During an on−court interview after the final buzzer sounded in his team's dramatic Game 6 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, Boston Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett screamed to the world that "Anything is possible!"
A similar mantra might apply to the baseball team, especially given the way the Jumbos' own K.G. is playing these days.
Since 2009, a Tufts pitcher has hurled a complete game shutout just twice. The first was a one−hit gem on April 23, 2010, in a 5−0 win on the road against Bowdoin. The second was a six−strikeout, no−walk outing on Saturday in the Jumbos' 5−0 win versus Bates.
Both games were thrown by junior Kevin Gilchrist.
Starting to see how anything is possible?
In the first game of Tufts' NESCAC−opening series with the Bobcats, Gilchrist went the distance, needing just 111 pitches to plow through the Bates lineup and kick−start the Jumbos' three−game sweep. The junior had masterful command of his three pitches, scattering 10 hits over nine innings of work. Only one Bobcat — senior co−captain Pat Murphy — reached third base.
Gilchrist's outing was not a culmination but rather a continuation of years of hard work that have transformed him from an ineffective freshman who posted a 31.50 ERA over just four innings into the team's opening day starter.
"Looking at the stats, I would say it could be seen as a disappointment, but it was just part of the learning process," Gilchrist said of his first year. "I learned from the older guys then that it just wasn't my time. I had a few opportunities then, but I didn't step up. It was a learning year."
After an offseason of rapid maturation, in coach John Casey's opinion, Gilchrist finally got a chance to shine last spring against defending NESCAC champion Trinity, turning his first collegiate start into a six−inning, five−strikeout, no−walk effort in the Jumbos' 10−4 win. Just five days later against the Polar Bears, Gilchrist twirled his first complete game for Tufts and earned NESCAC Pitcher of the Week honors in the process.
"He's matured a lot in the last year and a half, just in terms of knowing how to go about his business as a pitcher and maintaining poise and composure," Casey said. "His first year, he wasn't ready to pitch, but last year he took his steps all the way along. He's just staying within himself, doing his job, trusting his stuff. He's confident when he stays on top of that ball. Until you face him, you don't realize how much his ball moves."
And down the stretch in Tufts' best−ever season, Gilchrist became a regular fixture in the rotation, earning the win in the conference tournament opener versus Wesleyan and pitching a complete game against St. Joseph's (Maine) in the NCAA Div. III New England Regional Tournament. He finished 2010 with a 6−1 record in 51.2 innings, 34 strikeouts against 18 walks and a 3.48 ERA; were it not for a four−inning, seven−run showing in the New England Championship versus UMass−Boston, though, Gilchrist would have sported a 2.45 ERA.
Through his third season under Casey, Gilchrist has hardly missed a step. And although his coach is hesitant to slap the "ace" label on any Jumbo, Gilchrist is undeniably pitching like one lately, on an incredibly deep staff filled with quality starters and relievers.
But for all the success and the Second−Team All−NESCAC honors, Gilchrist has avoided adopting a big head, preferring to remain humble and focused rather than adopt what Casey called a "rock−star" persona.
"If you don't always focus on what you have to do, you're not going to be able to make good pitches, and you're going to be worried about stuff that's not really relevant," Gilchrist said. "We have so many good pitchers that anybody can step in at any moment, so you really have to be on top of your game. If you allow yourself to get distracted, you could lose your spot at any time."
A Medford native, Gilchrist knew little about Tufts' baseball program before he began looking at colleges. But now that he's spent a few years on the Hill, he can't imagine himself anywhere else.
"Being on this team is my favorite thing about Tufts," he said. "The guys who have been in the program are awesome and the experience has been unbelievable. To be from Medford and to be able to play with these guys from all over the country in my hometown is just great."
