Tag: Nick Cooney

What Everybody’s Waiting For: NESCAC Baseball Opening Weekend Preview

Most NESCAC teams have concluded their spring trips. You know what that means: NESCAC baseball is back! Conference games return this weekend with a full slate of games. There were no dominant teams in the preseason unlike recent years, so NESCAC play should be as competitive as ever. Here is a preview of the upcoming conference games:

Williams @ Middlebury, Friday March 30th @ University of La Verne and Saturday March 31st @ Chapman University (Doubleheader) Los Angeles, California (Midd is the home team):

This series should be fascinating for a couple reasons. Midd is only 4-8 on the season. After such a promising playoff run, the Panthers don’t look like the same team in the standingsfrom a year ago. Don’t let the record fool you, however. The losses Midd incurred came from DIII powerhouses such as Emory, Pomona-Pitzer, and #15 Redlands. A red flag shouldn’t be going off for the Panthers yet, but if they drop more than one game to Williams, I don’t think Midd will come out on top in the west. It’s also worth noting that in 2017, the Panthers started out 3-9. Colby Morris is carrying the pitching staff with a 2.18 ERA and 20.2 innings pitched. He obviously is the ace of the staff, but the two guys below him in innings pitched, Robert Erickson and Colin Waters both have ERAs in the 4’s and 8’s. Freshman Will Oppenheim will be an key arm to watch this weekend, especially after the recent injury (Tommy John surgery) to Spencer Shores, who was electric at times in 2017. Winning the Friday game of a NESCAC series is important to gain some momentum, but strong pitching has to be constant throughout the entire series, not just the opener. Similarly, the lineup has inconsistencies through it. Justin Han has clearly picked up where he left off last season with a .359 avg so far. Sam Graf, for example, hit .323 last year, but is only hitting .182. The good news for Midd is that conference play hasn’t started yet. There’s time for guys like Graf, Erickson, and Waters to become comfortable and dominate again. Williams has limped out to a 1-8 record so far. The team is clearly missing southpaw Johnny Lamont because the Ephs collectively hold a 7.40 ERA. The one silver lining in this dismal start is freshman outfielder Erik Mini. Mini is second on the team with a .345 average, and has already jacked two homers. The offense has hit started hot with a .292 team average, but quality pitching has been non-existent. Only one pitcher, George Carroll, currently holds an ERA under 4.

Expect these games to be high scoring—especially when the starting pitching becomes so-so in games two and three. Midd’s the better team, and should come out on top in this series.

Predicted conference record: Midd 2-1, Williams 1-2

Trinity @ Tufts, Friday March 30th and Saturday March 31st (Doubleheader), Medford, Mass:

Trinity’s hitting has started off slowly but has had great pitching and could rely on that this weekend.

One of the biggest surprises for me this season is that Tufts didn’t jump out to a hotter start. Most of the games they’ve played have been decided by a 10 or more run differential against weak teams. I know it’s spring training, but I thought Tufts’ competitive spirit would foster closer games. The Jumbos are an average 5-4 so far. Seniors Tommy O’Hara and Malcolm Nachmanoff are leading the Jumbos offense. Both are hitting in the mid to high .300’s, and have been staples in the Tufts lineup for some time. What’s the problem then? Pitching. Similar to Wesleyan a few years back, there’s an inevitable fall from grace after your top guys graduate. That was Nick Cooney and Gavin Pittore for Wesleyan. For Tufts, it’s Speros Varinos and Tim Superko. Both guys would be aces for any team in the NESCAC. Without those two, Tufts starting pitching has greatly deteriorated. Brent Greely and RJ Hall have picked up the slack as the number one and two pitchers, respectively, and they will miss Brad Marchetti for the season due to a torn ACL. After those guys, there’s a massive drop in quality pitching. Except for Spencer Langdon and the two guys mentioned above, there’s no other Jumbo pitcher with a sub 4 ERA. Like great teams, however, the Jumbos will always figure it out. Don’t let their average record fool you. The ‘Bos are still legit.

Trinity has hobbled out to a 3-7 record so far. The main area of concern for the Bantams is hitting. The team has a .259 average. NESCAC pitching is strong, so a .259 season average won’t cut it. Senior Brendan Pierce is only hitting .207, and leads the team with strikeouts. He has been a catalyst for big innings his previous three years, so he has to figure it out if the Bantams want to have a successful season. Starting pitching is solid for the Bantams as Erik Mohl leads the staff with a 2.89 ERA. The next two guys have ERAs below 4. This should bode well for Trinity down the stretch because as I’ve noted above, quality starting pitching always comes at a premium. If the Bantams can figure themselves out at the plate, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be valid competitors.

The series is held in Medford, and Tufts always utilizes their home field advantage. Look for Trinity to maybe pick up one game, but Tufts should dominate the rest.

Predicted conference record: Tufts 2-1, Trinity 1-2

Bates @ Bowdoin,  Friday March 30th and Saturday March 31st, @ Colby College (Waterville, ME)

While Connor Speed was supposed to be the ace and was on our Preseason All-NESCAC Team, it looks like Russell is taking the reigns after a solid start.

After Bates limped into the playoffs last year, it seems like the Bobcats are continuing in that path. The one statistic that can’t be overlooked is Bates’ team .191 average. .191!! That isn’t just one guy or a couple guys, it’s the whole team. Obviously the graduation of Brendan Fox and Ryan McCarthy hurt Bates a lot. The top nine Bates guys are barely hitting in the mid-.200’s if that. The Bobcats are obviously short on hitting, but their pitching hasn’t picked up the slack either. Their ace, Connor Russell, leads the team with a 4.22 ERA. It shouldn’t be stated enough that these statistics are from spring training games. However, they are indicative of what could be to come. Bates needs to figure it out at the plate and on the mound if they want a shot at reaching the playoffs again.

Bowdoin comes into the NESCAC season with a 6-6 record. That’s very solid relative to other NESCAC teams. Senior Joe Gentile mashed over spring training—hitting .405. Furthermore, many of the top guys in the Polar Bears’ lineup are hitting above .300. Bowdoin looks like they’ve improved significantly from last year. Starting pitching has been only decent. Sophomore Seamus Keenan leads the squad with a 1.42 ERA, while the next two guys in the rotation are above the 4 ERA mark. Bowdoin has been waiting some time to get back in the hunt in the east. That division is so competitive that it’s really hard for teams like Bowdoin to receive one of the covetous playoff spots.

Bowdoin and Bates seem like they’re on two different tracks: Bowdoin is rising; Bates is falling. I think this series will be won decisively.

Predicted conference record: Bowdoin 3-0, Bates 0-3

Hamilton @ Amherst, Friday March 30th and Saturday March 31st, Amherst, MA:

Amherst comes into NESCAC baseball with a 6-5 overall record after the team’s spring trip. Senior shortstop Harry Roberson leads the squad in RBIs with eleven so far. Although Roberson is only hitting .229, expect the elite NESCAC shortstop to hit in the .300’s for conference play. Roberson’s below average hitting is indicative of Amherst’s lack of success with the bats so far. The team is only hitting .262, and I don’t think they lost too many big bats from last season. Like Tufts, Amherst is one of those teams that is usually in it for the long haul; they’ll inevitably figure it out. Amherst, under Hamm’s guidance, is known for a well-balanced team. Amherst pitching has been the best in the NESCAC so far in regard to across the board depth. While reigning NESCAC pitcher of the week, Sam Schneider, is the team’s ace, Junior Andrew Ferrero, holds a 1.13 ERA and is pitching like a #1.To have great starting pitching is one thing. Dominant teams, however, have relievers who can hold a one run lead on the road. Amherst has those guys in Zach Horowitz and Mike Dow who both hold ERA’s in the low 1’s.

Hamilton arrives with a 6-7 overall record, riding a six game winning streak. In the past few years, I don’t think anyone ever doubted Hamilton’s potential. Guys like Ryan Wolfsberg, Kenny Collins, ad Andrew Haser had enormous talent, but it always seemed like Hamilton couldn’t defeat those elite teams in close ballgames. Hamilton was at Wesleyan last year, and could’ve taken at least two of the contests. Most of 2017’s games didn’t turn out in Hamilton’s favor even with their stud-filled lineup. Errors have plagued Hamilton for years and their pitching is nothing to write home about. After losing so many of their starters to graduation, they will likely have a tough time adapting to conference play. Ian Nish is an early bright spot with a  1.42 ERA, but Dan DePaoli should anchor the staff. Freshmen infielders Jarrett Lee and Matt Zaffino have mashed at the plate–holding the highest batting averages on the team (just over .400 and .375, respectively). Zafino has already accumulated ten errors, though and the Continentals need to learn how to win close ballgames which comes with experience, not youth. While they may have potential down the road, I can’t see them winning more than one game against Amherst.

Amherst is Amherst and against such an inexperienced team, they will find a way to get it done.

Predicted conference record: Amherst 2-1, Hamilton 1-2

Up for Grabs; NESCAC West Baseball Preview

Editor’s Note: As the new editor of NBN, I will try to be much less biased than Pete (sorry, Panther fans, and you’re welcome, Amherst fans). This not only pertains to my own articles, which will be on hiatus during baseball season, but also all of NBN’s articles. And I’ll start this era of free speech with Andrew’s well written and well researched season preview which doesn’t exactly provide such a great outlook for my Panthers.

Don’t let the blizzard fool you, northerners. Spring is coming. Barbeques, darties with friends, ‘studying’ outside, and a nice seventy-five degrees. And the men of NESCAC baseball will be trotting out to their respective positions; catchers will shake blue’s hand; pitchers will kick around the dirt around the mound to their liking; outfielders will play catch with each other before the catcher throws down to second. The batter will nod to the umpire, and the catcher will lay down a finger. The pitcher will nod, take a large inhale, and deliver a pitch. Indeed, baseball is here. The NESCAC is a competitive as ever. The East division has been dominated by Tufts for some time, but the West always seems to have new representatives in the playoffs each year. Here is a preview of NESCAC west baseball:

Amherst:

Head Coach: Brian Hamm, Ninth Season

Projected NESCAC Record: 8-4 (only 12 conference games)

Key Losses:

RHP Jackson Volle ’17 (5-2, 3.02 ERA, 47.2 IP)

OF Yanni Thanopoulos ’17 (.417 AVG, 60 H, 41 RBI)

OF Anthony Spina ’17 (.351 AVG, .522 SLG, 4 HR)

RHP Drew Fischer ’18 (1.40 ERA, 25.2 IP, 30 K)

Returning Starters:

SS Harry Roberson (.359 AVG, 52 H, .538 SLG)

2B Max Steinhorn ’18 (.316 AVG, 16 SB, .975 FPCT)

3B Nick Nardone ’19 (.305 AVG, 3 HR)

OF Ariel Kenney ’18 (.296 AVG, 7 2B)

C Severino Tocci ’20 (.306 AVG, 9 2B, .298 RCS%)

1B Chase Henley ’19 (101 AB, 30 K, 23 RBI)

DH Ryan Hardin ’18 (.327 AVG)

LHP Sam Schneider ’18 (38.2 IP, 2.56 ERA, 2-2)

Biggest Series:

April 20-21 vs Wesleyan University

The Amherst vs Wesleyan baseball rivalry is as storied as they come in the annals of history. The 2015 NESCAC championship game may still haunt some current Amherst players. Like Al Pacino said in “Any Given Sunday,” “Life is a game of inches.” Marco Barrata’s diving catch to keep the game tied, Andrew Yin’s hit and run RBI double to tie the game, and Guy Davidson’s nuke down the left field line to seal it all were key plays that came down to inches. Amherst was so close to another NESCAC championship then, but the team just couldn’t defeat the Cards. Nevertheless, 2015 is a long time ago, but the rivalry is still there. Both teams will be above .500 for sure in conference play. Each game of the three game series is crucial. One loss could be devastating to one team’s playoff hopes. If you love a good rivalry and close games, definitely tune into this series.

Everything Else:

I had a chance to ask a few questions to senior and Belmont Hill grad, Harry Roberson:

AM: What are your goals for yourself and the team this season?

HR: Our goal every year starting out is to be the best version of our team that we can be. Ultimately, we want to win a NESCAC championship. I know that’s something that as a senior class we haven’t accomplished yet so that is definitely an overarching goal for our team this season. May is a couple months away though so day-to-day we’re just looking to improve and build upon each practice. We’re excited to go down to Florida and see how we stack up against other teams.

AM: Which teams will be the toughest to knock off?

HR: Our entire side of the NESCAC is pretty strong. Obviously Wesleyan is always a tough series, we have a great rivalry with them that’s a ton of fun to compete in. Amherst-Williams is one of the oldest rivalries in sports so that series means a lot as well. Middlebury kind of came out of nowhere last year so that will be a great challenge for us too. Coach Leonard has done a great job with that program. And then Hamilton is a dangerous team too so there’s no time for let downs on the West side so we’re really looking forward to the opportunity to get out there and play against these guys.

AM: In one word, describe the team.

HR: Family

Amherst will always put an incredibly competitive product on the field year in and year out. However, losing a big bat like Yanni Thanopoulos hurts. He was one of Amherst’s go to guys during his entire career. Look for a guy like Severino Tocci to play a bigger role. He transitioned to catching last year, and actually started. He’s got a powerful bat from the right-handed batter’s box. I can see him being Amherst’s x-factor on the offensive end. I’m predicting that Amherst will make the playoffs again because they’re such a well-coached team. With the leadership and talent that Roberson has, and the development of younger players, I can see Amherst being a force to be reckoned with deep in the NESCAC tournament once again.

Wesleyan:

Head Coach: Mark Woodworth (17th season)

Projected NESCAC record: 9-3

Key losses:

IF Ellis Schaefer (.289 avg, 14 RBI)

IF Will O’Sullivan (.328 avg, 24 RBI)

P Asher Young (2-2, 5.33 ERA)

P Dylan Millehouse (0-1, 6.10 ERA)

C/P Nick Miceli (.237 avg, 18  RBI, 2-2, 3.55 ERA)

P Ethan Rode  (3-4, 4.78 ERA)

Returning starters:

IF Jake Alonzo (.091 avg, 4 RBI)

IF Johnny Corning (.258 avg, 4 RBI)

IF/OF AJ Ferrara (.229 avg, 6 RBI)

IF/P Alec Olmstead (.245 avg, 3 RBI)

OF Matt Jeye (.285 avg, 29 RBI)

Biggest series: Middlebury (April 7th-8th):

Wesleyan will have a great season if the Cards can get past Midd with at least two wins. The Cards’ other biggest series is against Amherst later in April, but it’s crucial for Wesleyan to get off to a hot start. Midd came out of nowhere last year to win the west. Wesleyan can run the table in the west this season if the squad has a winning record against Midd. That’s tough to ask, but it’s possible.

Everything else:

I spoke with senior captain Matt Jeye who was a member of the 2015 NESCAC championship team and was named to the DIII players to watch list:

AM: Obviously you played on some great teams in your underclassmen years. How does this team compare to those championship teams?

MJ: This team is gritty. We don’t have any preseason All-Americans, but we’re a tough group who put in a lot of hours focusing on the little things. This is the most dedicated group I’ve ever been around and I’m excited to see how much our younger guys grew in a year.

AM: What are some of the strengths of this year’s team? Do you think any younger guys will have a serious impact?

MJ: I think one major strength is our communication. This is one of the closest teams I’ve ever been a part of and I think that shows when you see us out on the field picking each other up and talking throughout every pitch. I’d personally run into Tilted Towers (Fortnite reference)  with nothing but impulse grenades to save any one of them.

We have a lot of younger guys this year that got to play a lot last year so we are counting on them a lot. We have a good mix of experience and new faces and I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people.

AM: Are there any teams that you’re especially looking forward to playing?

MJ:  I’m always looking forward to playing purple, whether it be Amherst or Williams. It’s a different atmosphere against those guys. Everyone wants to get ahead and then rub it in so emotions are always high.

First off, Matt’s Fortnite reference makes me want to run through a brick wall for this squad. Wesleyan has been in transition ever since that 2015 season, in my opinion. To lose guys like Guy Davidson, Andrew Yin, Nick Cooney, Jonathan Dennett, Sam Goodwin-Boyd, Gavin Pittore, Donnie Cimino, and Marco Barrata all within a year can devastate a team. However, that’s college sports; there’s turnover. The fact that Wesleyan wasn’t sub .500 these past two years is something to be proud of because they’re such a young team. Now it comes down to pitching. There are a lot of young wings, but I’m not entirely sure that they’ll be able to go the full season without getting shelled a few times. The lineup may not be as scary as 2015’s, but it needs to provide run support for these pitchers. Rest assured, I don’t think Wes will have much trouble scoring runs.

Middlebury:

Coach: Mike Leonard (second season)

Projected Record: 7-5

Key losses:

C Ryan Rizzo (.301 avg, 11 RBI)

IF Jason Lock (.354 avg, 31 RBI)

Returning starters:

MIF Brooks Carroll (.274 avg, 16 RBI)

MIF Justin Han (.319 avg, 20 RBI)

OF Sam Graf (.323 avg, 30 RBI)

IF Andrew Hennings (.393 avg, 9 RBI)

IF Kevin Woodring (.281 avg, 13 RBI)

OF Alan Guild (.288 avg, 12 RBI)

Biggest series: Wesleyan (April 7th-8th):

I’m projecting Middlebury to have a sophomore slump of sorts. Coach Mike Leonard, in his first season with the Panthers last year, fostered a fairytale journey for his team. The NESCAC west had been so competitive in previous years that Midd always seemed to be left out of the conversation with the likes of Amherst and Williams. Leonard and the young squad showed everyone how dangerous the Panthers are. On paper, Middlebury could go 10-2 or 11-1 if the frosh from last year keep swinging the stick. However, I can’t see 1-9 all having great years at the plate like they did last year. Wesleyan is a big series. Midd’s first test is their first road NESCAC series in enemy territory. Both teams will put up runs, but if Middlebury can sweep or win two, then I think they can really win the NESCAC crown.

Justin Han ’20 is one of many Midd hitters that will need to prove that they can replicate last year’s performance.

Everything else:

I corresponded with pitcher (and colleague) Colby Morris. He was a stud last year on the bump, and I’m interested to see if he can still keep hitters off balance this year:

AM: How does this team compare to last year’s team? In what ways have you guys improved/regressed? What are some of the strengths of this year’s team? Do you think any younger guys will have a serious impact early on? Are there any teams that you’re especially looking forward to playing?

CM: The biggest similarity to last year is in our starting lineup, returning six of eight position players. We also have a similar team chemistry, which was electric last season and probably pissed off every opponent. We are a power centered offensive team with the same rotation as last year, but a deeper bullpen. It definitely hurt to lose Ryan Rizzo and Jason Lock, but that just means some of us upperclassmen need to step up in their place. We have a stronger bullpen with a lot of good young arms, and should compete better in mid-week games because of that. Our strengths would be offensive and defensive depth as we have so many lineups we can roll out to put a competitive team on the field. I think that Henry Strmecki will have a big impact either in RF or in CF and should be a powerful leadoff hitter, and the same goes with some of our frosh pitchers, although not exactly sure yet which ones will make the biggest contributions. I’m definitely locking in on that Williams weekend…we got swept by them last year and want revenge.

Midd should be the most interesting team to follow this year. The Panthers almost won it all last year, but came up just short. They didn’t lose many seniors; their lineup is stacked with talented sophomores and juniors. If Colby’s right about improved relief pitching, Middlebury can take jump over that hump to be a championship team. However, they must start out strong against Williams. For if they don’t, it’s very possible that they fall into a sophomore slump.

 

Williams:

Coach: Bill Barrale (11th season)

Projected Record: 4-8

Key losses:

OF Jack Cloud (.375 avg, 16 RBI)

IF Jackson Parese (.255 avg, 12 RBI)

IF Nate Michalski (.216 avg, 14 RBI)

P Luke Rodino (3-1, 4.02 ERA)

P Johnny Lamont (injury) (4-1, 1.80 ERA)

Returning starters:

IF Kellen Hatheway (.362 avg, 25 RBI)

IF Jack Roberts (.368 avg, 27 RBI)

OF Adam Regensburg (.295 avg, 28 RBI)

IF Doug Schaffer (.218 avg, 13 RBI)

C Adam Dulsky (.262, 9 RBI)

Key Series: vs. Amherst (4/6-4/7)

Amherst vs. Williams is one of the most historic rivalries in sports. A Wesleyan student myself, I love to say that all three schools are in the Little Three, but I have to admit, Amherst vs Williams is a whole separate rivalry (that doesn’t mean that my obsession to defeat both schools doesn’t exist; it does). Williams needs to break out of mediocrity. To be quite honest, I don’t see them doing that this year. The Ephs best pitcher, Johnny Lamont, is gone for the whole season due to Tommy John. In this early series, however, if they can take all three or even two games against their arch rival Amherst, then I think Williams can gain some momentum, and possibly make the playoffs. It all starts with this series.

Everything else:

I talked to Williams pitcher and Groton School alumnus Johnny Lamont on what he thinks his squad can do without him this season:

AM:  What are your goals for yourself and the team this season?

JL: Our goal is to win the NESCAC championship, and that isn’t some lofty goal we don’t expect to achieve. We felt that we underperformed last year, but a lot of the talent we had last year is back, and we’ve learned from those moments where we played ourselves out of the playoffs. I’ve pitched against our lineup in squad scrimmages and practice, and it is the best lineup I’ve faced at any level in any league. The staff is gonna do our job, get our guys back on offense, and then it gets real fun to watch.

AM: Which teams will be the toughest to knock off?

JL: We learned from last year that every team in the NESCAC deserves respect, even if we are the most talented team. We swept Midd, and then they went to the championship game. We outplayed Wesleyan, but lost that series. The only thing that we’re focused on this season is how we play, and if we play up to our potential, we’ll win the West no matter who the opponents are.

AM: In one word, describe the team.

JL:  Hungry for that W. (Not sure if he understood the question).

Johnny was one of the best pitchers in the NESCAC last year; he was one of the major reasons why Williams got to six wins. As a teammate and competitor, it’s incredibly hard to sit out. You feel a sense of helplessness. However, it gives you a new perspective on your team. Instead of focusing on individual goals, guys like Johnny can use a wider lense of how the team operates. While I don’t think Williams will make much noise next year, expect Johnny and the Ephs in 2019 to be a powerhouse in the West because not only will Johnny have regained his strength that made him a freshman sensation, but he will have the mental toughness to know what it’s like to fight through an injury

Kellen Hathaway ’19 is one of the top hitters in the league and will need to lead the Ephs along with Jack Roberts ’18.

Hamilton:

Coach: Tim Byrnes (11th season)

Projected Record: 2-10

Key losses:

OF Ryan Wolfsberg (.400 avg, 23 RBI)

C Brett Mele (.284 avg, 27 RBI)

IF/P Andrew Haser (.320 avg, 20 RBI)

OF Kenny Collins (.313 avg, 12 RBI)

IF Chris Collins (.346 avg, 9 RBI)

OF Robert Morris (.282 avg, 6 RBI)

P Finlay O’Hara (3-2, 2.60 ERA)

Returning starters:

IF Dean Rosenberg (.227 avg, 8 RBI)

IF Jordan Northup (.266 avg, 9 RBI)

P Max Jones (0-4, 4.43 ERA)

Key series: Wesleyan (April 13th-14th):

Hamilton has always had trouble with Wesleyan. Last year there was a game at Wesleyan were Hamilton thoroughly outplayed the Cards. Somehow, the Cards took it to extras, and Ryan Earle hit a walkoff single. Hamilton played so well, but they got sloppy down the stretch in the field. If Hamilton wants to breakout of being in the middle of the pack in the West, they must beat the leaders like Wesleyan.

Everything else:

I asked senior Dean Rosenberg a few questions about the team and the season:

AM: What are your goals for yourself and the team this season?

DR: We have a super young team after losing a lot of upperclassman who were big contributors for us last year. Our goal this year is to work hard, compete every day, and improve every practice and throughout the season. Personally,

I want to continue to improve as a leader and as a ball player and enjoy my last season playing the game I love.

AM: Which teams will be the toughest to knock off?

DR: The NESCAC is an extremely competitive conference, every conference weekend is a grind. We learned last year that everybody can beat everybody, so I wouldn’t necessarily say any team is the team to beat in the West.

AM: In one word, describe the team.

DR: Together

Like Dean says, the team is very young this year. Hamilton has proved over the past few seasons that there’s no talent game between them and the other NESCAC teams. What separates the likes of Tufts, Amherst, and Wesleyan from Hamilton is winning close games down the stretch. There are only twelve conference games a year, so each one is crucial. There’s no doubt that the Conts will compete their tails off this year, but they’ve lost so many bats that I think it will be hard for them to match the output of the other West teams. They can and will compete every day, however.

Lions and Tigers and Polar Bears: Stock Report 3/22

Sean Mullaney '17 and the Polar Bears are the big early season surprise. Bowdoin is 7-0. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
Sean Mullaney ’17 and the Polar Bears are the big early season surprise. Bowdoin is 7-0. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

While you’ve been at home crying over your destroyed March Madness brackets, NESCAC baseball teams have swarmed to warmer climates to start their seasons. Players have already been hard at work with practices and games for weeks – and a month, if you’re Bates -, but it’s these crucial games during break in which coaches and teams determine starting lineups for many home openers set for this coming weekend. Teams may just be trying to find the right lineups, but the stats and results can’t hide from the official record.

While the makeup of Wesleyan’s roster may be different than in previous seasons, its potential for success has hardly diminished. Nevertheless, the Cardinals continue to excel thanks to veteran players like OF Jordan Farber ’16, P Peter Rantz ’16, P/C/2B Nick Miceli ’17, and SS Guy Davidson ’16. Davidson’s spring break run has clinched his position as one of the best hitters in the NESCAC: during the two-week period, he hit .444/.500/.685 as he went 24-for-54, driving in 19 runs and scoring 16 times.

Like the Cardinals, Amherst has continued to dominate the diamond, despite also losing the team’s star, current-MLB player Mike Odenwaelder ’16. Yet, Amherst is currently boasting an 8-1 record and shows no signs of slowing down going forward into the season, especially with the starting outfield of Yanni Thanopoulos ’17, Anthony Spina ’17 and Ariel Kenney ’18 hitting an outrageous .371 through nine games. Kenney himself has gone 16-for-35 and currently leads the team in batting average (.457), on-base percentage (.500), and slugging percentage (.657). Pitcher Jackson Volle ’17, who on Monday was named the NESCAC Pitcher of the Week, opened the season strong, claiming two wins in his first two starts to help Amherst secure their exceptional 8-1 overall record. Volle wrapped up spring break with a tidy 0.64 ERA.

Perhaps the greatest surprise in the early going has been Bowdoin’s brilliant winning streak. They’ve opened the season 7-0 on the strength of some great pitching to the tune of a 2.68 team ERA through the first five games (yesterday’s stats vs. Greenville were not available at the time of this posting).

Now for the first stock report of the what is going to be a very interesting season.

Stock Up

  1. P/C Nick Miceli ’17 (Wesleyan)

Throughout the Cardinals’ first 12 games, Miceli has proven that on the field, he’s a man for all seasons: already he’s stood out in the conference for stellar pitching, hitting and fielding. He’s the ultimate NESCAC Triple Threat.

The junior, having already thrown in five games, is ranked in second in the conference with a 16.2 IP, 8.54 K/G and ERA of 2.16. Miceli’s strength on the mound was clear in Wesleyan’s second game against Bethany Lutheran College on March 7. Bethany Lutheran scored six runs in the first two innings, thanks in large part to some shoddy defense, giving them a generous 6-2 lead heading into the third. The two teams were almost even in hits, with Bethany Lutheran only outhitting Wesleyan by one. During innings 3-6 Miceli was nearly untouchable, allowing four hits but no runs with no walks and five strikeouts. He then impressed in relief on March 11 against Marian University, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts in five innings. But that’s not all: Miceli boasts a .474/.500/.632 line in 38 at bats while seeing time mostly at second but also catcher and DH.

In short, Miceli is good. Really good.

  1. Fresh Pitching Faces

Around the NESCAC plenty of youngsters have shown some great potential on the mound in the early going.

After graduating Elias and Cooney and losing Pittore, Wesleyan hasn’t missed a beat on the mound. Miceli has looked good throwing the ball, and Peter Rantz has picked right back up where he left off, but Mike McCaffrey ’19 has shown some potential, too. His first outing was disastrous, to say the least, but so was everything else for the Cardinals in their season-opening 29-14 rout at the hands of Hamline. McCaffrey improved in his second outing, and then shined in his third appearance, a complete game victory over Carleton when he allowed four hits and one walk while striking out 10.

Hamilton’s Spencer Vogelbach ’18 first made a name for himself as a first-year at the beginning of last season. In the Continental’s spring break game against Alfred State, his 11 strikeouts were the most by a Hamilton baseball pitcher in a single game in five years — an accomplishment that should not and cannot be ignored. Vogelbach pitched in three of Hamilton’s seven wins last week, striking out 11 batters and racking up a 14.0 IP with just one walk. The rookie was sixth in the NESCAC with a 2.25 ERA and a 4-1 record last season. Clearly, his rookie season was just a preview of what is to come for Hamilton’s pitching rotation. Dan DePaoli ’18 has also impressed on the bump; he went 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts that covered 11 innings. In Hamilton’s 7-1 win at Bard on March 12, DePaoli only allowed one unearned run on two hits in six innings of work. Then, in Friday’s 17-6 victory against Lawrence, he gave up three runs on four hits, struck out six and didn’t walk a batter in five innings. He also handled four chances in the field without an error.

Two freshmen started on the bump for Middlebury in their season-opening doubleheader against Bates. Colby Morris ’19 spun a complete game gem but was let down by his offense in a 2-1 loss. In the second of the twinbill, Jack Bunting ’19 was dominant through three innings before a pair of mistakes resulted in a three-run inning and one long left center field homer that was aided by a windy day that saw three balls leave the yard. Bunting finished with 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 K and 1 BB. In relief three members of the formerly beleaguered Middlebury staff, including newbie Conor Himstead ’19, combined for five scoreless innings.

  1. Walk Off Victories

It’s hard to tell what the Continentals love more: actually winning with a walk off or showing off the swagger of the moment on social media (as a loyal Continental, I’m personally a fan of both, but I confess I’m biased).

On March 14, the walk-off homerun of OF Kenny Collins ’17 won Hamilton’s first game against Minnesota-Morris by a narrow margin, 3-2. You have to love Collins’ elaborate helmet toss, shown towards the end of the video shared on Hamilton Baseball’s Twitter. I’m pretty sure hurling your helmet into the air is frowned upon by NCAA regulations, but in this situation, how could you not?

Andrew Haser ’17, the NESCAC Player of the Week, built off of Collins’ momentum ending Hamilton’s first game against Allegheny. With bases loaded in the seventh inning, Haser laced a homerun that freed the Continentals from a tied score (and this comes just two days after his grand slam contributed to Hamilton’s 17-6 victory against Lawrence). Haser currently leads the Continentals with 10 runs, seven extra-base hits, 13 RBIs, five doubles and a .706 slugging percentage. The junior is hitting .382 (13-for-34) and has only made one error in 54 chances at shortstop.

The Continentals cheered that they couldn’t believe they managed to escape defeat twice this early into the season? Neither could we.

It’s not just Hamilton walking off in style these days, though. In the second game of the doubleheader between Middlebury and Bates on Saturday, both teams threatened to score in extras of the originally seven-inning ball game. It was all ended with one swing though, when rightfielder Sam Graf ’19 notched his first career hit by smacking a long no-doubter to left field. The Panthers did a solid job of celebrating in their own right.

  1. Bowdoin: 7-0

Starting pitcher Henry Van Zant ’15 was unquestionably Bowdoin’s pride and glory last season, tying the program’s single-season record for wins by going 7-1, including a 5-0 mark in conference games. The stats don’t lie: he was the primary reason Bowdoin kept swimming throughout the season, even if he alone couldn’t launch the Polar Bears into the playoffs. Without him, Bowdoin has to redesign its entire pitching structure, to find a way to be victorious without their star.

In spite of pre-season doubts, Bowdoin really has come out on top, winning all seven of their games so far. And it’s worth noting that only two wins were by a narrow margin — in five of the Polar Bears’ wins to date, they have defeated their opponents by five or more runs.

Seniors Harry Ridge ’16 and Michael Staes ’16 impressed on the mound in Bowdoin’s sweep of Utica on March 15, pitching 5.2 and 7.0 innings, respectively. Ridge earned Bowdoin’s win on the mound while allowing just six hits and two earned runs. He struck out eight with only one walk. Staes turned in a complete seven inning performance in game two, allowing nine hits and only one run to earn the win. He struck out four Pioneers with no walks. Rookie Brandon Lopez ’19 earned his first collegiate win on the mound on March 17 against Dickinson, going six innings and allowing four hits and as many runs. Lopez struck out six and walked a pair.

Offensively, Chad Martin ’16 is clearly building upon his past success at bat. His .311 AVG last season placed him in the middle of NESCAC ranks, but he shows potential to outperform himself in the games ahead. Peter Cimini ’16 added ferocity to the Polar Bears’ deep offense, batting .400 with a .733 slugging percentage through the first five contests, collecting three extra base hits and six RBIs.

Stock Down

  1. Tufts’ 3B Tommy O’Hara ’18

Last spring training, rookie O’Hara was the wiz kid on the Jumbos, developing a .564 OBP in 42 at-bats with six walks during spring break. Throughout the season, the freshman infielder led the team’s offense with a .405 ABG, .518 OBP and .603 SLG. And let’s not forget that he also hit a team-high 14 doubles while registering four home runs, 42 runs scored and 42 RBIs.

The Jumbos may have seen only five games at this point, but their 2-3 record and poor showing at the plate are cause for concern. In his first 16 at bats, O’Hara has amassed a .188/.435/.188 line. That OBP is nice, and is carried by six walks, but he also has seven strikeouts already. O’Hara struck out 25 times all of last season for a 14.9% K rate. Right now he’s walking back to the dugout 30.4% of the time. It’s very early, still, but let’s hope the sophomore isn’t putting too much pressure on himself.

2. Trinity Pitching 

The Bantams are 4-6 to open the year, but it’s pretty obvious that the biggest hurdle they will have to climb this season is replacing SP Sean Meekins ’15, he of the 2.01 ERA a year ago. The experienced and usually reliable Jed Robinson ’16 has gotten knocked around in two starts to the tune of a 5.84 ERA, and the other pitchers with two starts already – Anthony Elgein, Jr. ’18, McLane Hill ’18 and Nicholas Fusco ’18 – have ERAs of 3.97, 5.87 and a ghastly 10.38. The bright spot for the rotation so far has been newbie Erik Mohl ’19, who shut down Plattsburgh St. in his one start, throwing six scoreless innings, but his 2:4 K:BB ratio over 7.1 IP does not bode well for the future.

Speaking of Plattsburgh St., the 37 runs that Trinity posted on the Cardinals during their doubleheader last week may be bolstering the team’s .314/.410/.433 slash line, but I’d bet more heavily on the Bantams’ offense than pitching staff right now.

 

3. Live Stats

I have many bones to pick with the stability of live stats programs this week. It’s hard enough trying to follow a baseball game using play-by-play stats rather than a video stream. A live stats program that continues that constantly lags or repeatedly—or permanently—freezes is just torture.

Over the years, I have accumulated quite a list of grievances about these streams, and the Hamilton vs. Fredonia stats stream probably embodied them all. In the first game, the program showed the stats of Fredonia’s previous game for the first two innings; when it finally switched to the Hamilton game, it never changed the lineup and eventually froze in the bottom of the third inning. It never adjusted for the second game.

Perhaps this was the most extreme of cases, but so far, none of my experiences with live stats during spring training have been positive. Help a fan out, NESCAC! Get it together. I hope, and expect, that the ability to follow along with NESCAC games will improve once all teams return up north, as is usually the case.

4. Editors

On Thursday, March 17, Trinity lost to Rutgers-Camden 9-4 in Auburndale, FL. According to Trinity’s website, however, the team actually played against Rugers-Camden. Now, as a New Jersey native, I was extremely skeptical that “Rugers-Camden” actually existed—I even looked up “Rugers” just to confirm that it’s not a slang way of referring to Rutgers University that I’ve never heard of. But no, Trinity corrected itself in the line below the flawed headline, accurately spelling out “Rutgers-Camden.”

Yet, Rugers appeared again. And then again. And then the website switched back to Rutgers. Then back to Rugers.

I can’t condemn an occasional typo (we’ve all been there), but having exorbitant inconsistencies regarding a nationally known institution on an official college website is inexcusable. Note that the errors still remain throughout the game recap.

The Bantams may have won the game, but the college itself lost in quality coverage. Shame on you, Trinity!

I thought that was all, but then this little nugget was brought to our attention. As noted above, Middlebury walked off on Bates 4-3 in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, March 21. According to the NESCAC Weekly Release, however, “Bates def. Middlebury, 4-3”. They have the records right in the Team Standings category, but we couldn’t help backing the Panthers on this one.

 

The Biggest Storylines of 2015 and What to Expect in 2016

Guy Davidson '16 has some big shoes to fill as the incumbent star on the two-time reigning champs. (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)
Guy Davidson ’16 has some big shoes to fill as the incumbent star on the two-time reigning champs. (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

The 2015 NESCAC baseball season was one for the history books: from a star-studded senior class to a handful of record-breaking underclassmen claiming the spotlight, the players made an impact not only on their own teams but in the entire NESCAC conference. With the season underway, it’s time to review last year’s hits and misses and predict what we can expect from this year’s competition.

But ICYMI, for any reason (like me—they don’t play baseball in London, where I was last spring!), here’s a rundown of the biggest storylines from the 2015 season:

  1. Wesleyan, Wesleyan, Wesleyan: the Continual Rise of the NESCAC Underdog

The Cardinals made history in 2014 when the underdogs grabbed the NESCAC Championship for the first time; they stunned us yet again in 2015 by holding on to the title in a nail-biting match-up against longtime rival Amherst in the final. It was wild. If you missed it (guilty), you really missed out.

Wesleyan just had everything in their arsenal and all the odds in their favor. The Cardinals didn’t graduate a single hitter after the 2014 campaign, and in 2015 the team ultimately produced the program’s record-breaking 31 wins. Offensively, Sam Goodwin-Boyd ’15, Andrew Yin ’15, current Cubs’ minor leaguer Donnie Cimino ’15 and Jonathan Dennett ’15 all produced in their final season. In the field Wesleyan was led by a trio of All-NESCAC performers: Cimino (CF), Goodwin-Boyd (1B) and Guy Davidson ’16 (SS), all of whom were eager to build off the momentum they developed during their summer with the Cape Cod League. Together, the trio helped produce the strongest defense in the NESCAC.

But the talent didn’t stop there: on the mound Wesleyan was a serious force to be reckoned with. Returning starters Nick Cooney ’15, a 2014 All-NESCAC selection, and Gavin Pittore ’16 both pitched in the Cape Cod League in preparation for their season. Sam Elias ’15, who competed in the esteemed New England Collegiate Baseball League the summer before last, was honored with the 2015 NESCAC Pitcher of the Year Award after accumulating a 7.78 K/9 ratio and 1.53 ERA over 76.1 IP. Elias turned into an ace, doing double duty as a starter (seven starts) and closer (four saves), and his 1.03 BB/9 rate was among the league’s best as well. Pete Rantz ’16 rounded out the Cardinals’ dominant rotation, and has big shoes to fill after the graduation of two rotation mates and Pittore’s early departure.

  1. The Man, The Myth, The Legend: the Unstoppable Odenwaelder

At 6’5″ and 225 lbs., Mike Odenwaelder ’16 is the type of baseball player you used to look at and wonder why he wasn’t playing Division-I ball, or even pro. After all, in his first two seasons alone, the player was crowned the 2013 NESCAC Rookie of the Year and 2014 NESCAC Player of the Year and selected for the NCAA Division III Gold Glove Team, the D3Baseball.com All-American team and First Team All-New England.

The real question going into the 2015 season was whether or not Odenwaelder could continue to surpass expectations. He returned to the Jeffs last year fresh off his most successful season. In 2014, he hit .400 with six HRs and 31 RBI, posting a jaw-dropping slugging percentage of .607. On the mound he had a 1.74 ERA over 20.2 IP. Though the Amherst star didn’t pitch for the majority of 2015 because of a shoulder injury, he continued to dominate the NESCAC with his powerful hitting. By the end of the 2015 season, Odenwaelder had racked up a total of 118 games, during which he developed a career batting avg. of .372 with 16 homers, 86 RBI, and 39 stolen bases.

  1. Tufts’ Secret Weapon: Tommy O’Hara ’18

O’Hara transitioned from “rookie” to “phenom” the moment he stepped onto the Jumbo diamond. The freshman third baseman was Tufts’ best hitter on their trip to Virginia and North Carolina. He had an incredible .564 OBP in 42 at-bats with six walks. But the question no one wanted to ask remained in the minds of Tufts’ NESCAC opponents: can a first-year really transform a team?

The answer was a thousand times, yes. Tufts’ offense was undoubtedly questionable at the beginning of the season and definitely needed bolstering if it was to make it to the NESCAC playoffs. O’Hara single-handedly delivered. The freshman infielder led the team with a .405 batting average, .518 on-base percentage and .603 slugging percentage. He also hit a team-high 14 doubles while registering four home runs, 42 runs scored and 42 RBIs.

Oh, and did I mention he was First Team All-NESCAC as well as NESCAC Rookie of the Year? I guess you could say he’s kind of a big deal.

  1. Hamilton’s Franchise: Joe Jensen ’15

The former three-season athlete (football, track, and baseball) gave the Continents serious bragging rights last year, breaking records both on the diamond and off.

In March of last year Jensen outplayed the lofty expectations set out for him after a successful junior year in which he hit .398/.495/.430 and a sophomore campaign during which he set school records with 137 at bats, 30 runs scored and 29 stolen bases. He was in the top three in the NESCAC in batting average (.525), on-base percentage (.587), and slugging percentage (.775) at the end of the month. His trip to Florida was probably his shining moment in the 2015 season, as he had multiple hits in all six games. While his numbers dropped off once the Continentals returned home, he remained one of the best hitters and defensive outfielders in the NESCAC.

Jensen received NESCAC All-Conference honors last spring for the second time, earning second-team recognition after leading the league with 24 stolen bases and a gaudy .450 on-base percentage. His .398 batting average ranked third in the NESCAC.

“His ability to affect the game both defensively and offensively with his speed is something that sets him apart from his peers, both on the field and as a professional prospect,” Hamilton coach Tim Byrnes said following Jensen’s senior season. “Joe is a true take-away center fielder with a plus arm for this level. He’s able to use his plus speed to beat out infield singles, stretch singles into doubles and steal bases at will.”

  1. Bowdoin’s Starting Pitcher Henry Van Zant ’15 (the NESCAC’s Best Non-Cardinal Pitcher)

Van Zant closed out a fantastic career for the Polar Bears by recording one of the finest seasons in program history; he tied the program’s single-season record for wins by going 7-1, including a 5-0 mark in conference games, with a 1.95 earned run average. That some rainy weather allowed Van Zant to pitch and win five NESCAC games is a miracle. Nobody had started five conference games since two players did so during the 2013 season, and Van Zant’s five wins in conference games is a NESCAC record. His complete game shutout over Wesleyan, which ended in a 1-0 victory for the Polar Bears, made him 6-0 overall against NESCAC teams.

Van Zant’s career amounted to 17 win (tied for third in school history) and 168 career strikeouts (ranking him fifth all-time at Bowdoin). Van Zant was named a second-team selection for the All-NESCAC and D3baseball.com teams.

Though Van Zant ultimately lost the Pitcher of the Year nod to his top rival, his remarkable senior season no doubt gave the conference a difficult decision to make.

So with that in mind, here are some of the biggest questions you should have as the 2016 season unfolds:

  1. The Pitcher Problem: Who will take the mount in place of former starters?

Year after year, graduation and the pros inevitably lead to casualties on teams’ rosters, but the damage inflicted this year, especially on the mound, is shocking. Reigning champs Wesleyan lost three—Elias, Pittore, Cooney—of their four top pitchers, leaving Rantz, who threw 60.2 innings with a 2.97 ERA in 2015, to pick up the pieces. After losing Van Zant, Bowdoin has to redesign its pitching plan, and Trinity loses ace Sean Meekins ’15, (3-1, 2.01 ERA, 10.48 K/9, 44.2 IP). Tufts lost Tom Ryan ’15 and Willie Archibad ’15. Amherst lost John Cook ’15. Even Middlebury lost Eric Truss ’15, who finished 9th in the NESCAC.

The pitching lineups of Hamilton, Williams, Bates and Colby appear unscathed, but time has yet to tell how the returning starters will mesh with the young up-and-comers on the roster.

While the teams’ are grateful for the underclassmen they set as starters last season, they still need to figure out how inexperienced pitchers will contribute to NESCAC competition during spring training. The clock’s ticking.

  1. The Odenwaelder Inheritance: Who will fill the shoes left in centerfield?

As anticipated, Odenwaelder was picked by the Baltimore Orioles in the 16th Round (493 overall) of the 2015 Major League Draft. But anticipation didn’t seem to lead to effective planning: Odenwaelder’s incredible talent overshadowed several, if not most, of the other Jeffs, and has consequently left a gaping hole to be filled.

Thankfully, Amherst returns several promising team members, including Harry Roberson ’18, he finished his breakout freshman year with an OBP of .429. Yet, while Roberson is unquestionably a standout hitter, it’s unknown if he can carry the team like Odenwaelder. Yanni Thanopoulos ’17 and Connor Gunn’16 have promising stats, but it’s unlikely Amherst will be the same offensive dynamite as last spring.

Nevertheless, Amherst pushed Wesleyan all the way to extra innings in a winner-take-all NESCAC championship game, so all hope is not lost for the Jeffs.

  1. The End of an Era? How will reigning NESCAC champs Wesleyan compete against the competition after losing most of their starters?

Elias, Cooney, Goodwin-Boyd, Dennett and Yin are off the field and into the real world of post-college life. Pittore signed as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cimino is with the Cubs organization. Guys essential to the Wesleyan machine, and part of the epic 2015 class of athletes at Wesleyan, are no longer a part of its construction, and for the two-time reigning NESCAC champions, that’s pretty frightening.

Shortstop Guy Davidson ’16 had a notable 2015 season and is back to up his game, but there are very few sure bets in the Cardinals’ lineup. On the flip side of that, though, the early returns on Wesleyan’s shiny, new lineup are darn right impressive. The Cardinals are hitting .386/.469/.600 as a squad through eight games down in Arizona. Gotta love that thin Tucson air.

Wesleyan has been so successful because it has been a complete, practiced team—the players worked for years to mesh together and become the reigning champions. There are a lot of gaping holes in the lineup now, and it’s unlikely the Cardinals will be able to fill them all this season. We’re looking at a dramatically different team than those we’ve grow accustomed to seeing come out of close games victorious again and again.

So, with Wesleyan in a sort of limbo, who will take up the mantle in the West? Amherst lost its beloved star to MLB, but still packs a ton of talent. Middlebury and Hamilton have promising players, but it’s unlikely that they are ready to step up to the plate. Williams has been in a sort of middle tier limbo for awhile now. I’d wager that Hamilton may have an inside track on a playoff spot; the team lost only one starting player going into this year, guaranteeing a solid lineup.

  1. The Spring of Tufts? Do the Jumbos have what it takes to win the NESCAC East this season?

The Jumbos aren’t without any losses: their lineup will have to make do without big contributors like Connor McDavitt ’15 and Bryan Egan ’15. However, Tufts’ fantastic pitchers Tim Superko ’17 and Andrew David ’16 give them a solid baseline on the field, and in a re-building season for many teams, that is a real boon. And then there’s O’Hara. Tommy O’Hara earned D3baseball.com Preseason All-America accolades following a tremendous freshman campaign last spring.

By putting faith in underclassmen—and phenomenal ones at that—early on, the Jumbos have outsmarted other NESCAC teams struggling to pull together competitive lineups.

  1. Chemistry on the Continentals: Is Hamilton the next NESCAC powerhouse?

Hamilton lost just one starter from the lineup, and the strength of the pitching rotation returns.

Even though the Continentals will play without Alex Pachella ’15 or JJ Lane ’15, co-captain Cole Dreyfuss ’16 stood out as the real pitching MVP for the Continentals last spring. Dreyfuss assembled a 5-2 record in seven starts and struck out 41 batters. He ended up third in the conference with a 1.89 earned run average in 47.2 innings.

Overall, the rotation is promising: hard-throwing right-hander Spencer Vogelbach ’18 was the No. 4 starter in 2015 but should be in the weekend rotation this season. Vogelbach went 4-1 with one save and was sixth in the NESCAC with a 2.25 ERA, averaging 9.90 strikeouts per nine innings and fanning a total of 44 batters in 40 innings, but with the propensity to get wild at times. Last season, Finlay O’Hara ’17 also emerged as a versatile arm, earning a 2-2 record and two saves. F. O’Hara struck out 28 hitters and walked just five in 28.2 innings. Depth in the bullpen is added by Dan DePaoli ’18, who fanned 22 batters in 22.2 innings. Charlie Lynn ’18 and Mike Borek ’18 provide depth in the bullpen.

Offensively, Hamilton has fostered a dangerous core group of juniors in twins Kenny and Chris Collins ’17, designated hitter Andrew Haser ’17 and outfielder Ryan Wolfsberg ’17. Kenny Collins, one of this year’s captains, finished with 32 hits in 102 at-bats for a .314 average and scored 21 runs, while hitting six doubles and three triples. He was fourth in the NESCAC with 16 stolen bases and represented the Wellsville Nitros in the 2015 New York Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game. Chris Collins, meanwhile, hit .309 (30-97), cracked six doubles and stole 14 bases. Haser showed great improvement last season after having an OBP below .300 in 2014. To finish off the group, Wolfsberg developed his skills in the California Collegiate League last summer after finishing in fourth in the NESCAC with a .396 batting average (36-for-91) in 2015, smacking nine doubles, three triples and four homers and driving in 25 runs. The outfielder posted a .692 slugging percentage and a .449 on-base percentage.

Second baseman Zack Becker ’16 also proved to be an incredible offensive player last season, rebounding after a disastrous sophomore campaign. He was eighth in the conference with a .365 batting average (27-for-74) and enjoyed his best season at Hamilton with five doubles and a pair of round-trippers to go with an on-base percentage of .447.

In just two weeks, the season will begin in full force. While you can never really be sure what’s going to happen in baseball, it’s certain that these questions will significantly linger throughout the spring.

Wesleyan Remains on Top: Stock Report 4/27

Bowdoin celebrates their 7-4 win over Colby in the first game of their series. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
Bowdoin celebrates its 7-4 win over Colby in the first game of their series last weekend. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

After spending the first month of the NESCAC schedule beating up on the rest of the NESCAC West, Wesleyan and Amherst met this weekend to settle who would finish on top in the division. The answer was quite a resounding one in favor of the Cardinals. They dominated the Friday game racing out to a 10-0 lead before Amherst scored five runs late to make the final score look closer. On Saturday, Wesleyan completely shut down the Amherst offense winning 1-0 and 2-0.

The series meant little in practical terms because both teams were making the playoffs regardless, but this was a huge win for the Wesleyan program. First of all, it clinched a third consecutive Little Three Title. Secondly, the weekend reinforced that the Cardinals are the best overall program in the league right now.

The gap between this Wesleyan team and the rest of the NESCAC is sizable, but it certainly isn’t an uncrossable chasm. The Cardinals are winning because they are a more complete team, but they tend to play close games. They rely on their pitching and defense much more than their hitting, and if a team can find a way to string a few hits together, we will see them lose at some point.

Stock Up

Wesleyan Starting Pitching

The principal reason for the sweep was the trio of Nick Cooney ’15, Sam Elias ’15 and Gavin Pittore ’16. The three had almost identical starts, all of which were extremely impressive. Cooney set the tone on Friday when he went seven scoreless innings working around four walks. Pittore got stronger as the second game went along and retired 15 of the final 16 batters. Then Elias ended things by going all nine innings and faced only two batters more than the minimum. All three have pitched like legitimate aces this year, and both Pittore and Elias own ERAs below 2.00. Cooney has also been fantastic except for one rough start against Pomona-Pitzer. All three are also exceptional at going deep into games and average more than six innings per start. That ability to go deep into games has helped Wesleyan hide their only potential weakness: lack of pitching depth. Only nine players have pitched innings for the Cardinals this year. No other NESCAC school is in the single digits.

Drama in the East

As expected, that race for the second spot in the East has descended into near chaos. Worth it to go look at the standings, but Bates is still in the second spot at 4-4 with four games still to play. Bowdoin and Trinity are still also in the mix at 5-6 and 4-5 respectively. There is a crucial game on Tuesday night as Bowdoin and Bates are meeting to finish up their series. Obviously the game is a must-win for Bowdoin, which kept its playoff hopes alive by taking two of three from Colby this weekend. As for Bates, they had a chance to get close to locking up their playoff spot after taking the first game of their series against Tufts. However, since they lost the next two games to drop to 4-4, they fell back into the confusion. We won’t know who captures the spot until Saturday when Bates and Trinity play their doubleheader.

Starting Pitcher Jjay Lane ’15 (Hamilton)

This year has been a tough one for Lane overall, but he came up huge for the Continentals this weekend. He had been roughed up in his first two starts in conference, but he found a way to come up huge on Saturday. He got the start in the series opener against Williams and was able to go eight innings allowing two runs and Hamilton won 3-2. Lane had success in part because he was able to finally strike some people out. Before Saturday, he had not struck out ONE batter since March 17, an eternity for the NESCAC baseball season. Then out of nowhere he struck out six Williams batters which quadrupled his season total. Cole Dreyfuss ’16 continued his fantastic pitching in the next game to give Hamilton the sweep of the Saturday doubleheader. This is a resilient group, and they will be hungry to hand Wesleyan their first conference loss next weekend.

Stock Down

Williams

Disappointing finish for the Ephs dropping two of their three games to Hamilton and dropping to 4-8 for the year. They lost seven of their last eight after starting the conference season by sweeping Middlebury. That makes now two of the last three years that Williams has finished at 4-8 and well outside of the playoff race. We were hoping for more balance this year from Williams, and they did end up being more balanced though not quite like we were hoping them to be. The offense came up just short in the a lot of spots where the pitching was good enough to give the team a chance. The good news is that the top four OBP performers on the team were all sophomores and freshmen. Adam Dulsky ’18 will be able to take over full time catching duties which will ease the departure of Phil McGovern ’15. Also, the easiest place for Williams to improve is their fielding which also cost them a couple of games.

Defensive Karma

Well, in a way this is a stock up, but I’m sure Colby would consider it a negative. A year ago Bowdoin saw their playoff chances come crashing down when an error against Colby extended an inning and allowed the Mules to score four more runs. This year a Colby error in the top of the second let Bowdoin score four runs in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader. Three consecutive two out hits from Sean Mullaney ’17, Chris Cameron ’15 and Erik Jacobsen ’15 were the straws that … wait for it … broke the Mules back. Colby ended up falling 5-3 and the loss brought them to 4-7 and officially out of the playoff race. They were our pick to capture that final playoff spot, but they will miss the playoffs because they were not able to sustain the pitching gains they made a year ago.

NCAA Tournament Chances

I have to confess that I know little about the inner workings of the Division-III NCAA Baseball tournament. In part because it takes place during Finals or the beginning of summer vacation, I have never gotten very invested in the results the same way I do the basketball tournament. Still, I have to think the NESCAC will have trouble matching the three teams that made the tournament last year. Wesleyan should be solidly in, but both Tufts and Amherst have worse resumes than they did a year ago. Useful tool to look at is the D3Baseball.com Strength of Schedule Page. From that we can tell Tufts and Amherst have opposite problems. The Jumbos own a gaudy win-loss record but are only 125 in SOS while Amherst has a good SOS but lacks the record. My gut says that only one of those two teams is going to make it depending on who finishes stronger the next few weekends (and assuming that Wesleyan can repeat as NESCAC champs).

You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss: Weekend Preview 3/3/15

Williams and Wesleyan will play all three of their games at Andrus Field. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Williams and Wesleyan will play all three of their games at Andrus Field. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

After the slight miscarriage that was opening weekend in the NESCAC, we actually get a full slate of weekend series, though there are still some more cosmetic changes because of the weather. But still, it’s baseball! For real! Alas, no games in Maine yet. One can only dream.

With Tufts having the weekend off, the remaining four East Division teams are tangling in series that will start the process of figuring out where exactly where each of them stands relative to each other.

The biggest series is out west with Williams taking on Wesleyan. The Ephs swept Middlebury to once again at least appear to have a shot at challenging Amherst or Wesleyan for the second playoff spot. A year ago with the Ephs at 4-2 in league after taking one game from Amherst, the Cardinals put their foot down and swept Williams to take control of the West and end the playoff chances for the Ephs. This year, Williams is hoping for at least one win against the Cardinals. However, beating this Wesleyan team is one tall task.

Three to Watch

1. Shortstop Guy Davidson ’16 (Wesleyan): We love two sport athletes, and Davidson is one of the many at Wesleyan right now. However, not many athletes boast squash and baseball as their two sports. After spending the winter as the number one for the squash team, he has transitioned seamlessly to baseball. In his junior year he has elevated his game to another level at shortstop. A year after hitting only .273 with one homer, Davidson has mashed three home runs on his way to a team high .415 BA. Davidson combines with Andrew Yin ’15 to make one of the best double-play combos in the NESCAC.

2. Starting Pitcher Scott Goldberg ’15 (Colby): Colby fans should not be too concerned at all with his 6.23 ERA. He dominated in his first two starts in Florida before having one very bad start. I put more stock into his 5 inning, 10 strikeout start against Hamilton than his 3 inning, 8 earned runs one against Castleton State. He is striking out a ton of hitters so far too which is good news. Goldberg should get the ball this afternoon in the NESCAC season opener against the Bantams. Last year against Trinity he didn’t make it through five innings, but Colby got the win in his start.

3. Left fielder Yanni Thanopoulos ’17 (Amherst): The sophomore is building on a very productive freshman year that saw him get on-base at .375 clip and steal 13 bases. Now after hitting only one extra base hit in 2014, Thanopoulos has two home runs and six extra-base hits total to date. On Wednesday in Amherst’s tuneup game against Bates, he went 2-4 and stole two bags to confirm that he is still very much a threat on the base paths. Mike Odenwaelder ’16 is going to continue to steal the headlines, but Thanopoulos has proven that there are two very capable outfielders with four syllable last names in the Jeffs outfield.

Predictions

Middlebury (0-9, 0-3) at Amherst (7-6, 0-0). Games played at Auburn High

Friday 7:00 PM: Eric Truss ’15 vs. John Cook ’15. Saturday 3:00 PM: Cooper Byrne ’15 vs. Keenan Szulik ’16. Robert Erickson ’18 vs. Jackson Volle ’17.

Not too much to say here. Hard to pick in favor of the Panthers until we see them win a game. Truss against Cook is a clear mismatch in the first game, but in the other two the Panthers will have a shot. Dylan Sinnickson ’15 is a game decision for this one. Amherst has looked a little shaky so far, and their 10-9 win over Bates wasn’t too reassuring. They committed four errors (three by their middle infielders) to allow five unearned runs to score. They can overcome those types of errors against Middlebury.

Amherst sweeps series.

Colby (9-3, 0-0) at Trinity (8-5, 0-0)

Friday 3:00 PM: Scott Goldberg ’15 vs. Sean Meekins ’15. Saturday 12:00 PM: Greg Ladd ’15 vs. Jed Robinson ’16. Saturday 2:30 PM: TBD vs. Chris Speer ’17

Two teams who we have not heard too much from to this point are certainly feeling that they have a chance at the playoffs in the East. The rotation for the Bantams has been amazing with the four pitchers with the most innings pitched all having an ERA below 1.00. The bullpen has been much more of an adventure which has held the Bantams back a little bit. Meekins and Robinson have matured into a very good duo. For the Mules, Goldberg and Ladd are missing their running mate Soren Hanson ’16 who was injured earlier in the year.

The weakness of both teams is their offense so expect a low scoring series. In the end, the loss of Hanson for Colby swings things just enough for the Bantams who will win their first NESCAC series since 2013.

Trinity wins two of three

Bates (5-5, 0-0) at Bowdoin (6-10, 1-2): Games played at Franklin Pierce.

Sunday 1:00 PM: TBD vs. Henry Van Zant ’15. Sunday 3:30 PM: TBD vs. Harry Ridge ’16

The final game of this series is being postponed for later which might benefit Bates in the short run but Bowdoin in the long run. The Bates staff is still very unsettled with a bunch of arms still clamoring for innings. Expect a lot of different pitchers to throw multiple innings as manager Mike Leonard will not allow the Bowdoin hitters to see pitchers multiple times. In the long run, Van Zant can now start two of the games in this series for Bowdoin depending on when the final game is rescheduled for.

Winning at least one game is a must for Bowdoin to stay near .500 in conference. Bates must be itching to play this weekend after only playing four games since February 21. These are two very familiar foes who have to travel to an unfamiliar locale in Franklin Pierce.

Teams split the doubleheader

Series of the Weekend: Williams (6-5, 3-0) at Wesleyan (9-4, 0-0)

Friday 4:00 PM: Thomas Murphy ’15 vs. Nick Cooney ’15. Saturday 1:00 PM: Luke Rodino ’17 vs. Gavin Pittore ’16. Saturday 3:30 PM Dan Smith ’16 vs. Sam Elias ’15.

All three games will be played in Middletown because there is still some snow in Williamstown, but the change of venue is not a big one as the Saturday doubleheader was already planned for historic Andrus Field.

A good deal of players for Wesleyan have yet to hit their stride. Neither Cooney nor Pittore boast a spectacular ERA, but some of that is because of the caliber of teams they pitched against earlier in the year. Meanwhile Donnie Cimino ’15 has not looked like his usual self in his first baseball action since breaking his jaw last summer. He should get back on track as he gets more at-bats. That a good deal of Wesleyan stars are not playing great but the team is still playing well is not a surprise given the depth of talent. Remember too that a good deal of this team played some high level baseball this summer in the Cape Cod league and beyond.

Williams feels confident after managing to sweep Middlebury, but they needed a walk-off win in the first game to make it happen. As mentioned in our season preview, the Eph hitters were shut down against Wesleyan in 2014. A repeat of that spells doom for them. While Jack Roberts ’17 is smoking the ball, Jack Cloud ’17 and Luke Pierce ’15 are both mired in slumps that are keeping the Williams offense from working on all cylinders.

Something tells me that Wesleyan is ready to show the NESCAC just how good they are going to be this weekend. The Ephs will play well, but their best chance of winning is Murphy throwing a gem on Friday. Against a lineup as deep as Wesleyan’s that is very difficult.

Wesleyan sweeps series

Cardinals Start Where They Ended: Baseball Power Rankings 3/25

The NESCAC conference season is starting Friday, albeit in a somewhat lesser fashion than usual because of the weather. Still, with the beginning of conference games upon us, now is a good time as ever to Power Rank the teams. You will get a good idea of our impressions for every team from this. Then check back in later today to see our predictions for how the teams will finish in the standings and who will make the NCAA tournament.

All records are from 2015

1. Wesleyan (8-4, 0-0)

A year ago we didn’t expect Wesleyan to end up winning the NESCAC, but now we will be more surprised if they DON’T win it. The offense led by Wesleyan’s all-time hits leader Donnie Cimino ’15 and CoSIDA All-American Andrew Yin ’15 is stacked across the board. Nick Cooney ’15 and Gavin Pittore ’16 anchor the pitching staff. This team only has one weakness that we can point out: pitching depth. Jeff Blout ’14, Chris Law ’14 and Jimmy Hill ’14 combined to throw 117 innings – 31 percent of Wesleyan’s total – last season. Four of the top five pitchers in terms of innings are back but after that top four there is some uncertainty. Of course, Wesleyan’s problem is peanuts compared to those that other contenders have to deal with.

2. Tufts (9-3, 0-0)

The Jumbos have gotten off to a good start once again this year. Unlike the other NESCAC schools that fly all the way south to either Florida or Arizona, Tufts travels to North Carolina and Virginia. Connor McDavitt ’15 is getting on-base at a nifty .458 OBP to get things going at the top of the lineup. The numbers for the pitching staff are gaudy which gives pause about the level of competition that the Jumbos have faced, but this is also the most accomplished staff in the league. Tufts will face off in a big series against Bowdoin starting Friday.

3. Amherst (6-6, 0-0)

The Jeffs remain somewhat of a mystery after their spring trip. Their split of a doubleheader against #4 St. Thomas is an indication of how good the Jeffs can be. Ace John Cook ’15 was excellent in that start going 7.1 innings and a solo home run was the only offense St. Thomas managed against him. However, the Jeffs also gave up twelve runs in consecutive seven inning games. New shortstop Harry Roberson ’17 is hitting the ball great with an average well above .400, but he also already has seven errors, an untenable amount at this point. This team might not be as deep as past years which could ultimately doom them in the NESCAC race.

4. Colby (6-1, 0-0)

The Mules stock has gone up the most from the beginning of the season. They are still in the midst of their trip to Florida, but the early returns have been very promising. Unfortunately, we only have the statistics for two of their games, but their scoring differential has been great. Their offense has scored above 10 runs in five of their seven games thus far. Given that this was the worst offense in the NESCAC a year ago and they lost several key pieces, that could spell great news for the Mules. We won’t see them in NESCAC action until next weekend, however.

5. Bates (5-3, 0-0)

We have barely seen the Bobcats in action over the past month, and we still know very little about how their rotation is going to shake out. Because they have had so few games, their starters have only been going a few innings before giving way to their deep bullpen. A good sign for the Bobcats’ offense is that they are averaging the second most walks per game, something that they were very good at a year ago as well. Evan Czopek ’16 has been fantastic thus far in the lineup.

6. Bowdoin (5-8, 0-0)

The Polar Bears struggled through a somewhat uneven spring break, but they also faced some injury problems as well as a hard stretch of opponents. The key for them, as we said before, is finding a way to hit all the way through their lineup. Chad Martin ’16 has hit three home runs already in the middle of the lineup and has cemented himself as one of the premier power hitters in the league. Henry Van Zant ’15 allowed five runs but also struck out 13 batters with no walks in his last outing in Florida. If he becomes a fully fledged ace, then the Polar Bears will be thinking playoffs.

7. Trinity (7-5, 0-0)

The Bantams spring trip started out great with a five-game winning streak before they dropped five out of seven games to finish on a down note. The main problem for them on the second half of their trip was the offense averaging only 2.5 runs per game in the final six games. Once again, none of the Bantams showed much power as the team didn’t hit any home runs on their trip, but the impact of freshman Brendan Pierce ’18 in the lineup is promising. Some players like Daniel Pidgeon ’15 are bound to rebound from a slow start and help the Bantam offense recover at least somewhat. Also, note how tightly-packed the 4-7 spots are. The East, behind Tufts, remains wide open and these teams are basically interchangeable at this point.

8. Williams (3-3, 0-0)

The Ephs only started their spring trip this past weekend so they are still a little behind some of the other teams at this point. Besides Jack Cloud ’17, none of the Ephs main hitters have hit well thus far, and the back end of the rotation has not looked great thus far either. The Ephs’ three wins have come against mediocre competition. Still, the Ephs can make those worries mostly go away with a dominant performance in their opening series against Middlebury.

9. Hamilton (6-5, 0-0)

We would have put the Continentals higher if they hadn’t dropped a doubleheader to Colby on Tuesday. The two games exposed the lack of quality starters for Hamilton behind Jjay Lane ’15. Cole Dreyfuss ’16 is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in his two starts so far so he could end up being a critical piece for Hamilton. The Colby starters basically shut down the Hamilton lineup besides Joe Jensen ’15. Hamilton will not open their NESCAC season until April 10 when they travel to Middlebury so they will remain in the background for a little while.

10. Middlebury (0-6, 0-0)

Still searching for their first win, the Panthers have seen consecutive late inning leads slip away the last two games in their opponents’ final at bat. Dylan Sinnickson ’15 has been a fun story so far, but Middlebury is not going to see results on the field unless their pitchers start getting opponents out more consistently. The team ERA is an almost unfathomable 13.92 at this point. That number must, and certainly will, come way down. Still, Joe MacDonald ’16, who is expected to basically be an innings-eater (disclosure: Joe is the co-founder of Nothing but NESCAC) is the only pitcher with an ERA below 7.00 at this point. The good news is that the lineup is hitting better than last year with Raj Palekar ’18 enjoying a torrid start to his career, even though some of the guys expected to carry the load, MacDonald included, are off to slow starts.

Baseball Starting Nine: What You Have Missed Thus Far

Baseball returns to New England this coming weekend. Get ready. (Courtesy of Tufts University)
Baseball returns to New England this coming weekend. Get ready. (Courtesy of Tufts University)

Been too busy watching basketball and avoiding the snow to remember that NESCAC baseball is in full swing at this point? You certainly were not alone. It has been easy to lose sight of everything going on down south, but we kept close tabs for you. With the NESCAC conference season starting Friday, get ready for our season predictions and other analysis coming later this week. In the meantime, here are nine things you need to know about.

1. Wesleyan has experience for days: A quick perusal of the Wesleyan statistics tells us very clearly that freshmen are not going to see much playing time. Through twelve games, the only stats accrued by freshmen are four at-bats. Besides that a returning player has played every pitch and at-bat. That ability to have exclusively upperclassmen separates the Cardinals from every other team that has to rely on some freshmen to fill crucial roles. The returning champions have every reason to be confident.

2. Cardinals have impressed: Sticking with the defending champions for our second point. As we mentioned in our season preview, Wesleyan played a challenging spring trip schedule, and overall they showed they belong with the best. Their 8-4 victory over #7 Cal Lutheran was a high water mark that brought them to 5-0 for the season. Ace Nick Cooney ’15 started and won that game for Wesleyan. Wesleyan stumbled a bit near the end of the trip and is now 8-4, but they still are the most impressive team to this point. Guy Davidson ’16 has a slashline of .395/.477/.684 to lead the offense. Wesleyan probably hasn’t hit their stride yet, and they are already pretty scary looking.

3. Dylan Sinnickson ’15 is bashing baseballs: The return of Sinnickson to the diamond is a big reason why there is a sliver of hope around the Middlebury team, and he wasted no time making an impact. In the Panthers opening doubleheader Saturday, Sinnickson went 5-9 and hit THREE home runs. Then he hit another in the Panthers first game on Sunday to tie for the league lead after only three games. The team’s pitching against him probably had no idea who he was and he likely saw some fat fastballs that he was able to eat up, but still, not many players in the NESCAC can do hit four homers in three games. To take a year off from baseball and come back hitting like that is incredible and shows the type of athlete he is.

4. Bowdoin and Trinity struggled: The two East Division teams both have their sights set on returning to the playoffs, but they need to improve on their play quickly. Bowdoin went 5-8 on their Florida trip while the Bantams went 7-5. The Bowdoin staff saw nobody pitch well and the team had a 5.58 ERA. The front of the rotation guys like Erik Jacobsen ’15 and Harry Ridge ’16 pitched decently while Henry Van Zant ’15 started only one game. Meanwhile Trinity’s problem of hitting for no power carried over to this season. As a team the Bantams slugged .357 in their 12 games and had nobody hit a single home run. The good news is that their top two pitchers Sean Meekins ’15 and Jed Robinson ’16 looked fantastic.

https://twitter.com/TrinityBaseball/status/579722627373240320

5. Tommy O’Hara ’18 big for Tufts: The weakness of Tufts is their lineup, but O’Hara looks like he is going to solve a good deal of that problem single-handedly. The freshman third baseman was Tufts’ best hitter on their trip to Virginia and North Carolina. He had a ridiculous .564 OBP in 42 at-bats. With a 1:1 K:BB ratio, he should be able to carry over that type of hitting to the conference season. Don’t expect him to finish with an OBP above .500, but the Illinois native will be a huge bat in the middle of the Tufts lineup that appeared a bat or two away from being elite before the season started.

6. Amherst pitching is unsettled: The big reason why the Jeffs went only 6-6 on their trip was a pitching staff that saw a lot of players auditioning for a starting role. Six different pitchers started games for the Jeffs, and John Cook ’15 started only one game in part to let others get a chance to show their stuff. Drew Fischer ’18 flashed his massive potential with 15 strikeouts in only 8.2 innings. The problem is that he also walked nine batters. He will have to do a better job of trusting his fielders and not simply trying to strike everybody out. Jackson Volle ’17 had two solid starts and might have won the third rotation start because he appears to be more consistent than the flashy Fischer.

7. Rob DiFranco ’16 emerging for Bates: The transition from reliever to starter is going well for DiFranco so far with two starts and two wins. Granted, the first start he only went two innings. He has allowed only one run in eight innings so far, and he has yet to walk an opposing batter. DiFranco only went five innings in his longest start so far so we have not seen whether he can go deep into games yet, but the early returns are promising. Combined with Will Levangie ’15 thus far, and the Bobcats rotation has been solid.

8. Hamilton sophomores stepping up: Joe Jensen ’15 has been fantastic like you would expect him to be, and the Continentals are hitting better behind as well. Chris Collins ’17, Kenny Collins ’17, Ryan Wolfsberg ’17, and Andrew Haser ’17 are all hitting .333 or better. Haser in particular has been impressive after having an OBP below .300 in 2014. Having this core group of sophomores be consistent threats in the lineup makes Hamilton a much more dangerous team to pitch against. The Continentals will get the chance to see whether it stands up against Wesleyan this weekend.

9. Remember the sample size caveat: Do not get carried away with all the results so far. Statistics tells us that through random probability some players will get hot  A lot of things are going to change as we go forward. When assessing the worth of early season statistics, keep in mind Bayes’ theorem. While the idea is sort of complicated, the idea is lend more weight to events that confirm what we thought already and give pause to events that contradict what we thought. So for example, we can trust that Jensen hitting above .500 is not a fluke because we knew already that he was really freaking good at baseball.

The Champions Have Returned: Wesleyan Baseball Season Preview

2014 Record: 31-13 (10-2 NESCAC, First in NESCAC West, First in Little Three)

Postseason Outcomes: NESCAC Champions, Second at Moosic, Pa. Regional

Returning Starters: 11 (9 Position Players, 2 Starting Pitchers)

Projected Starting Lineup:

DH Robby Harbison ’17
2B Andrew Yin ’15
CF Donnie Cimino ’15
1B Sam Goodwin-Boyd ’15
RF Jonathan Dennett ’15
SS Guy Davidson ’16
3B Ellis Schaefer ’17
LF Ben Hoynes ’15
C Nick Miceli ’17

LHP Nick Cooney ’15
RHP Gavin Pittore ’16

Offensive Overview:

After powering through the NESCAC last year and earning a school-record 31 wins, Wesleyan will return all nine players in their starting lineup this year. Expected to continue his dominance at the plate is Sam Goodwin-Boyd. Last season he tormented opposing pitchers while hitting .327 with five home runs and 44 RBIs. Goodwin-Boyd also runs well for a big guy (6’5″ 235 lbs). But the Cardinals’ offense does not stop there. Also returning to the lineup with high expectations are 2B Andrew Yin ’15, two-sport star Donnie Cimino, Jonathan Dennett and Robby Harbison, who all batted above .320 last season. Junior transfer Marco Baratta ’16 also hopes to make an impact on the lineup in 2015 by getting some at bats in the outfield.

Wesleyan captured the program's first ever NESCAC title in 2014. (Courtesy of Tufts Sports Information/NESCAC.com)
Wesleyan captured the program’s first ever NESCAC title in 2014. (Courtesy of Tufts Sports Information/NESCAC.com)

Defensive Overview:

In the field Wesleyan returns all nine positions players and will be anchored by three All-NESCAC performers in Cimino (CF), Goodwin-Boyd (1B) and Guy Davidson (SS). Cimino, Goodwin-Boyd and Davidson all look to improve on last season’s success after playing summer ball in the prestigious Cape Cod League and Futures League. Pitcher/catcher Nick Miceli played some competitive summer ball as well, plying his trade in the New England College Baseball League, and hopes to build on a strong freshman campaign. Returning all nine field players will be key for the chemistry of a squad that has championship hopes again.

Pitching Overview:

Nick Cooney '15 (left) and Gavin PIttore '16 (right) got a taste of the Cape League this summer on the heels of their 2014 success. (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)
Nick Cooney ’15 (left) and Gavin PIttore ’16 (right) got a taste of the Cape League this summer on the heels of their 2014 success. (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

On the mound Wesleyan will rely on returning starters Nick Cooney and Gavin Pittore ’16 to carry them through the campaign. Cooney was an All-NESCAC selection in 2014. Both Cooney and Pittore pitched in the Cape Cod League, bringing the total number of Wesleyan players in NCAA-sanctioned summer leagues to seven. The bullpen depth appears to be another strong point for he Cardinals in 2015 as well. Sam Elias ’15, another NECBL player, and Pete Rantz ’16 figure to make numerous relief appearances, though Rantz could compete for a starting job as he toed the rubber for seven starts last season. Elias and his devastating splitter accounted for a 9.27 K/9 ratio over 43.2 IP in which he earned four saves to lead the team. His 1.03 BB/9 rate was among the league’s best as well.

Story Lines to Watch

1. Can Wesleyan avoid the Championship hangover?

After last year’s historic season, the Cardinals will look to be even more dominant. The 2014 NESCAC title was the first in school history and the birth into the NCAA tournament the first since 1994. If Wesleyan hopes to continue this excellence they will need their established stars to step up again this year. After dropping the first game in the 2014 NESCAC championship 10-0 against Tufts, they showed incredible resilience to take the next two games. Coach Mark Woodworth has developed a formula for success that is not always pretty, but certainty is effective.

2. Can Wesleyan return to the World Series for the first time in over 20 years?

Last year’s NESCAC Championship certainty makes the Cards a contender to return to the playoffs again. With a cadre of returning starters the team appears to be in prime position to make a deeper run into the playoffs. If the Cards make the tournament again how far can they go? Can they reach the bar set by the 1994 Division-III runners-up? Can they win it all? Either way there is definitely something special brewing in Middletown.

3. How will Wesleyan’s 150th season celebration affect their performance?

This year will mark the 150th season of Wesleyan baseball. To celebrate the historic occasion the Cardinals will play Yale, their first ever opponent, in a regular season match up in April. They will also honor the tradition with a historic anniversary game on September 26, 2015. Will Wesleyan be able to create even more history with an incredible run into the NCAA tournament? Whatever the outcome, the 2015 season will prove to be a historic campaign.

4. How will Wesleyan stack up against top-flight competition?

In the D3baseball.com/National College Baseball Writers’ Association Preseason Poll the Tufts Jumbos were the only NESCAC team to make it into the rankings, but Wesleyan received a good chunk of votes. Now after two weeks of inactivity some of those Cardinals votes have shifted elsewhere, but still Wesleyan is right on the cusp of breaking into the top 25. The Cards’ spring break schedule includes games against No. 5 Cal Lutheran (8-1) and No. 14 Linfield (9-5) as well as two games in Pomona against Pomona-Pitzer (11-3) who is unranked but is receiving votes. If Wesleyan returns from its westward sojourn with a couple of victories against these teams then the NESCAC better get ready.

Biggest Series: Home-and-home against Amherst April 24 and 25.

Most NESCAC weekend series are played at a single site, but Amherst and Wesleyan have turned this into a home-and-home affair. Last year the Cards beat the Jeffs in Amherst and then split the pair in Middletown. Both teams expect to be competing for the NESCAC West title this season, so for Wesleyan it will be important to win the Friday bout in Connecticut before driving up to Amherst for the Saturday doubleheader.

NESCAC Summer Baseball Wrap-Up

The summer baseball season wrapped up a couple of weeks ago so forgive us for our tardiness. Back in mid-June we let you know where some NESCAC stars were playing. We officially close the 2014 baseball season with a look back at how some of those and other NESCAC stars managed this summer. And if you didn’t get out to a summer league game and you live in New England, consider yourself missing out. Between the CCBL, NECBL, and FCBL, New England has the best and most college baseball in the country.

Cape Cod Baseball League

Nick Cooney ’15, Wesleyan, Falmouth Commodores

Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics
Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics

The Cape Cod Baseball League is filled with Division One players and MLB draft picks, so it is hard for a NESCAC player to get consistent playing time, but Cooney managed to carve out a role on the Commodores. He started two games at the beginning of the year including a good six inning, two earned run performance against the Chatham A’s. After that he was converted to reliever and he finished the season with 19 innings pitched. Cooney struggled with his command yielding 11 walks, but he still managed a 4.26 ERA which is impressive given the competition.

Gavin Pittore ’16, Wesleyan, Harwich Mariners

Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics
Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics

The only other player who managed to get a healthy amount of playing time in the Cape League was Cooney’s teammate Pittore. The Harwich Mariners used Pittore in a long reliever role. He often threw multiple innings including on June 19 against the Chatham A’s when Pittore threw two scoreless innings and collected the win. His 6.09 ERA is greatly inflated by a later appearance against the A’s when Pittore allowed eight runs in one inning. Still Pittore had a great summer fulfilling a lifelong dream, including playing with one of his oldest friends.

A few others saw cups of coffee in the Cape League including Wesleyan teammates Guy Davidson ’16 and Donnie Cimino ’15. Bowdoin’s Henry Van Zant ’15 also pitched a few innings for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.

New England College Baseball League

Nick Miceli ’17, Wesleyan, Vermont Mountaineers

Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics
Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics

The NESCAC champion Cardinals had the most impressive assortment of players throughout the leagues, and Miceli was one of the few NESCAC players in the NECBL. Miceli caught on with the Mountaineers later in the summer making his first appearance on July 19. After allowing two runs in his first relief appearance, he threw 8.2 scoreless innings in his final three appearances. The Mountaineers had a good season making the NECBL playoffs before losing to Sanford in the semi-finals.

 

Tim Superko ’17, Tufts, New Bedford Red Sox

Courtesy of Tufts Athletics
Courtesy of Tufts Athletics

Superko had a tough summer as a starter. He started seven games, but averaged less than four innings per start while posting a 7.39 ERA. His biggest problem was that he was incapable of drawing consistent swings and misses garnering only 17 strikeouts. Superko’s control sometimes betrayed him as he let up 20 walks. One bright spot from the summer came in a start against Danbury.  Superko threw six scoreless innings before he took the hard luck loss when he allowed a run in the bottom of the seventh. While he did struggle this summer, Superko was also pitching in a very good league at a young age. He will be back even better next year.

Futures League

Mike Odenwaelder ’16, Amherst, Torrington Titans

Courtesy of Amherst Athletics
Courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Nobody in the NESCAC had a better summer than Odenwaelder. He absolutely crushed the ball. He posted a slashline of .370/.422/.586 on his way to winning batting title and MVP honors for the Futures League. He stole 20 bases while being caught only twice. He hit two two homers in one game and had no errors in the outfield all summer. The one thing Odenwaelder didn’t do was pitch for the Titans. Odenwaelder looks like he could somehow improve on his monster 2014 NESCAC season next year.

 

Nate Pajka ’15, Bates, Worcester Bravehearts

Courtesy of Bates Athletics
Courtesy of Bates Athletics

Pajka got off to a hot start before posting a line very similar to the one he did during the NESCAC season. Of course his .255 average this summer came against better competition than the average NESCAC pitcher. The most important thing was that Pajka got a ton of at bats (153) which should help him as he gets ready for next season. Most of Pajka’s 12 steals came in the first half of the season as his bat slowed down a little as the summer went along. Still a very successful summer for a player who will have to be a big part of the Bates offense in 2015.

 

Jack Roberts ’17 and Jack Cloud ’17, Williams, Martha’s Vineyard Sharks

Jack Roberts Courtesy of Williams Athletics
Jack Roberts
Courtesy of Williams Athletics
Jack Cloud Courtesy of Williams Athletics
Jack Cloud
Courtesy of Williams Athletics

Roberts spent the summer playing for his hometown team on the Vineyard and enjoyed a steady summer. He managed to get consistent at-bats, but only managed a .252 average with only five walks. After slumping down to .229, Roberts used three straight muli-hit games to get his average back up into the .250 range. Cloud saw his playing time dwindle as the summer went along making his last appearance on July 17, but he hit .260 for the summer as well as walking 11 times to have an OBP of .387.

Mekae Hyde ’15, Bates, Old Orchard Raging Tide

Courtesy of Bates Athletics
Courtesy of Bates Athletics

The positives for Hyde this summer is that he was the starting catcher and got a lot of at-bats and had a respectable .346 OBP. The negative is that his batting average was only .232. Still he can live with that because of the five home runs he also hit. Hyde had one of his best games August 3rd against the Dirt Dawgs when he went 3-4 with a homer and three RBIs. Hyde saw his power come in bunches as he hit three homers in seven games and then two in back to back games but none others.

 

Soren Hanson ’16, Colby, Martha’s Vineyard Sharks

Courtesy of Colby Athletics
Courtesy of Colby Athletics

It took a little bit of time for Hanson to get going, but once he did this summer, he turned into one of the best pitchers in the Futures League. Hanson started the season as a reliever before starting seven games in the second half of the season. He finished the season with a 2.07 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 52 innings. He also had three scoreless starts of six or more innings. Hanson had some troubles at the beginning of the NESCAC season in 2014 as well but finished the year strong and looks primed for a great 2015.

 

Andrew David ’16, Tufts, Brockton Rox

Courtesy of Tufts Athletics
Courtesy of Tufts Athletics

David threw the fifth most amount of innings in the Futures League, but he finished with a somewhat average 3.92 ERA. His success came from barely walking anyone as he allowed only four walks over the entire season. Teams did hit him pretty hard however as he allowed seven or more hits in each of his final five starts. David was somewhat of an afterthought for Tufts in 2014 because of all the talent in their staff. His summer performance shows a capable pitcher, but one who relies heavily on the defense behind him because he doesn’t strike too many batters out.

Rob DiFranco ’16, Bates, North Shore Navigators

Courtesy of Bates Athletics
Courtesy of Bates Athletics

This was an exceptional summer for the Bates reliever. He put up a miniscule 0.82 ERA  over 32.2 innings of relief. His K:BB ratio of 8.3:1 was exceptional, and DiFranco finished with eight saves for the Navigators. DiFranco was the best pitcher for the North Shore squad and flashed the ability to go more than one inning several times. With the loss of several starters, DiFranco might be pushed into starting duty next spring for Bates. If he is not a starter, then he will be a lethal weapon out of the bullpen.

 

Kyle Slinger ’15, Tufts, Worcester Bravehearts

Courtesy of Tufts Athletics
Courtesy of Tufts Athletics

This summer was pretty much a continuation of Slinger’s impressive NESCAC season but with a few more hiccups. Despite those, he finished the season with a 2.55 ERA over eight starts and had a good 6.2:1 K:BB ratio. His best start of the summer was an eight inning outing against the Torrington Titans when Slinger allowed only one run on two hits. The run came in the first inning and after that Slinger fired seven innings of perfect ball. His 0.92 WHIP shows his ERA was no lie, and the southpaw should have another great season in 2014.

Atlantic College Baseball League

Joe Jensen ’15, Hamilton, Trenton Generals

Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics
Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics

One of the few NESCAC players to play on a team outside of New England, Jensen spent the summer in New Jersey. He could not match the gaudy stats he put up in the NESCAC, but still hit for a .269 average and made the ACBL all-star game. His play also fell off somewhat as the season went along as he had .380 OBP at points of the summer before a late season slide. His 13 steals for the season were also below the ludicrous rate he puts up in the NESCAC, but was still the fifth best amount in the league.

 

A few more NESCAC players saw a little bit of time in the Futures League and beyond but we ran out of space to feature those guys. If we missed anyone important please leave it in the comments and we will make sure to remedy our mistakes.

That does it for us in 2014 for baseball coverage. Stay warm this fall and winter and be ready for when the NESCAC returns in the spring.