Few coaches at Tufts, or in the NESCAC as a whole, have a legacy as storied and successful as that of baseball coach John Casey. He's coached 789 games at Tufts — more than double the number of any other coach — and his .596 winning percentage is the best of any skipper that has worked for more than one season. His teams have produced a .500 record or better for 18 straight years, and his players are extremely committed to making sure that streak stays alive.
"This program is a lot more important than any one of us or anything that we're going do in a single season," junior tri-captain David Leresche said. "It's trying to carry on the legacy that he set up — obviously a great one. As players, we talk about guys who were there before us, guys who did things the right way and how we can continue to improve this program. My goal is to leave the program better than when I came into it. It's something a lot of us feel strongly about."
"We all have ultimate respect for coach Casey," senior tri-captain Corey Pontes added. "We just have to look at the alumni program and all the guys that come back to practice, and there is pressure to keep up the standard of the program."
While Casey's run of .500 seasons is impressive, it appeared to be in jeopardy last year. The team started the season at just 2-9 and had to fight its way to the championship round of the NESCAC playoffs against Trinity to achieve a 19-19 overall record.
Needing to upset the Bantams twice to take home their first NESCAC title since 2002, the Jumbos succumbed in the first game, 7-3, as Trinity claimed its second consecutive NESCAC championship. The Bantams have dominated Div. III baseball in recent seasons, and they even have an exhibit in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. honoring their 45-1 2008 season.
But while Trinity has a strong pedigree, the Tufts players are confident that this is the year they will be able to topple the mighty Bantams. The Jumbos graduated only five seniors from last year's team, leaving most of the roster intact.
"In any sport, for any team, the first goal is to come out on top," senior tri-captain Alex Perry said. "I feel confident. We really relied heavily on the sophomore class last year, and for them to develop into leaders this season will be huge ... Hopefully guys can learn from them, and we can go out and win some games."
One underclassman who was crucial to the team's success was Leresche, who hit .376 with a tremendous .494 on-base percentage. He earned an All-NESCAC second team selection as a result of his impressive season, but this year he feels he can do even better.
"Last year, I made some adjustments in preseason and even into the first couple games," Leresche said. "This year, I knew what I had to do to get ready. So it's just building on the base from last year — keeping that preparation, that same intensity I had last year, except this year more concentrated on specific things I have to improve on. I'm definitely more confident because I've shown what I can do, so I think the challenge for me is just staying hungry."
While Leresche had an outstanding season, Tufts' hitting on the whole was only middle-of-the-road in the NESCAC. The team's .396 on-base percentage was fifth in the conference, but its .387 slugging percentage was last. The pitching did not fare much better, compiling a 5.75 ERA — tied for fifth in the NESCAC.
"I think collectively we just need to be consistent," Perry said. "We need to finish off games. You have to play a full nine innings every day.
"I think the biggest thing as a baseball player is just to go out and play, leave everything on the field," Perry continued. "If you can say you left everything on the field, that's the biggest accomplishment. You don't want to come off the field, even winning, and say you could've done this better or that better. I think our effort and the way we play will be reflected in win-loss columns."
The Jumbos will start play on Friday, when the team begins its annual spring break trip by traveling to Lynchburg for a game on Friday. They will follow that up by playing nine games in eight days starting on March 21.
The spring break trip is always a difficult one for Casey's squad, as the Jumbos begin their season facing Southern teams that are already in midseason form. That is part of the reason that Tufts went 2-9 on the trip last year and was forced to spend much of the remaining season digging itself out of a hole.
But the Jumbos enjoy challenging themselves from the get-go, and they believe that they will have a more successful experience this time around.
"We're going down with the mindset that we're not going down to play these teams, we're going down to beat these teams," Leresche said. "It's a good opportunity because unlike other NESCAC schools … we're playing teams in midseason form and usually some top-25 teams. It works well for us when we come back up northeast for our conference schedule."
"Really it comes down to executing and performance on the field," Pontes added. "If we battle every game and put together good at-bats, strong pitching and defense, we always have a chance. It's more about the process and how we go about things — that's more important than the results. We're going to go down there and play the way we're supposed to, and we'll see what happens."
