been a completely different story for Goldberg. Posting a 1.40 ERA and miniscule .154 opponents’ batting average, he has turned into a bona fide ace for the Mules. On Saturday, he turned in a masterful eight inning performance. Bowdoin only threatened once, in the sixth inning, when they scored two runs, but besides that, Goldberg was all over the Polar Bears. Improvement by returning players has been the key to Colby sitting comfortably in second place in the East right now.

Nick Cooney ’15 Starting Pitcher (Wesleyan) – Wesleyan is getting so much love because their sweep this weekend was the most impressive team performance this season. Cooney was the one who set the tone with his dominance on the mound Friday. He shut down a very good Williams lineup going all nine innings and only allowing one run. Along with Gavin Pittore ’16 and Jeff Blout ’14, Cooney attacked Williams’ hitters early in counts, allowing him to go so deep in the game. Improved pitching has been the key to Wesleyan’s 10-game winning streak since a 24-0 drubbing on March 21 in the Cardinals’ last game in Arizona.

Kyle Slinger ’15 Starting Pitcher (Tufts) – The southpaw was scary good in the opening game of the Tufts-Trinity series. The Bantams could not figure him out all game managing only two hits and three walks as he went all nine innings. His seven strikeouts give him 41 on the season. Opponents are hitting a silly .136 against him meaning his 0.66 ERA through 41 innings is no fluke. To top it off, Slinger already has six wins with plenty of games still to play. A 10-win season is not out of question for the junior. Trinity played the Jumbos really tough, taking the middle game of the series, but the Jumbos showed their mettle holding on to win the final game 3-2. If Slinger continues to pitch this way, you can write in a Tufts victory for the first game of every series.

Stock Down:

Bowdoin Defense – The Saturday doubleheader between Bowdoin and Colby featured two well-played close games between two teams clearly very similar in talent level. The difference in the weekend series was on Friday when Bowdoin had uncharacteristically poor defense. The four errors came at critical times as only one of Colby’s eight runs was earned. The costliest error came in the third when a routine groundball with two outs could not be corralled at second base. With the bases loaded Nate Ellis ’14 delivered a clutch single scoring two runs. Tyler Starks ’16 chased Bowdoin’s starter Harry Ridge ’16 with another two-run single as Colby scored five in the third. The poor defense was a reason for the insertion of Sean Mullaney ’17 at shortstop combined with Aaron Rosen ’15 moving to second base. Mullaney is struggling at the plate, but he plays a great shortstop making Bowdoin strong up the middle.

Jjay Lane ’15 Starting Pitcher (Hamilton) – The Continentals needed a big start by their junior ace to avoid tripping up against Middlebury, but the Panthers jumped all over the Connecticut native. Lane only went three innings before leaving with Middlebury leading 8-1. In fairness to him, the Hamilton defense was terrible behind him leading to only one of his runs being earned, but still the righty was hit hard. Lane isn’t striking out many batters this season, and he just hasn’t had any luck with run support. Despite a 2.37 ERA, Lane is 0-2. Consider this more of an opportunity to buy low on Lane than a signal that Lane has regressed from his 2013 form.

Tom Stephens ’14 Right Fielder (Williams) – This spot could go to any number of Williams’ hitters who struggled over the weekend, but the spotlight falls on Stephens because he went hitless in all three games. Overall, a vaunted lineup scored a combined five runs over three games. Stephens couldn’t get anything going at the plate, striking out four times. The amazing thing is that he still sports a nifty .385/.450/.654 slashline. Stephens was one of the few players last week to hit Amherst’s pitching, so expect him to bounce back soon. Williams’ once-promising season will now almost certainly end without them reaching the playoffs.

Saturday Roundup

Full day of action in the NESCAC did a whole lot of sorting out in both divisions.

Great starts by Jeff Blout ’14 and Gavin Pittore ’16 shut down the potent Williams offense as Wesleyan swept the doubleheader to complete a weekend sweep. The offense was led by Robby Harbison ’17 who had three hits in both games. The sweep leaves Wesleyan alone at the top of the West at 6-0 in the NESCAC. Williams has the stats and recap on their website.

Tufts and Trinity played two great games with the Bantams taking the first one in extras before the Jumbos fought back to win the second game. Recaps and stats for both games can be found on the Trinity website. It was the third consecutive series loss for the Bantams in conference play while Tufts lost their first conference game

Bowdoin and Colby split their doubleheader with Bowdoin taking the first game behind a Chad Martin ’14 three run homer before Colby struck back by scoring four in the sixth to break the scoreless deadlock. Here is the Bowdoin website recap complete with video highlights. For all the Mules fans here is the Colby website recap.

The last conference matchup saw Middlebury win the first game in extra innings before Hamilton responded with a nice 7-2 victory behind a seven run six inning. Colin Henneberger ’14 went the complete game for the victory. There isn’t a recap available yet, but Middlebury’s website has stats and the play by play of both games.

Finally in non-conference play Amherst had a nice doubleheader sweep of Endicott college. John Cook ’15 and Dylan Driscoll ’14 had their normal dominant outings and Andrew Vandini ’16 went 5-5 in the second game of the doubleheader. Amherst’s website covers it all here.

The West looks pretty clear cut with Wesleyan at 6-0 and Amherst at 4-1 with Williams the next closest team at 4-5. The East is still very jumbled with Tufts (3-1) at the top and Colby separating themselves a little by moving to 4-2. Still a lot of baseball to be played before things will be certain for sure. Here is a link to the complete NESCAC standings.

Roundup of Friday’s Action

Colby’s Scott Goldberg continues his torrid pace, tossing eight innings and allowing just one earned run in the Mules’ win: http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/bsb/2013-14/releases/20140411j0ad3t
Check out the photo gallery from the game: http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/bsb/2013-14/photos/0001/index

Is first-year Kyle Slinger already the best pitcher in the NESCAC? Ask the Bantams: http://tufts.prestosports.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/releases/20140411j8ttg4
For the Trinity perspective: http://athletics.trincoll.edu/sports/bsb/2013-14/releases/201404111i11w5

The Cardinals manufacture some late runs to remain undefeated in conference: http://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/bsb/2013-14/releases/20140411j08s08

Today’s Schedule:
Middlebury at Hamilton (DH) 12 PM
Colby at Bowdoin (DH) 12 PM
Trinity at Tufts (DH) 12 PM
Wesleyan at Williams (DH) 1 PM
Amherst at Endicott (DH) 1 PM