The baseball team has high expectations this spring and with good reason.
After turning in back-to-back 20-win seasons - going 23-11 in 2005 and 24-14 last year - the Jumbos are poised to go after their 15th-consecutive winning season. After suffering several key losses from last year's squad, which came within one win of a NESCAC championship before falling in the title game to Middlebury, this year's team may still have what it takes to come out on top. So far, however, it's too soon to tell.
"We haven't played a game yet, so it's pretty tough to say anything," said coach John Casey, who enters his 24th season as the team's head coach. "We're going down south to play some guys, and hopefully we figure some things out halfway through the trip. There are a couple of positions that are wide open."
That trip begins tomorrow when the Jumbos head south, first to Virginia to take on Lynchburg, and then into North Carolina, where they will spend most of the week. All in all, they're scheduled for 12 games in 10 days, an exhausting way to spend their spring break.
"It's tough," senior tri-captain Bryan McDavitt said. "It's a lot of baseball in little time. But we're well rested the whole trip. Obviously we play a lot of games, but when we're not on the field, we're off our feet. We do a good job of that."
Perhaps the biggest challenge this year's squad faces over spring break is the juggling of its pitching staff. Two of the leaders of last year's staff, senior tri-captain Ben Simon, who is an editor for the Daily, and 2006 graduate Zak Smotherman, will be missing this time around, Simon with an arm injury. Rebuilding may not be an easy task for this year's squad.
"It's tough to tell when you're indoors all the time," McDavitt said. "But we've got some guys coming back that are good pitchers."
Casey now looks to rebuild his staff. Senior Derek Rice, who made nine starts last year and went 3-3, is back, but the other three leading candidates for the rotation - senior Carlos Lopez and juniors Jason Protano and Adam Telian - are less experienced, having made a combined nine starts.
The three newbies to the rotation are not without promise, however. Lopez showed flashes of brilliance as a spot starter last year, finishing the season 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA, while Protano and Telian were two of the most relied-upon arms in Casey's bullpen. Protano led the team in both appearances, with a league-leading 20, and saves, with three. Now, he's forced to move into the rotation.
"We're going to start the best guys that are throwing," Casey said. "The rotation right now is going to be Protano, Telian, Rice and Lopez. We're bringing down enough pitchers to get through it. If they throw the way they're capable of throwing, we should be fine."
Offensively, the team returns an All-NESCAC first baseman in McDavitt but has also lost two all-stars, shortstop Greg Chertok and outfielder Jim O'Leary. O'Leary was dominant in the third spot in the lineup last season, leading the team in batting average (.467), on-base percentage (.565), slugging percentage (.682), doubles (15) and triples (one).
Batting cleanup without the All-NESCAC production in front of him is a whole new ballgame for McDavitt, but the senior hopes the lineup can rebound well.
"I think we have some young guys that can step up," McDavitt said. "I'm not too concerned."
McDavitt is bound to have a strong supporting cast around him, as four more .300 hitters - seniors Kyle Backstrom, Nick Curato and tri-captain Brian Casey, along with sophomore Kevin Casey - are returning.
With all these players donning the brown and blue for another season, the Jumbos are poised to make a run at a NESCAC title, which would earn them a berth in the NCAA postseason, a goal they narrowly missed last season despite going 9-3 in the NESCAC East last year.
Reigning division champion Bowdoin is reeling from several losses to graduation, including its two best pitchers, Ricky Leclerc and Trevor Powers, as well as star outfielder Jared Lemieux. NESCAC West champion Middlebury, however, is as strong as ever, as the Panthers' returning stars include All-NESCAC junior starter Jack Britton, who went 6-2 with a 1.83 ERA as a sophomore, and junior third baseman John Lanahan, who led the league with seven home runs.
"It's always competitive in the NESCAC, every year," McDavitt said. "I know all the other teams are going to be just as tough as they are every other year. And those games are the most important - they're what get you to the playoffs."
For the Jumbos, a return trip to the postseason is a prime goal, as Tufts has proven to be a perennial powerhouse in the NESCAC East. But for McDavitt, there's another goal for this season, one which may prove to be a bit tougher.
"We'd like to win the NESCAC championship, which is something we haven't been able to since I've been here," McDavitt said. "We'd also like to have another winning season, and on top of that, just play baseball the way our coach has always preached - play hard, and don't let anyone get in our way."
