Category: Trinity

Trinity Isn’t Number 1: Week 1 Power Rankings

The return of NESCAC football also brings with it the return of our weekly power rankings. Our weekly power rankings are one of my favorite things we do because they are almost entirely subjective and opinion-based and yet they make people very upset. I have been blessed with the opportunity to rank 10 entire college football teams based almost exclusively upon 60 whole minutes of football—this should be a ton of fun.

IMPORTANT LINK: https://www.nescac.com/sports/fball/2019-20/standings

I have gone ahead and included the link to the standings after Week 1. This link is for the people who think that the power rankings and the standings are the same thing: I have saved you 5-10 minutes of your life reading this article. For the rest of us, let’s get into it.

1. Amherst (1-0)

The Mammoths certainly don’t get any points for style in their 27-13 win over Bates, a game they found themselves trailing 13-6 at the half. Any questions that were asked of this team over the summer still linger—whether or not they will be able to replace their two leading rushers, or if they will be able to overcome the loss of 4 of their top 5 tacklers to graduation. QB Ollie Eberth ’20 looked good not great, going 15-31 for 236 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT, but Amherst certainly will not complain about emerging from a hectic Week 1 at 1-0.

2. Tufts (1-0)

How about the Jumbos? I was tempted to put them a little bit lower, but it would have been almost impossible to justify after they held the Trinity offense to just 8 points. The defense sacked QB Seamus Lambert ’22 6 times on Saturday, 3 of which came from DPOW DE Jovan Nenadovic ’22. I’m not quite ready to say that Tufts is a true championship contender but beating Trinity in Week 1 will go a long way to getting them in the conversation. First time starting QB Jacob Carroll ’20 was 13-23 for 173 yards and 2 TDs, but 128 of those yards came on 3 catches of 30+ yards to 3 different Tufts receivers. RB Mike Pedrini ’21 will need to give them more than 71 yards on 27 carries if they hope to remain at the top, but it’s tough to be upset about anything after this start to the season.

3. Trinity (0-1)

The Bantams are still the class of the league, but it’ll be an uphill battle the rest of the way

Before you complain: name 3 teams you know for sure are better than the 3-time defending league champions. Okay, glad we got that out of the way. Yes, it was a very disappointing week for the Bantams, whose gave them 8 points after having the third highest scoring season (324) in league history to pair with the most total offense (4179) in league history. I say this all to remind everyone of the talent this team has on paper. Yes, QB Seamus Lambert’s performance and the fact that he was pulled late for Jordan Vazzano ’21 do not give Trinity fans a lot to write home about, but there is a whole lot of football left and this team is too talented to not be able to figure it out. They have a free win on Saturday against Bowdoin and then a bit of a test Week 3 against Middlebury, a team they are also better than. If they beat Middlebury, they should show up in Week 7 at 5-1. Everyone calm down.

4. Middlebury (1-0)

This is where it starts to get tricky, but give me the Panthers here, who had almost as impressive a win as Tufts, beating Williams on a late, dramatic TD drive. After accumulating just 218 yards of total offense all day, QB Will Jernigan ’21 led the Panthers on a 7 play, 78-yard drive in just 2:01, having taken over at their own 22 with just 2:31 left on the clock. The only reason it is difficult to assess their performance is because of how little we still know about Williams, who came into the game already banged up and looking like a carbon copy of the worst version of their offensive selves from last season. 2 months from now, this Middlebury win could look like a fluke, or it could look completely unremarkable—it depends on both teams’ trajectories.

5. Williams (0-1)

The Williams defense held Midd, as I just mentioned, to just 218 yards and 10 points in the first 57 minutes and 29 seconds of the game. Yet the Panthers managed to engineer a clutch drive and found the endzone with just 30 seconds left to steal a week 1 win. But if the Ephs get a stop on that drive, they are still the same one-dimensional offense with the same flaws on defense, they are just 1-0 instead of 0-1. Yes, they traveled to Vermont with 3 of their starting linemen at the start of camp, and missing top targets TE Justin Burke ’21 and WR Rashad Morrison ’21. But everything else was the same—the rest of the league is unable to cover WR Frank Stola ’21 (6 catches, 151 yards, 2 TDs), and the running game is non-existent, 35 carries as a team for 101 yards. Unluckily for them, they don’t get the same chance as Trinity to run their confidence back up because Tufts is coming to town this weekend, but on the other hand, a win versus Tufts will be a huge confidence boost and they will be right back in the swing of things. We are going to learn A LOT about this team this week.

6. Wesleyan (1-0)

Probably a tough break for the Cardinals here, finding themselves 6th despite the fact that only 5 teams are 1-0. Apparently to some a win against Colby is impressive, but the reality in this league is that there are only 6 teams that matter in the big picture, and that will remain true until proven otherwise. QB Ashton Scott ’22 had a very impressive debut, going 18-30 for 217 yards and 3 TDs, as well as adding 76 yards on the ground, as he begins his quest to fill the very large shoes of QB Mark Piccirillo ’19. Wesleyan has Hamilton, Bates, and Bowdoin in their next three games before taking on Tufts in Week 5, so it might be awhile before we know what kind of team this is going to be. For now, they just need to continue to take care of business.

7. Hamilton (1-0)

A very fine performance by David Kagan propelled the Continentals to their first victory

Being the only remaining team to win a game this week, Hamilton slides in at 7 after defeating Bowdoin 37-24. As it has the last few years, this team will go as QB Kenny Gray ’20 goes, as talented a thrower as any in this league, despite his junior year drop off. Week 1 was not the most promising for Gray, who was just 8-20 for 157 yards and 1 TD (also adding 43 yards and another TD on the ground). RB David Kagan ’20 was the biggest bright spot for this team, earning OPOTW honors for his 195 yard and 3 TD performance, a performance which also earned him d3football.com Team of the Week honors.

8. Colby (0-1)

Always tough to rank these last three, but I’ll give Colby the early CBB nod almost strictly because they had the best record (3-6) last year. They did lose by 20 though, the biggest defeat of the week, so it’s going to be a short leash. The Colby offense had a much better day than their 10-point total would indicate, going for 364 yards of total offense. Unfortunately, it was the combination of 4 turnovers and going a whopping 1-11 on third down conversions that did this team in. Reigning co-ROY QB Matt Hersch ’22 had an iffy day, going 22-40 for 244 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs, but it’s a promising sign that they trust him enough to sling it 40 times. RB Chris George’s 104 rushing yards on just 18 carries is also a cause for excitement as they look to replace RB Jake Schwern ’19.

9. Bates (0-1)

To start the road to redemption after an 0-9 campaign with a 13-6 halftime lead at Amherst is not too shabby. Unfortunately, we play 60 minutes for a reason, and the second half was sung to a different tune, as Amherst scored the only 21 points of the final 30 and won 27-13. Much like the Williams-Middlebury game, the next 8 games will give us more of a feel for how this reflects on both Bates and Amherst—was it an off game for the Mammoths or is Bates going to be stingy this year?

10. Bowdoin (0-1)

In fairness, it was 24-21 Bowdoin with just 9:26 left in this game. Then David Kagan ’20 rattled off a 70 yard run and punched one in from 4 yards out just 54 seconds later, before adding one more a few minutes later for a rather misleading 37-24 score line in favor of Hamilton. You would’ve liked to have seen a few more standout individual performances from Bowdoin if there was any confidence to be gained going forward. RB Nate Richam-Odoi (who gets a lot of buzz for his 1400 career yards) had just 61 yards on 21 carries, and QB Austin McCrum was 24-43 for 229 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. The defense did have a collective 8 tackles for loss, which is going to be something they will have to lean on if they plan on allowing 246 rushing yards a game.

That Was Only Week 1??: Stock Report 9/17

Stock up

Tufts defense

There was no way that the Jumbo D wasn’t going to find itself in the stock up column this week. They held the league’s top scoring team over the last several seasons to just 8 (!!) points – the Bantams haven’t scored that few points in a game since the 2015 season. On the day, the Tufts defense recorded 6 sacks, 13 tackles for a loss, 2 interceptions, and 5 pass breakups. They were in the face of Trinity quarterback Seamus Lambert all day – so much so that Coach Devanney subbed in Jordan Vazzano ’21 for the final drive. While the entire unit deserves credit, the performance of the day was undoubtedly that of D-lineman Jovan Nenadovic ’22 who added 9 tackles including 3 sacks and 5 tackles for a loss. It was also a terrific effort by the Jumbo secondary in locking up the lethal wide receiver duo of Koby Schofer ’20 and Jonathan Girard ’21 because those guys truly are two of the top three or four receivers in the league. If this defense can hold the NESCAC’s best offense to just 8 points then it’ll certainly be a scary year for any opposing team who visits Medford.

Will Jernigan clutch gene

Jernigan is starting to look like an upperclassman

This is also an easy one because Middlebury surprised all of us by beating Williams in the final minute on a drive orchestrated by none other than Will Jernigan ’21. The junior had a solid day under center – 16-33 for 170 yards with 1 touchdown and no interceptions, while adding 82 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well. This is certainly a fine effort, but what’s interesting here is that Jernigan is known as more of a run-threat quarterback and he was put in a position where he had to throw the ball. The Panthers got the ball back from Williams on their own 22-yard line with 2:31 left, down 13-10. They had to at least get into field goal range to give their kicker a chance to send it into overtime, but Jernigan engineered a 7-play, 78-yard drive in which he went 4-4 with 61 yards in the air. This was not something we were seeing out of him last season and it’s very, very promising for Middlebury. Look for Jernigan to keep things rolling as the Panthers head up to Maine to take on the Bates Bobcats.

Championship excitement

More than anything else, the first weekend showed us that the league is wide open this year. The three-time defending camps have a losing record for the first time since 2001, Hamilton leads the league in points (Trinity has the fewest), Amherst and Bates were tied going into the fourth quarter, and Ashton Scott ’22 proved that Mark Piccirillo isn’t the only Wesleyan quarterback who can throw the ball. I also like that the NESCAC decided to flip around the schedule a little bit this year – seeing Tufts and Trinity play each other Week 1 was pretty cool. I honestly was starting to think that Trinity was going to run away with the league this year, so I’m glad that they got handed a loss right off the bat. This is going to be a fun season.

Stock down

Chance for a four-peat

Is Vazzano the guy again in Hartford?

The archives on the NESCAC website only go back to 2000, but there has never been a team win four consecutive outright NESCAC football championships since then. Trinity had a real chance to do that coming into this season and they still very well do, but this weekend was a real setback. Their schedule is somewhat backloaded, however, because their last three games are against Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan who are three of the four best teams left on their schedule. They play Middlebury on the road during Week 3 and that will be a huge one too, but for now they’ll have to focus on Bowdoin this weekend. I’m interested to see if the Bantams stick with Seamus Lambert ’22 at quarterback, or if putting Vazzano in for the final drive against Tufts was some sort of foreshadowing. They’ve got some work to do.

Power rankings

I have to admit; I chuckle to myself at the thought of having to write the power rankings this week. Wesleyan had the biggest win, but how good is Colby? They looked pretty good at the end of last year. Bates held their own against Amherst, but they are coming off an 0-9 season so how much does that factor in? Do you go 0-1 Trinity over 1-0 Hamilton? I think you do, but that’s sort of hard to justify. Although at the same time it’s not hard to justify because it’s Trinity. Does 0-1 Williams sneak ahead of a 1-0 team? I’m excited to see what he comes up with but I honestly feel bad for Karp having to write the power rankings this week. Keep an eye out for them over the next few days…

It’s Finally Here: Weekend Preview 9/14

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.

MK: Amherst 42-0
RM: Amherst 27-13
SS: Amherst 38-6
HC: Amherst 48-7
CC: Amherst 21-13

Writers’ Pick: Amherst

Colby @ Wesleyan, 1pm, Middletown, CT

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.

MK: Wesleyan 28-17
RM: Colby 24-20
SS: Wesleyan 28-24
HC: Wesleyan 28-24
CC: Wesleyan 27-14

Writers’ Pick: Wesleyan

Trinity @ Tufts, 1:30pm, Medford, MA

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.

MK: Trinity 35-10
RM: Trinity 31-13
SS: Trinity 38-10
HC: Trinity 35-13
CC: Trinity 42-21

Writers’ Pick: Trinity

Williams @ Middlebury, 2pm, Middlebury, VT

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

Writers’ Pick: Williams

Familiar Faces: Preseason Awards Watch List

Coach of the Year: Jeff Devanney, Trinity

With the exception of Williams Head Coach Mark Raymond’s 2017 season in which he guided the Ephs to a 6-3 season just one year after going 0-8, this award has been given to the title-winning coach every year since 2012, and even then Trinity won the league and Coach Devanney split the award with then Bates HC Mark Harriman, whose Bobcats went 5-3 and posted their first winning season since 1981. I say all of this to say that this award is almost guaranteed to go to the winning coach, and why would I pick against the Bantams?

Defensive Player of the Year:

3. Greg Holt ’20, LB, Tufts

My pick to win this award last year, Holt had the unfortunate luck of taking the field in the same year as Amherst DE/OLB Andrew Yamin ’19, who will finally vacate this honor after taking it home in his final two seasons. Strangely enough, Holt’s numbers have dropped every year since he arrived in Medford—from a staggering 98 tackles in 8 games his freshman year, to back to back years of 84 and 72 in the now longer 9 game seasons. However, his 2.5 sacks last season and 8.5 TFL were more than his first two seasons combined. This tells me he has grown into a more disruptive role where he can cause much more damage in opposing teams’ backfields.

2. TJ Rothmann ’21, LB, Williams

Rothmann has been a disruptive force for Ephs since he stepped foot on campus, logging 83 tackles his freshman year and 58 tackles his sophomore season, which essentially amounted to 6 healthy games. He’s arguably both the most talented football player and best athlete on his team, and that should be in full force this year. Some injuries in the past provided a setback, but this guy is back and better than ever. Williams has boasted a top defense the last two years, and if they are contending for a championship then Rothmann, too, will be contending for DPOY.

1. Taj Gooden ’21, DL, Wesleyan

The best interior lineman in the league, by a mile. Gooden was second in the league with 9 sacks (half a sack behind Yamin) and first in the league with 17.5 TFL in 2018. In any other season, he wins this award with ease because guys like Yamin don’t roll around in the NESCAC very often. This season, where he should take his biggest expected leap in production as he transitions into being an upperclassman, we could see record breaking numbers. The only question is whether or not the Cardinals have the team success to go with it.

Offensive Player of the Year:

3. Ollie Eberth ’20, QB, Amherst

I’ve always seen Eberth in more of a glorified game manager role, in charge of taking care of the ball and letting the Amherst RBs go to work, but it would be tough to deny that his numbers last year told a different story. Eberth was second in the league in passing yards per game with 181.6, threw 10 touchdowns to just 1 interception, while also finding the end zone 9 times on with his feet, tied for 2nd in the league. It remains to be seen whether or not the weapons on Amherst’s offense will allow him to continue to thrive in this role, with the graduations of two-time first team RB Jack Hickey ’19 and loss of RB Biafra Okoronkwo ’20 to a semester abroad.

2. Bobby Maimaron ’21, QB, Williams

Pretty straightforward logic here—for Williams to reach its ceiling, Maimaron has to play like a first team all-league guy. Probably the most talented dual threat QB returning to the NESCAC season, Maimaron should have the weapons and the system to put up the numbers everyone knows he is capable of. He has now had two full season to gel with this talented offensive unit and get accustomed to Coach Raymond’s system, so the sky is the limit now that Maimaron jumps into an upperclassmen role. His 17 total TDs were third in the league last year behind Eberth and co-OPOY Ryan McDonald ’19 of Tufts—that number should be in the 20s this year if he stays healthy.

1. Jonathan Girard ’21, WR, Trinity

There have been 3 seasons in NESCAC history in which someone has recorded more receiving yards than Girard’s 1005 in 2018, just the 4th 1000-yard season since the league began keeping records in 1992. It feels like it got swept under the rug because of the Bantams’ overall dominance, but Girard was as good as anyone last year—as a sophomore. Additionally, you would think it would be the case that now that Girard presumably an entire season paired with QB Seamus Lambert ’22, but the numbers tell a different story. Girard’s 5 100-yard games were the 1st 5 games of the season—the 5 that Jordan Vazzano ’21 played before being replaced by Lambert. His 3 lowest receiving games were the last 3 games—totals of 74, 49, and 58, against Middlebury, Amherst, and Wesleyan, respectively, a far cry from beating up on the CBB. But I’m going to bet that Girard strikes a more consistent partnership with Lambert this season, and although RB Spencer Lockwood ’22 appears to be more than ready to replace Max Chipouras at lead back, more of the production will fall to Girard.

It’s a Dynasty in Hartford: Trinity Football Preview 2019

Editor’s Note: This article was written by one of our new writers this year – Haven Cutko from Trinity. A fun fact about Haven is that he was actually accepted into Harvard as a senior in high school but chose to attend Trinity due to its superior location.

2018 Record: 8-1 

Projected 2019 Record: 9-0

Projected Offensive Starters: (*7 returning) 

QB- Seamus Lambert ‘22*

RB- Spencer Lockwood ‘22 

OT- Austin Baiardi ‘20*

G- Alex Wukovits ‘20*

C- Kyle Woodring ‘22 

G- Matt Evans ‘20

OT- Kalvin Guillermo ‘22*

WR- Jon Girard ‘21*

WR- Koby Schofer ‘20* 

WR- Devante Reid ‘22

FB/TE- Joe Samuelman ‘20* 

Projected Defensive Starters: (*6 returning) 

DL- Jimmy Christiano ‘21*

DL- Devyn Perkins ‘20*

DL- Hassan Azeem ‘22 

LB- Daniel Negron ‘20*

LB- Will Dencker ‘21*

LB- Brian Casagrande ‘22 

LB- Sean Smerczynski ‘20 

DB- Matt Patry ‘20*

DB- Matt McCarthy ‘21*

DB- Jalen Weathers ‘22 

DB- Rob Levine ‘22

Projected Specialists: (*2 returning)

K- Kimball Winans ‘20 

P- Ian McDonald ‘20* 

KR- Colin Beaulieu ‘21* 

Offensive MVP: QB Seamus Lambert ‘22 

This was not an easy pick to make, because WRs Koby Schofer ‘20 and Jonathan Girard ‘21 have both probably proven more at this point in their careers. However, they are both elite receivers (arguably the NESCAC’s two best) and they complement each other so well on the field that I’d be remiss to select one over the other for this honor. They also cannot do what they do without a great quarterback, which is what Lambert proved to be as he stepped in after an early season loss at Williams and did nothing but win games while leading Trinity to a third straight championship. Lambert’s stats were not off the charts, but he made accurate throws and showed that he could run the ball as well, posting 75 rushing yards against Bowdoin and 56 against Middlebury the following week. Look for former Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year Spencer Lockwood ‘22 to have a breakout season at running back as well. Lockwood had to play behind Max Chipouras last year, but he still put up 425 yards and 7 TDs getting plenty of garbage time reps in the Bantams’ various blowout wins. As the number 1 back he’ll get a chance to prove himself against the top defenses and their first stringers, which Lambert did from the quarterback position last season. Lambert has all the weapons in place to ball out this season and continue to win games, but if he falls off at all, URI transfer Jordan Vazzano ‘20 will be motivated to win back the starting job he had up until the Williams loss last season. Not many D1 transfers ride the bench in the NESCAC, but it’s hard to sit a QB who came in as a freshman and won every one of his starts as Lambert did. Either way, Trinity’s offense is in great position to make a mockery of their opponents as they have done for the past few years. 

Defensive MVP: DE Jimmy Christiano ‘21

Christiano has steadily improved over his career at Trinity, and with two more seasons to play, the sky is the limit for this burly edge rusher. An all-NESCAC first teamer last season on a loaded defense, Christiano was third in the conference in both sacks and tackles for loss and will be looking to boost both numbers this year. He can force fumbles (3 last year) and he also recorded both a blocked punt and an interception. While the Bantams graduated some strong defensive players, they return another NESCAC first teamer on the other end of the D-line, Devyn Perkins ‘20. With offensive lines having to gameplan for both of those guys, Christiano has an opportunity to have an even better season than his last. He also plays without gloves. Does your favorite defensive lineman do that? 

Biggest Game: October 26th vs. Williams 

These days, Trinity football is at the point where one loss is jarring to everyone associated with the team and the league. When the Bantams lost at Williams last year, they had to refocus and make changes- this was Jordan Vazzano’s last game starting at quarterback before Coach Jeff Devanney switched to Seamus Lambert. Although the team righted the ship and still took home the NESCAC title (would we expect anything less?), the one loss is still a blemish on the record that the Bantams would undoubtedly  love to get back. Williams did not play up to their potential towards the end of last season due to some injuries, but they return a lot of their best players and will be coming for that number one spot this year. This matchup also kicks off a gauntlet of three tough games for Trinity to finish the season: Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan. If they can pass each of those tests, there’s a good chance a four-peat is in the cards. The matchup with the Ephs in the Coop will be one that everyone in the league has an eye on. 

Best Tweet: 

Real recognize real. Coach Belichick may be a Wesleyan alum, but his son played lacrosse at Trinity and he is clearly smart enough to know who the superior NESCAC program is. It’s possible that Belichick has some other fall commitments, but if he made it to a game in Hartford in the past four years, maybe we’d be preparing to see Max Chipouras on Sundays this season at Gillette. The Patriots are a running back by committee kind of team, right? 

Everything Else:

How dominant has this team been in recent years? Trinity’s senior class currently has more championship rings than total losses in their college careers. If the Bantams can again win the NESCAC championship with one loss or by going undefeated, they will be able to make that claim for the rest of their lives…in addition to achieving a four-peat. While it will feel different for many not seeing Max Chipouras in the backfield, the team returns plenty of talent on both ends of the ball and has to be looked at as the heavy favorite once again coming into the 2019 season. What this means is that every NESCAC team, contender or bottom-feeder, will be aiming to knock Trinity off their throne this fall. As Amherst and Williams have shown the past two seasons, the Bantams are not unbeatable, but another team will need to step up and put together a complete season if anything is going to change. If the Bantams can win their opener at Tufts and get past the other NESCAC heavyweights in their final three games, a fourth ring for Coach Devanney and the boys will be in the forecast in Hartford.

Here for Hardware: Tufts and Trinity Regional Preview Day 3

NESCAC Baseball Regional Day 3 Preview

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.

Prediction: Babson 7, Trinity 2

The Boss Level: Tufts and Trinity Regional Preview Day 2

NESCAC Baseball Regional Day 2 Preview:

Tufts vs. SUNY Cortland, 12pm @ SUNY Cortland

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.

Prediction: Babson 5, Trinity 3

No NESCAC’s, No Problem; Trinity Game 1 Regional Preview

Trinity vs. Salve Regina; Friday, May 17, 2:30 PM @ DiBenedetto Field

Trinity somehow (via a great strength of schedule and many impressive non-conference wins) snuck into the NCAA tournament after missing the NESCAC tournament which is unusual. They showed this year that they are certainly capable of facing NCAA caliber teams and winning, shown by an extensive 10+ wins against regionally ranked opponents. They aren’t overly impressive in any statistical category other than stolen bases where their total of 129 is second to just Middlebury in the NESCAC who led the nation in 2019. A .291 team average is pretty middle of the pack as is their 3.99 team ERA. It’s not overly surprising that Trinity finished with such a good record given these metrics, but how did they beat so many good teams since nothing really stands out?

How they got here:

Trinity’s 10-5 record against regionally ranked opponents and #44 strength of schedule nationally led to their #4 ranking in the New England region granting them an at-large berth. With this regional ranking, there were a definite lock to get this bid, so it came as no surprise when they got the call this Monday. Their most impressive wins this year were against Southern Maine and Wheaton (MA) so let’s take a look at the winning formula from those contests that the Bantams will need this weekend. Andrew DeRoche ’20 took the ball against the Southern Maine Huskies, throwing 3.1 innings and was relieved by Erik Mohl ’19 who tossed the next 3.2 innings. It’s clear that Johnny Stamatis ’19 and Matt Koperniak ’20 are the key catalysts for this lineup as they swipe tons of bags, have power, and hit for average. Stamatis had 2 RBI against the Huskies and Koperniak added an RBI against Wheaton. Cameron Crowley ’22 threw against Wheaton, tossing 5.2 innings of three-run ball and Mohl collected the save. The Bantams also won 7-3 and 9-1 against Salve during the season and what was the common denominator? Erik Mohl. While Andrew DeRoche started in one of those games, Mohl relieved in both and has shown that he is an innings eater. 

What’s Next:

Mohl must continue to have such a versatile and consistent role for the Bantams for them to continue in the playoffs. Mohl’s ability to reliably eat innings, bridging the starting pitchers to the back of the bullpen is crucial and the diversifying factor for the Bantam team. While they swipe bags and have a few real weapons in their lineup, every single other team in the NCAA tournament does too. The Trinity lineup is nothing special. However, coupled with sufficient starting pitching depth is the NESCAC’s version of Andrew Miller in Mohl who, after being Nothing But NESCAC’s 2018 preseason East Pitcher of the Year, had a tough 2018 season, but is really bouncing back in 2019. The lefty has thrown 45 innings in 21 appearances in the 2019 season. 21 appearances is absurd. Don’t be surprised to see Mohl throw in every single game this weekend. Pairing the lefty Mohl with Crowley, DeRoche, Jimmy Fahey ’22, and Will Simeone ’22, the Bantams will showcase an unusually deep pitching arsenal that makes them competitive in every game they play.

Salve Regina Seahawks:

Salve Regina earned the CCC tournament’s automatic bid after winning the last 2/3 games in their championship series against Roger Williams. They like to run a little bit (66 steals) and have more pop than Trinity with Sr. OF Zack Smith ’19 leading the team with 9 round-trippers. Their team average of .297 is respectable and extremely comparable to Trinity’s profile as the Seahawks have the #49 D3 strength of schedule per d3baseball.com’s metrics. They also bolster a strong starting rotation with three arms with 40+ innings while two of them, Michael Matthews ’21 and Patrick Mayback ’20, have over 13 K/9. For reference, not a single NESCAC starting pitcher with over 40 innings had over a 9 K/9. Where they falter is in their bullpen as they do not have any primary relievers with under a 4.8 ERA. What’s likely to happen is that some of their midweek starters (Tom Beliveau ’20 and Michael Viveiros ’21) will be converted to relievers for the weekend of games. And while Trinity is 2-0 on the season series against the Seahawks, one of those games was on a Tuesday which essentially nixes that contest from comparison for the postseason since the starting pitchers are not close to what we will see today and the second game was ‘staffed’ by Salve, meaning they did not throw a starter for more than two innings.

Matchup Preview:

Will Ginsberg ’19 vs Andrew DeRoche ’20

Salve should not start Ginsberg in this game, but I’d bet that they do anyways. Coaches always put their seniors on the mound in game one for their experience, competitiveness, etc, but this is a safe and ill-sited decision in this case. Ginsberg leads the team in innings but has allowed 71 hits in 67 innings and struck out just 52 (6.95 K/9). They should throw Patrick Mayback but their second option should be Michael Matthews due to their swing and miss arsenals. 

For the Bantams, DeRoche is likely to start despite Crowley’s All-NESCAC selection and 8-0 record. Crowley’s record is deceiving as are all win-loss records as he has had unsustainable success levels (24 walks and 24 K’s in 51 innings is a bad FIP…) whereas DeRoche has been a mainstay all season and has been extremely consistent going deep into outings. Crowley, albeit, has been dominant of late, closing the year off with 26 innings of two-run baseball, but I’d still go with DeRoche in game one and save Crowley for game two of the weekend and try to jump into the championship game.

I don’t think this will be a heavy offensive affair, however, Trinity will scrap their way to several runs. Barring a power surge from Salve, Trinity’s experience this season and track record winning close games should give them a surefire edge to open the weekend.

Prediction: Trinity 5, Salve Regina 3

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

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

West Division

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

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

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

CF4 Slugger: OF Henry Strmecki ’21, Middlebury

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

Honorable Mention: C Severino Simeone ’20 (Amherst)

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

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

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

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

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

Honorable Mention: RHP Sam Rohrer ’22 (Williams)

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

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

Honorable Mention: RHP Colby Morris ’19 (Middlebury)

MVP: 1B Doug Schaffer ’19 (Williams)

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

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

East Division

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

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

Honorable Mention: LHP Eric Mohl ’19 Trinity

CF4 Slugger: OF Matt Koperniak ’20 (Trinity)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cy Young: RHP RJ Hall ’19 (Tufts)

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

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

MVP: OF Matt Koperniak ’20 (Trinity)

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

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

Playoff Baseball: Stock Report 5/8

And then there were four. NESCAC playoff baseball is here with a few surprises. Bates came out of nowhere to claim yet another playoff appearance. Tufts remained the top team in the East. Wesleyan and Amherst can no longer claim dominance in the West. Williams and Middlebury took their spots. Colby didn’t win a conference game all year. On a positive note, there’s nowhere to go but up for the Mules! NESCAC playoff baseball promises close games, great pitching, and clutch hitting. Let’s take a look at my stock report:

Long: Whatever’s going on in Lewiston, ME

Brace yourself, Bobcats fans, you’re not going to appreciate what I am about to say: Lewiston has to be the worst location of all NESCAC schools. And yes, I am writing that in my dorm room in Middletown, CT. Regardless of their location, the Bobcats have been a model of consistency for the past few years. When Coach Leonard left for Middlebury three years ago, the growth could’ve ended for Bates. Jon Martin, a former Vassar College coach, was named head coach shortly after. Vassar, a school who boasts alumni such as Meryl Streep and Phoebe from Friends (Lisa Kudrow), isn’t known for its athletics. Martin has led Bates to three consecutive playoff appearances in a division with Trinity and Tufts. Bates has always relied on their strong pitching and clutch hitting to win some ball games. The Bobcats have never been able to get over the hump. Is this their year? It certainly looks like the Bobcats have improved on the hitting side with Christian Beal ’21 and Jack Arend ’20 hitting in the high .300’s. Nolan Collins ’20 has been an absolute force yet again with a team high in innings and a 2.44 ERA. Of all the teams in the playoffs, Bates has the best matchup in game one against Williams. If the Bobcats take game one, they will be in the driver’s seat for the rest of the tournament. I am excited to see if Bates can finally get over the hump this year – it would be tough to have three straight playoff appearances coupled with three straight early exits. Arend, Beal, Collins, and co. may have the swagger to get them over the top, though. It will be fun to watch.

Short: Amherst and Wesleyan

If you were to ask me before the season began who would represent the West in the playoffs, I would say Wesleyan and Amherst. Wes made the playoffs a year ago, and their only real impact player who graduated was Matt Jeye. I would’ve expected Mike McCaffrey ’19 and Kelvin Sosa ’21 to have dominant seasons again. McCaffrey only appeared in three conference games, which was a dramatic decrease from last year. Wesleyan didn’t seem to have the same clutch factor they did a year ago. Alex Cappitelli ’20 had an off year for his high standards, and the weakness in the lineup game from middle to bottom. Clutch hitting was a real issue for the Cardinals. Amherst was fresh off a NESCAC championship the year before. One could speculate that a fall was possible for Amherst. The losses of Coach Hamm, Harry Roberson, and Max Steinhorn proved to be too much to overcome. Amherst has always been a very resilient bunch, so I was surprised they couldn’t get a playoff bid in a so-so conference. Middlebury taking a playoff spot wasn’t all that surprising to me. I truly believe getting swept by Wes to start the 2018 season just crushed the Panthers the rest of the way. It was a sophomore slump for Midd. The likes of Colby Morris ’19 and Justin Han ’20 drove the Panthers this year to a playoff appearance. Amherst and Wesleyan are the usual suspects representing the West based on previous years, so I am quite shocked that neither of them made it in this year. I am curious to see how they bounce back next year especially with Wesleyan graduating many key players.