Tag: Brad Reynolds

Weekend Preview

Marquee Matchup: Amherst (12-3, 2-0) at Williams (6-5, 3-0)

The baseball rivalry lacks the cache of basketball and football, but any time these two schools meet it means a little bit more to everyone involved. Williams sits at the top of West after a sweep of Middlebury, but Amherst is clearly the favorite coming into this weekend after winning both of their games last weekend against Hamilton.

Williams is riding high after their offense showed once again its potency. The double play duo of shortstop Matt Kastner ’14 and second baseman Jack Roberts ’17 has posted insane numbers so far. Roberts is batting a nice .360/.396/.440 slashline in the cleanup spot, but his numbers pale in comparison to the outrageous .583/.659/.753 Kastner has been putting up. The rest of the lineup isn’t too shabby either with upperclassmen Marco Hernandez ’14, Thomas Stevens ’14, and Luke Pierce ’15 along with freshman outfielder Jack Cloud ’17 all posting similarly ridiculous stat lines so far. The problem the Ephs have been having is they are allowing almost as many runs as they score. Thomas Murphy ’15 (2.25 ERA) is the only pitcher with more than eight innings to have an ERA below 10.00. The team ERA is an astronomical 9.22. Williams pitching isn’t about to become nasty, but they can be better starting with cutting down on walks. 65 walks over 83 innings is way too many. The pitching staff needs to throw strikes and let a defense that has been very solid, besides Kastner with five errors, to make plays behind them.

Amherst has the luxury of trotting out three senior starters in Dylan Driscoll ’14, Fred Shepard ’14, and Quinn Saunders-Kolberg ’14 who are all owners of ERA’s  below 1.06. Driscoll hasn’t allowed one run, earned or unearned, in 22 innings so far this season. The bullpen is led by two-way stud and 2013 NESCAC Rookie of the Year Mike Odenwaelder ’16 (ERA of 2.45) and Keenan Szulik ’16 (ERA of 2.53). All of these guys except maybe Szulik are power pitchers who get hitters out more often than hitters get themselves out. This is clearly the best pitching that Williams will have seen all season, and it will be really interesting to see how the battle of good pitching vs. good hitting plays out. The Jeffs offense is led by seniors Alex Hero ’14 and Taiki Kasuga ’14. Hero must have the most steals for a cleanup hitter in the country with 10 bags so far, and Kasuga is getting on base at a not too shabby .444 rate. Andrew Vandini ’16 gets things started at the top of the lineup and has improved on an already stellar freshman campaign, and Odenwaelder and Connor Gunn ’16 provide the pop in the middle of the lineup.

Amherst has swept Williams the last three years in baseball so this represents the last chance for Williams senior standouts Kastner, Hernandez, and Stevens to take one from the Jeffs. I am certain that the pregame speeches by those three will be fraught with emotion for good reason. You can bet it means just as much for all the Amherst seniors to have the legacy of never losing to Williams. The Ephs are probably hoping some of these games finish with scores resembling a football game while Amherst will look to show how balanced and talented they really are. Should be a fun one this weekend.

Two To Watch

1. Brad Reynolds ’14 Pitcher (Bates)

Bates had the unfortunate draw of facing Tufts and Bowdoin in the first two weekends of conference play. They were only able to play one of their games last weekend which was a loss, and the series this weekend could define their season. If they take two of three they jumble up the East behind Tufts, but losing the series puts them in a hole that would be tough to recover from. That makes Reynolds start this weekend so important. The southpaw has been knocked around a fair amount this year giving up three home runs and sporting a 4.64 ERA, but he looked good last weekend going six innings against Tufts and only allowing two runs. His K/9 rate of 9.70 is up from last year, and his walks are way down as well. If he pitches like the ace Bates need him to be the Bobcats have a chance to shake up the East.

2. Jason Buco ’15 Outfielder (Colby)

Colby has flown under the radar so far because of their late Florida trip, but they posted a very nice record of 8-2 down south. They have their first games up north against Trinity in Hartford. Buco is the outfielder and two sport athlete who does it all for the Mules. He already has two home runs and three stolen bases to supplement his .514 OBP. He needs to have big games this weekend both at the plate and in the outfield. With the emergence of last week’s NESCAC Pitcher of the Week Scott Goldberg ’15 on the mound, the Mules are looking to surprise a Trinity team that can’t take anyone lightly this season. With Tufts playing a non-conference double header against Colby-Sawyer, the hierarchy of the East could either become very clear or extremely cloudy after this weekend.

Bates Season Preview

Bates (19-17, 5-7 in 2013)

What they lost:

From last year’s seniors only two were impact players, Ryan Sonberg and Kevin McGregor. The impact of those two on the Bates offense was enormous as both posted on-base percentages above .400. McGregor, despite being the bigger of the two, was actually a walks savant, and Sonberg had 11 more total bases than any other Bobcat last year. The biggest loss however might come from the departure of last year’s innings-pitched leader Tom Baroni. Baroni ought to have been a senior this year but has decided to step away from the team this season. Whatever the reason for his absence, his 63.2 innings pitched and 2.12 ERA would have been very useful for the Bobcats.

2014 MVP: C Mekae Hyde ’15

The junior catcher enjoyed a great sophomore campaign capped off with a first team All-NESCAC honor. The stocky catcher is a Lewiston native so he has been right at home from day one on the Bates campus. Hyde is a powerful and balanced hitter with three home runs and a .324 average last year. Hyde might see some time besides catcher especially on the second game of doubleheaders in order to keep him fresh and let veteran catchers Jeff Gunn ’14 and John Anagnost ’15 get some at-bats. Still, Hyde is most valuable at catcher where he combines elite offense and defense.

2014 Pitcher of the Year: Brad Reynolds ’14

The 6’2” left-hander made the switch from reliever to starter last year with great results. He held batters to a .208 average in 43 innings last year which is low for a top of the line starter. This year he is likely to pitch close to 60, but it isn’t likely he will get worn out from the increased workload. Reynolds, like many other southpaws, relies more on deception to induce weak grounders and flyballs than overpowering hitters. If he cuts down on the 23 walks he gave out last year, he will be able to lead a Bates staff that boasts some other talented arms.

Season Outlook:

There is a lot of talent up in Lewiston, but that doesn’t mean results are a given. The team already completed their trip to Georgia and posted a record of 1-6. Hyde only played in the last two games so hopefully he is healthy when the team resumes play this weekend. Last year, Bates played a lot of close conference games including three one run losses against Trinity. They should win more of those games this year given regression to the mean, but that alone doesn’t guarantee a better record. The team’s disappointing performance in Georgia can be attributed to their shoddy defense. They averaged 3.6 errors in their seven games, and considering the team lacks any overpowering starters, the defense needs to be rock solid. If they improve there they have the bats to make some noise, but the pitching will not be enough to get Bates to the top.