The Tufts baseball program has averaged almost 24 wins each spring from 2000-03. Ever since, 20 wins have in essence become a yardstick for measuring the success of the program.
Add three straight NESCAC Tournament appearances since the tournament's 2001 inception and it may initially appear that the 2004 Jumbo baseball edition took a step down from recent years.
But for a youth-laden squad entering spring with high expectations following the departure of arguably one of Tufts' most successful senior classes ever, the season ended up being about more than just final NESCAC standings or win-loss records.
"Some kids played well," coach John Casey said. "We were young and had some growing pains, but overall we're happy with the season."
Facing significant uncertainty based largely on lack of college-level experience, Tufts fell just short of its fifth consecutive 20-win season, closing at 18-14 (6-6 NESCAC East).
Heading into the final weekend of conference play needing a sweep of the Bates Bobcats - a team Tufts had not lost to since 1991 - to make NESCACs, the Jumbos tamed the Bobcats for the 24th straight time with a series-opening victory.
But Bates claimed the final two games, eliminating Tufts from playoff contention.
"Coming into the last weekend we still controlled our own destiny," said senior Dave Frew (career 3-6, 4.69 ERA), who saw both starting and relief action this spring. "But Bates is not a team you should lose to. In a season where you don't make NESCACs, there are a lot of low points."
While it was a disappointing end to conference play for players and coaches alike, Casey, who owns a career 359-246-3 record at the Jumbo helm, refused to base the season on the tournament miss alone.
"We've been winning for 20 years, so my question is why should people pay attention to it when we don't win?" Casey said. "There were only two upperclassmen [senior co-captain Adam Kacamburas and junior catcher Bob Kenny] in lineup. We came out with a winning record. We had high expectations and the team did well to live up to them."
But despite the winning record, it was bittersweet for the seniors on the team who discovered for the first time in their college careers the feeling of going home without a postseason berth.
"We had a winning season, but I don't think any of us take solace in that," Frew said. "For the seniors, it's the first time we didn't win 20 games. We didn't do things with the program that we would have liked to do this season."
Graduating with Frew are senior co-captains pitcher Randy Newsom (career 18-7, 3.05 ERA), who was named to the NESCAC All-Conference First Team, and third baseman Adam Kacamburas (.314 average, 46 RBI, .437 OBP), along with infielder Nick Palange (.275, 2 HR, 18 RBI) and outfielder Drew Blewett (.260).
Tufts' biggest problem throughout the season was its inability to come through when it mattered, both on offense and defense. While the Jumbo lineup batted a collective .310 - fourth in the NESCAC - the team consistently failed in the clutch, stranding 257 men on base, an average of eight a game.
Opponents left almost 1.5 fewer baserunners per game.
Defensively, Tufts struggled with the glove in key situations that cost the team some close games, and the pitching staff plunked 45 batters.
In a three-game series against division rival Trinity, Tufts hit 12 batters and made five errors, resulting in nine unearned runs. An error in the second game of the Bates series ultimately knocked Tufts from tournament contention.
"We played hard, we just made some key mistakes in games we needed to win, which killed us," said freshman first baseman Bryan McDavitt, whose .979 fielding percentage was second-highest amongst Jumbo regulars behind Kenny (.995).
This Trinity showdown in early April was the lone sweep of Tufts all season (by scores of 4-3, 4-1 and 12-11), the weekend left Tufts with an 0-3 NESCAC East start.
Despite rebounding to take two of three from Bowdoin and sweep Colby later in April to improve to 5-4, Trinity was costly.
"Trinity's our rival, the team we want to beat," Frew said. "We lost three games on our home field, and for everyone who played it was embarrassing. We could have won every game."
But the season was not all bad. Showing impressive hints of things to come next season, an already young lineup featured four freshman starters.
Freshman designated hitter and part-time shortstop Kyle Backstrom (.354) led Tufts in homers (3) and RBI (28), partly behind a three-homer, eight-RBI day against Babson.
Classmates McDavitt (.311, 1 HR, 16 RBI), center fielder Chris Decembrele (.298, 2 HR, 21 RBI) and second baseman Brian Casey (.274, 10 RBI) all showed they deserved starting roles, helping support a solid sophomore class led by All-Conference Second Teamer, right fielder Matt Clement (.370, 18 RBI) and shortstop Greg Chertok (.311, 18 RBI).
"Obviously we have some talent coming up," McDavitt said. "We can expect some big things from baseball in the future."
On the mound, rookie starter Ben Simon (4-2, 2.01 ERA) provided strong weekend work behind Newsom, while hard-throwing freshman Aaron Narva (3.72 ERA, 3 saves) made 15 relief appearances, tied for the second-highest single season total in Jumbo history.
Juniors Jeremy Davis (3-2, 4.54), Jeff Volinski (1-1, 3.92) and sophomore Zak Smotherman (3-2, 2.97) all saw starting time as well.
"Those young guys got a lot of time," Frew said. "Ben Simon threw weekends, which is a big deal. Smotherman was arguably one of the best for us. So there are a lot of positives going into next season."
Casey remained reserved about looking too closely into next season, but the early collegiate exposure and results of the squad's younger members provide a solid base to develop further come spring 2005.
"We're happy with our young guys," Casey said. "But they've still gotta step it up, because other teams will make adjustments to them. We'll deal with that when the time comes."
