Williams Season Preview

What they lost:

Williams had perhaps the NESCAC’s toughest offseason, losing a vast number of contributing seniors. Their best hitters, Darren Hartwell, Taylor Mondshein, and K.C. Murphy all graduated as did important pitchers including Jimmy Ray, Patrick Blizzard, and Lucas Casso. Players such as Phil McGovern ’15 and Matt Kastner ’14 should see more time in 2014, and could be the key to rebuilding this Ephs team.

2014 MVP: UTL Marco Hernandez ’14

With the loss of Hartwell, Mondshein, and Murphy, Hernandez has big shoes to fill on the Ephs’ roster. Fortunately, he can play anywhere on the field, and posted a respectable .366 OBP in 2013. The senior out of Fort Worth, Texas will likely move higher in the lineup after batting sixth last year, and should continue to provide solid defense in the field. If he can continue to improve upon 27 RBIs last year, Hernandez will earn that spot in the lineup and contribute to what should be a high-powered Williams offense this year.

2014 Pitcher of the Year: Thomas Murphy ’15

With so many graduating seniors on the staff, Murphy will step into the unlikely role of ace this year despite a 5.08 ERA over five starts last year. If he can minimize the four home runs and .304 batting average against that he gave up last year, he can start to turn a struggling staff around after the losses of closer Ray and former ace Blizzard. Murphy will have to improve on consistency and confidence to lead this young staff in the spring.

Season Outlook:

It is tough to predict what will happen to this Williams team given all the turnover. They still have a number of contributing players on offense, and should not have a problem stringing runs together. The question mark is the pitching staff, as all the returning players had ERAs over 5.00 last year. Though it’s too soon to predict how the pitching staff will perform, Ephs fans should expect many high scoring games early on in the season, which is something to get excited about.