If I told you that Urban Meyer has the second highest winning percentage of any active college football coach that has coached 10+ years, who would you think has the highest? Probably Nick Saban, right? Actually, the answer is Jeff Devanney of Trinity College. When most people think of college football powerhouses they think of Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson. I think of Trinity, Amherst, and Middlebury. The real college football is finally back and it’s shaping up to be an exciting year with more teams in contention than usual. The NESCAC has been very stratified in recent years, but we anticipate that there will start a bit more parity this season as the weaker teams are beginning to make some changes, and the top teams have lost some of their stars. It’s year two of the ninth game, so now teams should be adjusting to the shorter preseason since they’ve had a chance to experiment once already. Let’s see how the matchups look for Week 1 of the new season:
Williams @ Bowdoin, Brunswick, ME
Bobby Maimaron will look to pick up right where he left off last season (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)
Two years ago, these teams both finished 0-8, leaving a sour taste in their mouths as they looked to get back on track the following season. Williams was able to do more than just get back on track, as they surprised everyone with a 6-3 finish. Unfortunately, Bowdoin was unable to right the ship as they struggled even more, finishing 0-9. The Ephs feature a pair of star sophomores in QB Bobby Maimaron ’21 and WR Frank Stola ’21 who broke into the NESCAC scene with huge freshman seasons. They’ll be asked to carry a strong offense with very high expectations after such a successful 2017 campaign. The big question for the Polar Bears will be who is going to start at quarterback since they return both QB’s from last year’s team and welcome Lafayette transfer Austin McCrum. Aside from that there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of change for a team that really needs it. Even with the addition at quarterback, I don’t see this being the week that things start to turn around in Brunswick.
Prediction: Williams 31, Bowdoin 14
Middlebury @ Wesleyan, Middletown, CT
As far as Week 1 matchups go, this is as big as it gets. Our game of the week features perennial title contenders Middlebury and Wesleyan as they’ll go to battle again this year right out of the gates. Wesleyan returns star quarterback Mark Piccirillo ’19 who led the league in passing last year in just about every category, but they lose their top receiving threat in Mike Breuler ’18 (who led the league in receiving in just about every category) as well as 4 of their top 5 receivers. It’ll be interesting to see how Piccirillo fares, as he has to make relationships with an entirely new group of receivers. On the other hand, Middlebury lost their star quarterback Jared Lebowitz ’18, but return the entirety of their very strong receiving corps, headlined by Conrado Banky ’19, Jimmy Martinez ’19, and Frank Cosolito ’20. They’ll have to make it easy on first-time starter Jack Meservy ’19, who was able to put up some impressive numbers last season playing behind Lebowitz. It’ll be tough to start against a defense as strong as Wesleyan, but I think Meservy is up for the challenge. The Panthers’ strong team rapport tips the balance because I think it’ll take the Cardinals a week or two to find their identity this season.
Prediction: Middlebury 31, Wesleyan 28
Tufts @ Hamilton, Clinton, NY
These teams each feature very talented – albeit inconsistent – quarterbacks who are in position to have big seasons. Both teams have the capability to compete with anyone, but haven’t been able to string together consecutive strong performances. Maybe it’s because I just wrote the team preview for the Continentals, but I really like their defense. Tyler Hudson ’19 is one of the best defensive players in the league, and he leads a unit that now has a few years of experience together. This is their year to prove that they belong, and it starts against a quarterback in Ryan McDonald ’19 who is notoriously turnover-prone. Losing to the same team twice in a row isn’t fun – especially when it’s in overtime. Hamilton isn’t going to let that happen again. I’m ready to hop on their bandwagon.
Prediction: Hamilton 28, Tufts 24
Amherst @ Bates, Lewiston, ME
We’ll have to wait and see if Brendan Costa is ready to make the transition from a run-first to a pass-first offense (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)
Bates is experiencing more change than any team from 2017 to 2018 as they hired a new coach who put in a new offense. This is very promising for a team that underachieved last season, has an up and coming quarterback in Brendan Costa ’21, and a wide receiver who has a chance to make an immediate impact in Derek Marino ’22. Unfortunately, they start the 2018 campaign against one of the league’s best. Amherst has won 3 of the last 5 NESCAC championships and look like the favorites again this season. Andrew Yamin ’19 could very well be the defensive player of the year and he leads the league’s top defense against a team who will be playing their first game with a new offensive scheme. The Mammoths also return their top offensive threats in tailback Jack Hickey ’19 and wide receiver James O’Regan ’20 who will help walk game manager Ollie Eberth ’20 through the full 60 minutes. The Bobcats have potential and their massive system changes will be beneficial in the long run, but they won’t be ready this early to take on an opponent as strong as Amherst.
Prediction: Amherst 33, Bates 13
Trinity @ Colby, Waterville, ME
We don’t know who will be under center for Trinity tomorrow (probably Jordan Vazzano ’21), but it doesn’t really matter. Whoever it is, they’ll be able to either hand it to Max Chipouras ’19 who will probably find his way into the end zone or throw it to Koby Schofer ’20 or Jonathan Girard ’21 who will likely find their way into the end zone, too. Colby made the right move in getting Jack Cosgrove to be their next head coach, but it’s almost not fair that his first game is against Trinity. The Mules have nowhere near the amount of talent as the Bantams, but it’ll be important to see that they’re making strides in the right direction for when they face a more formidable opponent. I’d like to see Bernie Sander ’21 catch a few passes, as he’s one of the most promising receivers on the Colby roster. Plus I’m going to love referring to him as “The Senator.” This one is going to be a blowout, but at least there will be nowhere to go but up.
QB Kenny Gray ’20 looks to breakout after a solid 2017 campaign.
Is This the Year?: Hamilton Football Preview 2018
2017 Record: 3-6
Projected Record: 4-5
Projected Offensive Starters (*7 returning)
QB – Kenny Gray ’20*
RB – Mitch Bierman ’21
WR – Christian Donahoe ’20
WR – Joe Schmidt ’20*
TE – Trevor Pinkham ’19*
LT – Sam Palomaki ’20*
LG – Stephen Kelley ’19*
C – Micah Balogh ’19*
RG – AJ Rattee ’21
RT – AJ Cantarella ’20*
Projected Defensive Starters (*8 returning)
DB – Colby Jones ’19*
DB – Bryce Phillips ’20
DB – Justin Leigh ’20*
LB – Tyler Hudson ’19*
LB – Cole Burchill ’19*
LB – Tim Russell ’21
LB – Sean Tolton ’19*
DL – Alex Ganter ’20*
DL – Michael Friedman ’19*
DL – Jeff Martinez ’20
DL – Will Rothschild ’19*
Projected Specialists (*3 returning)
K – Joe Suski ’21
P – Billy Wagner ’20*
KR/PR – Joe Schmidt ‘20*/Sam Robinson ’20*
Offensive MVP: Wide Receiver Joe Schmidt ’20
(Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics)
The 2017 First Team All-NESCAC selection is back for more. This kid is an absolute stud receiver, finishing his second season 3rdin the NESCAC in receptions (55), 2ndin receiving yards (811), and tied for the league lead in touchdowns with 10. He also is capable of having a huge game, as he showed in Week 1 last year against Tufts, when he caught 8 passes for 214 yards and 4 touchdowns. 4 touchdowns! Now that Wesleyan’s Mike Breuler ’18 is out of the picture, Schmidt officially becomes the conference’s top receiver. With budding star Kenny Gray throwing to him, he’s in a fantastic position to duplicate (or even top) his outstanding 2017 performance. Schmidt is an absolute nightmare for opposing secondaries.
Defensive MVP: Linebacker Tyler Hudson ’19
(Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics)
Hamilton boasts one of the best linebacker groups in the NESCAC, and Hudson is right at the front of that group. He has earned First Team All-NESCAC accolades in each of the past two seasons, leading the league in solo tackles (2ndin total tackles) last year. The converted defensive end is one of the best true athletes you’ll find at this level and at times it feels like you can’t run a play without him getting involved. I’d like to see his sack numbers improve a bit, but there really isn’t much this guy can’t do. The Continental defensive unit is a force to be reckoned with and Tyler Hudson is the face of that unit.
Biggest Game: September 15thvs. Tufts
While it might be just the first game of the season, it’s a big one. The last two meetings between these two teams have ended in overtime victories for the Jumbos. Hamilton has been just one possession away from victory each time but has come up empty as Tufts has proven that they can win these close games. With the amount of returning stars in Hamilton’s lineup, I think this could be the year that the Continentals make a leap into the upper echelon of the conference. It all starts Week 1 when the Jumbos roll into town and this Continental team comes to play with a chip on their shoulder.
As a non-football player I have to say that catching a punt doesn’t look particularly difficult. However, it clearly is, evidenced by how many muffed punts there are by people whose job it is to catch punts. I know how good it feels to get out of conditioning at the end of practice, so this definitely hits home a bit. This right here is what a team looks like, so let’s see if they bring this type of intensity every Saturday this year.
Everything Else:
Hamilton always seems to find themself in a weird place. They’ve been pretty consistently better than the CBB schools but worse than everyone else in recent years. There wasn’t a whole lot of turnover in their starting lineup on both sides of the ball, and they’ve got some true stars in their lineup who are ready to lead. Kenny Gray ’20 continues to get better and I think he has a chance to be in the same conversation as elite NESCAC quarterbacks such as Mark Picirillo from Wesleyan and Ryan MacDonald from Tufts. A difference maker in this lineup is going to be running back Mitch Bierman ’21 who split carries in the backfield during his rookie season. He proved to be a monstrous red zone threat, as he still finished 6thin the conference with 6 touchdowns. If he can adjust to a larger workload, this will provide a much-needed rushing attack to complement the powerful arm of Kenny Gray.
Mitch Bierman ’21 is going to be the x-factor for this offense.
Their defense has players who have proven that they belong among the NESCAC’s best, but they haven’t quite been able to put it together as an entire unit. Guys like Cole Burchill ’19, Colby Jones ’19, and Alex Ganter ’20 are going to have to step up more than they have in the past, as they now have several years of experience under their belts. There isn’t really a whole lot to say about the Continentals other than they need to be better against the leagues tougher opponents. Wins over Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby have become commonplace for them at this point, so their season will be defined by how they fare against teams like Middlebury and Tufts, against whom they have come up just short over the past few years. Kenny Gray and co. have a chance to make some noise, so we’ll see if they’re ready to finally change the way things have gone recently.
After it was all said and done, Amherst showed everyone why you can’t count them out. Facing elimination against Middlebury, Amherst won some close ballgames to survive and advance, combining clutch pitching and hitting all the way to a NESCAC title. As the Harry Roberson and Max Steinhorn era comes to a close at Amherst, it was nice from a personal perspective that these guys won it all. With those guys leaving, however, it is tough to think that Amherst will be in the same position next year. While coaches Brian Hamm and John Casey will never put out a losing team onto the field, a product of superior coaching, recruiting, and pedigree, they have a tough task to replace their best hitters. Casey arguably has a harder task, needing to replace the meat of his lineup, but will likely have some hot shot recruits coming in to fill that void. As these guys graduate and move on to the real world, teams filled with underclassmen will start to rise. Middlebury, and Wesleyan of the west division were filled with strong underclassmen, while Trinity looks to be the most promising out of the East.
1). Wesleyan:
With sometimes inconsistent hitting, Wesleyan’s NESCAC success will rely on the control and success of their pitching staff.
Wesleyan had to play a perfect game against Tufts to stay alive in the tournament and they revealed some weaknesses in their pitching staff as a result. Despite some stellar offensive numbers (.298 team AVG), the Cards struggled against quality pitching down the stretch. At times they looked overmatched in the NESCAC tournament, seeing their true advantage of starting pitching fail to execute when it counted. Mike McCaffrey and Kelvin Sosa, two of the most talented pitchers in the league, went 5.1 innings, allowing 11 runs and 13 BBs in the NESCAC tournament, leading to an early exit. They have the offensive depth and starting pitching to go a long way, but they need to compete better in big games and show that their bullpen can keep the score close if their starters don’t got deep into outings. The Cards are young, though and just might have the talent to go all the way. Alex Capitelli, Danny Rose, Kelvin Sosa, and Mike McCaffrey are just a few of the names the Cardinals are returning.
2). Middlebury:
Colin Waters is a wild card for 2019, putting up solid numbers as a sophomore and coming on only at the end of this year. Not playing football could turn him into one of NESCAC’s best arms.
Middlebury came close to making the playoffs, but a weak start to the season made any road to the postseason a long shot if not impossible. Getting swept by Wesleyan in one of the early serieses gave Midd absolutely no momentum and a 2-4 record at the halfway point. The squad stopped underachieving around three-quarters into the year, but by then, it was too late. They were hampered all year by injuries too as highly touted recruit Michael Farinelli and starting pitcher Spencer Shores both went down with Tommy John surgery after the preseason. Shores, a hard throwing righty with jerky mechanics and a wipeout slider, saw tons of success at the beginning of 2017 and if he can get healthy, the Panthers should have a formidable pitching staff. Anchoring that pitching staff is Colby Morris, one of the NESCAC’s top arms and Colin Waters who really came on at the end of the year, dominating Union in a 5-3 victory and shutting down Amherst in relief. 1B Kevin Woodring (1st Team All-NESCAC Nose Tackle for the football team) went down with a knee injury against Williams and did not return the rest of the way, and has the potential to lead the league in HR. They also have the NESCAC defensive POY, Brooks Carroll at SS, First-Team All-NESCAC 2B Justin Han, and a breakout hitter in Hayden Smith. The ceiling is high for this team, but as always the question will be: Will they put it all together?
3). Trinity:
Trinity has solid starting pitching and their offensive is anchored by the powerful Koperniak.
Trinity must be kicking themselves after such a heartbreaking change of events at the end of the regular season. The Bantams started off the season so strong, winning the series against Tufts and Bowdoin and sweeping Colby, setting themselves up for an early playoff clinch with a 7-2 record. With Tufts underachieving, Bates not hitting, and the rest of the east not playing well all together, it seemed like a playoff spot for Trin was locked up. Losing three tight games in a row to Bates, however, killed the Bantams season. The potential returns, though: no weekend starter for Trin was a senior, so they’ll be back. Alex Shafer dominated all year and is in the conversation for pitcher of the year, Erik Mohl had a down year but could return to his All-NESCAC form. C Alex Rodriguez needs to step up though, seeing his stellar freshman numbers collapse in his sophomore campaign. Hopefully a second stint in the NECBL will help him find that talent once again. Matt Koperniak broke out and garnered both All-NESCAC and All-Region honors and will be their on field leader in 2019. With their new field, good coaching, and likely some talented recruits coming in, the Bantams will be an exciting team to watch come next spring.
4). Tufts:
Tufts didn’t surprise anybody by winning the East division regular season title, proving our preseason rankings correct. Although they made it to the tournament, they lacked pitching dominance like they have enjoyed in their previous eras, seeing their #2 and #3 starters combine for a paltry 4.05 K/9. Despite sub-3.00 ERAs from both of these players, Brent Greeley and Spencer Langdon, their strikeout numbers reveal that they can’t generate swings and misses and rely on good defense and a bad BABIP (batting average on balls in play) from opponents. Well, it might not get much better, as their corner infielders Tommy O’Hara and Nick Falkson graduated. Their seniors represented a 4x First Team All-NESCAC honoree in 3B Tommy O’Hara, the 2018 NESCAC POY Malcolm Nachmanoff, and the 2017 NESCAC POY Nick Falkson which is tough for even the legendary coach John Casey to replace. RJ Hall will lead the staff to a number of wins, but they might not have the offense to dominate like they usually do. One thing to count on is that they will lead the league in hit by pitches by about 50.
5). Williams:
Williams had a tough season without their ace Johnny Lamont. He’s an elite pitcher, although even he wouldn’t have been able to solve all of the Ephs’ pitching problems. Williams simply lacked ‘stuff’ on the mound this year and their offense wasn’t deep enough to make up for it. Kyle Dean will likely move back to the bullpen next year where he saw success as a freshman, and Lamont should help balance out the staff. Jack Bohen will need to be more consistent for his team to have a chance to win NESCAC weekend games. Kellen Hatheway and Jack Roberts had talent sure enough, but got off to slow starts and never got back to the All-NESCAC level that they were at in the past. Hatheway will surely figure it out (unless he gets an internship this summer) and is still an elite DIII defender, with arguably the most range in the conference. Losing is never fun, and the Ephs’ playoff drought is getting longer and longer, so they will assuredly come back next year with a new sense of energy especially with their ace returning.
6). Amherst:
Nick Nardone is one of the lone powerful bats remaining in Amherst’s lineup.
What a run it was for the Amherst Mammoths. They won 5 straight to head to the New York Regional, and while they exited after a quick 0-2 performance, they lost both games by one run, competing and showing that they deserved to be there. Ultimately their offensive depth was an issue as Max Steinhorn, Ariel Kenney, and Harry Roberson were far more dangerous than their other hitters, but they had the best all around team in the conference. Their pitching, both starting and relief, performed when they needed it to, and some unlikely offensive heroes stepped up in big spots. Bolstering the lineup in 2019 will be first year standout Joseph Palmo, whose wide batting stance is surprisingly balance and consistent, offering a contact heavy and line drive approach. He, along with Severino Simeone and Nick Nardone, should lead the Mammoth team who desperately needs to retool after losing some of their program’s all time best players. Andrew Ferrero finally pitched up to his potential too, and with Zach and Davis Brown, they could easily keep most of their NESCAC opponents at bay to compete for another title.
7). Bates:
Bates, underwhelming in most statistical categories, somehow got into the playoffs again. I don’t know what’s in the water up in Lewiston, but once you make the playoffs, nobody could care less about your stats. What it came down to was doing what Middlebury couldn’t–winning with their season on the line and coming from behind to take tight ballgames. A .237 team average is one of the worst in the ‘Cac, but the Bobcats beat out other teams with better team averages to see their season continue. What was especially huge was how they saw a future ace emerge as Nolan Collins threw the ball extremely well in tight spots. The sophomore posted a 2.75 ERA, and was the go to pitcher for Bobcats in must win games, knocking off Tufts in their final series to clinch a trip to Hartford. No hitter posted above a .267 average with most hitters barely hitting their weight though and that is a recurring issue. It will be tough for the Bobcats to get in again with that hitting, but Zach Avila was a breakout player who could see continued success in the NESCAC along with second year starting catcher and All-NESCAC honoree Jack Arend. I counted them out before, so it’s hard to predict what they’ll do next year. All I have to say is it ain’t over until all 12 games are played.
8). Bowdoin:
Bowdoin either needs to have a stellar recruiting class coming in or Lopez needs to be the ace that the Polar Bears were missing in 2018.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears’ end of year record was solid at 7-5, but they lost out on a playoff bid in tiebreaking fashion to Bates. I’m sure that they want to get revenge on Bates for making the playoffs two years in a row, seeing their season end exceptionally early. Like in the west, Bowdoin has a lot of young guys in All-NESCAC honoree Eric Mah and Connor Lee who led the team in hitting. Those two will put up another good year at the plate in 2019, as the team will be bolstered by all around athlete Brandon Lopez. Lopez started off the season terribly and looked as if his velocity dropped from previous years, but turned it around back to back gems against Colby (not a huge confidence booster) and Southern Maine. The game against Southern Maine really gives the Polar Bears some momentum moving forward as the ranked Huskies dominated all the other NESCAC teams they played (Bates, Colby, Amherst). Brett Osterholtz and Colby Lewis will need to step up to make the starting staff more formidable, but if they do, look for Bowdoin to compete for a playoff bid again next year.
9). Hamilton:
Hamilton Baseball’s 2021 class showed a lot of potential, leading to an exciting offseason for the young program.
Hamilton, as usual, is competitive at times with the league’s best but also finds a way to come up short. The West division is no cake walk with perennial winners Wesleyan and Amherst, but Hamilton showed to both teams that they should be respected. They won the series against Wesleyan and took one game from Amherst after losing the first two in heartbreaking fashion. The team is young, and didn’t return too many starters, putting out a product much better than most expected. Matt Zaffino raked all year, garnering the NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors—ending the season with a .359 average. If they can figure it out in close games, Hamilton could potentially make the playoffs next year. They need to keep games close to give the ball to their lights out closer Ian Nish, and have to improve on their defense and offensive execution.
10). Colby
Colby had a tough year and there’s no way around that with a 1-11 NESCAC season. It doesn’t look like it’ll get much better next year either. The Mules’ best hitter and my former classmate Matt Treveloni is graduating (congrats, Trev), and the east is far more variable than the West. Tufts is always a good team, however they didn’t dominate like they have in the past few years and aren’t likely to improve without their three best hitters. The other teams in the East–Bates, Bowdoin, and Trinity are likely to improve though, and the Mules will have a tough task ahead of them without any cake-walk serieses. If pitchers throw strikes for the Mules next year (and they find a new starting pitching staff or it Taimu Ito returns to this 2017 form), they could be 4-8 in conference, but to be better, they’ll need to find some more offense.
It was a great year. Teams that seem to always get the job done, Amherst and Tufts, made it to the finals and two great coached teams playing each other is every baseball fan’s dream. In the end, Amherst proved to everyone why the game always requires twenty-seven outs, cranking out stellar performances in must win games like it was easy. The highlight of the regular season was the way that the East division came down to a three team tiebreaker, showing that no matter how many games are played, everything still seems to come down to the wire. Thank you to all the players and coaches that make the season so enjoyable! See you next spring.
While the baseball season might be over, the awards season is just beginning. Not to be too self promoting here, but our awards are certainly less biased than the real NESCAC awards and should be taken more seriously. As it goes with the MLB awards, they are based on regular season results, not the postseason, and categorized based on league. Here’s to the best ballplayers in the ‘CAC…
West Player of the Year:
Ariel Kenney had a stand out season to finish off a great career.
OF Ariel Kenney ‘18 (Amherst) Chula Vista, CA: Kenney put a monster season this year en route to Amherst clinching of the #1 seed in the NESCAC West. Coming in at 3rd in the conference with his .383 AVG and 5th with his 4 big flys, Kenney was the heart of an Amherst offense that put up the 2nd most runs in the league. A few of Kenney’s impressive performances this season include a game versus Eastern Connecticut St. in which he went 4-5 with a homerun and a 2-2 stint with 3 RBI and a walk against Williams. Kenney’s 16 extra-base hits were third in the conference, helping boosting him to a .600 SLG%. Amherst will look to ride their MVP all the way to a NESCAC ‘ship, starting with Bates in NESCAC playoffs this weekend.
East Player of the Year AND Combat Silver Slugger POY:
Stony Brook transfer, Malcolm Nachmanoff, had by far the best season of any NESCAC player.
OF Malcolm Nachmanoff ‘18 (Tufts) Boston, MA: Another year, another Jumbo winning Player of the Year. That being said, there is absolutely no doubt that Nachmanoff deserves to take home the hardware after an incredible, breakout Senior spring. Nachmanoff lead the conference in Batting Average (.432), Homeruns (7), Slugging (.775), Doubles (15), Total Bases (86) and Extra-Base Hits (23). He was the NESCAC leader in 6 categories which is nothing less than absolute dominance. Nachmanoff transferred to Tufts after his sophomore season at D1 Stony Brook and proceeded to have a fairly rough Junior year for the Jumbos in which he only hit .182. He was able to find that D1 talent this season and prove that he is not just one, but several steps above the rest of the competition. Nachmanoff’s next challenge is to lead the Jumbos to his second ‘ship in 2 years and their first challenge will be the Wesleyan Cardinals.
West Cy Young:
P Colby Morris ‘19 (Middlebury) Ross, CA: Yes folks, the time has come. NBN is going to give our editor the credit he deserves. As much as we all love to make fun of Colby, his numbers are far too good to ignore. Morris was absolutely lights out all year long, leading the conference in Complete Games (4), Wins (5), Innings (63 ⅓) and Strikeouts (52). Along with all those feats, Morris was second in the conference with a jaw-dropping 1.71 ERA. Though, what made Morris’ effort so special this season is the way that he turned it on during conference play. In-conference he was 3-1, including 3 complete games, with 23 Ks and an ERA of 0.93. Despite the fact that Midd will be missing out on the playoffs this year after a tough series loss against Amherst, Morris did absolutely everything in his power to give them the opportunity to get there. Midd’s youthful core this season and Morris’ dominance should translate to a very exciting 2019 in Vermont.
East Cy Young:
RJ Hall has been there and done that in his three years at Tufts and is a tough matchup for any team in the playoffs.
P R.J. Hall ‘19 (Tufts) Marietta, GA: The East Cy Young was a particularly difficult award to pick because there were many good candidates, and almost all of them play for Tufts. Hall takes the cake because he proved himself to be the Jumbo’s most relied upon arm and ace throughout the season. Hall has a solid 5-2 record on the year, contributing immensely to Tufts’ 1st place finish in the East. His 47 strikeouts were far and away the most of anyone on the Jumbo’s staff and was 4th in the NESCAC. Hall notched 3 key conference wins over all 3 Maine schools (Colby, Bowdoin and Bates), including a complete game shutout against Bowdoin. Hall is the face of a three-headed monster for Tufts which will look to continue their success all the way to a three-peat of the NESCAC championship this weekend.
Reliever of the Year:
P Jake Shapiro ‘18 (Bates) Sandy, UT: It seemed as if every time Shapiro entered the game for the Bobcats, it was over. In his 14 appearances this season Shapiro maintained a .98 ERA and amassed 6 saves which were 2nd best in the ‘CAC. 5 of Shapiro’s 6 saves came in conference games, tied for the most of any pitcher this season. The reason behind Shapiro’s success was his ability to put hitters away via the strikeout. Shapiro has been punching out batters left and right and it shows in his 12.27 K/9. #2 Bates will face #1 Amherst this Friday in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs and you can be sure that if they have a lead Shapiro will be there man to finish it off.
Breakout Player of the Year:
P Spencer Langdon ‘20 (Tufts) Westlake, TX: After not seeing a single inning of work his Freshman year, Tufts hurler Spencer Langdon broke onto the scene in the NESCAC this year. He lead the NESCAC in ERA with a staggering 1.66 and holds a perfect 4-0 record heading into the playoffs. The majority of Langdon’s success came in NESCAC play in which he went 3-0 and had an even better ERA of 1.35. The Jumbos managed to win every single game that Langdon started this season, helping them to another first place finish in the NESCAC East. Tufts gave Langdon his first career start in their opening series against Trinity, after his impressive preseason relief stints, and never looked back. Langdon cemented his place as the best #3 starter in the conference this season and certainly as a candidate for POY. Tufts will use their hidden gem this weekend in NESCAC playoffs where Langdon will look to go 2/2 on NESCAC ‘ships.
Rookie of the Year:
P Kelvin Sosa ‘21 (Wesleyan) Bronx, NY: Amongst a 2021 class that was full of talent, Sosa proved to be the best. Earning himself the 2-spot in the rotation in just his first season, Sosa took full advantage of the opportunity he was given. His 2.54 ERA was the 5th best in the NESCAC and his 49 Ks were 3rd best. Some of his highlights this season include 6 ⅔ scoreless innings against Midd where he racked up 11 Ks and a 9 inning, complete game shutout against Williams that notched him 7 Ks. Sosa was a key piece in Wesleyan’s playoff run and will be getting his first taste of NESCAC playoffs this year. While Wesleyan’s next test is #1 seed in the East, Tufts, it is almost certain that Sosa will get the ball in game 2 of the playoffs.
2018 NESCAC 1st Team (Does not include award winners above)
C Chase Pratt ‘20 (Wesleyan) Rye, NY
IF Matt Koperniak ‘20 (Trinity) Adams, MA
IF Max Steinhorn ‘18 (Amherst) Washington, DC
IF Tommy O’Hara ‘18 (Tufts) Glenview, IL
IF Matt Zaffino ‘21 (Hamilton) New Canaan, CT
IF Justin Han ‘20 (Middlebury) Vienna, VA
OF Matt Treveloni ‘18 (Colby) Ashland, MA
OF Alex Capitelli ‘20 (Wesleyan) North Caldwell, NJ
With three out of four playoff spots secured, we wait on the Amherst vs Middlebury series to determine the 2018 NESCAC tournament schedule. Both teams were in two very different spots midseason. Midd was underachieving with a weak looking rotation after its ace. The once potent lineup from 2017 was easily contained. Amherst, in contrast, was firing on all cylinders. Clutch offense, defense, and pitching guided Amherst to a conference victory against Little Three rival, Wesleyan. However, these past few weekends haven’t treated Amherst kindly. With Wes clinching a playoff spot, and Midd rising, Amherst needed to perform in these last few games. Losing to Hamilton in a rescheduled game Thursday night didn’t help. As a result, the winner of this series will determine who’s in and who’s out.
Including non-conference games, Midd has won nine in a row. That statistic is absurd considering the entropy of baseball. Midd accomplished what neither Wes nor Amherst could do: sweeping Hamilton. Colby Morris, biggest glow up in the ‘Cac and my editor, leads the Midd staff with a 1.92 ERA. In my opinion, he’s the best pitcher in the league. Going back to my piece a few weeks back that interviewed each pitcher, I asked each of them what they do when they’re not getting any run support. To say that Morris wasn’t getting much run support early on is an understatement. However, like the GOAT of all GOATs says, ‘Do your job.’ Morris was able to keep sharp focus on his task at hand: throwing strikes, getting ground balls, and making outs. In a comparison with another ace in the league, Mike McCaffrey, Morris has logged around ten more innings pitched, while compiling less strikeouts than McCaffrey. Even though strikeouts are the tantalizing statistic among fans, Morris’ pitch count per inning has to be lower than McCaffrey because he’s not always looking for the spot on a back door breaking ball, but shooting the knees to induce a ground ball or double play. Midd’s bats have come alive as well. Freshman standouts from last year, Justin Han and Brooks Carroll, and have picked up the production at the plate with avg’s all over .300– above .350 for Carroll and Han. Hayden Smith has emerged as a stud at 3B for the Panthers too. Amherst should fear what would happen if Midd takes game one. Even though I believe that Amherst is a better all-around team, beating Morris isn’t an easy task for any ball club. That scenario would put Midd in the driver’s seat to take either game two or game three to clinch its second consecutive playoff berth.
Morris and Ferrero are going to duel it out tomorrow in game 1.
Amherst has had a roller coaster season with big wins against Wesleyan, but critical losses to Hamilton. Its road record of 4-4 in overall play in contrast with a 12-2 home record doesn’t exactly give Amherst fans confidence traveling to face a hot Midd team on their diamond. The old saying goes, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Amherst has been a force in the conference for years and years. While the faces of Yanni Thanopoulos, Andrew Vandini, Mike Odenwaelder, and Drew Fischer are gone, names such as Harry Roberson and Max Steinhorn remain. Most importantly, Brian Hamm, a Middlebury alum, will continually put together a quality team year in and year out. That’s why I’m not overly concerned about Amherst this weekend. Yes, they’ve put themselves in a tough position by needing to win two out of three against a hot team. Like I’ve said in all my articles, there are teams that always come through in the clutch. Amherst is one of those teams. The Patriots were down by twenty-five midway through the third about Super Bowl LI. At the end of the day, the Patriots are the Patriots and the Falcons are the Falcons. The Falcons were destined to blow it. Amherst has nine guys that are hitting over .300 in overall play. Even though none of them are really the standout hitters that Tufts has, they all compete and grind out quality at bats at an extraordinary level. Even though Morris is better than Ferrero, I give Amherst the edge in overall pitching.
Harry Roberson just became Amherst’s all time hits leader, coming in hot after a slow start to the season.
Given that we had two articles on this pivotal series, we have two different projections from the recent authors. If these tell you anything, it’s that this series is a must watch:
Andrew’s Prediction: Amherst 2 games, Middlebury 1 game
Why he chose them: This series is going to be tight. Obviously, both teams are high level ball clubs who are built to compete on this stage. I believe that both teams will take a game, but in the end, you have to go with the team that’s done it consistently before, and is acclimated with the spotlight and pressure that comes with big games.
Spencer’s Prediction: Middlebury 2 games, Amherst 1 game
Why he chose them: Midd will be able to complete their improbable comeback and return to the playoffs hungry for another shot at a NESCAC ‘ship. With their home crowd and hot streak, they should be bringing it all weekend. Whatever happens, there’s no doubt that this will be the series of the year.
We have officially reached the homestretch in the NESCAC this season. It was chaotic for the last few weekends, but we finally have some clarity in the playoff picture. While it looked unlikely for large stretches of the season, Tufts ended up where everyone expected them to, at the top of the East Division, while Amherst (pending a 2011 Red Sox-esque collapse against Middlebury) and Wesleyan appear set to cruise in to the postseason as representatives in the West. And lastly, in a crazy wire-to-wire finish, Bates emerged atop the three-way tie for 2nd in the East over fellow 7-5 teams Bowdoin and Trinity. While this is great for the Bobcats, it shows a monumental collapse from the Bantams who needed just one win in a three game set against Bates to clinch the #1 seed in the east, now finding themselves out of the playoff picture. With the NESCAC tournament a few short weeks away, who is heading in in the best shape?
Stock Up
Nolan Collins’ Clutch Gene
With Bates needing to take just one game to make the playoffs, you would think it was going to be smooth sailing in Lewiston this past weekend. The only problem was that Bates needed to take just one game from the hottest (and best) team in the league, the Tufts Jumbos. Coming off of a trouncing of Colby, Tufts’ bats were white hot, and Bates’ plan of attack surely was not to win a shootout against an offense with double their runs scored on the year. Sending their ace LHP Connor Russell ’19 to the mound on Friday was going to be their best chance of winning a game, especially considering that Tufts’ deep pitching staff would have the advantage on the weekend. But Tufts #1 RHP RJ Hall ’19 picked the worst possible time for the Bobcats to decide to turn in arguably his best performance of the year, in the form of a 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 13 K performance that earned him NESCAC Pitcher of the Week. Hall, who did not allow a hit after the 2nd inning, was simply lights out in a 5-0 win. Bates was all of a sudden facing the prospect of needing to steal a win of either Brent Greeley ’20 and his Top 5 ERA (2.31) in Game 2 or Spencer Langdon and his league leading ERA of 1.66. But up stepped RHP Nolan Collins ’20, who in the biggest game in recent memory for Bates, pitched a complete game of 7 scoreless innings, striking out 8 against the most potent lineup in the league to clinch a postseason berth for the Bobcats.
Collins knows that things are going well right now for the Bobcats…
Middlebury’s Playoff Chances
While it’s still looking slimmer than slim for the Panthers, their three-game sweep over Hamilton certainly helped. It was the arms that got it done this past weekend, as Hamilton was held to three runs each in all three games. RHP Colby Morris ’19 continues to do everything he can to extend their season, turning in a 9 IP CG, allowing just one earned run and striking out 6, bringing his ERA down to 1.92, second in the league. Midd has one series remaining on their divisional series, against 6-2 Amherst, who have a makeup game against Hamilton before then. A win in that game would mean the Mammoths only need to avoid a series sweep rather than avoid a series loss against Middlebury to make the playoffs, but nothing has been clinched yet. While it is certainly an uphill battle, the Panthers are winners of 9 in a row, the longest active streak in the NESCAC. Don’t count them out.
Andrew Hennings and the Panthers are playing for their playoff lives this weekend. Does anybody else feel the magic?
Wesleyan
Nothing too fancy about this one, but their sweep of rivals Williams has clinched a playoff berth for Wesleyan. It was hard to believe that they were fighting for their playoff lives in the last weekend of their divisional slate, but they were. The Cardinals, who started off hot with a sweep of last season’s NESCAC finalists Middlebury, have managed to fly under people’s radars the rest of the way despite finishing at 8-4. They haven’t put up any eye-popping numbers along the way, but they certainly have what it takes to win the league. LHP Mike McCaffrey ’19 (2-3, 4.63 ERA) hasn’t had the dominant year that many of us thought he would, but his league leading 10.28 K/9 is all the proof you need that he has the stuff to shut down any lineup on any given day. In fact, the Wesleyan rotation of McCaffrey, Sosa, and Olmstead, are 1-2-3 in that category, the only three pitchers with a K/9 over 9. Their only problem is McCaffrey and Olmstead are also tied for the league lead in walks with 36. If they can locate their pitchers, and maybe catch some help from Middlebury to knock Amherst to the 2 seed in the West, thus avoiding Tufts in the opener, Wesleyan could be in great shape.
Stock Down
The POY Race
When you have a guy leading the league in hitting at .432, tied for 3rd in RBI with 35, and also leading the league in home runs with 7, like Tufts senior OF Malcolm Nachmanoff is, it’s pretty tough to argue for anybody else as a legitimate Player of the Year candidate. The Stony Brook transfer has absolutely mashed all year for Tufts, in a year where it was thought that the duo of Tommy O’Hara and Nick Falkson would be the top 2 candidates for the award, with Falkson looking to repeat. While the three of them are arguably the top 3 hitters in the league right now, as they own the top 3 spots on the HR and RBI charts, it is impossible to discount the timeliness of Nachmanoff’s streak, a midseason surge that injected life into a Jumbos lineup that didn’t get off to the start that many expected it to, while Falkson was struggling to hit for average as well. NESCAC awards tend to go to the best player on the best team, so while the stat sheet stuffing is great, look no further than this past basketball’s season, where Williams’ James Heskett stole the POY from Middlebury’s Jack Daly, who had put up ridiculous numbers all year but lost in the NESCAC quarterfinals, on the back of the Ephs’ surge to the NESCAC championship. But Nachmanoff has been so good that I don’t even know how you could give it someone else regardless of who wins the league.
Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good?: NESCAC Baseball Uniform Power Rankings
I guess power rankings are kind of my thing now because here’s another one for you. Everyone knows baseball is 50% how you look, and that’s something that scouts take into account. The NESCAC has had numerous players selected in the draft and it isn’t all due to their playing performance – aesthetics are important. With this in mind, we thought it would be important to see who has the best uniform scheme in the league. I went through all the options and selected (in my opinion) the best uniform combo from each team, and ranked each team’s best 1-10. I apologize for not being able to find better pictures anywhere of some team’s jerseys (mainly Colby and Hamilton), but some schools just don’t make it easy.
10. Williams
The Ephs have a good color scheme to work with and quality hats, so they definitely have a sweet uniform right? Wrong. None of their uniforms are anything special, and their stirrups don’t even have stripes! This black top is simple, and I’ll admit I like the font choice. It doesn’t match the hats, but I like what they have there. Other than that, nothing too exciting here. I’m sure they’re comfortable but Williams is definitely not known for pleasing the eyes with their outfits.
9. Colby
Colby changes it up with some very patriotic lettering, and three stars on each sleeve. It’s kind of a weird look, and I certainly don’t hate it. That said, I really don’t like it that much either. Their hats don’t impress me and I’m glad they at least one-upped Williams by adding the stripes to their socks. I respect what they were trying to do here but I don’t think the execution was quite right. Ninth place.
8. Bowdoin
I really don’t mind Bowdoin’s uniforms at all. The strips on the sleeves go well with the stirrups and it’s a clean, classy look. I don’t love the hats, but they’re by no means a deal-breaker. The problem is it’s tough to put a team high in a jersey ranking when their colors are black and white. I think they have the potential for some nice all gray uniforms like their football team, but they really don’t have a whole lot to work with.
7. Hamilton
Blue is a popular color, and Hamilton makes it work. I actually think these uniforms are really nice. I’m a fan of the Nike top with the color on the shoulders, and the gray complements it nicely. I also like how they snuck some yellow into the stirrups, giving you a slightly different look. The hats are pretty much what you’d expect, but they go well with the uniform and add some blue to a uniform that doesn’t have a ton of color. Nice job here.
6. Bates
The Bobcats sport some quality red uniforms. Quality stirrups with a standard top that features one black and one white stripe on each sleeve. What sets this look apart a bit is the black hat with the red brim and a new “B” logo that Bates recently added. This is a very solid uniform that isn’t particularly flashy or showy, but the color combination looks nice and the contrast provides a nice crisp look.
5. Amherst
Now we get to see some efforts at new look home white uniforms. This is a great Under Armour top that mixes in just the right amount of purple. Their colors can be tricky to pull off, but the sneaky purple in the stirrups and the trim on the jerseys do a fine job for the Mammoths when you throw in the black hat on top of it. This is the way that the all-white uniforms are going for the many teams sponsored by Under Armour and I for one don’t hate it.
4. Middlebury
While Amherst had some solid whites, Middlebury hits us with their own effort at new-look white unis. This look is pretty basic, but the Panthers pull it off perfectly. The medieval font on the hat matches the logo on the jersey to a T (take notes Williams), and the navy stirrups provide just the right amount of additional color. These jerseys are all about class – we all want it, but Midd has it.
3. Trinity
I really like what Trinity has going on here. This is an awesome alternate uniform with a fantastic scheme. Too much yellow is never a good thing, but the trim on these unis along with the stirrup stripes offers just the right amount of secondary color. The fact that their hat reps the logo as opposed to a letter is a big time move and it looks really legit with “Bantams” written across the chest. Trinity’s athletic department continues to come up clutch, providing their athletes with the most cutting edge apparel available.
2. Wesleyan
I know a lot of people may have thought that Wesleyan’s pinstripes would make it on the list, but I absolutely love their throwback look. The gray is simple, and the piping and font choice add just the right amount of flare. The multi-colored stirrups along with the classy black hats contrast the gray nicely, and I really like the red flaps on the pockets. These uniforms are awesome and when you throw in their pinstripes and an alternate top, the Cardinals have a pretty legit arsenal of different looks.
1. Tufts
I’m not quite sure where to begin with these. Nice stirrups, a clean uniform, and a solid multi-colored hat tend to look good together. But these are different. These bad boys are all baby blue and I’ll be honest they’re downright scary. The Jumbos are 108-7* all time when wearing the baby blues, so their confidence when wearing these things must be through the roof. This jersey is a complete nightmare for opposing teams, and it’s the perfect outfit for the villains who have dominated the NESCAC for the last several years.
With only a few weeks left in the spring semester, NESCAC weekends are even more critical to a team’s playoff aspiration. The leading teams coming out of the west are the usual candidates: Amherst and Wesleyan. The teams coming out of the east right now, in a somewhat shocking manner, are Bates and Tufts. The three seeds in each division are poised to become two seeds if they play strong these next few weekends. In this weekend edition, I will preview the most important matchups this weekend, and how the outcome will affect the entire league.
The East: Tufts University @ Bates College:
This series will be exciting for a number of reasons. Firstly, both teams were underachieving midway through the season. Once sitting at 3-3, the Bos’ have become hot quickly. As last season’s champs and perennial contender, it wasn’t hard to predict that Tufts’ wasn’t going to receive the stellar starting pitching that it had the year before. I could never predict 3-3, though. You have to understand that Coach John Casey’s Tufts will never be in the bottom of the league. Whether it be the way they recruit, practice, or the tradition that Tufts Baseball has under Casey, the ‘Bos will simply never be bad.
Can Coach John Casey really push Tufts to victory every season? You bet he can.
Bates, on the other hand, under the regime of Jon Martin, has exceeded expectations. Even though some attribute Bates’ playoff appearance last year to luck, the Bobcats still played in the tournament while every non-tournament team was golfing. Bates simply wasn’t good earlier in the year—especially at the plate. Personally, I ripped on and even written off Bates earlier in the year. This weekend is crucial for Bates to establish themselves as a perennial contender. If Bates takes at least two on its home field against Tufts, I will consider them a legitimate team. Hitting is still a problem, though. Starting outfielder Will Sylvia is only hitting .227. Bates’ pitching right now is one of the best in the league, so if the hitters throughout the lineup can figure it out at the plate, Bates could be considered a favorite in the tournament. The .247 average really isn’t helping the Bobcats.
Tufts’ bats exploded against Colby last weekend—putting up run totals in the teens and twenties. Even though Colby is no Amherst, the Mules are still a NESCAC team. The demolition that Tufts put on Colby is truly remarkable. Tufts is either first or second in all major hitting statistical categories; they can definitely mash. Like it always is, Tommy O’Hara, Nick Falkson and Malcolm Nachmanoff are leading the charge with 17 combined dingers and an average just below .400 for O’Hara and above .400 for Nachmanoff. Pitchers are scared to face these guys, and I don’t blame them. With a swing of the bat, they can turn the game around.
This is a series that I doubt anyone predicted would be one of the most critical of the season; dominant hitting against dominant pitching is fun to watch. Normally pitching wins at the highest level, but that could be underestimating how well Tufts swings the bat. Regardless, it’s going to be a fun series.
Prediction: Tufts wins the series two games to one.
The West: Wesleyan University vs. Williams College:
Mike Stamas ’20 made his first pitching start last weekend, showing that he is a versatile diamond in the rough for the Ephs.
Here’s a hot take: Williams isn’t bad. They’re good. How good? We’ll see this weekend against Wesleyan. Wesleyan is coming into this series with a 2-4 conference record these past two weekends. It hurts me to say this: I definitely overvalued Wesleyan after its dominant sweep of Middlebury. I completely overlooked the lack of real relief pitching. Yes, Sosa, McCaffery, and sometimes Olmstead will put together a quality start, but who do you really trust with the ball in their hand in the eighth or ninth on the road with men on base? I definitely trust Pat Clare, but Dan Lombardo has been inconsistent in giving up extra base hits. Jake Alonzo and Ryan Earle are quality right handers as well, but if you want to get a lefty-lefty matchup against a big power guy, who do you go to? Doug Hartshorn can provide a good matchup with offspeed and other secondary pitches, although he spiked a ball during game one against Amherst last weekend that got past C Chase Pratt, which led to a critical Amherst run. Even though I love what smaller southpaws like Hartshorn bring to the table with late movements on fastballs, loopier breaking balls, and changeups that are incredibly hard to sit back on and read, pitchers have to throw strikes at the end of the day. Coming back from that long tangent, I’ve realized that the reason I overvalued Wesleyan is because of the bats against Midd. When the bats were hot– that means Cappitelli through Walek were stringing together quality at bats, the relievers faced no pressure. When you know what hit the fan at Hamilton, I first saw Wesleyan’s relatively weak bullpen. It’s inevitable that a lineup will ebb and flow. For Wes to be successful with its thin pen, everyone has to hit.
Williams supringly isn’t as bad as I thought they were going to be. Sitting at 4-5 in conference play, if they take two against Wes, the Ephs have a serious shot at making the playoffs. 4-5 really isn’t a bad record. People forget that last year’s breakout star Johnny Lamont is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Similar to Bates, it seems that Williams’ achilles heel is its lack of production at the plate. Kellen Hatheway, the guy who’s getting the most AB’s, is barely hitting is weight (full disclosure, I don’t know his true weight. He’s hitting .209, so I assume he’s between 180-220). The pitching doesn’t seem stellar either. No pitcher is below a 3.50 ERA with a minimum of one innings pitch. What picture do these numbers paint? Williams is average at best numbers wise? How’d they win four elusive league games so far? They haven’t been swept yet. The Ephs have won some close games against quality teams. They took one against Amherst, one against Midd, and one against Bates (non-league), and two against Hamilton. They’ve beaten some quality teams, which makes me think that they have clutch at bats and get outs when they need them.
With all this said, I’m not saying Wes is a bad ball club or that Williams will win it all. Wesleyan at the end of the day will win ball games. Remember Dennett’s clutch hit against Tufts’ in 2014 to score Cimino and Yin to jump ahead against Tufts. That was when Wes won its first ever NESCAC title. Guys like Jeye, Andrews, Coppola, Ferrara, and Howard remember that bus ride back to Middletown with the feeling that they accomplished something no Wes baseball player ever did. The pride of stepping off the bus outside of Freeman Athletic Center knowing that you wore that W on your chest, represented the school, and won is a feeling that is indescribable. These guys know how to win under pressure, but let’s see if the rest of the squad can do it. Williams be up to the challenge if Wes can’t come through in the clutch. This is a little three game, so I know it’ll be a great series.
What. A. Weekend. It was the craziest two days of NESCAC baseball we’ve seen in recent memory, turning the standings and what we thought was a fairly clear playoff picture upside down. Just as I had crowned Trinity the prohibitive favorite and 1 seed-elect in the East Divison, they were swept by Bates in 3 games decided by 4 runs total. Instead of planning their NESCAC championship weekend travel plans, the Bantams will now be glued to their laptops and grainy NSN streams looking for some help from both Tufts and Bates, who play each other this weekend (more on that to come). In the West, Williams has managed to give themselves a fighting chance to make the playoffs thanks to some help from archrival Amherst. Going into the stretch run of the regular season, who’s rounding into form at the right time?
Stock Up
Bates
No one had a bigger weekend than the Bates Bobcats. Heading into Hartford tied for 2nd at 3-3, but with their remaining 6 divisional games against the two teams above them in the standings, Bates realistically needed to win all 3 games to have a chance to make the playoffs, and that is exactly what they did. They didn’t get their best from ace P Connor Russell ’18 in Game 1 but eked out a win, and rallied down from 2 runs down with 2 outs in the final inning to win 5-2 in game 2, before jumping out early with 3 in the first inning and a clutch performance from P Justin Foley (5 IP, 2 R) to pull out the sweep. All of a sudden Bates sits at 6-3, tied for first in the division with Tufts, who they play this weekend. If they win just one of those 3 games, they are headed to the postseason.
Tufts’ Bats
Was this a statement weekend from the class of the league or what? The Jumbos absolutely clobbered Colby in a 3 game sweep in which they racked up a total of 56 runs. 56! They’re tandem of senior IFs Tommy O’Hara and Nick Falkson has all of a sudden turned into a terrifying trio with the addition of senior OF Malcolm Nachmanoff whose monster week (4 HR, 8 RBI) earned him NESCAC POTW honors. Overall, the three veterans combined for 7 HRs and 24 RBI against Colby, which also brought them to 6-3 and tied for first in the league. The Bates sweep of Trinity actually might have hurt the Bos’ chances of making the playoffs, as their head-to-head record (1-2) against Trinity means that they need to take 2 of 3 against Bates to be in (Check out the playoff scenario breakdown to read more on this: https://nothingbutnescac.com/?p=6063), but the way they’re playing, this should be expected. Their other three-headed monster, the one toeing the rubber of Hall, Greeley, and Langdon, continued to cruise, save for a 3 run Colby 9th that turned a potential CG, 4 ER for Hall into something a little messier, but they look like the best team in the league right now, and their championship DNA should see off Bates.
Nick Falkson is just one of three big bats for the Jumbos…watch out, NESCAC pitchers.
Parity
Between Bates’ sweep of Trinity, Amherst’s series win over Wesleyan, and Williams’ series win over Hamilton, the standings got a whole lot more crowded this weekend. Last week it looked as if 3 of last year’s 4 NESCAC tournament participants were going to return to the postseason, and now only one of those three (Amherst) can be assured that their spot is safe…for now. It sounded crazy to say a week ago that Trinity might not make the playoffs, but it’s now a very realistically, and honestly, a likely scenario. Did anyone have Williams playing into mid-May? Well they might. It’s simple for the Ephs: take 2 out of 3 from Wesleyan and their season continues. It’s great news for this league in a year where it looked as if everything could’ve shaken out by now, but there is a whole lot left to play for heading into this last weekend.
Williams’ Pitching
What a turnaround for this staff, if you could even call it a staff, because they’ve been getting contributions from all over the field. It took the Ephs a while to adjust to the loss of their top 4 arms, but they showed that they’re more than capable this past weekend against Hamilton. Junior LHP Jack Bohen earned NESCAC pitcher of the week honors with his CG, 2 H, 1 R, 10 K outing in a 2-1 win in Game 2, hurling an absolute gem to effectively keep their season alive. And in another absolute must win on Sunday, it was sophomore OF Mike Stamas (yes, outfielder) who threw 3.2 IP in his first career start, allowing just one hit and one run, as well as striking out 6. Coach Barrale then turned it over to the pen for a combined 5.1 IP of scoreless baseball from 4 different arms. It looks as they have a clear 1-2 in Bohen and freshman George Carroll, who have both been quietly stringing together quality outings, improving each time out. It remains unclear as to who the third starter will be (my money is on LHP Charlie Carpenter ’20), but if Mike Stamas bats leadoff and throws a gem to beat Wesleyan and steal their playoff spot on Sunday, then we might have to revise our Top 5 NESCAC moments of 2017-18 (https://nothingbutnescac.com/?p=6034), because that would have to make the list.
Stock Down
Trinity’s Playoff (Playoff!) Chances
Tough to have a rougher week than the Bantams. Bates’ best chance to steal any games off of this red hot squad was going to be riding on the arm of Connor Russell, but if I told you he had a final line of 5.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, you would’ve felt pretty good about Trin and their chances to win that game and clinch a playoff berth. But LHP Eric Mohl ’19 couldn’t match him (3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R), and a bullpen collapse after 26 outs in Game 2 started them down 0-2. The bats didn’t come to town for Game 3, and a 7-2 Trinity team had turned into a 7-5 one before you could blink. This team was white hot going into this weekend, a team that matched up great against a Bates’ team whose strength is their pitching. All of a sudden the Bants need some serious help to make the playoffs, sitting behind Tufts and Bates. But to make matters worse, those two teams, both at 6-3, are playing each other this weekend.
Scheduling
Except the rain did hurt, Charlie Brown.
I do not intend to include bashing the NESCAC in every Stock Report, but this does make two weeks in a row that I have had a gripe with the league, this one coming to light heading into this weekend, with Trinity awaiting their fate in the hands of the Tufts/Bates series. Trinity has played all 12 of its divisional games, while Tufts and Bates have only played 9. I’m not saying that this is unfair to Trinity, as they simply could’ve avoided having their season decided by someone else if they had performed stronger, but as a fan, it certainly takes a lot of the fun and drama out of these final weekends. How great would it be if every team was playing Game 12 on Sunday at 1, frequently refreshing live stats in the stands, in the dugout, and in the bullpen, to see the playoff scenarios changing by the pitch. Middlebury has also only played 6 (50%) of their divisional games up to this point and have back to back conference series coming up. Yeah, they are a long shot to make the playoffs, but they did the same thing last year, so who knows. It’s wild to think that their sweep last weekend of Bowdoin doesn’t factor into NESCAC play at all either, but more excitement is on the way, I guess.
Furthermore, and maybe more importantly, is the way the non-division games are spread out. Trinity could have their season effectively end on Saturday or Sunday, but regardless, they’re due to play three additional doubleheaders against Amherst, Middlebury, and Wesleyan, respectively, games which you’re going to have a hard time convincing me will matter. Could they win the last 8 games on their schedule to finish with a record of 22-13 and have the slightest of chances of catching an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament? You could try to persuade me that they could (not making your conference tournament is usually a negative when it comes to giving out at-large bids), but I doubt it. I don’t want to get rid of those games, because baseball is baseball, and they deserve to play as many games as they can, but stacking up all of the non-league, and to be frank, pointless, games at the end of the season is criminal. While the divisional games are obviously the priority when it comes to managing lineups and your pitching rotation, the league is doing us a disservice by throwing us Amherst-Trinity and Wesleyan-Trinity, two series that have been playoff previews all year, at the end of the season when it is all done and dusted. Spread the out of division games out, or just make all of the league games count the same, although that deserves its own rant for another time.
Bates (13-12, 6-3 NESCAC): Bates is currently riding high, sharing the top seed in the East with Tufts. The Bobcats were able to put themselves in this position through a hard-fought sweep of Trinity. Bates was able to get ahead early and put the Bantams away in games 1 and 3 of the series and put up a 4 run 7th inning in game 2 to complete a wild comeback. Next, Bates has to square off against Tufts, and this series may determine which one of them makes it into the playoffs. If Bates is able to win at least one game against Tufts, they will make the playoffs based on their head to head record against Trinity. Two wins or a sweep gets them the top spot in the East. It all comes down to these final 3 games for the Bobcats, so now is the time to get the job done.
Prediction: Bates finishes 7-5 in the NESCAC East and makes the playoffs as a 2-seed (tiebreaker vs Trinity).
Bowdoin (11-16, 4-5 NESCAC): Bowdoin started off their season hot, taking 2 of 3 from rival Bates, but since then the momentum just hasn’t been there for the Polar Bears. After losing their next 2 series to Trinity and Tufts, Bowdoin finds themselves sitting in 4th place in the NESCAC East. Even with a sweep of Colby this weekend, which is not too unlikely, both Tufts and Trinity hold the tiebreaker over Bowdoin so their playoff hopes have been officially eliminated.
Prediction: Bowdoin finishes 6-6 in the NESCAC and does not make the playoffs.
Colby(5-18, 1-8 NESCAC): Colby’s playoff hopes have been gone for quite some time, but after getting swept by Tufts they are officially out of playoff contention. They next play Bowdoin, who are also eliminated from playoff contention, in what has turned out to be a consolation series.
Prediction: Colby finishes 2-10 in the NESCAC and does not make the playoffs.
Trinity is playing the waiting game this weekend…
Trinity (14-13, 7-5 NESCAC): While Trinity is the first NESCAC team to have completed all of their league games, there is still a lot on the line for the Bantams this weekend. If either Tufts or Bates is able to sweep the other, or if Bates takes 2 of 3 from Tufts, the Bantams will be playoff bound. For Trinity all they can do now is watch, wait and pray. While the Bantams do have double headers against both Amherst and Midd this weekend, none of those games will count for their NESCAC record (which is a whole different issue to discuss), so the most important series for the Bantams this weekend will be taking place in Maine.
Trinity will make the playoffs with the following scenarios:
-If either team sweeps, resulting in one team finishing at 9-3 with the 1 seed, and the other at 6-6 with a 3rd place finish
-If Bates wins 2 of 3, Trinity will tie for 2nd with Tufts at 7-5, who they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over.
Trinity will be eliminated from the playoffs with the following scenarios:
-If Tufts wins 2 of 3, resulting in an 8-4 1st place finish for Tufts, and a 7-5 2nd place finish for Bates, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Trinity.
This is obviously a really tricky situation for Trinity, as Tufts winning 2 would end their season, but Tufts winning 3 would extend it. Unfortunately for any Trinity fans, I would say that the most likely situation would be Tufts winning 2 of 3, but it is definitely possible with the way they are not only pitching, but hitting, that they could take all 3. I’m going to predict that Tufts and Bates, in that order, however, are the two teams to represent the East Division in the NESCAC tournament. What a difference a weekend can make.
Prediction: Trinity finishes 7-5 in the NESCAC and does not make the playoffs (tiebreaker vs Bates).
Tufts (15-12, 6-3 NESCAC): Tufts is currently red-hot, taking 3 games from Colby and scoring 56 runs in the process. The Jumbos seem to be gaining momentum at the right time, winning 6 of their last 7 NESCAC games heading into the end of the year. Next up they have the Bates squad with whom they are currently tied for 1st in the East. This series is crucial for the Jumbos because if they drop one to Bates, they will be eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2013. If Tufts manages to win the series they will be back in the playoffs and will have a shot at making it 3 straight NESCAC championships.
Stony Brook transfer, Malcolm Nachmanoff, is having his first successful full season with the Jumbos and leads the league with 6 long balls.
Prediction: Tufts will finish 8-4 in NESCAC and make the playoffs as the 1-seed.
NESCAC West:
Amherst (17-8, 6-2 NESCAC): With 4 NESCAC games remaining, Amherst is sitting pretty in 1st place in the West, with a comfortable lead on the rest of the division. If the Mammoths only win one of their next 4 games they still have a chance to make the playoffs but if they take 2 of their next 4 they are guaranteed in. Getting 2 wins in 3 games against Midd and 1 game against Hamilton should not be an issue for Amherst who has been rolling all year. Barring a sweep by Middlebury, Amherst should have no issue cruising into a 1-seed this year.
Prediction: Amherst will finish 9-3 and will make the playoffs as the 1-seed
Hamilton (15-14, 3-5 NESCAC): Hamilton has been lead this season by the strong performance of their freshman class. Matt Zaffino ‘21, Jarrett Lee ‘21 and Ethan Wallis ‘21 are the top three hitters in the Continental lineup, which should bode very well for the future of their program. For now however, Hamilton is sitting at 4th place in the West and has a tough road ahead of them if they want to find themselves in a playoff spot. After defeating #6 Cortland this week, Hamilton has a home series against Midd and then a final game against current 1-seed Amherst. Both of these matchups will be tough for the Continentals as Midd is coming off a sweep of Bowdoin and Amherst is looking to be the favorite to win the conference. Hamilton holds head-to-head advantage against Wesleyan, but not against Williams, who face each other this weekend. Hamilton still has a shot at the playoffs if they are able to take 3 or 4 of their final 4 games and Williams does not sweep Wesleyan. For now the Continentals will need to focus on what they can change, which is their own games, and hope that everything else goes their way.
Prediction: Hamilton will finish 4-8 and not make the playoffs.
Middlebury (10-13, 2-4 NESCAC): Believe it or not, Midd still has half of their NESCAC games to play. Although they might be sitting in last place in the West at the moment, it is certainly not impossible for the Panthers to pull themselves into a playoff spot. Coming up first for Midd is Hamilton, who dropped their most recent series to Williams 2 games to 1. Middlebury is most likely going to have to sweep this series in order to give themselves a chance to make playoffs. Coming off a sweep of Bowdoin, the momentum should be there for the Panthers, which will make them a tough squad for Hamilton to face. Second, Midd has to take on current 1-seed Amherst. This series will be the decider in whether Middlebury will make playoffs. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best. Midd will have to prove to the rest of the conference, and themselves, that they are playoff-worthy and taking down a powerful Mammoth team will be all the evidence they need.
Prediction: Middlebury will finish 5-7 and not make playoffs.
Wesleyan (17-11, 5-4 NESCAC): Wesleyan is sitting in 2nd place in the NESCAC West at the moment, but Williams is right on their heels. Luckily for the Cardinals, their next series is at home, where they are 7-2 this season, and it is against Williams. If Wesleyan is able to perform in crunch time the same way they have all season, they are a lock for the playoffs. Williams will have to face the three-headed monster of Mike McCaffrey ‘19, Alec Olmstead ‘20 and Kelvin Sosa ‘21. This trio is the same one that shut down Midd in their last series, and considering the fact that Midd tore through Williams, the Cardinals are the sure favorite in this series. If Wesleyan picks up 2 wins they should be home free, unless Midd happens to win all 6 of their remaining games or Hamilton wins all of their next 4. The Cardinals have their fate in their own hands right now and I very much expect them to use it to their advantage.
Prediction: Wesleyan will finish 7-5 and make the playoffs as the 2-seed.
Jack Bohen and the Ephs need a lot of help to continue their season.
Williams (8-16, 4-5 NESCAC): At the beginning of the year it seemed as if Williams was the favorite to end up in dead-last in the NESCAC, but they have managed to turn it around and find themselves with an opportunity to make the playoffs. After losing 2 of 3 games in both of their first series against Amherst and Midd, the Ephs were able to pick up a huge series win against Hamilton which put them in playoff contention and gives them the all-important tiebreaker against the Continentals. The formula for making the playoff for Williams is pretty simple, a series win against Wesleyan will put them in a very good spot. If they beat the Cardinals 2 games to 1, they will hold the tiebreaker against them and therefore be in 2nd place and make the playoffs. However they will still have to worry about Hamilton, who will pass the Ephs if the take 4 of their next 4, and Midd, who will pass them if they take 4 of their next 6. Although Williams has the ability to decide their fate, they have to face an extremely talented Wesleyan team on their home turf. Williams will have to pull off a pretty surprising upset to make playoffs, but crazier things have happened.
Prediction: Williams will finish 5-7 and not make playoffs
