Jumbos look to veterans to lead offense

Despite the loss of key veteran bats, the Tufts baseball team looks to continue to win in the NESCAC this year.

To do so, the offense will have to depend on the efforts of returning juniors and seniors as well as an abundance of young talent.

The offense started slowly last season, but the team hit well enough down the stretch to finish batting .287, contributing to an impressive 21-10 record and a NESCAC tournament berth. However, the Jumbos were quickly knocked out of the tournament, after consecutive 5-1 and 6-0 losses to Amherst and Williams.

Tufts now finds itself without many of the driving forces behind last year's offensive production. Centerfielder Evan Zupancic, shortstop Brian Shapiro, and leftfielder Jon Herbert all graduated in 2003. All were dangerous at the plate, most notably Zupancic, who became Tufts' new career home run king with 22 last season.

The Jumbos also lose 2003 All-New England Third Team DH Greg Hickey, who would have been a senior on this year's team. Hickey was a major offensive catalyst last year, leading the team in batting average (.394), hits (43), and RBI (31). Hickey is not attending Tufts this semester for unknown reasons, but should return next season.

Nonetheless, coach John Casey remains confident about the team's offensive potential, drawing comparisons between this year's young team and the young team of 2000, which featured several freshmen and finished strongly with a record of 26-12.

"We've been hitting the ball fairly well," Casey said. "But like a young team sometimes we look bad, and sometimes we look real good, so we'll try to get some level of consistency."

One person Casey may look for to provide that offensive consistency will be senior co-captain Adam Kacamburas. The third baseman hit .321 for the Jumbos last year and maintained a staggering .481 on base percentage.

"I'd like to see Kac and [speedy sophomore Greg] Chertok at the top of the order," Casey said. "Kac gets on and makes you pitch and Chertok can run. We can do some stuff there."

Kacamburas acknowledges the need for this year's veterans to provide offensive strength.

"We graduated a lot of talent last year and are going to have to pick up a lot of slack," Kacamburas said. "It's definitely going to be on the older guys to step it up and fill that void."

Junior second baseman Frank Dinucci agreed.

"We've lost some guys who put the ball over the fence for us," Dinucci said. "We've got to be smart and aggressive on the bases, maybe bunt a lot or play a National League type of baseball if we have to."

Other returning starters who are expected to produce at the plate include junior first baseman John McBride, junior catcher Bob Kenny, sophomore outfielder Matt Clement, and infielders junior Dave Bishop and senior Nick Palange.

In addition, Casey cites freshman depth as being an important characteristic of this season's offense and expects to see a lot of changes in the lineup during the early part of the season. The team faces its first test on March 19 when it kicks off an eight game southern road trip at Lynchburg College in Virginia.

"We're not shying away, we're going to go play them, and we're going to find out," Casey said. "I don't even care who wins, I care if we play competitively. So either way, it's going to give us some great experience and give us a sense of how well we're going to fly."