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…
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.
Game #1: (2) Bates vs (1) Williams – Friday @ 2:30 PM
The first game of this year’s NESCAC playoffs features the #2 seed in the East, Bates, taking on the #1 from the West, Williams. Williams was able to edge themselves to the top of the West, taking the #1 seed from Middlebury based on head-to-head record. Williams was able to capture this title through defeating Wesleyan in the final game of their series last weekend. A Kellen Hatheway 2-run home run in the top of the 9th broke the even score and eventually sent Williams on to the tournament. Bates is probably the biggest surprise in this field. Trinity was ranked better than them all season, and even had received national votes, but after taking 2 of three games from the Bantams at home, Bates went on to sweep both of their CBB rivals and secure themselves a playoff spot, 1 game ahead of Trinity.
Williams: LHP Jack Bohen ’19 (5-0, 2.24 ERA, 44.2IP)
Williams will likely feature senior left hander Jack Bohen on the mound to face the Bobcats. Bohen has had an absolute career-year this season, lowering his ERA from 4.60 last year down to 2.24 this year. Bohen is coming off of what was most likely the best, and most important, game of his career to date. In a must-win series Bohen came out and tossed 8 innings, giving up no earned runs and walking just 2. It is clear to see in that stat book that Bohen is a pitch-to-contact hitter, because in those 8 innings of work he had just one strikeout. It is not always about the punchout and Bohen has been proving that this year. He has all the momentum he needs and I’m sure that he will not be looking to take his first loss of the season in this game. Bates will counter Bohen with right Nolan Collins, a junior from California. Collins had a breakout sophomore season last year in which he secured the #1 spot in the rotation. Since then he has done nothing but improve and help propel Bates to the playoffs. Aside from a bad start against Tufts, that most starters would’ve been happy with against the Jumbos, Collins has provided his team with more than enough opportunity to win in every game he has started, and for the most part they have won. Versus the common opponents that Bohen and Collins started against, Colby and Wesleyan, they have fairly similar numbers, perhaps Bohen having a slight edge. Both of these pitchers are in the top tier of NESCAC talent. It might be a struggle for both teams to get into an offensive rhythm, but it is the playoffs and anything can happen.
Key Offensive Talent
Bates
Christian Beal ’21
You can’t talk about the Bates lineup without talking about Christian Beal ’21. Beal paces Bates with his 49 hits (4th in NESCAC), .371 AVG (4th in NESCAC), 9 doubles, 2 triples and 11 stolen bases. He is the spark plug for Bates and when he plays well, they play well. Bates are 10-5 in games which Beal collects 2 or more hits, and the fact that there are 15 games shows how impactful he has been. Supporting Beal is catcher Jack Arend ’20 who is hitting .370 with 23 RBI. Arend also leads the NESCAC in walks with 33, putting his OBP at .548, also tops in the conference. Arend’s uncanny ability to draw the walk is a valuable weapon, as can be seen by his 21 runs scored, 2nd best on the team. Justin White ’19, Bryan Gotti ’22 and Jon Lindgren ’20 have also been important pieces in the lineup, all three of them are hitting over .300. Bates has a couple of high quality offensive weapons with the support of several impactful bats. While this may have been enough against teams like Colby and Bowdoin, against teams like Williams, Bates may have to exceed expectations just to keep up.
Williams
Williams has one of the most potent offenses in the NESCAC. As a team, they lead the NESCAC in triples with 17, are second in the NESCAC with a .308 team average and are also second in hits with 340. One of William’s offensive starts that is much to thank for these stats is Eric Pappas ’21. Pappas is tied for the league lead in hits and reaches base nearly half the time with his .493 OBP. When a player almost has double as many hits as games, it is a good sign that they’re having a solid year. This is true of not only Pappas, but also his teammate Doug Schaffer ’19. Along with his 53 hits, Schaffer is 2nd in the NESCAC in doubles with 12 and leads the NESCAC in batting average (.433) and slugging (.633). Perhaps more impressive than all of these stats, Schafer leads the NESCAC is RBI with 46, 14 more than the next closest player. Schafer has an extremely strong case for Player of the Year and an invaluable asset for the Ephs. Erik Mini ’21 has provided some well-timed offense this year with his 3 home runs and 27 RBI. Kellen Hatheway ’19 has only started ⅔ of Williams’ contests but he had made the most of his time, hitting .407 and blasting the home run that sent Williams to the playoffs. Williams has proved throughout the year that they are one of the most potent offenses in the NESCAC and it will be tough for any starter to keep them completely quiet.
Prediction: (W1) Williams defeats (E2) Bates
Game #2: (2) Middlebury vs (1) Tufts – Friday @ 6 PM
After the conclusion of Bates versus Williams, Midd and Tufts will take the field for their first tastes of the 2019 postseason. Middlebury returns to the playoffs this year after narrowly missing out last season. They had basically the same scenario last year as they did this year, beat Amherst in a series and they’re in. While last year they fell short, they were able to redeem themselves this season and secure their playoff spot. Now they have to take on Tufts, who is looking for redemption after falling short of the NESCAC title last season. Tufts has had fairly smooth sailing in-conference this season, winning every series and sweeping Bowdoin and Colby.
Morris and Hall have both been four-year starters for their respective programs, and were the only two pitchers to be named 1st Team All-NESCAC last season, with Morris taking Pitcher of the Year honors as well. It is safe to say that these two are among the most experienced and talented players in the NESCAC this season, and they will need to leave it all on the line Friday night to outduel their counterpart. In all but one of his starts this season Morris has gone at least 5 innings and given up 3 or less runs. In his last two starts Morris has left it all out on the line for his team, going all 9 in both starts. Morris is one of, if not the most, decorated pitchers in the history of the Middlebury program but is yet to capture that elusive NESCAC title. This will be one of the biggest games of Morris’ career and he has proved throughout that career that he won’t give in until the last pitch. Morris will need to maintain that ferocity in order to compete with RJ Hall, who has been extremely effective at keeping opponents off this scoreboard this season. Similar to Morris, Hall has recorded two complete games in his last two contests (although they were both 7 inning games). While Morris may have more career innings pitched than Hall, Hall has far and away more playoff experience than Morris. In Hall’s 5 playoff appearances, 4 starts, he has pitched a total of 35 innings and has a record of 2-2 with one save. Meanwhile Morris has just 2 starts, totalling 13 ⅓ IP and a 1-1 record. It is also important to note that Hall’s playoff ERA is 1.29 while Morris’ is 4.05. Perhaps experience in these high-stress playoff situations will prove vital and become a big advantage for Tufts, who has a roster chalk full of playoff experiences. It is also important to note that this matchup has already occured this year and it is evidence of just how closely these two starters matchup. In the previous game Tufts won on an 8th inning walk-off 4-3. Both Morris and Hall went for 6 innings and gave up three runs. Their statline was near identical. Based upon how close that result was, there is no clear edge here. It’s anybody’s game.
Key Offensive Players:
Middlebury
Middlebury’s offense has managed to score twice as many runs as its opponents this year, showing their dominance on both sides of the ball. This is thanks to the fact that their offense is so well-rounded and has valuable weapons up and down it. 8 Middlebury hitters have already collected 20 or more hits, with three more (Justin Han, Brooks Carroll and Henry Strmecki) have 35 or more. Similarly, 9 different Panthers have gone deep this year with three of them (Henry Strmecki ’21, Kevin Woodring ’20, and Alec Ritch ’22) have left the yard multiple times. From those statistic you could probably guess that Henry Strmecki is a vital part of the Midd offense, and you would be right. Strmecki is 2nd on the team in hits (35), batting average (.330) and leads the team in runs (34), RBI (24) and leads the NESCAC in home runs with 5. Justin Han ’20 has also been impressive for Midd, leading the team in hist with 36, doubles with 8 and stolen bases with 22. Stealing bags is where Midd excels and they will steal early and often. They have stolen 142 bags while they’ve had just 36 stolen against them. They are running with an 88.2% success rate compared to opponents 80%. 14 Middlebury players have recorded steals with 6 of them stealing 12 or more. Middlebury runs a fast, high-potency offense that is more than a challenge to contain, but if anyone were to be up to that challenge it would be RJ Hall and the Jumbos.
Tufts
Not enough can be said to describe how much better Tufts’ hitting is than basically every other team in the NESCAC East. In-conference they are hitting .319 and the next closest in the East is Bates with .283. They also have the most hits (128), triples (3), home runs (7), RBI (72), OBP (.414) and slugging (.442). Tufts has just been flat out better than all of their NESCAC opponents. While these numbers are real and hold value, it is important to note the level of competition in the East versus the West. The East was so top-heavy this year that it allowed the far and away best team, Tufts, to gain inflated statistics compared to NESCAC West teams. They gain this advantage because the level of competition is much more even in the West so it is much more difficult to gain the dominant statistics that many Tufts players have. That being said, they are still most likely the best offense in the NESCAC. 6 different Jumbos have multiple home runs and 6 of their starters are hitting at or well above .300. Elias Varinos ’20 leads the the team in hits with 45 and walks with 23. Casey Santos-Ocampo ’19 paces the team in dingers with 4 and freshman Peter DeMaria ’22 leads the NESCAC in doubles with 15. Tufts has no soft spots in their lineup and pitchers need to be mentally aware of that going in. You can’t feed a fastball to the 9 hitter because he can take you yard too. I’m yet to be convinced that anyone can truly outclass Tufts’ offense, so Midd will have to show us something special Friday.
In this game Tufts holds the clear advantage. They will be upset that they lost their initial game and take their anger out on an already down Bates team. Brent Greeley ’20 would most likely start the second game for the Jumbos and he has been solid this year, holding a 3-2 record and 2.99 ERA. Bates would send out Justin Foley ’19, who has a 6-2 record with a 3.59 ERA. These two did not match up head to head in the regular season but both recorded wins against each othersrespective club. In all reality, Tufts is the far more talented and experienced club and would be unlucky to win their first game and have no chance of letting the first two slip by when they’ve lost just 2 conference games all year.
Prediction: (E1) Tufts defeats (E2) Bates, (E2) Bates is eliminated
(1) Williams vs. (2) Middlebury – Saturday @ 2 PM
Sam Rohrer ’22
This matchup will likely feature Middlebury senior Colin Waters ’19 and Williams freshman Sam Rohrer ’22. Waters has the experience over the rookie Rohrer, but Waters has struggled this year while Rohrer has impressed many in his freshman campaign. Last time against Midd Rohrer went 7 strong innings and only gave up one run to get the win. Against Williams Waters went 6 innings and gave up 4 runs in a loss. Well the numbers and this years past tell us that Rohrer and Williams have the clear advantage, a playoff atmosphere and a underdog win against Tufts might propel Midd to championship Sunday.
Prediction: (W1) Williams defeats (W2) Middlebury
(1) Tufts vs. (2) Middlebury – Saturday 45 minutes after Williams vs. Midd
Tufts an Midd meet once again here in a rematch of the first round. This game is an elimination one so everything is one the line for both teams. This is where arm health and depth really comes into play. Midd likely will send freshman Alex Price ’22 to the mound here who has been lights out the last few weeks and is certainly a candidate for freshman of the year along with several of the Tufts first year hitters. Their conference leading ERA will be put to the test as will their waning arm health (Starter Michael Farinelli ’21 hasn’t pitched in weeks), however, they certainly are up to the task. For the Jumbos Hall could certainly appear but their bullpen is very deep, although not as talented as Midd’s, so they have lots of semi-qualified candidates. This game is an absolute free-for-all but I think the Jumbos have a winning tradition, mentality and expectation and will find a way to make the game theirs.
Game 6 @ 10:30 AM, Game 7 30 minutes after game 6 (if necessary)
In this championship scenario, Tufts will need to defeat Williams twice to take the crown while the Ephs just have to take one of the possible two games to be named NESCAC champions. One thing that Williams would have going for them is that they have played 1 less game than the Jumbos, saving important arms. Tufts’ bullpen will have already been overused at this point and one more game let alone two would take a huge toll. That being said, three games in three days is still a lot so while Williams will be in better shape they are not at 100% by any means. These two offenses are probably the best in the NESCAC and they will be facing some very tired pitching staffs. I would expect that Tufts would be able to get to Williams in the first game of the series, but they would have basically spent the lasts of their pitching. This would allow Williams to take the advantage in the final game of the playoffs an come out victorious.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
This three game series held high stakes in the NESCAC West, as both Midd and Amherst were tied at 5-4 in conference heading into the series. Whoever won this series was guaranteed a playoff spot, so the entire season was on the line for both teams. Friday was game one in which two California natives, Andrew Ferrero ’19 and Colby Morris ’19, took the mound for their respective teams. Midd was able to score and take the lead in the 3rd inning and then added on one more run each in the 5th and 7th innings. Morris was stifling Amherst batters and managed to keep them scoreless until the 8th, when Joseph Palmo ’21 mashed a three-run dinger to tie things up. The score remained 3-3 until the 10th inning when Midd doubled their total and scored 3 in the top half of the inning. Amherst was able to respond with a run in the bottom half but it was not enough and Midd was able to capture 1 of the 2 wins they needed to clinch the playoffs. In game two Amherst scored once in the 2nd inning and Midd quickly matched it in the 3rd. In the 4th inning Phil Bernstein ’19 singled in Alec Ritch ’22 and the score remained 2-1 Middlebury until the final out. With Midd taking the first two games, they clinched a playoff berth and the final game was just to help decide seeding. Game three was yet another close contest in what proved to be a thrilling series. The game was back and forth throughout with it being tied 5-5 going into the bottom of the 9th. After the first three hitters reached base, Seve Simeone ’20 ripped a single, allowing Amherst to capture the final game of the series and prevent Midd from snagging the #1 seed in the West. Next weekend Midd will travel to Colby for the NESCAC Tournament and face 1 seed in the East Tufts, while Amherst’s season is complete and the reigning champs will not have an opportunity to defend their title.
Williams vs. Wesleyan
Jack Bohen will look to continue his brilliant season into the NESCAC playoffs
The second of the NESCAC West series to occur this weekend took place between Williams and Wesleyan for each team’s final series of the year. Jack Bohen ’19 started game 1 for the Ephs and continued the dominance he has shown all year. He went 8 strong and gave the Cardinals no chance as he gave up no earned runs. The Eph bats were hot in game one as well; Eric Pappas ’21 had 3 RBI and Williams scored 6 runs to defeat Wesleyan by a final score of 6-1. Similar to Middlebury, going into the second day of the series Williams knew they needed just one win to guarantee playoffs. Despite this, Wesleyan came out very strong in game 2. Kelvin Sosa ’21 tossed a 7 inning CGSO, collecting 7 strikeouts and walking just 1. Johnny Lamont ’20 collected a 6 inning CG, but his 2 runs were too many for his offense to cover. Going into the final game both teams needed a win to have even a shot at playoffs, so this game was winner-take-all. Game three was extremely close as the teams were neck and neck throughout. Both teams staffed the game, using many pitchers in short spurts. They took turns trading blows, as Jonny Corning ’20 hit a two-run shot in the 4th to give the Cardinals the lead. The game was tied 3-3 going into the top of the 9th inning, when Eph prayers were answered with a Kellen Hatheway ’19 two-run bomb that ended up sending Williams right to the playoffs. Williams will be back in action next weekend in Waterville, ME, facing #2 seed in the East Bates. Wesleyan fell to Trinity 2-0 in their final game of the season on Monday.
Bates vs. Bowdoin
Brandon Lopez wrapped up a solid career against Bates over the weekend
Heading into this weekend Bates knew that just one win in their doubleheader against Bowdoin would send them to the playoffs, holding the head-to-head tiebreaker against Trinity. With this information in mind, Bates did not hesitate to get the job done as they came out firing in the first game of this Saturday doubleheader. Justin Foley ’19 was fantastic for the Bobcats, tossing a complete game shutout and allowing just 6 baserunners – earning NESCAC Pitcher of the Week honors in the process. Brandon Lopez ’19 was less impressive for Bowdoin, allowing 6 runs in his 6 innings. Christian Beal ’21 paced the Bobcats offensively, going 4-4 with 2 RBI, while Jon Lindgren ’20 added on by going 3-4. Catcher Jack Arend ’20 drew 3 walks, bringing his season total to a league-leading 33. All in all, Bates captured game one with ease and therefore their playoff berth. Despite this, the Bobcats continued to pounce on Bowdoin in game 2. Nolan Collins ’20 concluded his terrific regular season with a 5-inning, 4-hit, 1-run effort, earning the win on the mound. As a team Bates collected 14 hits and 11 RBIs in game 2, bringing home a decisive 11-1 victory. Bowdoin finished out their year with a non-conference win on Sunday while Bates takes on #1 seed in the West Williams next weekend.
Tufts vs. Colby
While Tufts entered the weekend knowing that they had already clinched a playoff spot, they ended up needing one victory against Colby to clinch the #1 seed, and they decided to tack on one more for good measure. RJ Hall ’19 threw a complete game, giving up just one run in the first game of the doubleheader. Six different Jumbos collected RBIs in the game, highlighted by a 2-4 day including a single and a home run from Harrison Frickman ’19, as Tufts took the game easily, 10-1. In game two the foot wasn’t really let off the gas as Tufts held Colby to just 2 runs behind Aidan Tucker ’22 providing 8 innings, allowing just 1 run and striking out 4. Brandon Bay ’21 and Will Shackelford ’19 combined for 5 RBIs for the Jumbos as game 2 was taken by a score of 7-2. While the Colby Mules will not be back in action this season, their field will be. Tufts will be one of the 4 NESCAC teams traveling to Waterville this weekend for the NESCAC Baseball Championships. They’ll start by facing 2 seed in the West Middlebury on Friday.
Our playoff picture has firmly come into focus headed into our final weekend. Following a riveting last set of games, highlighted by an incredible Tufts series win over Trinity, we have (finally!) been blessed by the scheduling gods with a terrific weekend of games to determine who will compete for a NESCAC crown. Let’s find out who’s feeling good and bad heading into the last regular season weekend.
Stock Up
Final Weekend Drama
The NESCAC baseball schedule and general competitive format has been a topic of much negative discussion around these parts, but I will give credit where credit is due. This weekend is set up to be an absolute thriller thanks to a touch of good fortune, most notably in the West. Middlebury and Amherst will square off, both at 5-4, while Williams (5-4) faces Wesleyan (4-5), with 4 teams all still in playoff contention going at it head-to-head. It’s fairly simple—the series winner of Middlebury and Amherst is headed to the postseason, that much is certain. The Williams and Wesleyan results will be a little muddier thanks to the tiebreakers. Wesleyan will be rooting for an Amherst sweep along with a sweep win of their own, in which case the 8-4 Mammoths and the 7-5 Cardinals would make it in. A Middlebury series victory could be promising for Wesleyan as well, given that they hold the tiebreaker over Amherst and Williams as well if they’re able to win at least two this weekend. A Williams series win puts them at 7-5 and into the tournament, which would be a massive achievement for this Ephs team. There are two scenarios that end in a three-team tie for second (Midd, Williams, Wesleyan OR Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan at 6-6). In the first case, the second playoff team would be decided by overall winning percentage as each team would be 3-3 against one another. The team that would go to the playoffs would be between Midd and Williams–It’d be Williams who would hold an extremely narrow advantage over the winning percentage. In the second case, Wesleyan would be in as they would have won series against both Williams and Amherst.
Bates’ Playoff Chances
I simply cannot believe the Bobcats might (and almost certainly will) pull this one off again. They have quietly put together a very nice season, even appearing in the last New England regional rankings. After sweeping Colby and receiving the good news that Tufts took two out of three from Trinity, Bates sits at 7-3 while Trinity is in the clubhouse at 8-4. The Bobcats need just one win on account of their series win versus the Bantams, and their last two games are against the 6-21-2 Bowdoin Polar Bears. After sneaking into the playoffs last year, they somehow might just do it again, barring a shocking turn of events versus their in-state rival this weekend.
JP Knight’s Clutch Gene
Are you kidding me?!? Tufts was down 6-5 in the ninth inning against Trinity in Game 2. The bases were loaded, but there were two outs. In fact, they were down to their last strike. But then OF JP Knight ’20 struck. He deposited a grand slam over the fence to give Tufts a 9-6 lead which they would hold and turn into the clinching of a NESCAC Tournament berth. It capped off a 4-4, 2 HR, 7 RBI day for Knight, who was this week’s Player of the Week and on the D3baseball.com national team of the week. Pretty damn good week if you ask me. It was perhaps a turning point for the Jumbos, who could’ve been looking pretty sticky at 7-3 heading into the final weekend. Instead it clinched their spot in the NESCAC tournament, and as we mentioned, could prove to be a dagger for Trinity.
Doug Schaffer’s Player of the Year Chances
I’ve been hesitant to talk about this as a fellow Eph, but with just three conference games left and with Williams well within striking distance to improbably make the NESCAC Tournament, it’s finally time to talk about Doug Schaffer ’19. The senior infielder started out white hot, and while the rest of the league waited for him to cool off, he simply refused to do so. He leads the league with a .455 batting average, and has 14 more RBI than anyone else with 45. The no home runs are a red flag I suppose, but does that really matter with the rest of the stats? I doubt it. Now, it would be tough to give the POY to a guy who doesn’t make the postseason, which is why this upcoming weekend series against Wesleyan is crucial. If Williams wins this series and heads to the postseason, Schaffer has my vote.
Stock Down
Morale in Hartford
There simply isn’t anything else to talk about at this stage in the game. For the second straight year it looks as if Trinity is going to inexplicably miss the NESCAC tournament. For the second straight year, you could make the case that the Bantams are the best team in the league, and they might find themselves watching at home. Last season they needed just one victory to clinch a postseason appearance in their final series at home against Bates, but they couldn’t get it done. This season they had Tufts down 6-3 to start the 9th and even down to their last strike in a game that would have clinched a playoff spot before JP Knight stepped in and put the Jumbos ahead. It was a quietly tough battle to begin with this year, especially after Trinity lost their series to Bates, but after Bates swept Colby to move to 7-3, it is seriously looking like a reality that history will repeat itself. Last year they were 7-5 and missed out thanks to some tiebreakers, and this year could feel even worse—missing out at 8-4. The Bantams will be the biggest Bowdoin fans alive this weekend, needing them to somehow find a way to take both games off Bates. If not, it happened again—somehow. For a team with this much talent who is able to do this much damage outside the NESCAC, it is really surprising that they, yet again, couldn’t close out the most important games of their season. Is this a result of a serious lack of clutch genes from the Bantams? Maybe. Is it because of poor coaching and questionably managed games? Probably. Whatever it is, something isn’t right. The question now just may be: is this irreversible damage to the confidence and psyche in Hartford?
Editor’s Note: Having said all that, however, Trinity still was ranked 3rd in the latest New England Regional Rankings, almost certainly giving them an at-large Pool C bid to the NCAA tournament. While it is highly unusual that a team that misses their conference tournament could make the NCAA tournament, the top four teams in the regional rankings always get bids to the tourney, so at least in this moment, the Bantams’ season will continue past next weekend.
