Uncategorized – Nothing But NESCAC

There’s an “I” in Win: End-of-Season Awards Predictions

With championship weekend finally on the horizon, it is finally time to make our award predictions. This season has been one of the closest in recent memory in regard to individual accolades, with so many different guys up and down different lineups contributing to their team’s successes. We’ve got a lot of these so let’s jump right into it.

West Division

Comeback Player of the Year: IF Kellen Hatheway ‘19 (Williams)

At first glance it probably seems pretty stupid to pick a two-time all-league selection, former rookie of the year, and former defensive player of the year as the CPOY. But the last two years have been a lot bumpier than the first two for Hatheway, who hit a career-low .228 with 11 RBI last season, after hitting .331 and .362 with a combined 46 RBI his first two years. His chances at a bounce back senior year were derailed after 5 games to start the season, absent from the starting lineup for 9 games in a row due to an injury, missing all of his senior year spring trip. But Hatheway returned to the lineup at a key time and was as big a reason as any that the Ephs captured their first NESCAC West title since 2010, hitting .407 with 3 HR and 11 RBI, capped by a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the 9th in a de facto playoff game against Wesleyan on Saturday, a moment that will live in Williams baseball lore for quite some time.

Honorable Mention: RHP Michael Farinelli ’21 (Middlebury), 1B Doug Schaffer ’19 (Williams)

CF4 Slugger: OF Henry Strmecki ’21, Middlebury

5 homers, 21 RBI, and a .557 slugging percentage for a playoff team makes you a pretty obvious answer for this one. The ball was flying out of the park in Vermont all season, as the Panthers tied for second in the league with 16 dingers, led by their sophomore slugger at the heart of the order. An interesting note is that Strmecki actually didn’t hit any home runs in conference games this year, so we’ll see if he can continue swinging it in the games that matter most.

Honorable Mention: C Severino Simeone ’20 (Amherst)

Reliever of the Year: RHP George Goldstein ’21, Middlebury

The Middlebury sophomore class makes another appearance on this list, this team in the form of closer George Goldstein. Goldstein broke on to the scene as a freshman by posting a 1.70 ERA in 21.2 IP, but managed to one up himself and lower that number to a 1.18, in addition to a 10.07 K/9. We look forward to George’s senior year, when his ERA is a 0.34.

Honorable Mention: RHP Mike Dow ’19 (Amherst), RHP Kyle Dean ’20 (Williams)

Rookie of the Year: RHP Alex Price ’22 (Middlebury)

Well it’s good to know there won’t be too much of a drop off at Middlebury once Colby Morris’ standout career comes to a close in a few weeks. His apprentice actually beat him out in ERA, with Price’s 2.63 just nudging out Morris at 2.70. RHP Sam Rohrer ’22 (41.1 IP, 3.07 ERA, 3-1) and his numbers don’t quite do justice to the impact he has had on the Williams pitching staff that so desperately needed arms, and got arms, but I don’t think the gap is narrow enough to give to a guy whose team had the same conference record as Price’s.

Honorable Mention: RHP Sam Rohrer ’22 (Williams)

Cy Young Award: LHP Jack Bohen ’19 (Williams)

This is by far, I think, the one you could really flip a coin on. I took a long and hard look at Bohen and Colby Morris’ stats, and I went with Bohen, by a hair. Bohen has the edge in ERA, but Morris has pitched 16 more innings than Bohen, leading the conference with 61.0 – the best ability is availability, and no one was more available than Morris. What did it for Bohen was his conference numbers – 3-0, 26.2 IP, 2.06 ERA, as compared to Morris’ 2-2 in 31.0 IP with a 2.61 ERA. Bohen’s teams went 4-0 when he pitched in divisional games, as opposed to 3-5 without him. It also doesn’t make things any easier (or fairer) for Morris attempting to repeat and win this award a second year in a row, after posting a 1.68 ERA last season. It could really go either way and whoever it goes to is more than deserving.

Honorable Mention: RHP Colby Morris ’19 (Middlebury)

MVP: 1B Doug Schaffer ’19 (Williams)

What an absolute breakout year for Schaffer, who had just as good a chance of winning Comeback Player of Year as any but lost out to his classmate Kellen Hatheway ’19 by a slim margin. After two straight years of hitting .218 and .277, the senior first baseman exploded to lead the league with a .433 average and 46 RBI—14 more than anybody else – as well as a preposterous .633 slugging percentage, also a league-best. Schaffer had 38 career RBI in 283 at-bats prior to his senior season, just to put things in perspective. His detractors will point out that he didn’t have a single home run, which really doesn’t matter when you put up 46 RBI, and that he only hit .295 with 6 RBI in conference play, which is a fair criticism. But Schaffer was the best player all year on a divisional title winner and there just wasn’t a close enough competitor for it to be anybody else.

Honorable Mention: OF Joe Palmo ‘21 (Amherst), OF Henry Strmecki ’21 (Middlebury)

East Division

Comeback Player of the Year: RHP Justin Foley ’19 (Bates)

The Bobcats return to the playoffs for the third straight year on the backs of a killer 1-2 punch in the rotation. Beside RHP Nolan Collins ’20 playing Batman, is Foley playing Robin – in large part because of the huge step forward he took for his senior year. His ERA dropped from a 5.08 to a 3.59, his K/9 jumped from a 6.46 to an 8.07, and his IP climbed from 39.0 to 50.2, culminating in going 6-2 after going 2-4 as a junior. He might even be the hot hand in Lewiston right now; Foley has thrown two consecutive complete game shutouts against the likes of Colby and Bowdoin – the latter of which earned him the most recent NESCAC Pitcher of the Week honor. The former Mr. Baseball in Massachusetts will be heavily relied on this weekend if Bates has any opens of hoisting their first banner.

Honorable Mention: LHP Eric Mohl ’19 Trinity

CF4 Slugger: OF Matt Koperniak ’20 (Trinity)

Koperniak can’t be thrilled to be missing the NESCAC tournament once again, but his 4 HR, 26 RBI, and .591 slugging percentage (2nd in the league) are a huge reason why the Bantams might still have a chance at postseason baseball in the form of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this guy playing in the Cape Cod League for a bit this summer.

Honorable Mention: OF JP Knight ’20 (Tufts), OF Casey Santos-Ocampo ’19 (Tufts)

Reliever of the Year: RHP Spencer Langdon ’20 (Tufts)

It was quite the year for Langdon, who was moved into the Jumbos bullpen despite going 5-0 with a 2.00 ERA in 45 IP as a starter last season. It isn’t a move that I would make but that’s why John Casey is John Casey and I’m not. It has been a resounding success, with Langdon closing out 5 games for the NESCAC East leaders. While the 3.68 ERA doesn’t jump off the page, 3 of his 9 earned runs came in a spot start against Eastern Connecticut St. It’s also pretty scary to think about what his save numbers really good have been if they ever needed him – shockingly, his appearances in their 16-0 win against Bowdoin and 30-2 (30-2!) win over Salem State, both scoreless innings, were not in save situations.

Honorable Mention: LHP Eric Mohl ’19 (Trinity), RHP Alex Simon ’19 (Bates), RHP Colby Lewis (Bowdoin)

Rookie of the Year: RHP Cameron Crowley ’22 (Trinity)

51.1 IP. 8-0 record. 2.29 ERA. A complete game allowing 1 run in a win against Tufts – just a few highlights of Cameron Crowley’s freshman year in Hartford. That really speaks for itself, honestly. Perhaps the most impressive part of Crowley’s first collegiate season was that all of this success came despite a meager 4.23 K/9. To show an ability to pitch to contact and throw outs at such a young age is seriously impressive. If he comes back with a bit better stuff, he will dominate the league at an even higher level than he did this year.

Honorable Mention: IF Peter DeMaria ’22 (Tufts), IF Bryan Gotti (Bates)

Cy Young: RHP RJ Hall ’19 (Tufts)

If you really want to understand how good Hall was this season, then go scroll up ever so slightly and read through Cameron Crowley’s numbers again, and then learn that he didn’t even remotely warrant consideration for this award. Everything Crowley did, Hall did better for Tufts, and did it while leading Tufts to yet another division title. He went 6-0 and lead the NESCAC with a 1.57 ERA, and 3 complete games. He only threw 46 innings because of a brief stint on the DL (IL, excuse me), but returned just as strong as he was pre-injury, closing out his regular season going 7 strong in a win against Colby, allowing just 1 run.

Honorable Mention: RHP Nolan Collins’ 20 (Bates), RHP Cameron Crowley ’22 (Trinity)

MVP: OF Matt Koperniak ’20 (Trinity)

To be honest with you, I kind of hate this pick. I’m a big fan of rewarding team success, but baseball is dependent on so many other factors that I don’t think it’s as big of a deal. Yes, Trinity did not make the playoffs. But they still went 27-7 with an 8-4 record in the league, and Koperniak slashed .380/.473/.591 while hitting 4 HR and driving in 26. It’s not like his team stunk and his production certainly warrants consideration. The other thing, unfortunately, is that Bates’ top hitters (Jack Arend ’20 and Christian Beal ’21) aren’t quite on the same level as Koperniak and Tufts has had such good production up and down the lineup that no one person can be identified – anyone worth considering cancels the next guy out. The Jumbos have 5 guys hitting .300 or better with 20+ RBI (we’re rounding Casey Santos-Ocampo’s .298 up for the sake of this stat), but none of them quite have Koperniak’s numbers.

Honorable Mention: IF Peter DeMaria ’22 (Tufts), OF Christian Beal ’21 (Bates), OF JP Knight ‘19 (Tufts)

Can the Big Dawgs Take Care of Business? NESCAC Weekend Preview April 12-13

NESCAC Weekend Preview April 11

Bowdoin (3-14-1, 3-3 NESCAC) @ Tufts (15-5, 2-1 NESCAC)

The Jumbo pitching staff faltered against Midd last weekend–can they turn it around against Bowdoin?

Tufts had an off weekend last weekend so there was no NESCAC play for them. Although they did not participate in an official conference game, they were still busy with non-conference matchups against Salem State, MIT, Midd, Keene State and Roger Williams. Tufts was knockout against Salem State and MIT, scoring a combined 40 runs in the two games. Next they split two games against Midd in what could be a possible championship preview. Their final two games were a split as well, taking a close one from Keene State and losing to Roger Williams. Overall Tufts has played well this season but not outstanding has we have seen from them in the past. Bowdoin looks to put Tufts to the test after pulling off their shocking first three wins of the season in a sweep of in-state rival Colby. Two of the three games were absolute blowouts and in all three wins the Polar Bears combined to score 26 runs while giving up just 5. While this is certainly exciting for the Bowdoin program, the score lines may attest more to Colby’s woes than Bowdoin’s talents.

Prediction: Tufts clean sweep

Colby (6-9, 0-3 NESCAC) @ Trinity (16-4, 4-2 NESCAC)

Trinity rolled into Lewiston last weekend confident that they could win another series and advance their championship goals, but the Bobcats had other ideas in mind. Trinity dropped two of the three games and while their NESCAC record is still good, it could have been much better. After the weekend, Trinity had a non-conference matchup against Williams which they once again won narrowly, on a walk-off in fact. Trinity had been skidding by recently but a change of pace in opponent may be exactly what they need to relight the fire. Colby’s fire was extinguished last weekend in what was a fairly embarrassing sweep that was given to a rival who was previously winless. To give a team their three first wins in a row during conference play is a brutal scenario but that is what the Mules have in front of them. An injury to shortstop Andrew Russell certainly did not help the Mules’ chances, but they were far less than satisfactory both offensively and defensively. Trinity will be a much stronger opponent than Bowdoin was so the Mules will have to adjust quickly in order to survive.

Prediction: Trinity clean sweep

Amherst (12-7, 3-3 NESCAC) @ Hamilton (11-9, 3-3 NESCAC)

Matt Zaffino and the Conts are out to shock the world…They take on Amherst in their third consecutive series this weekend and need to win the series to remain alive.

The NESCAC West is still absolutely the wild, wild west and Amherst and Hamilton are right in the thick of it. Amherst has won 6 of their last 7 games heading into this series, including a NESCAC series win over Williams. The Mammoths have found ways to edge out their opponents and as a result have had great success. If they can continue their hot hitting streak and pitching stays in line, they have more than a chance of making it into the conference tourney and making a splash. Hamilton has been similarly impressive, as was shown in their two wins over Wesleyan, who was picked by many to win the NESCAC this season. The Continentals have rode their strong pitching staff and key offensive leaders to their point. In order to break their ceiling they will need their roleplayers to step up and beat expectations.

Prediction: Amherst takes 2 of 3

Middlebury (13-6, 2-1 NESCAC) @ Williams (14-4, 1-2 NESCAC)

Michael Farinelli has come out of nowhere for the Panthers this season; Williams’ hitters have been hot up to this point–something’s gotta give this weekend.

While Midd does stand atop the NESCAC West and Williams sits in the cellar, they are only separated by 2 games. Midd did not participate in NESCAC play last weekend but they did win 3 of their 4 non-conference games, including a win over Tufts. Ace Colby Morris has been holding it down for the Panthers, looking to recapture his Pitcher of the Year title. Midd has been impressive offensively, hitting just under .300 as a team. While this is a good average, teams such as Tufts and Trinity will be able to outslug them with ease. Williams was somewhat disappointing coming into NESCAC play after an impressive preseason. They lost two of three games to Amherst before exploding for 14 runs in the final game of the series. Since then Williams has lost one close game to Trinity and earned a decisive victory over Vassar. I think Williams still has more in the tank to show us and we shouldn’t start sleeping on them quite yet.

Prediction: Midd takes 2 of 3

Can the Underdog pull it off? Tufts @ Hamilton Semifinal Preview

Tufts pulled off what some consider the impossible last weekend. The Jumbos made the tumultuous trek up to Vermont and defeated top seeded Middlebury. The Jumbos were led by freshman guard, who went to my high school, Tyler Aronson. Aronson played an all around complete game, proving to the conference why he will be an elite player for years to come. Similar to what happened to UVA last year during March Madness, Tufts was not intimidated by playing the top seed. The Jumbos looked poised and cruised to a nine point victory. Tufts’ opponent this weekend, Hamilton, should be weary about playing Tufts. It was about three weeks ago when Hamilton squeaked out a four point win against the Jumbos. I consider three weeks an eternity ago. Like Jim Mora famously muttered, “Playoffs?!” the playoffs in any sport have proved to be a different beast. Considering how competitive the league is, which Tufts displayed this past weekend, Hamilton needs to come out of the gates hot. The Continentals need to prove why they’re hosting the game— boasting an earned cockiness and swagger. Hamilton beat Williams and lost by a point to Midd this month. Kena Gilmour continues to dominate the scoring sheet. Gilmour has proven to be the league’s elite scorer this year. Even though basketball is a team game, I am excited to see the individual match up of Aronson versus Gilmour this weekend. Let’s take an in depth preview of the game.

Eric Savage needs to move a mountain to bring the Jumbos some rings.

Overview

Tufts is one of those teams no one wants to play in the playoffs. They’re simply a team with momentum. You know those teams. The ‘07 Giants, who barely earned a wildcard, went on to defeat the 18-0 Patriots. The Blackhawks when Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were in their primes. And most famously, the 1980 Men’s Olympic hockey team. Their run was quite a ‘miracle.’ Tufts, based on their regular season performance, doesn’t deserve to be in this spot. Their 4-6 conference record barely squeaked them into the playoffs. Then they go and beat a one seed. That’s sports. Every game starts 0-0. Previous games don’t matter; it’s what about what you give today. Although at first glance it’s a shock for Tufts to have defeated Midd, it’s terribly surprising. Tufts has a young squad led by veteran coach Bob Sheldon. Coach Sheldon has been around the block a few times. He has experience in big games and knows how to create a game plan that once featured big man Tom Palleschi and now is centered around guard Tyler Aronson. I will get to Aronson in the next section, but now I want to focus on Tufts as a team. Their general statistics don’t jump out at me. They shoot 43% from the field and around 32% from deep. What is particularly striking is that they have a 66% free throw percentage. I don’t want to jinx anything, but having a number like that may come back to bite them in a big game. The Jumbos on average get outrebounded per game as well. Was their victory against Midd an anomaly? Maybe. I don’t want to say anything further, however, since playoffs are so much about momentum. Frankly, numbers get thrown out the window at this point.

Hamilton has five legitimate weapons in their starting lineup.

Hamilton has been a powerhouse all year long. They’re that team who you know is very good, but for some reason, they don’t garner the same respect as a Williams or Midd. One reason is that Hamilton is so far away. In the NEW ENGLAND Small College Athletic Conference, an upstate New York school outside of Utica is out of the picture. The Continentals have proven year in and year that they’re a very good basketball team. This year is no different. Hamilton posted a solid 7-3 conference record—finishing nearly undefeated at home (11-1). I am going to take one more shot at upstate New York here. Tufts playing Hamilton is like the Florida Gators traveling to play the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. That ride is far even if you’re not playing the day of travel. Regardless of home court advantage, Hamilton has proven that defense wins games. They allow on average 70 points per game, one of the best in the league. They’re tough inside too with a six rebound advantage per game. Hamilton plays a tough brand of basketball with a potent inside force and strong scoring led by Kena Gilmour.

Tufts X-Factor

G Tyler Aronson

Aronson, a Holliston, Mass, native and my former classmate at Rivers, has been the guy for Tufts all season. He has averaged 9.4 points this season and posted solid assists and turnover numbers. I do not think Aronson’s stats jump off the page. He is not the guy that will get you twenty-five, ten, and five on a daily basis. He is, however, one of the smartest basketball players I have seen. I want the ball in his hand with the game on the line. His handle is one of the best in the league and is a smart player. He will not throw away the game with a stupid turnover. I am excited to watch him develop into one of the league’s best these next few years. He is not huge like Wesleyan’s Austin Hutcherson, but he’s quick and bouncy. He can seriously fly. If Tufts wins the game, I guarantee Aronson will have a breakout game.

Hamilton X-Factor

G Kena Gilmour

In life people overcomplicate things. They think in order to sound smart they have to sometimes evade a logical answers. Think back to all those multiple choice exams. What if instead you picked the answer that was a bit more wordy and complex, you picked the one that simply answered the question in a well-constructed sentence? Makes you wonder. Kena Gilmour is the obvious choice for Hamilton’s x-factor. Sure he has great teammates, but he has proven that he is one of the best in the league scoring wise. Aronson can use Gilmour as a model for his own progression. Gilmour needs to start off hot to show that he is the alpha right now in the league. He needs to assert himself right away. He and Hamilton can’t let Tufts have a glimmer of hope. He needs to crush any hopes of a Tufts’ miracle from the jump.

Final thoughts

Aronson has come out of nowhere to put Tufts in the Semis.

This game is definitely an interesting matchup. Every single statistic I look at points in Hamilton’s favor. The Continentals have a better offense, defense, home court advantage, etc. You get the general picture. Something doesn’t sit right by writing Tufts off immediately. Aronson is a young, confident player. He has young guys around him looking to make a difference. There’s no reason to pick Tufts except for the fact that they’re coming off a huge win at Midd. It’s like I am sitting in that multiple choice exam where the right answer is in front of me, but there is another option that mentions something from a textbook reading from the first week of the semester. I am split; however, I cannot go against the simple answer. Hamilton will win this game.

Hamilton 87 Tufts 79

Confusion at the Top: Final Regular Season Stock Report

Stock Up

Amherst Bus Trips

Fru Che and the Mammoths are making moves.

It was quite the weekend for the Mammoths as they knocked off two of the top NESCAC teams, both victories on the road (84-79 W @ Williams; 97-93 W @ Midd). Despite uncertainty regarding their depth entering the season, they have proved to be the most consistent team in the conference in 2019 and control their own destiny to lock up the #1 seed in the NESCAC tournament. Grant Robinson and Fru Che combined for 68 points over their last two games and are constantly on the floor, playing nearly every minute, never giving their opponents a break from their attack. If they beat Hamilton this weekend, again on the road, they will be the favorites entering the postseason and will be a top national seed in the NCAA tournament. Their drive back to campus after their win at Midd must’ve been a fun one.

Middlebury Guards

Despite a key loss to Amherst last Saturday that could’ve locked up the #1 seed for the Panthers, they still had a solid weekend with their last minute comeback win against Hamilton. This young Midd team knocked off the experienced and deep Continental team (with a pretty weak home crowd) much to my surprise. Jack Farrell and Max Bosco, both starting as sophomores, are legit DIII players and will give any team in the country a run for their money. Max Bosco made a deep, contested three in the final seconds of the game to give Midd the lead and had an impressive, quick release on the shot. Jack Farrell out dribbles opponents and is too quick to defend and is starting to find his shooting groove. They also have fellow sophomore Griffin Kornaker as the sixth man coming off of the bench to give them a hand. This stock up is about the guards, but they aren’t even the best players on the floor for the Panthers. Watch out for this team in the tournament.

Max Bosco made a good move by choosing a college in the North Pole because he has ice in his veins.

Stock Down

Eph Dominance

The reign of terror of Williams is over. I don’t even care if they win the NESCAC and NCAA tournament, an 0-2 weekend for a team with this talent is inexcusable. They really struggled against Hamilton without James Heskett who was out due to an ankle sprain but even lost two in a row to Bowdoin and Amherst with him on the floor. Williams’ losing streak is now at three games and this cold streak couldn’t be coming at a worse time. Bobby Casey is just 13-52 from deep in his last five games, good for just 25% of his massive amount of shots. The Ephs went with an unusual and big starting lineup against Hamilton on senior day, with Marcos Soto, Jake Porath, and Michael Kempton all on the floor to begin the game. It definitely hurt them to not have Henry Feinberg and Matt Karpowicz on the floor for more minutes and Kyle Scadlock was basically a non-factor in the offense. It will be fascinating to see how these preseason favorites fare in the NESCAC tournament as they might have an early exit if they play like they have the last two weeks.

Kyle Scadlock is a hugely underutilized weapon in the Ephs’ offense.

Cardinal Depth

Wesleyan is now tied for the best team in Connecticut with Trinity as both are now a surprising 6-4 in NESCAC play. Trinity has been playing much better than expected and better than they were at the beginning of the season, while Wesleyan has struggled, especially last weekend against Colby. This upset win for the Mules revealed a weakness in depth off the bench as just six players managed to score points in the contest. While Austin Hutcherson and Antone Walker had monster games, combining for 47 points, the bench shot just 4-9 as a group. They simply didn’t put up enough shots to give themselves a chance to win against a deep-ball shooting Mule team. The Mules put up 15 more threes than Wesleyan and had a 27 point advantage on such shots. Colby is likely the only team to gain such an advantage on perimeter shooting, but if Williams’ Bobby Casey gets hot, the Ephs could also take over a game in a similar way. For the Cardinals to beat a team like Colby on a hot shooting night, they will need to better distribute their scoring.

Bowdoin/Conn/Bates

The bottom three are set for the 2019 season. It’s too bad that Bowdoin finds themselves on the outside looking in as they really could’ve given teams a challenge in the playoffs, but a crucial loss to Tufts doomed them despite a win over Williams. We will see these teams again in 2020…

Mules Making Moves; 1/29 Stock Report

Stock Up

Upsets (and the Colby Mules)

One of my first power rankings this season highlighted how far above the competition Hamilton and Williams were after the preseason. I’ll get to that misinterpretation more later, but the point for this stock up section is that I would have never expected Colby to upend Hamilton at any point in the season. Amherst has been a bit of a surprise themselves, but the Mules managed to beat them this past weekend also which shows that it really is anybody’s championship to win (except Conn). After all, we saw Middlebury upset Williams recently, which nobody (not even a big Panther fan) saw coming. This is a good year for NESCAC basketball, and while we don’t have quite as many teams in the top-25 as normal, as it is just Hamilton and Williams for now, each weekend contest is much more entertaining to the average viewer.

The Mules are going up, up, and up after last weekend.

Balance

In a related point, I don’t think we have ever had such a log-jam in the top ten NESCAC teams. Trinity, after an awful weekend, is still just two games out of third place. Now, I have no inclination that they will make a run for a home playoff game, but it’s still good to see how meaningful these last 3-5 NESCAC games will be for each team in the final weekends before the playoffs. The race is particularly interesting when it comes down to who will host the first round playoff games as its five teams in right now for four spots. In an unexpected turn of events, Hamilton now finds themselves tied with Amherst at just 3-2 in conference play and nearly on the outside looking in. Balance is not just in the standings, either, as each team has a group of weapons that make each unit dangerous in their own way. Hamilton has Kena Gilmour amongst four seasoned and talented senior starters, Middlebury has Matt Folger and some out-of-nowhere productive guards, Colby shoots lights out, Williams has three potential POYs, Wesleyan’s Austin Hutcherson is a beast in the simplest of terms; Amherst’s Grant Robinson is breaking out this year, Bowdoin has a trio of terror in Jack Simonds, Hugh O’Neil, and David Reynolds, Tufts’ duo of Eric Savage and Brennan Morris can turn the tables in any contest, and Bates has one of the best guards in the league in Jeff Spellman. Enough said. NESCAC basketball can bring it on any given night.

Gilmour and the Conts need to lock it in before the playoffs if they want to have a chance against the Ephs.

Stock Down

Preseason Scheduling

Non-conference games have contributed to our confusion as a writing staff at this point in the season. Hamilton is the main culprit here as they appeared narrowly behind Williams in talent level after they finished their non-conference schedule. Both of the Continentals’ losses have come in conference, while Amherst has also lost two of their three games this season against NESCAC teams. Colby, on the other hand, has been making moves up the power rankings, showing that their early season blunders were more of an aberration. Bates too shows that not all preseason schedules are made the same as they were 3-9 and now find themselves 3-4 against NESCAC teams.

The Mighty Chickens and Words of the Jealous

Trinity needs to figure out whatever went wrong last weekend.

We often have complaints during football season from non-Trinity football fans, claiming that the Bantams are athletically far and above any other NESCAC school due to their “lower” academic standards. I do not endorse or agree with such claims and firmly believe Trinity should belong in the NESCAC for good, their basketball team’s performance last weekend goes to put those fans’ opinions to rest. Sure, they are great at football. But if you were a recruit looking to play at a high academic school, why is it so ridiculous to think that the majority wouldn’t choose a school in an urban setting and one with a fantastic track record of success. As DIII sports continue to get more competitive, it is no surprise that Tufts, a stone’s throw from Boston, has made a quick transition into a successful football program either. Regardless, since football is only one of many NESCAC sports, schools’ success in other areas should indicate whether all of their students have an athletic advantage. Trinity, as good as they are at football, really threw up a dud against Middlebury last weekend. No, their season is not over and they could easily make the playoffs, however, 22.4% FG will not win any games, ever. Their high scorer, Donald Jorden, put up 11 and led the team with a 50% shooting night. That definitely can’t happen again. And to those NESCAC fans that continue to find excuses for why other teams can’t beat Trinity: If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. That’s a hot take on a cold winter day.

Amherst College 2019 Basketball Season Preview

Amherst Mammoths Basketball Season Preview

2017-2018 record: 16-10 (overall), 6-4 (conference)

Losing on a buzzer beater is never easy; losing to a Little Three rival in the playoffs on a buzz beater is even more devastating. It is a new year, however. The pain from last year may still be present in some of the veteran players, but each Mammoth comes into the season with a mindset that they’re going to win the league. Amherst, a perennial NESCAC powerhouse, is reloaded and ready to take revenge on Wesleyan and other rivals.

2018-2019 projected record: 17-7 (overall), 6-4 (conference)

Amherst has already demonstrated that they have the fire power to compete with anyone thus far. Three wins, and two of those in triple digits, illustrate the ease in which Amherst scores. These wins are impressive, but they’re against non-league foes. With official NESCAC basketball conference games starting in January, Amherst will have confidence going into January if they continue their strong November run into December.

The Mammoths are off to a hot start in their 2019 preseason.

Key losses:

G/F Johnny McCarthy

GP: 26

PTS/G: 11.9

FG %: 43.4

3PT %: 30.3

FT %: 65.1

REB/G: 7.7

A/G: 3.0

The 6’ 5” Nobles product capped off his Amherst career with a historic 2017-2018 season. McCarthy was a solid all around player, who was as active on the glass as he was scoring buckets. Even though the three point and free throw percentage don’t necessarily show such a significant impact, McCarthy’s willingness to scrap with big boys such as Wesleyan’s Nathan Krill and Jordan Sears shows how much he will be missed. The twelve points a game, second highest on the team, will be a void that will need to be filled by the squad this season.

G Michael Riopel

GP: 26

PTS/G:12.7

FG %:46.2

3PT %:43.0

FT %:74.2

REB/G: 5.3

A/G: 2.1

Similar to McCarthy, Riopel brought great length to the Amherst lineup. The 6’ 5” guard, sitting two hundred pounds of lean muscle, was the top Amherst scorer. The numbers, especially the field goal percentage from two and three, standout. Riopel was an efficient scorer who made tough shots in his phenomenal Amherst career. The veteran guard had a solid handle, and didn’t have a huge turnover problem. His leadership ability on and off the court will be sorely missed.

Projected starting five:

Grant Robinson:

GP: 24

PTS/G: 9.4

FG %3: 6.2

3PT %: 33.7

FT %: 69.6

REB/G: 3.4

A/G: 3.4

Grant Robinson came onto the scene last season as a young guard who was poised to lead a championship contending team. Sound familiar Austin Hutcherson fans? It’s tough to compare Hutcherson and Robinson beyond that, though. Robinson stands about three inches shorter, which makes him less of a threat guarding bigger guys. Hutcherson is definitely a better fit in Wesleyan’s switch happy pick and roll defense because of this. Robinson, however, obviously isn’t a Wesleyan Cardinal. He plays in an Amherst system that was led by Riopel and McCarthy last year. Robinson put up stats that makes you think he could be one of the NESCAC’s next elite guards. Amherst will always be one of the top dogs in the conference, and Robinson will be one of the reasons why

Josh Chery:

GP: 21

PTS/G: 4.8

FG %: 37.5

3PT %: 30.0

FT %: 51.5

REB/G: 3.6

A/G: 0.9

I feel like the following statement is the antithesis to everything I believe in (and the teachings of Michael Lewis’s Moneyball): Josh Chery’s stats don’t tell the whole story. Allow me to elaborate. His points per game, mediocre assists, rebounds, and poor free throw percentage don’t make you think he would be an impact player on an Amherst team. He averaged only fourteen minutes a game last year. He isn’t one of those guys that will wow you with his shot, but he physical presence will scare a lot of scorers. Chery, at two hundred and fifteen pounds, can defend any position. He’s got the athleticism to stay with guards, and has the strength to compete with any big man. I’m interested to see how this plays out.

Fru Che

GP: 26
PTS/G: 8.2
FG %: 48.7
3PT %: 34.4
FT %: 36.4
REB/G: 3.9
A/G: 0.8

Che, a Brooks School product, is another athletic forward that will help Amherst defensively this season. As a side note, Brooks seemed to always defeat Rivers, my high school, in league championship games during my time at Rivers. There is still salt in the wound. Che is an efficient scorer, as seen by his numbers from last season. His free throw shooting was a liability. Late in games, without McCarthy and Riopel, Amherst needs to have confidence in guys who will step the the line and make big buckets. Let’s see if Che is up to the challenge.

Eric Sellew:

GP: 21

PTS/G: 8.5

FG %: 48.6

3PT %: 21.4

FT %: 73.3

REB/G: 5.9

A/G: 1.4

Standing at 6’ 7,” Sellew is one of the tallest guy in the starting lineup for Amherst. He’s a solid big man. He has the strength to go one on one with Wesleyan’s JR Bascom or Jordan James, a highly anticipated matchup that we’re sure to see this year. With a league and a game that has transitioned from a half court set to more of transition offense, I’m interested to see how Sellew will fit this. He’s a positive player for Amherst without a question, and has good footwork both up top and in the paint. If Amherst wins the league crown this year, it’s because Sellew became one of the best rebounders in the conference, averaging around nine to ten.

C Joe Schneider:

GP:26

PTS/G:6.5

FG %:52.1

3PT %-

FT %: 61.3

REB/G:5.2

A/G: 1.2

I’m a rower, so I’m used to being around guys in the six-five to six-eight range. Joe Schneider is a giant compared to most of my teammates. Standing at six-ten Schneider is one of the biggest guys in the entire league. This length not only affects shots and shot selection, but can disrupt entire offenses who rely on half court pick and roll sets. Schneider can definitely move his feet at his size, but anyone that size will have difficulty staying in front of elite athletes. Schneider is a proven commodity in the Amherst system; he knows how to play and win effectively. Those long arms and blocking ability instill fear in some guards, but I’m not entirely confident that he will be able to stay in front of the quickest. We shall see.

Everything else:

Schneider and the Mammoths have a lot to prove without McCarthy and Riopel.

There are teams, in any sport, that will put a quality product on the field or the court any year regardless of talent level. Coach David Hixon has been coaching the Amherst squad for forty-one years. He’s been a champion in more ways than one both in the league and on the national level. Is this one of the most talented Amherst teams to be assembled? No, not even lose I don’t think. They have talented players, yes, but I don’t believe they have a starting five that will wow you, or bench players that will make you think this is one of the great Amherst teams. Remember me saying, though, that Amherst will never be blown out. That’ll never happen. The program is too rich and seasoned to lose any game by double digits. Robinson will lead them, and they will be very solid. I personally can’t wait for the Amherst vs Wesleyan or Amherst vs Williams matchups this year. Those games are special to watch as a sports fan.

A conversation with Grant Robinson:

Andrew Martin: Which losses from the senior class last year will be felt the most, and what additions from this year’s freshman class will offset those losses?

Grant Robinson: Having lost Johnny McCarthy and Michael Riopel, we lose our two leading scorers from last year. Because of this, we need guys to step up and take initiative to score the ball more so than they may have last year. I think Will Phelan and Devonn Allen are two freshmen that can have an immediate impact for us this year and help offset our losses. They’ve already shown great improvement and ability early in the season.

AM: How will Amherst reclaim its spot as the best in the league?

GB: I think to reclaim our spot as #1 in the conference we have to continue to have a chip on our shoulder throughout the entire season. A lot of people don’t have high expectations from us this year, but as a team, we will use this to our advantage and push each other to prove that we can be even better than we were last year.

Williams College 2019 Basketball Season Preview

Williams College Ephs

2017-2018 Record: 23-6 (7-3 NESCAC), Won NESCAC Championship, Lost in NCAA Second Round

2018-2019 Projected Record: 22-2 Regular Season (9-1 NESCAC), Win NESCAC Championship, Lose in NCAA Final Four

Key Losses:

G Mike Greenman ’18 (7.9 PPG, 2.0 REB/G, 3.1 A/G)

Greenman was a big hustle guy for the Ephs throughout his career. He was banged up and bounced in and out of the starting lineup due to injury last season but ultimately ran the court with Bobby Casey and was a key part of the fast paced offense that Williams runs. He is replaceable but his leadership will certainly be missed this season.

G Cole Teal ’18 (7.8 PPG, 4.6 REB/G, 2.0 A/G)

Teal was a solid shooter from mid-range throughout his career and was a key part of Williams’ depth. His efficiency from beyond the arc should be a point that the Ephs can improve on as he barely eclipsed 25% last season. He played their ‘3’ position on the floor but was undersized and this year’s Williams team will likely we much tougher to defend.

Projected Starting Lineup:

G: Bobby Casey ‘19 (15.8 PPG, 3.5 REB/G, 2.1 AST/G, 42.9% 3-PT)

Casey is going to bring the ball up for the Ephs this season, much like he has done the past three seasons. He is the best shooter on the Eph team and should continue to drain threes all season long like he did 3.1 times per game last season. He is a scrappy guard with good ball handling skills and should see an increase in his assist numbers this year with all the big men surrounding him. He could actually see an uptick in the amount of threes he takes per game with no need to penetrate to the rim with Scadlock back in the lineup.

G/F: Henry Feinberg ‘20 (3.7 PPG, 2.4 REB/G, 41.6% FG)

Feinberg is a bit of a wildcard for the Ephs this season. He had a productive sophomore season starting when Greenman was out and coming off the bench as more of a defensive specialist for the rest of the season. He usually plays on the wings, but because of the size that Williams is likely to go with in their starting lineup, he will likely have more ball handling duties than he did in the past. He will be an oversized player at 6’5” compared to what most other NESCAC teams will put out on the court which gives the Ephs another advantage. He is a better outside and mid-range shooter than he is from around the rim and will compliment Heskett’s shooting ability well.

F: James Heskett ’19 (19.3 PPG, 3.7 REB/G, 1.6 A/G, 41.8% 3-PT)

The 2018 NESCAC POY and D3 All-American is back for more in his senior season. He is a mean, long sharp shooting machine with a skill set like Klay Thompson. He is nearly impossible to defend from the outside as no other shooters have his length at 6’8” and accuracy. He isn’t quite the defensive monster you would expect, but quite frankly, Williams really doesn’t need him to grab boards as they have two other more defensive oriented players on the floor at any given time. Look for him to have another incredible season.

F: Kyle Scadlock ’19 (18.0 PPG, 8.6 REB/G, 2.3 A/G, Missed 22 games due to injury)

The redshirt junior is back to prove that he is the real star of this team after missing almost all of last season with a torn ACL. Scadlock is undoubtedly the most athletic player on this Williams team and is the most exciting player to watch in nearly every contest. His length and athleticism are nearly unmatched among NESCAC opponents and his play around the rim and constant threat to dunk is difficult to defend. The 6’7” forward played in seven contests before going down with injury last season, averaging 18.0 PPG and 8.6 REB/G. He really looked like a candidate for player of the year before he got hurt and absolutely dominated in the playoffs when Williams made their run to the final four during his sophomore season. This lineup is starting to look scary now that he’s back in it.

C: Matt Karpowicz ’20 (9.0 PPG, 5.3 REB/G, 65.2% FG)

While Karp is the starter, Williams splits time between two big men most of the time. Michael Kempton ‘19 started most of the games here last year, but Karp has been starting so far in Williams’ first three games and has had better numbers per minutes played throughout his career. They bring in nearly a double-double combined per game and are some of the biggest bodies in the league. At 6’8” for Karp and 6’10” for Kempton, it will be tough to out rebound these guys. They are both well over 50% from the field and the Ephs will use that accuracy and their other outside shooting efficiency to dominate their opponents this season.

Everything Else

This is an intimidating roster to face. The Ephs are currently ranked #8 in the country, just ahead of Hamilton, but look to be nearly unstoppable on paper. Their average height in the starting lineup is over 6’6” which is undoubtedly the tallest in the NESCAC and probably one of the tallest in division III basketball. They are not just big though as several of their big time defenders can also play well offensively on the perimeter and as a result every range from inside the key to mid-range to beyond the arc is covered by a lethal shooter. They shouldn’t skip a beat with the departure of Greenman and Teal as Casey is fully capable of running the floor as he has been doing and simply dishing it out to the other guys down low or taking the deep shots himself.

I’d say that his team is undeniably the favorite to win the NESCAC, so the ball is in their court. Their most obvious competition is the Continentals who return all of their starters for the second year in a row and also have several athletic forwards. This team will really go over the edge talent wise if some of their younger guards can make an impact and rotate in to replace Feinberg when additional outside shooting is needed, potentially late in games. Spencer Spivy could be one of these guards to make an impact as he went 3-5 3-PT and 4-6 overall against MCLA on Tuesday. He’s also 6’5” so when he’s in their lineup really won’t shrink at all. Williams has won by an average of 42 points per game so far. Watch out, these guys know how to dance.

Middlebury Basketball 2019 Season Preview

Middlebury College Panthers

2017-2018 Record: 21-7 (7-3 NESCAC), Lost in NESCAC Quarterfinals, Lost in NCAA Sweet 16

2018-2019 Projected Record: 18-6 Regular Season (7-3 NESCAC), Lose in NESCAC Semifinals, Lose in NCAA Sweet 16

Key Losses:

G Matt Daly ’18 (15.8 PPG, 8.4 REB/G, 8.5 AST/G)

The Panthers will miss Daly and his hustle this season.

Anybody who knows Middlebury basketball knows how important Jack Daly was the to program. When he wasn’t making highlight reel passes to Matt St. Amour or making off and-1 layups look easy, he was leading this team on the court and running the floor even when he didn’t have the ball. He was a classic DIII player—he made the shots he needed to, had great ball handling skills and fundamentals, but didn’t do anything that jumped off the page other than dish out dimes. He didn’t shoot well from the perimeter, shooting just 23.5% from deep, and those replacing him, namely Joey Leighton, should see a big jump in production.

F/C Nick Tarentino ’18 (7.2 PPG, 6.8 REB/G)

Tarentino was one of three big men that occupied the ‘5’ spot on the court for Middlebury. The Panthers retain just one of those three, Eric McCord, who should see a big increase in minutes per game. These three big men also split time relatively evenly, but Tarentino started each game. His production was quieter than McCords at times, but he added great defensive help and second chance baskets around the rim.

F Adisa Majors ’18 (7.6 PPG, 5.0 REB/G)

Majors was the third part of the group of big men and was the best shooter of the group. He shot well from around the elbows and was ice cold on the court. He was never phased by pressure and was a key veteran presence that will be missed with this young Panther team.

Projected Starting Lineup:

G: Jack Farrell ‘21 (8.3 PPG, 3.0 REB/G, 1.6 AST/G, 36.4% 3-PT)

In his first year, Farrell took over a big role, replacing Jake Brown ’17. He performed well though and if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t have guessed he was a freshman. He plays a clean game and handles the ball well and should see a huge jump in assists this season after the departure of Daly ’18. He will bring the ball up court for the Panthers this season and should shoot in a similar way that Daly did, mostly scrapping to get to the rim and dishing it out to the better outside shooters—although he is more capable from deep than Daly was.

G: Griffin Kornaker ‘21 (3.3 PPG, 1.0 REB/G, 1.7 A/G, 43.4% FG)

This role will be split between Joey Leighton ’20 and Kornaker, although I see Kornaker starting most games due to his defensive ability. The two play very different styles of basketball and Kornaker isn’t much of a shooter. He, like Farrell should pass it out often on offense but is quick and competent from mid-range. I would imagine he and Farrell will lead the team in assists by a wide margin.

G: Hilal Dahleh ‘19 (7.9 PPG, 2.3 REB/G, 1.3 A/G, 42.6% 3-PT)

Daleh, a senior captain, is due for a breakout year. He was injured throughout his entire sophomore season and came back strong last year as a starter and put up solid numbers. Now, as a senior, after a healthy season behind him, he should be one of the elite shooters in the league from both mid-range and from beyond the arc. He is a smaller ‘3’ player at only 6’3” but moves well laterally and should be able to keep up on defense without issue. His 3-point efficiency was elite last year at over 40% and could only improve with more time on the court this season.

F: Matt Folger ’20 (13.7 PPG, 6.9 REB/G, 32.9% 3-PT)

Folger is the most important player on this Middlebury team. This is very much a win-by-committee roster that the Panthers have this season in that many players will shoot, pass, and rebound, not just the starting five like in the past few years. Folger, however, is their X-Factor. He is the most athletic player on the court, can jump well, dominate the rim, offensively and defensively, and can shoot on top of that. He could easily average over 18 PPG and push for a double-double in each contest. Fear him, NESCAC opponents.

C: Eric McCord ’19 (8.5 PPG PPG, 6.8 REB/G, 18.7 MIN/G)

McCord, like Daleh, should see a big uptick in his nightly averages this season. McCord has always performed well when on the court, threatening for a double-double in games where he plays far less than 20 minutes. One of the major keys for him this season is durability and discipline, as he will need to be on the floor more than in years past and often finds himself in injury and foul trouble. He is extremely physical on the court and could really dominate some of the other NESCAC big men with his 6’7” 250 lb frame.

Everything Else

Middlebury has a new era of guards who are going to start making their mark on the program in 2019. This is the first time since the 2014-2015 season that one of the big three (Matt St. Amour, Jake Brown, and Jack Daly) won’t be on the floor, and the Panthers have a lot of ground to make up here. Luckily for them they have an already experienced crop of sophomores in Jack Farrell, Griffin Kornaker, and Max Bosco who are all fully capable of running the floor. Those three, however, are not as good of shooters as some of the other guards in the league, and as a result, the Panthers are going to lean heavily on Joey Leighton for their sharp-shooting needs. Leighton was often brought in off the bench late in close games to drain threes and already started off hot, going 5-9 from deep in Midd’s opener against Vermont Tech. I’d guess that his efficiency from beyond the arc will spike to above 40% this year as he gets more consistent minutes in his junior season.

Folger and the Panthers are an athletic group.

Losing both Tarentino and Majors will really hurt the Panthers, not as much because of their playing ability which McCord could easily replace, but because of the depth and experience that each offered. McCord can’t handle the big man spot all by himself and will need a combination of youngsters to step up to cover the minutes when he is not on the court. Alex Sobel ’22 and Ryan Cahill ’21 look like the likely candidates to occupy the missing minutes as McCord probably won’t exceed 25 minutes on the court in any given night. McCord has exceeded 25 minutes on the court in just seven games in his 82 game career, reaching 30 minutes just once. His average over the past two seasons is just under 19 minutes per game, leaving a likely average of about 12-16 minutes per game this year that Cahill and Sobel will have to cover. Sobel and Cahill are both listed at 6’7” 210 lbs which suggests that they lack the physicality of McCord, fitting the mold of a player more like Tarentino ’18. Cahill played in just 11 games as a freshman and didn’t exactly shoot efficiently (18.8% FG). In order for Midd to compete for all 40 minutes in their difficult games, these two young big men will need to step up and improve around the rim and haul in boards while McCord isn’t on the floor.

Despite the graduation of Daly, Middlebury should still do what they always do—win basketball games. Coach Jeff Brown knows the NESCAC as well as any coach and he knows how to bring his team to the NCAA promise land, and this year should be no different for the #17 ranked Panthers according to D3 Hoops. It might take the Panthers a little while to find their groove, but they have enough veteran leadership and spark from deep into their bench that they should outlast most NESCAC opponents. Other than Folger, they don’t quite have the star power that they usually do, but expect them to have good fundamentals on the court and make few mistakes. They should have better outside shooting that last season and should play defense just as well. If they young guards can pass anywhere near as well as Daly, they’ll be tough to defend as they have shooters in each different part of the floor on offense. I don’t think they’ll have such an easy time in NESCAC regular season play as they have the past two seasons (15-5 from 2017-2018), but they could easily make a long run in the playoffs.

The Hardware That Really Matters: 2018 NESCAC Football Awards

Chipouras had a legendary career and leaves a void for the NESCAC to fill.

With the 2018 NESCAC football season officially in the rearview, all that is left to be settled are the awards. This year seemed to lack the typical depth of transcendent performers and producers, but there are still some things to straighten out. Who’s taking home some additional hardware at the end of the season?

Coach of the Year: Jeff Devanney, Trinity

Under normal circumstances, giving the Coach of the Year award to the man who just led his team to their third straight league title with a historically great team would be pretty boring. But it wasn’t just that Coach Devanney cemented the three-peat, but how he did it that wins him this award. With QB Sonny Puzzo ’18 lost to graduation, the Bantams turned to transfer QB Jordan Vazzano ’21 to take the reins. Vazzano did just that, throwing for 1326 yards and 12 touchdowns in 5 games, leading Trin to a 4-1 and start. But his 43.8% completion percentage and some additional glaring holes that Williams exposed in their one loss left more to be desired, and a change was made in favor of QB Seamus Lambert ’22. Lambert exploded as the starter, leading the offense to 48 points in each of his first 2 starts, and leading them to a 27-16 win over Amherst in the de facto Week 8 championship game, and then marching into Middletown to clinch the league on the last day against Wesleyan. It takes a lot of guts to pull off a move like that, but it certainly worked for Coach Devanney.

Honorable Mention: Jay Civetti, Tufts

Rookie of the Year: QB Seamus Lambert, Trinity

Player A: 52-76, 68.4% CP, 184.3 YPG, 9 TDs, 1 INT, 4-0 record

Player B: 141-233, 60.5% CP, 149.1 YPG, 7 TDs, 5 INTs, 3-6 record

Which of these stat lines would you choose for your rookie of the year winner? Player A is Seamus Lambert, and Player B is Colby QB Matt Hersch, the two front runners for this award. Don’t get me wrong, Hersch’s play and Colby’s 3 wins—including a CBB title—is one of the feel-good stories of the year. The Mules have an answer at QB for the foreseeable future for the first time in a while and the future is looking bright, but when it comes to performance this award belongs to Lambert, whose breakout second half of the season we just covered. Lambert outproduced Hersch and led his team to a league championship, the only thing he didn’t do was play 9 games. If he played 9 games, we’d be talking about Lambert as Offensive Rookie of the Year, not just Rookie of the Year. Hersch might get the sentimental vote from the league but I’m giving it to Lambert.

Honorable Mention: QB Matt Hersch, Colby

Defensive Player of the Year: LB/DE Andrew Yamin ’19, Amherst

Yamin takes this award for the second year in a row, the best player on the best or second-best defense in the league. Despite not being able to reach his earth-shattering junior year numbers of 13.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss, Yamin again led the league in sacks with 9.5, and was second in the league behind Wesleyan DL Taj Gooden ’21 (17.5) with 17 tackles for loss, sharing the lead with Gooden of 82 yards lost. While it obviously seems like a letdown year for Yamin, if you subtract the 5.5 sacks he had in Week 6 against Wesleyan in 2017, his week by week production was pretty much the same. His consistency every Saturday was staggering and it’s a shame neither of these seasons resulted in a ring for Yamin—but he’ll end his career as a back to back DPOY.

So many on this Amherst defense deserve recognition, but Yamin was just that much better than the rest.

Honorable Mention: DL Taj Gooden ’21, Wesleyan—9 Sacks, 35 Tackles, 17.5 TFL

Offensive Player of the Year: RB Max Chipouras ’19, Trinity

This race, of the four, is the closest in my opinion. As I wrote about earlier in the season, the quarterback play in the league was really down this year. Last season, 6 quarterbacks threw for more than 200 yards a game—this season, it was one. Last year, 4 quarterbacks threw 15 or more TDs—this season, it was one. And both of those individual stats from this season belong to Tufts QB Ryan McDonald ’19, who was outstanding all year for the 7-2 Jumbos. He was head and the shoulders the best passer all year (sorry Seamus Lambert), and that’s before you factor in the 50 rushing yards per game and 9 rushing touchdowns he added with his feet. But I’m going with Max Chipouras, who you could argue wasn’t even the best offensive player on his team alongside Lambert and WRs Jonathan Girard (1005 yards, 8 TDs) and Koby Schofer (763 yards, 11 TDs). Chipouras rushed for 1143 yards and 11 scores, both league highs. Of those 1143 yards, 203 of them came in an all-time great performance against Amherst in Week 8 to decide the NESCAC, including a 70-yard touchdown run that will live in Bantam lore forever to put the game away. And all of those numbers could’ve been even higher if Trinity wasn’t blowing everyone out so badly that they pulled the starters so early—look no further for proof than RB Spencer Lockwood ‘22’s 425 yards (7^th in the league in YPG) and 5 TDs in relief. Chipouras had a historic career, and this award is as much for all 4 years as is it is for this one. But this one was pretty darn good.

Honorable Mention: QB Ryan McDonald ’19, 1811 Passing Yards, 26 Total TDs

Can’t Stay Young Forever: Bates Men’s Basketball Season Preview

Bates College Bobcats

2017-2018 Record: 12-12 (4-6 NESCAC), didn’t make NESCAC Tournament

2018-2019 Projected Record: 15-9 (5-5 NESCAC)

Key Losses: None

Projected Starting Lineup:

G: Nick Gilpin ’20 (6.1PPG, 3.8REB/G, 2.8AST/G)

In his freshman season, Gilpin benefitted from having a pair of giants down low that took some of the pressure and attention away from him as the primary point guard. Last year he was tasked with quarterbacking an offense that really hadn’t found its identity for much of the season and he did a decent job, finishing with a very similar stat line to his rookie campaign. This season he’s really going to have to step up as one of the veteran ball-handlers on the team. He has never shot a particularly high percentage from he field, but his 90.2% clip from the free throw line last season indicates that there is potential there, so the Bobcats will look for Gilpin to expand his range and become a bit more of a scorer to keep them in games. This shouldn’t be too much of a challenge because of his sneaky athleticism and quick first step, so look for Gilpin’s scoring output to increase in 2018-2019.

G: Jeff Spellman ’20 (14.8PPG, 3.8REB/G, 43.4% FG)

There’s no doubt that Spellman is one of the best shot-creators in the conference and he has the quickness to get past almost anyone on the perimeter. The problem was Bates relied a little too heavily on his scoring prowess last year, because too many possessions ended with him in isolation having to force a shot. He’s definitely a stud athlete, but not so much that the Bobcats can abandon their offense and allow him to play hero ball all the time. He’ll benefit tremendously from having additional scoring threats around the outside to take some of the attention off of him because more often than not he’ll be guarded by the opposing team’s best perimeter defender. In order for Bates to improve their offense Spellman will need to stay within the system and take scoring opportunities as they appear, while sharing the ball and potentially even seeing an increase in his assist numbers. If he can remind teams that he isn’t the only option on this roster then he’ll start to get much higher-percentage chances to do the scoring himself, and in turn the offense as a whole will improve.

G: Tom Coyne ’20 (11.5PPG, 3.7REB/G)

Junior year is going to be a big one for the team’s second leader scorer from last season. Coyne averaged 11.5 points per game, but only shot 37% from the field while going 31.9% from beyond the arc. He got good looks and is very able to create his own opportunities to score, but the shots simply weren’t falling last year. The Bobcats need him to execute a higher percentage of his chances to increase their scoring output this year. The good news is, I think he will. Coyne has a terrific jump shot and benefitted greatly from seeing additional minutes in his sophomore season. If he can do this successfully, he’ll help draw some attention and open up lanes for other guys. His keen passing ability and court vision should allow him to see an increase in assist numbers as well. One question is whether Coyne will be able to defend larger guys because in this current starting lineup they only have one player over 6’4.” Being that Coyne is only 6 feet, he’ll often be matched up with a bigger guy so it’ll be important that he can slow opponents down and keep them off the glass despite the height disparity.

G/F: James Mortimer ’21 (5.7PPG, 2.3REB/G)

Mortimer is going to be a big X-factor this year. At 6’4” he’s one of the bigger players in the lineup so he’s going to have to hit the glass and pull in more than the 2.3 rebounds per game he was grabbing in his rookie season. He’s a capable scorer so the points will come, and he’ll likely put up more than 5.7 given that he’s going to see a large increase in minutes this year (he was only getting 17 minutes per game in 2017-2018). The place where the Bobcats will need Mortimer the most is on defense. Like I mentioned for Tom Coyne, the Bates lineup is usually on the small side so he’ll spend a decent amount of time guarding guys who are 2 to 3 inches taller than him. Defending the 4 will require a tremendous amount of toughness, so it’ll be a huge test for Morty now that the expectations are a bit higher in year two.

C: Nick Lynch ’19 (8.5PPG, 8.1REB/G, 45.8% FG)

Nick Lynch is the only guy in the starting lineup whose focus isn’t primarily on the offensive end. Lynch has size and experience, a rare combination for this Bates squad. He does an outstanding job guarding every team’s biggest player and he shoots an efficient percentage from the field. I guess you could call him the Al Horford of the team. He does a great job on the boards and in the word on the street is that he’s looking as springy as he did before he went down with an injury during his sophomore year. With his combination of size and athleticism, he has the potential to play at the same level as some of the elite bigs in the NESCAC. With the addition of Kenny Aruwajoye ’22, the Bobcats also have another big who can matchup with guys the size of Lynch, so it’ll be interesting to see how the two big men mesh during their one season together.

Everything Else

As you can tell from reading the player previews, the Bobcats need to get better on offense. In 2017-2018 they finished last in the NESCAC in field goal percentage (39.3%) and second worst in 3-point shooting percentage (32.4%). Frankly, those numbers need to be better. If they want to be able to keep up with offenses like Hamilton and Middlebury then they need to be scoring more points. The starters will be asked to step up, and fortunately they have a weapon in sharpshooter Max Hummel ’19 who finished second in the conference with a 45.9% mark from 3-point range. They also have versatile guard Kody Greenhalgh ’20 who will bring a super athletic spark off the bench in a similar role he had last year. They have the personnel to run a higher scoring offense; the question is whether or not guys will step up to take on more of the burden.

Kody Greenhalgh ’20 has a chance to be a force off the bench

Losing the Delpeche twins last season led to a completely new defensive strategy given that the Bobcats no longer had two monsters in the paint waiting to swat away anything in the vicinity. They had to go with much smaller lineups and these lineups were effective at times, seeing that they forced the third most turnovers per game as a team in 2017-2018. The issue was that Bates was allowing opponents to shoot at a 44.5% rate from the field, the highest in the NESCAC. On-ball defense is going to be a key area of focus this year because it’s often as simple as getting a hand in the face of a shooter to challenge and potentially change their shot. Brandon Galloway ’19 is going to be a huge part of this equation because he has the quickness and athleticism to defend some of the league’s best players. I don’t have a stat to prove it, but I’m pretty sure that Galloway was the league leader in charges taken last season, so he’ll look to continue this type of production on the defensive end since he’ll usually be matched up with the other team’s best player.

Nick Lynch ’19 will be asked to anchor the Bobcats down low

Likely the biggest challenge that the Bobcats were faced with after the graduation of the Delpeches was size. Last season they finished last in the conference in blocks and rebounds, while allowing the most rebounds to opponents of anyone. Nick Lynch was the only guy over 6’4” who saw legit time and the two guys who were exactly 6’4” in the rotation (Mortimer and Hummel) never got very extended minutes. They’re going to ask much more of Sunny Piplani ’21 who played sparingly in his freshman campaign. At 6’8,” Piplani has the size to be a difference maker in the paint, but he’s also very able to step back and knock down shots from deep with his soft shooting touch. Recognizing that height was an issue, Coach Furbush went out and recruited guys to bring some size to the lineup. First years Kenny Aruwajoye ’22 and Andrew Snoddy ’22 will definitely see minutes right away purely because of their sheer size. Aruwajoye stands at 6’8” and 220lbs, and he brings a high IQ to the post. His skill set is still a bit of a work in progress, but he has a very solid foundation to build upon. Snoddy is a 6’6” wing who will provide some much needed size and athleticism to a lineup that has lacked a true wing in recent years.

It was long overdue, but Bates finally renovated the floor in famed Alumni Gym

It looks to be a very promising year in Lewiston as the Bobcats return the bulk of their lineup and have added some pieces in areas where they needed it. Fortunately for the fans (and unfortunately for opponents), the conference schedule is much more favorable than it was last season when they were forced to play a number of games at home despite the students being on winter vacation. During the month of January, Bates will play host to Middlebury, Williams, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Conn College in consecutive games. They have a chance to really do damage (go Red Sox) during this stretch, especially given that they finished last season with the highest team free-throw percentage in the conference (77.1%) and had the second fewest turnovers per game (11.7). Combine these numbers with a raucous crowd sitting just inches away from the court and you have a recipe for winning close games. No matter who you are you can never take a visit to Alumni Gym lightly, and you can count on the Bobcat faithful to pack the house each and every time a conference foe comes to town. Watch out NESCAC, it looks like it could be the year of the Bobcat.