Like their major league counterparts, members of the Tufts baseball team reported for their own version of spring training a few short weeks ago. The Jumbos are slightly more than a week away from actual game play, when their annual migration down south commences next Friday with a game against Lynchburg in Virginia.
Coach John Casey was guardedly optimistic about the upcoming season. "We're doing okay," he said. "We're doing what we can, and we're fine. I don't think anyone's been spectacular, I don't think anyone's been awful. Everyone's doing what they're supposed to be doing. But we won't find anything out until we play."
The Jumbos, fresh off a season in which they won the NESCAC East Division with a 10-2 mark and then advanced to the conference championship against Williams, will play ten games over the ten-day spring break trip to Virginia and North Carolina before returning to Medford to begin league play. And according to Casey, the competition will be much more than an easy "tune-up" for the upcoming season.
"The problem is all the games count; you can't duck that," Casey said. "Methodist is already 8-1, and Virgina Wesleyan, Lynchburg, UNC-Greensboro, they're all good teams. Our feeling is we want to go down there and find out if were any good or not. I don't worry about what our record is, I worry about how were playing."
A year ago, Tufts compiled 2-4-1 record on its southern tour, only to come back home and win ten of its next 12 games.
"Last year, even though we came out with three losses, we played Methodist to a 5-5 tie and lost to Greensboro in extra innings," Casey said. "It's our goal to play well. But I think you wind up becoming a better team this way than if you go down there and beat the snot out of some team you already know you're better than. We learned how to play down there last year."
The trip will also serve as an important part of the continuing early season assessment process for Casey and his staff, according to junior tri-captain and center fielder Evan Zupancic. "We'll see how things go on the trip down south," he said. "A lot of evaluation takes place down there."
Specifically, the team is still searching for a new left fielder to replace former co-captain Todd Boutwell, who was lost to graduation along with the team's other captain, catcher Joe Surprenant. Greg Hinkley, a sophomore, will be the new catcher
"Left field is pretty much up for grabs," Zupancic said. He said Hinkley has "great size, a lot of talent, and is still learning but coming along nicely. It's definitely tough to replace guys like [Surprenant]. It's more their leadership roles than anything."
Overall, the Jumbos return 19 players, including tri-captains Zupancic, senior right fielder Dan Callahan, and senior pitcher Steve Lapham. Aside from Lapham, junior pitcher Jon Lee, last season's NESCAC pitcher of the year, sophomore Randy Newsom, and junior Dave Martin will all be back on the mound.
"I think we'll be competitive; our pitching is our strength," Casey said. "And our goal is to get in the playoffs somehow, but they only take four teams in baseball. In a three game series, strong pitching will really help us."
Despite the difficult odds of making the playoffs, the team's expectations remain high. "I'd say we have high expectations for ourselves," Zupancic said. "We like to set the bar pretty high, and we want to meet those standards. We're looking for success."
For now, Tufts will focus simply on getting ready for its season opener. "It's still kind of early, but I think our workouts have gone pretty well," Zupancic said. "We've been real efficient with practices. We're just looking to go up and up and peak when our games start."
Casey agreed, saying he wasn't looking past the upcoming trip.
"I hope its 70 and sunny every day. Then it will be easy," he said.
