Well NESCAC baseball fans, the conference season is upon us. That means it is unlikely to see a 22-3 game with six homers that go over four hundred feet. The warmth of Florida and Arizona aren’t felt anymore. The only thing that these players feel is the biting cold of New England’s early spring. The conference season kicked off with a bang. Defending league champs Amherst lost two out of three games to Little Three rival Wesleyan. Trin looks confident after taking a three game set against Bowdoin. A lot has transpired this past weekend. Let’s take a closer look at what/who I believe is up or down.
Stock up
Trinity pitching
Like in any sports conference, there is a traditional hierarchy. That being said, the NESCAC is one of the most competitive conferences in all of college athletics. Sweeps occur, but they are rare, in my opinion, due to the general parity in the league. Bowdoin hasn’t been strong in years. They have been a middle to lower tiered team in the East division. They have traditionally had trouble swinging the bad even with some solid pitching. This past weekend proved no different. Picking up three wins for Trin is huge. Even if the wins are against Bowdoin, a win is a win. In a league with not very many conference games, each one could be the difference between a playoff appearance or simply only studying for finals. Trinity was lead by their stellar pitching this past weekend. Andrew DeRoche ’20 went 7.1 innings allowing no earned while giving up three hits. Will Simeone ’22 went game two with an almost identical stat line. All hands were on deck for game three with Max Barsamian ’21 going four solid innings with Eric Mohl ’19 going another four innings unearned to pick up the win. Obviously Trin’s largest adversary in the East is Tufts. Tufts had a slow start last year, but ended up going all the way to the end with Amherst. After graduating a few big bats; however, I think it may be time for Trinity to take the reigns of dominance in the East.
Dominance of the West Division
Williams is 12-1 right now without having played a league game. They swept Colby this past weekend with big hitting numbers. Amherst dropped two against Wesleyan, playing sloppy defense for most of the weekend. The result would have easily been flipped if Amherst took care of the baseball. I am certain that a program like Amherst will clean up the defense, and be a force in the division like so many years prior. Middlebury looked strong too and has two perennial POY and Cy Young candidates like Han and Morris, making it no wonder why they’re off to a strong start. Coach Leonard has made the program strong again and it is clear that last year was an anomaly for the Panthers. They lost some close games due to a lack of clutch hitting and some bad breaks. Hamilton had a tough weekend against Midd but the Conts still play a style of baseball where they can absolutely rake and just need to find a way to close out games against strong teams. They have the talent, there’s no question about that, but what remains to be seen is if they can convert that talent to consistent winning. Wesleyan had a dismal spring trip. Hitting, like always, was strong, though their pitching was inconsistent at best. They certainly turned it around this weekend winning two against a strong foe in Amherst. The emergence after a season off for Andrew Keith ’19 is huge. He and freshman Adam Geibel ’22 are strong additions to the team. I can honestly see all these teams make a strong push for the division title. All West division games will be fun to watch.
Stock down
Maine Baseball
It has been a tough start for every Maine NESCAC team. Bowdoin has yet to win a game; Colby couldn’t contain Williams; Bates lost two out of three to Tufts. After making the playoffs a year ago, I thought Bates was on the rise. The Bobcat pitching has always been its bread and butter. Like everyone knows, you have to score runs to win ball games. Bates has always had trouble putting the ball in play. With Tufts and Trinity playing as well as they are, it is hard to envision Bates making the playoffs*. Bowdoin has yet to win a game. I repeat: Bowdoin has yet to win a game. Not only are they are shooting 0% in conference games, they haven’t beat a non-conference opponent either. A major reason why that’s the case is playing in California for spring training. The teams in California are much better than in Arizona or Florida. I understand wanting to play the top talent, but if you’re unable to pick up even one win, why go? Don’t you want to gain confidence? The addition of Coach Jesse Woods has certainly helped in the early-going, but it’s hard to envision them sustaining this come conference play. The Mules haven’t faced a team from the East division yet, but the games against Williams don’t show much hope. Colby has some talent and maybe even be able to steal a win or two, but the strength of Tufts and Trin makes it unlikely for a Maine team to make the playoffs.
*Editor’s note: Bates has had a mysterious way of performing just well enough to sneak into the playoffs over the last few years despite being one of the worst statistical teams. Tufts and Trinity look like the clear 1 and 2 in the east, but we’ve learned by now that you can never really count out the Bobcats.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I have always liked this quote. It makes sense to me that the dominant teams will stay dominant no matter the changing circumstances. The Patriots, under Belichick, have been able to adapt and beat teams in a variety of ways. The San Antonio Spurs have been able to remain a dominant team even if they don’t have many ‘superstars’. Tufts lost a huge portion of their lineup, but here they are just as good as ever. Bates and Trinity are right there in the mix just like always. That’s the East, though. In the West, I think it’s a toss up. I think Midd will make the playoffs, but after that, it’s a crapshoot. Will Williams be dominant for the first time in a while? They have the pieces, and have played well so far. Will Wesleyan’s pitching come around? It showed up for the most part against Amherst. Will the departure of Brian Hamm from Amherst kill the intimidation the team radiated? We’ll see. It will be an exciting spring season without a doubt.