It only seemed appropriate that the baseball team concluded its season with a loss to NESCAC West rival Middlebury in the conference title game.
Despite finishing the 2006 season with a solid 24-14 record (9-3 conference), Tufts dropped nearly half of its losses to the enigmatic Panthers, who completed a four-game sweep of the Jumbos in the regular season and trounced them 14-1 and 8-1 in the teams' two NESCAC Tournament matchups.
Middlebury was an insurmountable roadblock for the team during the regular-season cross-divisional matchup on Apr. 14-15. Looking to build some momentum heading into the final stretch of the regular schedule, Tufts traveled to Vermont in hope of recovering from three straight losses to Bowdoin the previous weekend. But in a weekend that characterized almost all of Tufts' regular-season losses, the Jumbos lost all four games by narrow margins, 6-5, 7-3, 10-9, and 8-7.
Tufts lost only four contests in the regular season by more than two runs, and three of those came during a spring break trip against southern competition that had been practicing and playing for several months before Tufts' Feb. 13 start date.
"[Middlebury] certainly had our number," junior Chris Decembrele said. "They just hit the ball. In the first game [of the NESCAC tournament] they scored 14 runs. With something like that, you just have to tip your hat to them. They had a great season and a great tournament."
With a season spent mostly in the top 20 of the national polls, the Jumbos had a chance for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. But Bowdoin was rewarded for a season atop the NESCAC East standings, and the Jumbos had to defer their World Series hopes for another year.
Subtracting the four spring break losses and the inexplicable six-game sweep by Middlebury, the Jumbos were 24-4 this year, with the remaining losses coming in a midseason three-game sweep by Bowdoin and a 12-11 loss to Div. II Bentley. Overall, the team was pleased with the outcome of the season.
"How many teams end the season with a win? Not too many," Decembrele said. "Anytime you win 24 games, it's a pretty successful season. We recorded one more win than last year - that's two seasons in a row with 20-plus wins."
The Jumbos were unable to generate much offense against the Polar Bears during their regular-season showdown on Apr. 8-9, dropping all three games, 3-2, 3-1 and 4-3, and opening a midseason slump in which they lost seven of eight games. The Jumbos did, however, gain some revenge during the conference tournament, eliminating Bowdoin in the semifinals on the Polar Bears' own home turf.
"[Beating Bowdoin in the tournament] was certainly a sweet victory," senior tri-captain Greg Chertok said. "Everyone on the team knew we were capable of beating them. We suffered a few tough losses in regular season, but we really played a heck of a game [in the Tournament]. We played great defense behind some great pitching, we strung hits together, and we played the way we're capable of playing everyday."
Although Middlebury and Bowdoin stumped the Tufts offense, the Tufts bats were more than active throughout the remainder of the season. Led by senior Jim O'Leary and his NESCAC second-best .467 batting average, the team hit .325, good for fourth in the league behind Middlebury (.359), Williams (.356) and Bowdoin (.352). Scratching out 272 runs on the season, over 100 more than the opposition, and recording 245 RBI, coach John Casey's team relied on its offensive prowess for much of the 2006 year.
In probably the most important weekend of the regular season, the team used both its bats and solid pitching to sweep Trinity, the defending Div. III College World Series Champion, in three home games on Apr. 21-22. Home field advantage held all season long for the Jumbos as they compiled a flawless 7-0 record at Huskins Field.
"Anytime you can beat a team like Trinity, with their successful history, especially after a couple of tough weekends, it's a huge victory," Decembrele said. "It gave us a lot of confidence going into the playoffs."
Tufts' pitching stabilized the team during that series and throughout the season. While opposing pitchers recorded a 6.63 ERA against the Tufts offense, the Jumbo pitching staff finished third in the league with a 3.84 ERA, behind Bowdoin (3.02) and Amherst (3.14).
No two games were bigger than a five-hit shutout from junior tri-captain Ben Simon and a near no-hitter from senior Zak Smotherman in the NESCAC Tournament as the Jumbos' clawed their way back from the first-round drubbing by Middlebury all the way to the title game.
Despite surrendering 41 unearned runs its 38 games, the team led the NESCAC with a .964 fielding percentage. Chertok and second baseman Brian Casey anchored the middle infield, while junior tri-captain Bryan McDavitt (first) and freshman Kevin Casey (third) held down the corners.
"We had really strong infield defense this year," said Chertok, the starting shortstop. "Brian and I had played for a few years up-the-middle together, so we were very comfortable with each other. The corner infielders did good too."
With all its success, the team will only lose five seniors, but all five played a crucial role in each win. Smotherman (6-2, 2.71 ERA, 51 strikeouts), reliever Erik Johanson (1-1, 2.19, 19), lead-off man Chertok (.367, 35 runs scored), outfielder Jim O'Leary (.467 batting average, 28 RBI) and catcher Ben Chang (six runners caught stealing) all graduate today.
"Anytime you lose the five guys we're losing, who had such a large impact on the team, you have a lot of making up to do," Decembrele said. "We need to compensate for that next year; but we will have seven or eight guys who started for two or three years on the roster. We're very optimistic for next year."
