This is a really interesting game because even this early in the season there’s a real chance that this ends up deciding the NESCAC Championship. Middlebury has already beaten Trinity and Williams; two of the three teams that I thought had the best title chances coming into the season (Amherst being the third). They still have to play Wesleyan who has looked very good, but aside from them it’s Hamilton, Bowdoin, Colby, and Tufts who hasn’t looked all that great either. Amherst still has the bulk of their schedule remaining but Amherst is Amherst and I’ll be damned if I rule out the Mammoths. There’s a lot to be said about this game, so let’s get down to it.
Key #1 for Middlebury: Hold On to the Ball
This one is pretty straightforward, but the Panthers lead the NESCAC with 7 fumbles thus far and while they may have only lost 3 of those, ball security will have to be a big focus heading into this weekend. This will be especially true because Amherst has recovered 5 fumbles this year, the best mark in the league. It’s going to come down to the guys who have the ball consistently – RB Alex Maldjian ’23 and QB Will Jernigan ’21. Maldjian has already found himself a spot as the team’s starting running back and he’s really the only guy that gets any touches out of the backfield for them. The problem is that he already has 2 fumbles on the year and Jernigan has 3, so these guys in particular will need to lock in on holding on to the ball.
Key #2 for Middlebury: Pocket Awareness
Again, this one is pretty much on Jernigan. The Mammoths have one of the best defensive lines in the league, and they get to the quarterback very quickly. Jernigan has started to earn his money as a passer this year, but he won’t have as much time to survey the field this Saturday so we’ll get a chance to see what his instincts are. Last year he was very much a run-first quarterback so it’ll be interesting to see which Will Jernigan comes out when there are two Amherst defensive ends barreling at him. His two key playmakers to throw to have been receiver Maxwell Rye ’20 and tight end Frank Cosolito ’20, so he’ll likely look to them when the play collapses. If Jernigan can stay composed when all hell breaks loose then I like Middlebury’s chances a lot at Amherst this weekend.
Key #1 for Amherst: Red Zone Efficiency
This is a big one. The Mammoths have only scored 5 times on 13 trips (only 3 touchdowns) to the red zone through 3 games, the second lowest rate in the NESCAC. This is especially troubling because their first 2 games came against Bates and Colby – two of the weakest defenses in the conference. There’s a chance that this could be because they haven’t really seemed to have a consistent running back, it has really been a committee in the backfield so far. Out wide Amherst only has about 2½ receivers that you really have to worry about, so it seems like teams have just keyed in on those few guys when they get deep in their own territory. This also brings me to my next point…
Key #2 for Amherst: Finding a Third Offensive Threat
To the untrained eye this seems like one of the most glaring problems for the Mammoths this year. Eberth has success throwing the ball and he also leads the team in rushing, so it’s no question that he’s a huge threat. He also loves throwing to WR James O’Regan ’20, who has nearly half of the team’s receptions and more than half of their receiving touchdowns on the year. Aside from these two guys it’s sort of a mystery who Amherst will rely on. Luke Mallette ’20 is clearly Eberth’s second favorite target, but it’s a far cry from the relationship that Eberth has with O’Regan. Louie Eckelkamp ’23 has the most carries and yards out of the backfield, but the carries have been pretty divided among a few different guys. In order to beat Middlebury they’ll need more guys to step up on offense because this isn’t like the defenses they were seeing up in Maine.
Everything Else:
On paper this looks about as even as a matchup can get. Statistically speaking, Amherst and Middlebury are within one place of each other in nearly every major category on both sides of the ball. These are teams that have had success in the past and are perennially the class of the NESCAC. Both teams are trying to replace key pieces lost from last year’s squad, but they also each return a good portion of their starting lineups as well. Will Jernigan ’21 looks like he spent his summer learning how to play quarterback because he looks nothing like last year’s Will Jernigan whose gut instinct was running a QB power. The transformation that he has gone through along with Middlebury’s talented offensive playmakers make this offense incredibly difficult to stop, and I’m not sure that Amherst is quite ready for a team of this caliber. It seems as though the Mammoths have a bit more to replace from last year and I think that allows the Panthers to come into town and steal a win.
Think of the NESCAC football season like one large double elimination bracket. Realistically, if you want to win the league, you can only have 1 loss, and even that is pushing it. You almost certainly cannot have 2 losses and expect to find yourselves tied for first with the tiebreakers falling in your favor. I say all this to mention that this game is as close to an elimination game in a 9-game season as it gets, for Week 3 standards. Trinity stumbled out of the gate with a Week 1 loss to Tufts and sits at 1-1. If they lose again, before they play Wesleyan, Amherst, or Williams, they are almost certainly done. Middlebury, courtesy of a big Week 1 win against Williams, is 2-0, but cannot afford a loss this early in the season if it has any hopes of hoisting a trophy. This is a de factor elimination game.
Key #1 for Middlebury: Don’t Beat Yourself
Lost in the shuffle of Middlebury’s seemingly improved offense, on the backs of much improved QB Will Jernigan ’21, is the fact that the Panthers have developed an early habit of coughing up the rock. They have fumbled the ball 6 times and been fortunate enough to have only lost 3 of them, while Jernigan has also thrown 2 interceptions. It is going to be a long day for Midd if they can’t hang on to the ball—it is tough enough to score against Trinity as it is.
Key #2 for Middlebury: Get Ahead, Stay Ahead
You could call this any number of things, but in essence, Middlebury doesn’t have the firepower to hang in a shootout with Trinity as they are presently constructed. Jared Lebowitz ’17 isn’t walking through that door. This means they have to establish the run game, pick up easy first downs, and grind out longer drives. If they go down 14-0 or something like that early, forget about it. If the defense is put in a position where it can play the style of defense it wants to play, they can keep Trinity in front of them. If they have to get overly aggressive and play out of their comfort zone because they’re trailing, well I can think of three guys in Hartford who will be looking forward to the thought of that.
Key #1 for Trinity: Establish the Run
I know this is a weird pick for what appears to be one of the most talented passing attacks in league history, but hear me out. You can’t rely on the home run to bail you out every possession. For those who don’t remember, in Trinity’s only loss last season at Williams, Williams did a great stop of stuffing the box and committing to stopping RB Max Chipouras ’19 on 1st and 2nd downs, forcing then starting QB Jordan Vazzano ’21 into exclusively throwing deep balls to Girard and Schofer, which are a lot easier to defend when you know they’re coming. We still don’t know what version of Spencer Lockwood ’22 we’re going to get this season, 37 yards on 16 carries against Tufts, but 72 yards on 14 carries and.2 scores against Bowdoin, a much less tough defense. If they can string together first downs on the ground, the points will flow.
Key #2: Disruption on Defense
Just as Middlebury needs to take care of the ball and play smart football, Trinity’s defense needs to ensure that the exact opposite occurs. Jernigan is at his best when he has a full plethora of options at his disposal, when he is in situations that could either be run plays or pass plays. Forcing him into obvious passing downs like 2nd and 3rd and long will be huge for Trinity, as will forcing turnovers and getting to him in the pocket. The Bantams have a whopping 22 tackles for loss as a team through 2 games, led by DL Jimmy Christiano ’21 with 4. If they can continue their pace of 11 a game, it’ll be a long afternoon for Jernigan.
Everything Else:
What’s so exciting about this time of year, and also what makes it really hard to make predictions, is that all of the teams are so far from being finished products. They have all the ingredients in the kitchen, but they don’t know what they’re going to cook. Both Middlebury and Trinity have impressed through two weeks, but they have also raised a lot of questions about themselves. A lot of those questions will be answered tomorrow, but ultimately, I just like Trinity’s ingredients at this time of year more than I like Middlebury’s. The Panthers struggled to keep Frank Stola ’21 in front of them when Williams came to town, to the tune of 6 catches for 151 yards and 2 scores, even though everyone knew the ball was going to him. Trinity has three Frank Stola types, and you don’t know which one is getting the ball. I think Trinity continues to get back on track and look like the team we all expected them to be.
Editor’s note: In addition to the weekend preview I wanted to update everyone on how our writers have been doing in picking the winners of each game. The majority of the games have been pretty easy to pick, but there have definitely been some early surprises. Our predicted scores have typically been pretty close to the actual scores, but Ryan Moralejo is the only writer to have correctly predicted the score of any of the games so far. Hopefully it doesn’t get any easier!
Matt Karpowicz: 8-2 Haven Cutko: 8-2 Ryan Moralejo: 7-3 (1 correct score) Spencer Smead: 7-3 Cameron Carlson: 7-3
Colby @ Hamilton, 12pm, Clinton, NY
If we picked our Game of the Week based solely on competitiveness rather than championship implications, this game would absolutely be in the running. However, both of these teams have yet to prove that they belong in that conversation. Hamilton has been the one team the CBB schools have been reasonably within reach of beating in recent years. If any of the Maine teams want to get respect outside of the CBB, they need to start by beating Hamilton. Colby was able to do this last year, which suggested that they may be trending towards competitiveness in the middle tier of the league. However, starting off 0-2 and only putting up 10 points in each game has provided everyone with a reality check. Hamilton will provide less of a challenge for the Mules than Wesleyan and Amherst, so this is Coach Cosgrove’s best chance yet to show the league what his team can do. They will need to contain Continentals RB David Kagan, who has gotten off to a terrific start this season in leading the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. Hamilton also leads the league in total rushing yards. Both teams have talented QBs who will be looking to prove themselves this Saturday. If you aren’t focused on end of season results and just want to see competitive NESCAC football, this should be an entertaining game to watch.
Hamilton proved that they can (sometimes) compete with the league’s middle tier last season when they beat Wesleyan. Colby has not been able to show this with any team outside of the CBB except in their victory last year against Hamilton. On top of that, having to make the seven hour haul across New England never makes a team’s task easier. Hamilton has shown a little more offensive firepower this season (albeit mostly against Bowdoin), so I’ll take them in a tight one.
SS: Colby 31, Hamilton 17 CC: Colby 24, Hamilton 21 HC: Hamilton 24, Colby 20 MK: Hamilton 28, Colby 21 RM: Hamilton 34, Colby 24
Writers’ Pick: Hamilton
Bowdoin @ Williams, 1pm, Williamstown, MA
Austin McCrum is doing everything he can to keep the Polar Bears competitive
You have to feel for the Polar Bears. Having to visit a Williams team that just put up 44 on Tufts certainly is not ideal…especially not coming off a game where you got 60 pieced. The scary thing is that the Williams offense very well could be just as good as Trinity’s this year. Polar Bears, just try to make it through these next couple weeks injury-free and you will (hopefully) get to play some close games at the end of the season. I hate to kick Bowdoin while they’re already down, but it’s very difficult to find any bright spots from their performance last week. It’s promising to see that they have some balance in their offense, with six players registering a carry and seven registering a catch. Now, the next step is for these guys to do this more often and maybe take that ball into the endzone while they’re at it. Easy, right?
I wish I could say that this is a trap game for Williams, but at this point I honestly think it would be a reach to even call it that. The Ephs’ offense showed what they were capable of last week and absolutely shredded a solid Tufts defense. Bobby Maimaron and Frank Stola looked like Montana and Rice, linking up for 13 completions, 233 yards and 4 touchdowns. They also got their run game going, as both Maimaron and RB Dan Vaughn were within 10 yards of the century mark. Even kicker Andrew Schreibstein (whom I personally ripped on after his brutal first week) stepped up big time. He was 3/3 on field goals and 5/5 on extra points while earning Special Teams Player of the Week. The CBB contests can’t come soon enough for Bowdoin.
SS: Williams 38, Bowdoin 7 CC: Williams 42, Bowdoin 7 HC: Williams 42, Bowdoin 7 MK: Williams 35, Bowdoin 6 RM: Williams 49, Bowdoin 10
Writers’ Pick: Williams
Amherst @ Tufts, 1pm, Medford, MA
This is another game that was under consideration for our Game of the Week. While it very well could live up to all expectations, it’s hard to feel good about Tufts’ chances after Williams absolutely had their way with them last week. At the same time, we still can’t forget that it’s a Jumbos team that also held Trinity to eight points just a week earlier. This inconsistency is the opposite of what Amherst has shown us so far, as they have played solid football since a rocky first half at Bates and have wins against the Bobcats and Colby under their belt. It’s been the usual suspects making plays for the Mammoths. Senior QB Ollie Eberth and classmate James O’Regan have already connected for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Tufts shut down Trinity’s three headed monster of receivers in their first game, but got lit up by Bobby Maimaron and Frank Stola of Williams a week later. If the Jumbos’ week one caliber defense returns, Amherst will have their hands full- the Mammoths have had a bit of a cakewalk so far. However, Coach Civetti’s first priority should be figuring out who Tufts will start under center. Trevon Woodson replaced Jacob Carroll in the midst of the beatdown last weekend and completed 12 of 17 passes, but also threw a pick. Neither quarterback has shown a ton of promise yet, so this week of practice will likely be a big factor in determining who gets the start on Saturday. Whoever we see out there would be smart to throw the ball to WR OJ Armstrong, who sits third in the league at 13 receptions and added a touchdown last week to boot. If the Jumbos cannot create holes for RB Mike Pedrini, they will need to rely on Armstrong and likely Woodson to make plays. Amherst’s defense does not look like they have fallen off since losing Andrew Yamin, only allowing 11.5 points per game. While we have not seen Tufts’ offense play to its potential, it’s a safe bet to say that they will have a little more firepower up their sleeve than Bates and Colby did.
If Tufts’ performances in the last two weeks were reversed, I might feel differently about this game. And it would be especially interesting to see them, Trinity, and Hamilton all get wins this week, which would put six teams at 2-1 while leaving Wesleyan unscathed at the top. Realistically, though, they have not shown me enough on offense for me to predict them outplaying a traditionally strong Amherst D- especially in the midst of a possible quarterback controversy. Amherst is well coached, veteran-led and will be ready for their first legitimate test.
Trinity clearly had some steam to blow off coming into last week’s contest against Bowdoin 0-1, and Bowdoin is a great team to play if you like to blow off steam by scoring touchdowns. The Bantams’ offense woke up and dropped a seemingly effortless 61 points, led by receiver Devante Reid’s four touchdowns. Trinity successfully reminded everyone who the NESCAC’s daddy is, but their backs are still up against the wall and they can’t afford another loss this week against a very game Middlebury team. This is not a team that is used to losing more than one game. In fact, they did not have a losing record at any point in a season from 2001 up until their week one defeat at Tufts. As always, Devanney and company will feel the pressure to continue their tradition of dominance heading up to Vermont. The Panthers will have their own motivation after getting completely obliterated to the tune of a 48-0 loss last year in the Coop. This is our Game of the Week so I won’t go into all the details, but this Middlebury defense is not what it was last year. They sit right behind Trinity at second in yards allowed per game. Trinity will need to come out sharp from the jump if they want to continue their campaign for a four-peat. Fortunately for them, I have enough faith in their traditional success and their offensive weapons to pick them in a good one.
Wesleyan has sort of been sneaking under the league’s radar because they have yet to take on the heavyweights. They shouldn’t be slept on, though, because they currently have the best chance to be on top of the standings Saturday night at 3-0. This is looking like a Cardinals team carried by their defense, which is especially impressive given that they had the league’s best defensive player, DL Taj Gooden, on the sidelines in Week 2 while he served a suspension for shoving a referee in Week 1. Even without him, the defense has already recovered two fumbles and picked off six passes (most in the league), so Bates will need to be especially careful with the football. Ashton Scott is looking like the guy under center, passing for six TDs while also rushing for 150+ yards so far this year.
Tyler Bridge has been one of the lone bright spots for the Bobcats so far
Everyone wants the CBB teams to be more competitive with the rest of the league, so it was disheartening to see Bates get shut out by Middlebury after a promising first week performance against Amherst. Getting a win may be a stretch, but Bates should be doing all it can not to take another step back this week. While their overall stats have not looked good, there are certainly some individual performances to feel good about. Freshman LB Tony Hooks had nine tackles last week, including three for loss. Another freshman (and a Maine native), running back Tyler Bridge has stepped in to take some carries and has shown promise as a 6’3” speedster. So, while the scoreboard may not be what the Bobcats want to see right now, their fans should be excited about the team’s young talent and coach Malik Hall’s ability to recruit. To add insult to injury, Bates’ two top QBs have a concussion and mono, so whoever we see come out as their third stringer will have the pleasure of figuring out Wesleyan’s defense on the road. Hang in there Bobcats, your schedule gets easier.
The inaugural week of the NESCAC football season was one of the more unpredictable and exciting weeks of football we’ve had in quite some time. Trinity losing on the opening week? Check. Trinity somehow not scoring double digits? Check. Multiple first-time starting quarterbacks impressing in their debut? Yup. A game-winning drive with well under a minute on the clock to ensure an upset? You got it. Once the dust settled, behemoths Trinity and Williams found themselves in the cellar of the conference standings, essentially needing to win out in order to get back in the race for the NESCAC Championship. This week’s slate features some important matchups with title implications, and a few trap games in which relatively large favorites will have to hit the road for the first time this season. Let’s get right into it.
Amherst (1-0) @ Colby (0-1), 1 pm, Waterville, ME
It wasn’t pretty, but the Mammoths found a way to take down the Bobcats after trailing at the half for the second consecutive season. Quarterback Ollie Eberth ‘20 connected with his favorite target James O’Regan ‘20 (five receptions for 140 yards) early and often, including a pair of 40+ yard touchdown passes. Eberth’s passing efficiency was slightly alarming considering the senior completed less than fifty percent of his passes; nonetheless, he finished with 234 yards through the air and another 68 on the ground, which isn’t too shabby for an opener. Along with O’Regan, Luke Mallette ‘20 caught five passes for 49 yards and sophomore tailback Brandon Huff ‘22 emerged as a solid receiving option out of the backfield, snagging three receptions for 43 yards. On the defensive side, the Mammoths came out a little sluggish but locked things down in the second half, shutting out the Bobcats for the remainder of the game. Defensive backs Matt Durburow ‘21 and John Ballard ‘20 combined for 20 tackles, and Joe Kelly ‘21 brought the heat on the defensive line with seven tackles and a forced fumble. More impressively, sophomore linebackers Matt Schiano ‘22 and John Schiano ‘22 answered any questions about the uncertainty at the position entering the season, combining for 14 tackles (2.5 tackles for loss) and 1.5 sacks.
Many (including myself) expected Colby to compete with Wesleyan this past Saturday, but the defense looked like swiss cheese against a sophomore quarterback making his first career start. The Mules D’ allowed a porous 454 yards in their opener, and failed to generate any sort of pressure for the entirety of the game. The run defense was especially pitiful as the Cardinals gashed their way to 237 total rushing yards at around 6 yards per carry. That’s not good news considering the Mammoths averaged 4.5 yards per carry against a much more stout Bobcat defensive line. One bright spot for the Mules was senior running back Chris George ‘20; the first-year starter totaled 104 yards on 18 carries, and the Mules should make it a priority to feed their tailback in order to make life easier for quarterback Matt Hersch ‘22.
Amherst improves to 2-0 as they total over 225 yards on the ground and catch the Mules secondary napping with some deep shots to O’Regan.
Not many people knew what to expect of sophomore quarterback Ashton Scott ‘22 considering he did not complete a pass his freshman season, but boy is he on every single NESCAC coaches’ radar after his performance against the Mules. Scott threw for 217 yards with three touchdowns and added 76 yards on the ground on just 13 rushing attempts, one of the best performances from the quarterback position of the week. A multitude of sophomores contributed in the offensive onslaught against Colby, including a pair of running backs in Charlie McPhee ‘22 (nine carries for 53 yards along with four receptions) and David Estevez ‘22 (ten carries for 54 yards). Ten different Cardinals caught a pass from Scott, led by Matthew Simco ‘22 (4 rec, 65 yds, TD) and Delando Clarke ‘21 (3 rec, 59 yds, 2 TD’s). Scott’s arm might be asked to do more this time around against Hamilton, who stifled Bowdoin’s ground game and held them to under 100 yards rushing. Linebacker Carmine Bruno ‘20 made plays all over the field with a whopping 15 tackles (two TFL), and defensive lineman James Ball ‘21 registered 1.5 sacks. Running back David Kagan ‘20 exploded against the Polar Bears to a tune of 195 yards and three touchdowns on just 20 carries, and I expect his workload to increase by 5-10 touches in order to slow the game down and wear down Wesleyan’s defensive front.
Quarterback Kenny Gray ‘20 had a disappointing performance having completed less than 50 percent of his passes this past weekend, but the senior avoided turning the ball over and found the endzone through the air and on the ground. He’ll have to improve upon that performance a significant bit in order to spring the upset against the visiting Cardinals, but with Scott entering his first road game as a starter, the Continentals will surely be confident they can pull out a victory. In the end, however, I think Wesleyan’s offense looked too explosive against Colby, and Hamilton’s offense putting up 37 points is more of an indictment of Bowdoin’s atrocious defense. Scott once again completes over 60% of his passes for 220 yards and two scores while adding 50+ yards on the ground, and the Cardinals pull away late to escape Clinton, New York with a win.
Seamus Lambert struggled under center in Week 1, but will he still be there in Week 2?
The second worst defensive performance of the NESCAC football slate in Week 1 belonged to the Polar Bears. Allowing 403 total yards against the Continentals is not what Coach Hammer wanted to see with a matchup against a very ticked-off Bantams squad, who lost their NESCAC opener for the first time since 1995. In the upset of the week (and possibly the 2019 season), Trinity failed to eclipse double digits and fell to Tufts 14-8. Neither quarterback found any success: Seamus Lambert ‘22 was 15/26 for a mere 111 yards (1 TD, 1 INT) before being benched in favor of last year’s opening-day starter Jordan Vazzano ‘20. Vazzano wasn’t much better, throwing an interception with less than three minutes left as the Bantams were marching deep into Jumbos territory. Despite their offense being stagnant for a majority of the game, Trinity had three chances in the fourth quarter to take the lead, and blew each opportunity. Brian Casagrande ‘22 penetrated the Jumbos’ offensive line and recorded a safety to make it a one score game with about 12 minutes remaining. After receiving the ball back inside the Jumbos 40 yard line, the Bantams were stifled on a 4th and 1 attempt and turned the ball over on downs. Vazzano’s interception would turn out to not be the game-clincher as the Trinity defense would force a quick stop in order to give the offense one more crack. After leading a drive all the way inside the Jumbos’ 10 yard line, Vazzano was sacked and the game-clock ran out of time.
The defense played extremely well in limiting the Jumbos to under 300 yards of total offense and will have no trouble shutting down Austin McCrum ‘21 and Nate Richam-Odoi ‘20. The latter needs to be a focal point this week for the Polar Bears, as he had a tough time sledding against the Continentals. McCrum was relied on to throw the ball way too much last week, and as we saw last season, the junior quarterback is prone to turnovers when his throwing volume increases. Moral victories will be all the Polar Bears are concerned with on Saturday.
Middlebury’s 17-13 upset of Williams was dwarfed in significance due to the Tufts-Trinity game, but the Panthers’ defense made a statement to the rest of the NESCAC world that their squad is a serious contender for the Championship in 2019. They did exactly what was needed to be done in order to take down the Ephs: shut down Bobby Maimaron ‘21 and the running game. The Panthers limited the Ephs to just 101 yards on the ground, and Maimaron ran 16 times for a mere 39 yards. Linebacker Pete Huggins ‘21 was flying around the backfield constantly, totaling 13 tackles (five TFL’s) and two sacks. Linebacker Wyllis McKissick ‘21 recorded his first interception of his career as well as his first offensive touchdown on a two-yard reception from quarterback Will Jernigan ‘21. With no Pete Scibilia ‘21 for reasons unbeknownst to the Nothing But NESCAC writers (assuming some sort of injury), Jernigan did more than enough to will the offense to victory; trailing by 3 with just 30 seconds left, the junior scored on a five-yard quarterback keeper to propel the Panthers into the win column. Jernigan found success on the ground (21 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown), but freshman running back Alex Maldijan ‘23 struggled in Scibilia’s absence (21 carries, 49 yards).
Liam Spillane had a very solid Week 1 out of the Bobcat backfield
The same offensive and defensive formulas will be applied this week when the Panthers hit the road and take on the Bobcats. Junior quarterback Brendan Costa ‘21 is respected as more of a runner rather than a thrower; despite completing 23 of his 38 attempts, most of his completions were either of the wide receiver screen variety or swing passes. I thought Bates came out with a solid game plan against the Mammoths, but shortened offensive possessions due to turnovers forced the defense to take the field on short rest. Running back Jaason Lopez ‘21 had two of those fumbles in the second half in addition to one at the beginning of the game, but expect him to bounce back in a big way on Saturday, ready to atone for last week. Liam Spillane ‘21 (11 car for 55 yds, 2 rec for 10 yds and a TD) and Tyler Bridge ‘23 (4 car for 40 yards) round out the trio of tailbacks for the ‘Cats, and all three are capable of changing the game with a single carry.
Costa has weapons on the field if he can get the ball downfield to them. Christian Olivieri ‘22 (6 receptions for 58 yards) is turning into a reliable ball-catcher and tight end Isaiah Saunders ‘21 has the potential to catch 3-5 passes a game if he can consistently get open. Freshman Mohamed Diawara ‘23 is electric when in space and caught three passes against Amherst, but he showed his physicality with an absolutely thunderous crackback block in the second quarter. He’s an immediate impact player, and Bates will need him ready to go in order to pull off the upset.
It’s no surprise that Middlebury’s defensive plan will be to stack the box and keep an eye on Costa’s scrambling ability, forcing the junior to beat them with his arm. I really do think this is a trap game for the Panthers because of the volatility of their offense (specifically Jernigan), but I just can’t pull the trigger. Middlebury’s defense will once again win them the game, but it won’t be easy.
I’ll keep this one short because it’s our Game of the Week, but no one could have predicted Tufts to knock off the three-time defending champions in Week 1. What an awesome feeling that must have been for first-year starter in senior Jacob Carroll, who waited his turn behind Ryan McDonald and finally got his chance on the big stage. Tufts has everything going for them heading into Williamstown, but my gut tells me the high from beating Trinity won’t last past Saturday. After stumbling on their own feet against Middlebury, Williams knows this game is a must win. Starting the season 0-2 is essentially a death sentence, so expect Maimaron, Frank Stola and co. to set the tone early and grind out some yards against a solid Jumbos defensive front.
Also shoutout to OJ Armstrong for the Jumbos, Go Raiders*
MK: Williams 20-13 RM: Williams 23-17 SS: Tufts 17-7 HC: Williams 30-24 CC: Williams 24-16
This week’s best matchup pits two teams against each other that both surprised us last week. We knew Tufts was going to be pretty good, but not “hold Trinity to eight points and beat them for the first time since 1995” good. Williams, a team that many are high on coming into the season due to their strong returning talent, fell to Middlebury on a touchdown in the last minute by Panthers QB Will Jernigan ‘21. Both of these games produced results that none of our writers predicted. While it’s unfortunate that good teams like Williams and Trinity could have their title hopes dashed with a single bad day in Week One, it’s exciting to already have parity in the league that we did not see last season. This week’s matchup in Williamstown will tell us a lot about where these two teams stand.
Key #1 for Tufts: Defensive Line Pressure
X-Factor: Jovan Nenadovic ‘22
A big reason this team was able to shake up the league with their upset last week was their defensive front. They sacked Trinity’s QBs 6 times and forced them into 2 interceptions. Trinity had several weapons at receiver, but it’s hard to get them the ball when there are guys constantly in the backfield that aren’t supposed to be there. Tufts also did not allow many lanes for runners, as the Bantams’ new starting RB was only able to get 2.3 yards per carry and had fewer than half the rushing yards of his quarterback. If Tufts’ D-line can get this production against a massive offensive line that is usually one of the NESCAC’s best, it should bode well for this Saturday. Nenadovic, piling up three sacks and five tackles for loss, will be counted on again to get after Williams QB Bobby Maimaron ‘21. Maimaron is an experienced and talented dual threat quarterback, so it will be a tall task for the Jumbos to keep him in check. If Tufts’ defensive front can be in the backfield as much as they were last week, the Ephs could be starting off 0-2.
Key #2 for Tufts: All Gas No Brakes
We’ve seen it countless times in sports. A team pulls off a massive upset, and then in their next game they rest on their laurels and falter against a lesser opponent. If Tufts gets complacent this week and does not come out with the same effort they did against Trinity, their title chances could take a major hit in Williamstown. This year’s Ephs team is not much of a drop off from Trinity- if at all (only time will tell). Tufts won this game last year, so that would be more reason to underestimate the Ephs, but Coach Civetti will certainly not have his boys overlooking what has been one of the NESCAC’s best teams in recent years. Tufts will need to bring the same intensity this week and not get complacent, or they could take one on the nose in a hurry.
Key #1 for Williams: Let Maimaron Rip
Eyebrows were raised around the league last week when Williams only put up 13 points against Middlebury, a team not traditionally known for their defense. Ephs QB Bobby Maimaron ‘21 is arguably the NESCAC’s best signal-caller this year, so it was surprising to see him not put up better numbers against a secondary that has been suspect in the past couple of seasons. However, his talent and pedigree should give Coach Raymond all the more reason to trust him to make plays this week against what will likely be a better defense than Middlebury’s. Maimaron has the ability to escape the pocket and make plays on the run, which will be vital against a Tufts defensive line that was all over Trinity’s QBs last week. He also had 39 rushing yards…which led the team. That statistic doesn’t bode well against the team that shut down Trinity’s run game last week. Because the prospects of pounding it up the middle do not look ideal, Maimaron should get lots of opportunities to find his weapons and make some plays with his feet this Saturday. He has proven himself in the NESCAC already, so all he needs is a few big plays against the Jumbos to get his confidence back up and his offense humming.
Key #2 for Williams: Clean It Up
Last week, Williams topped Middlebury in total offense and time of possession while only turning the ball over once. Middlebury was not outstanding in any one area. So how did the Ephs come up short on the scoreboard? Well, for starters, Williams kicker Andrew Schreibstein ‘22 missed his only field goal attempt and one of his two extra point attempts… leaving the four points that Middlebury won by on the field. That being said, I know that kicking is not an easy thing to take on and that it’s a team game- so I won’t put all the blame on my guy here. The TEAM was flagged 9 times for 55 yards, certainly not insignificant in a tight game. Williams will need to be more disciplined if they want to have their way this weekend. I don’t think IQs have dropped too much in Williamstown since last season, so expect kicks to be executed and football rules to be followed to a higher degree on Saturday.
Everything Else:
This game gained exponentially more intrigue after last weekend, because it went from a key matchup of teams gunning for second place to possibly having title implications. For Williams, a second loss would likely kill any prospects of a championship- which takes a lot of the fun out of the season when expectations are so high. Tufts now knows they’re right up there with the big dogs of the league, so expect them to have a swagger this weekend reflecting that. It will be very exciting to see Williams’ offensive weapons go head to head against a Tufts defense that proved last week it can play with the best. Last year these two teams played one of the NESCAC’s most competitive games of the season, a 28-21 win for Tufts on their home turf. This year’s result should be just as tight. I’ll take the Ephs in a tossup.
I can’t recall many instances in which the inaugural game of the season is an absolute must-win, but for Williams and Middlebury, Saturday’s tilt in Vermont absolutely falls in this category. For the Ephs, their roster is finally turning into a scary bunch of upperclassmen, with 15 returning starters ready to launch themselves into title contention. For the Panthers, an injury-plagued 2018 season saw them limp to a 5-4 record, and Coach Bob Ritter knows he has certain pieces that can give any team in the NESCAC problems. The first step in this sort of rebuilding process, however, is winning their home opener against one of the most talented teams in the ‘CAC. FOOTBALL IS BACK BABY!
Key #1 for Williams: Establish the Passing Game
X-Factor: Bobby Maimaron ‘21
Do-it-all quarterback Bobby Maimaron ‘21 is right up there with a few other signal callers in terms of being the best in the NESCAC, but the junior will have to prove on Saturday that he can toss the pigskin more often and efficiently. In five of eight contests from 2018, Maimaron completed less than 53% of his passes, including some sub 40% performances against Colby, Trinity, and Hamilton. Despite having a very balanced offensive approach in 2018, Williams’ overall success is predicated on its ground game; Maimaron led the team in rushing a season ago, and the Ephs return their top two backs. In order for Williams to soundly put away Middlebury (and set the precedent for the rest of the 2019 season), Maimaron must attack a pass defense that, in 2018, was slightly better than just two NESCAC teams: Bowdoin and Hamilton. The safeties and linebackers should be much improved for the Panthers, but they’re breaking in two new starting corners and have essentially zero proven depth at the position. Top reciever Frank Stola ‘21 and tight end Justin Burke ‘21 will be salivating at the thought of going 1v1 on some of Middlebury’s defenders.
Key #2 for Williams: Clog up the Run Lanes
At the time Middlebury visited Williams last season, the Ephs were undefeated and had upset the mighty Bantams two weeks prior to cement themselves as the frontrunners for the 2018 Championship. That all came crashing down when the Panthers stifled an Ephs’ offense that (to that point) was averaging over 32 ppg, and Jernigan registered 256 all-purpose yards en route to a 21-10 road upset. Running back Pete Scibilia ‘21 had one of the best games of his career to date, totaling 143 yards on 29 carries. The Ephs allowed a total of 278 yards on the ground to the Panthers last season, and if they don’t shore up those running lanes this time around, Williams will have to find a way to score 30+ to win.
The good news? Williams returns a ton of production within their linebacking core. TJ Rothmann ‘21, Jarrett Wesner ‘21, Luke Apuzzi ‘21 and Colston Smith ‘22 (Williams runs a 3-4-3 defense) are among the best in the league, and will be tasked with containing Jernigan and Scibilia. The defensive line has some question marks, however, as Oscar Unobskey ‘20 is the only returning starter; moreover, none of the other returners registered more than 10 tackles a season ago.
Key #1 for Middlebury: Restrict Maimaron’s ground success
X-Factor: Pete Huggins ‘21
The team’s second-leading tackler a season ago, Huggins will most likely be tasked with spying on Maimaron tomorrow afternoon. He’ll be in charge of reading the delayed handoff exchange between Maimaron and running back TJ Dozier ‘21, as well as keeping the quarterback in check when on quarterback-designed runs and scrambles. Senior linebacker and 2018 All-Conference Second Team Defense nominee Kevin Maxwell played an instrumental part in this game a season ago, registering six sacks and a tackle for loss. Huggins and the rest of the linebacking core need to stay disciplined and force Maimaron into obvious passing downs to make things easier on their inexperienced corners.
Key #2 for Middlebury: Get their Playmakers the Ball
Despite finishing a paltry 5-4, make no mistake: the Panthers have weapons all along the offense. In addition to the uber-productive ground game led by Scibilia and Jernigan, Middlebury has a plethora of receiving options. The only tight end better than Burke is Middlebury’s Frank Cosolito, a two-time selection on the All-Conference First Team Offense. Cosolito had a relatively quiet day against the Ephs last season (three receptions for 25 yards) but I’m expecting a much more impactful performance this time around. Receivers Maxwell Rye ‘20 and Maxim Bochman ‘20 will have a similar opportunity to their counterparts on Williams in that the Panther duo will be going up against inexperienced defensive backs. Junior corner Jake Kastenhuber ‘21 is making the move from safety this season, and as my colleague Matt Karpowicz pointed out, this is a key indicator concerning the lack of depth at that position. If Jernigan can just get his playmakers the ball in space and let them work, the Panthers will have a good chance of pulling off the upset.
Everything Else:
Everyone thought Williams finally turned the corner with their upset of Trinity last season, only to suffer defeat at the hands of Middlebury. That inaugural loss sent the Ephs in a spiral, losing four of their last five gives and culminating in a 45-14 thrashing against Amherst. You have to think the Ephs are out for revenge, ready to spoil the Panthers’ home opener. Still, it’s a task that is much easier said than done; both teams are nearly identical on paper – two dual-threat quarterbacks who are better with their legs than their arms, a whole bunch of offensive weapons, and defenses with major holes (notably at the cornerback position). What it comes down to is simple: which team can pass the ball better? Both defensive gameplans will be centered around taking the running game away, so it will be up to Maimaron and Jernigan to win the game with their arms. The kicking situations will be a key factor to watch as well, since Middlebury’s Carter Massingill was only 1/3 on field goals a season ago; however, the quarterback that can keep the opposing defense honest throughout the entire game will leave Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium with their first win of the season. Give me the more polished thrower in Maimaron to shake off a slow first half and lead his squad to a victory.
This year we’ve decided to tweak the weekend previews during football season. Instead of having one writer make every pick and write the article, we had 5 of our writers pick the winners and scores of every game. These picks are included at the end of the write up for each game. I then wrote each preview knowing which team our writers had selected as the winner. This week’s slate of games wasn’t very exciting because there was only one game where we didn’t all agree on a winner, but hopefully it gets more exciting when the standings get messy in the middle of the season. For now we’ll just have to see who gets the closest score!
Hamilton @ Bowdoin, 1pm, Brunswick, ME
This is an interesting one to start off with. Neither of these teams had good seasons in 2018 and they’re both looking to bounce back in 2019 – Bowdoin even added a new head coach. On the Hamilton side, I love the Kenny Gray-Joe Schmidt QB-WR connection, and Joe Park ’22 had a terrific rookie season out of the backfield in 2018. Hamilton has a sneaky offense but they’re going to need their defense to compete in order for them to stay in games. Lafayette transfer Austin McCrum ’21 didn’t have a particularly impressive first season for the Polar Bears, but they return their entire receiving corps so hopefully they’ll be a bit more on the same page in year two. Nate Richam ’20 has proven to be one of the league’s best running backs when he gets good protection and he is likely the team’s deadliest offensive weapon. The only reason Hamilton gets the edge here is that they have proven slightly more in the past – and they haven’t lost to Bowdoin in 4 years. These two teams played an absolute shootout last season, so this one could be very exciting to watch.
MK: Hamilton 28-21 RM: Hamilton 32-21 SS: Hamilton 35-10 HC: Hamilton 28-14 CC: Hamilton 38-21
Writers’ Pick: Hamilton
Bates @ Amherst, 1pm, Amherst, MA
On paper this is a game that looks fairly lopsided. The Bobcats are coming off an 0-9 season, while Amherst was the league runner-up last year and is a perennial NESCAC powerhouse. One of the biggest problems for Bates in 2018 was that their offense wasn’t able to get much going, so the defense spent the entire game on the field. They have very solid skill players such as QB Brendan Costa ’21 and RB Jaason Lopez ’21, but the offensive line needs to give those guys a chance to shine or else it doesn’t matter. Everything isn’t all sunshine and rainbows in Western Mass either, because the Mammoths lost their top two rushers and their top receiver from last season. They’ve still got seasoned vet Ollie Eberth ’20 under center and James O’Regan ’20 out wide, but aside from them the offense is largely up in the air. Amherst has always been known for their defense and if that unit can get the job done then they won’t have any offensive questions to worry about. Should be a lot of purple on Saturday.
If there’s one thing I can say about this game it’s that Colby has come a very long way. During my freshman year in 2016 this game was a blowout – 37-6 in favor of Wesleyan. The result wasn’t much better the following year, then in stepped Jack Cosgrove. Coach Cosgrove helped lead the Mules to a 3-6 season last year, including a 28-20 loss to the Cardinals in a very well played game. Heading into this season this game is very much in the air. Our writers gave the edge to Wesleyan, but let’s not look past this game too quickly. Wesleyan’s offense wasn’t particularly impressive last season and now they no longer have Mark Piccirillo taking snaps, so who knows what direction they’ll go. Colby, on the other hand, seemed to be just putting things together towards the end of 2018, settling on Matt Hersch ’22 as their quarterback. He saw some success there, but it will be interesting to see how he does without all-NESCAC running back Jake Schwern this season. Colby is still the underdog, but all I’m saying is this isn’t your classic Wesleyan-Colby football game.
This game follows nearly the opposite trend of the last one. Over the last three seasons Tufts-Trinity was a great game, but this year I’m not so sure. The Jumbo defense is always excellent but the loss of QB Ryan McDonald and their top three pass-catchers makes the offensive unit a hell of a lot less scary. The Bantams look as good as ever, returning two of the league’s best wide receivers in Koby Schofer ’20 and Jonathan Girard ’21 and their quarterback, Seamus Lambert ’22. And if for some reason Lambert isn’t doing the job, URI transfer Jordan Vazzano ’20 is ready to go. They’ll obviously suffer the loss of Max Chipouras, one of the best running backs in the history of the NESCAC, but Spencer Lockwood ’22 is in position to have a fine season as his replacement. All signs point towards Trinity for this one.
There’s no doubt that this is the best game of the weekend – that is, best matchup combined with best title chances. Williams returns nearly everyone, headlined by QB Bobby Maimaron ’21, WR Frank Stola ’21, and LB TJ Rothmann ’21, who make up just a small part of this outstanding Eph junior class. They hoped to have a better year last year but were bit by the injury bug at the wrong time and the rest was history. Now they’re all healthy and ready to compete for a championship in Williamstown. You can never count out Middlebury, although I have to admit that this does not appear to be one of the better Panther teams in recent years. They return QB Will Jernigan ’21, TE Frank Cosolito ’20, and RB Peter Scibilia who were all key pieces of their offense last season, but the bar is set pretty high at Midd. Jernigan will have to navigate the passing game a bit better if he wants Midd to be able to compete with the top dogs of the NESCAC and I’m curious to find out if he can do that. Keep an eye on the score from the Green Mountain State.
MK: Williams 28-14 RM: Williams 27-17 SS: Williams 24-17 HC: Williams 38-14 CC: Williams 31-24
It was an interesting day of games as Tufts and Trinity actually fared the same – falling in their first game but turning around and defeating the same team they played on Friday to secure a place in the regional championship. Coming out of the losers bracket is never easy, but these two teams have made it this far for a reason. Let’s take a brief look at what the matchups look like on championship Sunday:
Tufts vs. SUNY Cortland, 10am @ SUNY Cortland
The Jumbos will likely send junior Spencer Langdon ’20 to the mound, much like they did in the fourth game of the NESCAC Tournament, which they ended up winning. Although he did throw two innings out of the bullpen in their first game, I’m not sure that Coach Casey trusts anyone else with the ball in his hands for an elimination game. The Red Dragons will almost surely counter with senior Jake Casey ’19, who has put together a solid season – a 5-0 record along with a 3.00 ERA in 39 innings. The key for Tufts in this game will be keeping the Cortland bats quiet. The Red Dragons came out very hot in their first matchup with the Jumbos, putting up 10 runs in the first 5 innings. The Tufts bats came around eventually and put up 5 runs behind a Casey Santos-Ocampo 3-run home run in the 9th. If they can get the bats going earlier and put up one or two zeroes early on, it will be a very different game. The tricky thing here is that the Jumbos actually need two consecutive victories against SUNY Cortland to secure the regional championship, so it’s definitely an uphill battle. The good news is Coach Casey is no stranger to uphill battles.
Prediction: Tufts 6, SUNY Cortland 4
Trinity vs. Babson, 2:30pm @ Trinity
At this point it’s actually a bit of a mystery who the Bantams will have take the hill against the Beavers. Trinity has already used their top 5 pitchers in terms of innings pitched for at least 3 innings each in the regional. This would lead me to believe that they’ll either send out Max Barsamian ’21 or Alex Herbst ’20. Barsamian clearly has better numbers, but he hasn’t pitched in a game in over two weeks so I have to wonder whether he got injured. Either way, the pitching will be a bit thin and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a committee of guys (headline by none other than Erik Mohl ’19) to give Babson a number of different looks. Babson will run out junior Michael Nocchi ’20, who has amassed a 2.86 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched. The Beavers definitely aren’t short on pitching, so like Tufts, Trinity will have to bring the bats if they want to walk away victorious. In their elimination game against Salve Regina, outfielder Matt Koperniak ’20 had a career day, going 5-for-5 with 2 home runs and a double, along with 3 RBIs. He clearly isn’t ready to go home yet, so hopefully his teammates will follow his lead and swing their way to the super regionals. They, too, have to sweep a doubleheader to advance, so it will be a tall task for the boys from Hartford.
Well, not much has changed since yesterday as far as our NESCAC teams are concerned. As such, this will be a preview covering mostly their opponents, SUNY Cortland and Babson for Tufts and Trinity, respectively, as well as their potential game plans.
The Competition:
SUNY Cortland (32-11-1, 18-0)—While the Red Dragons were undefeated in conference during the regular season, they got bounced in a double-elimination conference tournament against teams that they didn’t lose to all year. This perennial D3 powerhouse had a tough strength of schedule, ranked #43 in the country and was 5-8-1 against other regionally ranked teams. They had an easy first round game against MAC Commonwealth conference champs, Alvernia, knocking them off 7-3. Cortland, like Tufts, relies on their offense to propel them to victory. With all but one starter hitting above .300, their team .308 average is deceivingly low due to poor play off the bench. They have 33 dingers as a team which is more than any NESCAC team and will be on their home turf and the home team. They threw their ace, Matt Valin, yesterday in the opening contest, so they are likely to run their #2, Zack Durant, against the Jumbos. Durant has had an impressive season with a 2.95 ERA and almost a 9 K/9. Because of how bad Cortland’s conference is but how strong their non-conference schedule is, it makes for a stark difference between competition start to start for pitchers. He lasted just one inning against Trinity (TX) in his first outing, got lit up by Johns Hopkins, and by the best team in Cortland’s conference, SUNY Oswego. He dealt against bad teams like Plattsburgh and Fredonia, but Tufts has a far more comparable lineup to the teams that ended Durant’s outings early.
What to Expect:
Aidan Tucker will take the ball for the Jumbos as they look to move to the regional championship game. Tucker will not stifle the Cortland hitters like he did against some of the poor NESCAC east teams and we can expect this one to be a high scoring shootout. Tufts will meet a comparable counterpart in the Red Dragons here, and this one will come down to which bullpen is better and which team executes better offensively.
Prediction: Tufts 8, Cortland 6
Trinity vs. Babson, 2:30 PM @ Trinity
The Competition:
Babson (34-7, 15-2)—The Beavers also lost in their conference tournament, losing the NEWMAC crown on the final day to MIT. They actually forced a do-or-die game by come back from down three runs in the tenth to hit a walk-off grand slam with two outs, but couldn’t get it done the next day. Babson was the second best team in the New-England region behind Southern Maine (who was upset by New England College in their first game yesterday) and had the #27 strength of schedule in 2019 and a 12-5 record against other regionally ranked opponents. They are the #1 seed in this regional despite not being the host and will not be nearly as easy of a game as Salve Regina was for the Bantams. Their .303 team average and 25 homeruns are also comparable to Trinity’s numbers, however, they are far less aggressive on the bases. They started Tyler Bell yesterday, a pitcher with great numbers but only two starts before their game against Keystone. That means that their ace, Michael Genaro, will toe the rubber today and that is tough news for Trinity as he boasts a 1.87 ERA, averages 7 1/3 IP per start, and has walked just six hitters all season.
What to expect:
Freshman Cameron Crowley will start for the Bantams against Babson’s best and might struggle against such impressive competition. Genaro will be the best arm that the Bantams have seen in quite some time and they may be stifled all day and not get many baserunners against a more disciplined team. I expect this to be a low scoring game and for one or two plays to really define this contest. Trinity has seen good teams all season, so the Beavers aren’t overly terrifying, however I can’t see them putting more than three runs across the board in the first six innings. Crowley needs to put up his A-game for the Bantams to compete and Erik Mohl will need to hold a tight lead if given the opportunity.
Tufts vs. Penn St-Harrisburg; Friday, May 17, 2:00pm @ SUNY Cortland
Another year, another trophy headed to Medford. The Jumbos have done it again, but this time with a slightly different formula. In the past we’ve seen dominant Tufts pitching carry them to a title, and although they do have their guy in RJ Hall ’19, it was the hitting that really stood out this year. Offensively, Tufts led the NESCAC in hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored, runs batted in, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. The pitching numbers were solid, but it’s no secret that Tufts is back in the regional because of their bats.
How They Got Here
3 of the last 4 NESCAC crowns belong to the Tufts Jumbos, so it really isn’t a surprise that they’re back here yet again. What’s interesting (as I mentioned before) is the way that they did it. Of the 9 guys that start in their lineup, 7 of them are hitting over .300 with the other 2 hitting .289 and .294, respectively. My first thought when I see numbers like this is that Tufts must be playing a pretty easy schedule, because even for a conference champion these are pretty jaw-dropping numbers. Turns out I’m right – despite a very impressive record, the Jumbos were not receiving any credit for most of the year in either the regional or national rankings due to their weak strength of schedule. Well, they responded by winning the NESCAC Tournament behind Kyle Cortese’s record-breaking 5 homer performance and they’ll look to continue their run into the always-tough SUNY Cortland regional.
What’s Next
The key for Tufts moving forward in tournament play is going to be pitching depth. They’ve got their guy in RJ Hall ’19, who recently took home the NESCAC Pitcher of the Year with an astounding 1.31 ERA in 55 innings pitched. In fact, Hall has pitched in 9 games this season (8 starts) and Tufts won all 9 of those games. It’s clear that when Hall takes the mound the game has a very different feeling – the question is what they’ll do after that. They have good arms in Aidan Tucker ’22, Spencer Langdon ’20, and Brent Greeley ’20 who all have starting experience, but they also need someone strong at the back end of games. Coach Casey has been here time and time again, so I would imagine that he already has every inning mapped out to a T.
Penn St-Harrisburg
Harrisburg received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after falling in the Capital Athletic Conference championship series to no. 1 nationally ranked Christopher Newport. A 32-win team is no joke whether they won their conference or not, especially when they’ve hit 68 home runs as a team. In fact, the top 5 hitters in the Harrisburg lineup all have equal or more home runs than the NESCAC league-leader (Kyle Cortese, 7). They’re paced by CAC player of the year Bret Williams ’20, who led the league with 83 hits (17 of which were home runs), finishing with a .430 batting average. The tricky thing with this team is that they aren’t solely reliant on Williams to produce in their lineup. The Nittany Lions are loaded with guys who flat out rake – Miguel Torres ’19 (.399 BA, 7 HR), Chase Smith ’21 (.319 BA, 9 HR), Travis Van Houten ’20 (.391, 11 HR), Zach Koroneos (.267 BA, 12 HR), and Ryan McSorley ’21 (.331, 5 HR), just to name a few. A team ERA of 5.67 is less than impressive, but with offensive production like this it doesn’t seem to really matter.
Matchup Preview
Travis Van Houten ’20 vs. RJ Hall ’19
Van Houten’s numbers don’t jump off the page, but he is clearly the go-to guy for Harrisburg. His 4.91 ERA in 73.1 innings is nothing special, but having 75 strikeouts on the season indicates that this guy has some pretty good stuff. The only question that presents itself is whether or not Harrisburg would want to use their starting third baseman to pitch in the opening game of the tournament. Van Houten is one of the team’s top hitters as well, so I’m interested to see if they’re comfortable using him with a sore arm at third base for the rest of the tournament, or if they’ll decide to go with someone else in game one to give Van Houten an extra game. They threw him in game one of their conference championship series last weekend, so it doesn’t appear that they’re too worried about his impact in the field the day after he pitches.
Hall, on the other hand, has had a pretty dominant year. 8 earned runs in 55 innings is ridiculous, and logically this garnered him NESCAC Pitcher of the Year honors. As I mentioned before, Tufts is yet to lose a game in which Hall pitches, so there is clearly something special going on every time he takes the mound. While this may be true, only one of these wins was by fewer than 4 runs and in that game Hall earned a no-decision. There’s no question that this guy knows how to pitch, but can he grind out a one-run victory in an NCAA Tournament game? Stay tuned to find out…
