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.
After it was all said and done, Amherst showed everyone why you can’t count them out. Facing elimination against Middlebury, Amherst won some close ballgames to survive and advance, combining clutch pitching and hitting all the way to a NESCAC title. As the Harry Roberson and Max Steinhorn era comes to a close at Amherst, it was nice from a personal perspective that these guys won it all. With those guys leaving, however, it is tough to think that Amherst will be in the same position next year. While coaches Brian Hamm and John Casey will never put out a losing team onto the field, a product of superior coaching, recruiting, and pedigree, they have a tough task to replace their best hitters. Casey arguably has a harder task, needing to replace the meat of his lineup, but will likely have some hot shot recruits coming in to fill that void. As these guys graduate and move on to the real world, teams filled with underclassmen will start to rise. Middlebury, and Wesleyan of the west division were filled with strong underclassmen, while Trinity looks to be the most promising out of the East.
1). Wesleyan:
With sometimes inconsistent hitting, Wesleyan’s NESCAC success will rely on the control and success of their pitching staff.
Wesleyan had to play a perfect game against Tufts to stay alive in the tournament and they revealed some weaknesses in their pitching staff as a result. Despite some stellar offensive numbers (.298 team AVG), the Cards struggled against quality pitching down the stretch. At times they looked overmatched in the NESCAC tournament, seeing their true advantage of starting pitching fail to execute when it counted. Mike McCaffrey and Kelvin Sosa, two of the most talented pitchers in the league, went 5.1 innings, allowing 11 runs and 13 BBs in the NESCAC tournament, leading to an early exit. They have the offensive depth and starting pitching to go a long way, but they need to compete better in big games and show that their bullpen can keep the score close if their starters don’t got deep into outings. The Cards are young, though and just might have the talent to go all the way. Alex Capitelli, Danny Rose, Kelvin Sosa, and Mike McCaffrey are just a few of the names the Cardinals are returning.
2). Middlebury:
Colin Waters is a wild card for 2019, putting up solid numbers as a sophomore and coming on only at the end of this year. Not playing football could turn him into one of NESCAC’s best arms.
Middlebury came close to making the playoffs, but a weak start to the season made any road to the postseason a long shot if not impossible. Getting swept by Wesleyan in one of the early serieses gave Midd absolutely no momentum and a 2-4 record at the halfway point. The squad stopped underachieving around three-quarters into the year, but by then, it was too late. They were hampered all year by injuries too as highly touted recruit Michael Farinelli and starting pitcher Spencer Shores both went down with Tommy John surgery after the preseason. Shores, a hard throwing righty with jerky mechanics and a wipeout slider, saw tons of success at the beginning of 2017 and if he can get healthy, the Panthers should have a formidable pitching staff. Anchoring that pitching staff is Colby Morris, one of the NESCAC’s top arms and Colin Waters who really came on at the end of the year, dominating Union in a 5-3 victory and shutting down Amherst in relief. 1B Kevin Woodring (1st Team All-NESCAC Nose Tackle for the football team) went down with a knee injury against Williams and did not return the rest of the way, and has the potential to lead the league in HR. They also have the NESCAC defensive POY, Brooks Carroll at SS, First-Team All-NESCAC 2B Justin Han, and a breakout hitter in Hayden Smith. The ceiling is high for this team, but as always the question will be: Will they put it all together?
3). Trinity:
Trinity has solid starting pitching and their offensive is anchored by the powerful Koperniak.
Trinity must be kicking themselves after such a heartbreaking change of events at the end of the regular season. The Bantams started off the season so strong, winning the series against Tufts and Bowdoin and sweeping Colby, setting themselves up for an early playoff clinch with a 7-2 record. With Tufts underachieving, Bates not hitting, and the rest of the east not playing well all together, it seemed like a playoff spot for Trin was locked up. Losing three tight games in a row to Bates, however, killed the Bantams season. The potential returns, though: no weekend starter for Trin was a senior, so they’ll be back. Alex Shafer dominated all year and is in the conversation for pitcher of the year, Erik Mohl had a down year but could return to his All-NESCAC form. C Alex Rodriguez needs to step up though, seeing his stellar freshman numbers collapse in his sophomore campaign. Hopefully a second stint in the NECBL will help him find that talent once again. Matt Koperniak broke out and garnered both All-NESCAC and All-Region honors and will be their on field leader in 2019. With their new field, good coaching, and likely some talented recruits coming in, the Bantams will be an exciting team to watch come next spring.
4). Tufts:
Tufts didn’t surprise anybody by winning the East division regular season title, proving our preseason rankings correct. Although they made it to the tournament, they lacked pitching dominance like they have enjoyed in their previous eras, seeing their #2 and #3 starters combine for a paltry 4.05 K/9. Despite sub-3.00 ERAs from both of these players, Brent Greeley and Spencer Langdon, their strikeout numbers reveal that they can’t generate swings and misses and rely on good defense and a bad BABIP (batting average on balls in play) from opponents. Well, it might not get much better, as their corner infielders Tommy O’Hara and Nick Falkson graduated. Their seniors represented a 4x First Team All-NESCAC honoree in 3B Tommy O’Hara, the 2018 NESCAC POY Malcolm Nachmanoff, and the 2017 NESCAC POY Nick Falkson which is tough for even the legendary coach John Casey to replace. RJ Hall will lead the staff to a number of wins, but they might not have the offense to dominate like they usually do. One thing to count on is that they will lead the league in hit by pitches by about 50.
5). Williams:
Williams had a tough season without their ace Johnny Lamont. He’s an elite pitcher, although even he wouldn’t have been able to solve all of the Ephs’ pitching problems. Williams simply lacked ‘stuff’ on the mound this year and their offense wasn’t deep enough to make up for it. Kyle Dean will likely move back to the bullpen next year where he saw success as a freshman, and Lamont should help balance out the staff. Jack Bohen will need to be more consistent for his team to have a chance to win NESCAC weekend games. Kellen Hatheway and Jack Roberts had talent sure enough, but got off to slow starts and never got back to the All-NESCAC level that they were at in the past. Hatheway will surely figure it out (unless he gets an internship this summer) and is still an elite DIII defender, with arguably the most range in the conference. Losing is never fun, and the Ephs’ playoff drought is getting longer and longer, so they will assuredly come back next year with a new sense of energy especially with their ace returning.
6). Amherst:
Nick Nardone is one of the lone powerful bats remaining in Amherst’s lineup.
What a run it was for the Amherst Mammoths. They won 5 straight to head to the New York Regional, and while they exited after a quick 0-2 performance, they lost both games by one run, competing and showing that they deserved to be there. Ultimately their offensive depth was an issue as Max Steinhorn, Ariel Kenney, and Harry Roberson were far more dangerous than their other hitters, but they had the best all around team in the conference. Their pitching, both starting and relief, performed when they needed it to, and some unlikely offensive heroes stepped up in big spots. Bolstering the lineup in 2019 will be first year standout Joseph Palmo, whose wide batting stance is surprisingly balance and consistent, offering a contact heavy and line drive approach. He, along with Severino Simeone and Nick Nardone, should lead the Mammoth team who desperately needs to retool after losing some of their program’s all time best players. Andrew Ferrero finally pitched up to his potential too, and with Zach and Davis Brown, they could easily keep most of their NESCAC opponents at bay to compete for another title.
7). Bates:
Bates, underwhelming in most statistical categories, somehow got into the playoffs again. I don’t know what’s in the water up in Lewiston, but once you make the playoffs, nobody could care less about your stats. What it came down to was doing what Middlebury couldn’t–winning with their season on the line and coming from behind to take tight ballgames. A .237 team average is one of the worst in the ‘Cac, but the Bobcats beat out other teams with better team averages to see their season continue. What was especially huge was how they saw a future ace emerge as Nolan Collins threw the ball extremely well in tight spots. The sophomore posted a 2.75 ERA, and was the go to pitcher for Bobcats in must win games, knocking off Tufts in their final series to clinch a trip to Hartford. No hitter posted above a .267 average with most hitters barely hitting their weight though and that is a recurring issue. It will be tough for the Bobcats to get in again with that hitting, but Zach Avila was a breakout player who could see continued success in the NESCAC along with second year starting catcher and All-NESCAC honoree Jack Arend. I counted them out before, so it’s hard to predict what they’ll do next year. All I have to say is it ain’t over until all 12 games are played.
8). Bowdoin:
Bowdoin either needs to have a stellar recruiting class coming in or Lopez needs to be the ace that the Polar Bears were missing in 2018.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears’ end of year record was solid at 7-5, but they lost out on a playoff bid in tiebreaking fashion to Bates. I’m sure that they want to get revenge on Bates for making the playoffs two years in a row, seeing their season end exceptionally early. Like in the west, Bowdoin has a lot of young guys in All-NESCAC honoree Eric Mah and Connor Lee who led the team in hitting. Those two will put up another good year at the plate in 2019, as the team will be bolstered by all around athlete Brandon Lopez. Lopez started off the season terribly and looked as if his velocity dropped from previous years, but turned it around back to back gems against Colby (not a huge confidence booster) and Southern Maine. The game against Southern Maine really gives the Polar Bears some momentum moving forward as the ranked Huskies dominated all the other NESCAC teams they played (Bates, Colby, Amherst). Brett Osterholtz and Colby Lewis will need to step up to make the starting staff more formidable, but if they do, look for Bowdoin to compete for a playoff bid again next year.
9). Hamilton:
Hamilton Baseball’s 2021 class showed a lot of potential, leading to an exciting offseason for the young program.
Hamilton, as usual, is competitive at times with the league’s best but also finds a way to come up short. The West division is no cake walk with perennial winners Wesleyan and Amherst, but Hamilton showed to both teams that they should be respected. They won the series against Wesleyan and took one game from Amherst after losing the first two in heartbreaking fashion. The team is young, and didn’t return too many starters, putting out a product much better than most expected. Matt Zaffino raked all year, garnering the NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors—ending the season with a .359 average. If they can figure it out in close games, Hamilton could potentially make the playoffs next year. They need to keep games close to give the ball to their lights out closer Ian Nish, and have to improve on their defense and offensive execution.
10). Colby
Colby had a tough year and there’s no way around that with a 1-11 NESCAC season. It doesn’t look like it’ll get much better next year either. The Mules’ best hitter and my former classmate Matt Treveloni is graduating (congrats, Trev), and the east is far more variable than the West. Tufts is always a good team, however they didn’t dominate like they have in the past few years and aren’t likely to improve without their three best hitters. The other teams in the East–Bates, Bowdoin, and Trinity are likely to improve though, and the Mules will have a tough task ahead of them without any cake-walk serieses. If pitchers throw strikes for the Mules next year (and they find a new starting pitching staff or it Taimu Ito returns to this 2017 form), they could be 4-8 in conference, but to be better, they’ll need to find some more offense.
It was a great year. Teams that seem to always get the job done, Amherst and Tufts, made it to the finals and two great coached teams playing each other is every baseball fan’s dream. In the end, Amherst proved to everyone why the game always requires twenty-seven outs, cranking out stellar performances in must win games like it was easy. The highlight of the regular season was the way that the East division came down to a three team tiebreaker, showing that no matter how many games are played, everything still seems to come down to the wire. Thank you to all the players and coaches that make the season so enjoyable! See you next spring.
While everybody is looking towards the playoffs, there is still one series and one playoff spot on the line. Middlebury and Amherst are playing for their playoff lives with everything on the line this weekend. Read more to find out what you need to know before Saturday’s doubleheader:
Location: Forbes Field – Middlebury, VT
While Middlebury has only played 5 of their 28 games at home this season, they’ve certainly had success when playing on their own diamond. On the season Midd sits at 4-1 in all home contests, thanks to their current 4 game win streak at home. On the other side of the equation, Amherst has only had 7 away games this year and they are 4-3 in those contests, most notably beating Wesleyan 2 games out of 3 on the road. Overall I’d give the Panthers a slight advantage being on their home turf, but Amherst has clearly shown that they can get it done on the road, so home field advantage will not be enough to take them down.
Probable Starters:
Game 1: Colby Morris ‘19 (Middlebury) 4-4, 1.92 ERA vs Andrew Ferrero ‘19 (Amherst) 3-1, 2.19 ERA
Colby Morris ’19
Andrew Ferrero ’19
Game 2: Robert Erickson ‘18 (Middlebury) 3-2, 3.19 ERA vs Sam Schneider ‘18 (Amherst) 3-2, 3.22 ERA
Rob Erickson ’18
Sam Schneider ’18
Game 3: George Goldstein ‘21 (Middlebury) 2-0, 1.02 ERA vs Davis Brown ‘19 (Amherst) 5-2, 3.80 ERA
George Goldstein ’21
Davis Brown ’19
Game 1 of this series features two of the top pitchers in the conference this year in Morris and Ferrero. Both are Juniors, Bay Area natives (despite the fact that Morris lists himself as from Del Mar, which is fake news) (Editor’s Note: It is not fake news) and are enjoying the best years of their careers thus far. Game 1 should be a tight, low-scoring contest and will come down to which one of these aces can go the distance for their team. I would give Morris the advantage over Ferrero because he has been able to go CG in 2 of his 3 NESCAC games so far and has maintained a stellar 1.23 ERA in conference this year. Before Amherst’s loss against Hamilton I would have said that the game two matchup should be very close as well. But after giving up 6 earned in 3+ innings Davis Brown will likely have his start pushed to Sunday. That leaves the task up to Sam Schneider ’18 who will be making his last NESCAC start. Schneider got bounced after one inning against Hamilton and put up quality starts in his other two outings and is by no means a lock for success. On the other hand, Erickson has been able to hold all NESCAC West opponents to 3 runs or less per start so far this year. If both teams maintain their same rotation as last week then game 2 should be lopsidedly in favor of Middlebury. Game 3 looks to be an absolute wildcard as it pits Freshman George Goldstein, who only has one career start, against either Brown or an Amherst bullpen arm. Goldstein’s only career start came last week against Hamilton where he was able to go 5 strong, scoreless innings to get the final win of the series sweep for the Panthers. Despite Goldstein’s stellar numbers, because he didn’t go more than five innings in his start, he leaves a lot up to the Middlebury bullpen. This
Key Players:
Middlebury
Hayden Smith ‘20: .382/.452/.461, 21 RBI, 6 XBH
Justin Han ‘20: .367/.528/.456, 18 RBI, 27 BB, 20SB
Max Steinhorn ‘18: .391/.458/.461, 16 RBI, 6 XBH, 14 SB
Harry Roberson ‘18: .316/.421/.429, 11 2B, 24 RBI, 16 BB
Numbers-wise, Amherst’s offense is clearly superior to Midd’s. Lead by a trio of Seniors, Amherst currently has the best team batting average in the conference at .304 while Midd sits in 6th at .267. One thing that both of these teams do especially well is run the bases. Midd leads the conference by a significant margin with their 72 bags swiped while Amherst is 3rd with their 53 stolen bases. Interestingly, when it comes to away games for the Mammoths, their team average is less than 10 points lower than it is for home games, showing that they are not intimidated on the road. Luckily for Middlebury, their team average goes up nearly 80 points when they are on their home field, which may provide some of the offense that Midd has seemed to be lacking all season. Overall, I think that Amherst has a clear offensive advantage over Middlebury and Midd will need to use the leverage of their home field advantage, as well as their current 9 game win streak, in their favor in order to be able to match the Mammoth’s outstanding plate presence.
Midd has something going right now after two straight sweeps. Photo courtesy of David Goldstein.
Series History (Since 2007)
Overall:
Amherst: 25-9
Middlebury 9-25
Home:
Amherst: 11-4
Middlebury: 5-10
Away:
Amherst: 10-5
Middlebury 4-11
Neutral:
Amherst: 4-0
Middlebury 0-4
It’s fairly clear to see that over the past decade or so Amherst has dominated their matchup against Midd. Both the home and away numbers are very similar for both teams, showing that home field advantage has not played all too much of a role in their past meetings. Although last year Midd was able to take 2 of 3 games from the Mammoths in Massachusetts and Middlebury made a much further playoff run than Amherst, so perhaps we are seeing a cultural shift happening in Vermont that is trending in the right direction. Despite the fact that history would choose Amherst over Midd by a long shot, with the recent momentum Midd has gained as well as their success last season against Amherst, this series will certainly be much tighter than it has been in years past.
What’s on the Line (Playoff Scenarios)
Amherst: After a devastating loss to Hamilton on Thursday, the Mammoths now need to get a series win on the road in order to secure their playoff spot. Anything less than 2 wins would have Amherst go from the #1 seed to a team that will miss the playoffs entirely. If the Mammoths are able to take 2 games from Midd they will salvage their playoff spot and retain their status as the #1 seed.
Middlebury: Hamilton’s win over Amherst was a godsend for the Panthers as Midd’s comeback from last in the division is nearly complete. All Middlebury needs now is a series win at home to come all the way back from their rocky start. 2 wins or more will see Middlebury make the playoffs as the #2 seed, something that seemed unfathomable just weeks ago.
