Pitching, Defense Mark Baseball Team

Author: Neil Onsdorff

Spring in Vermont, wet, cold, muddy, wet and cold. Yet, from a baseball standpoint, there are 25 guys who cannot wait to get outside and show off their stuff. Middlebury's 2002 baseball team is looking to vastly improve their squad from last year and make some noise in this year's New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) field.

With a team built around solid pitching and a defense that Head Coach Bob Smith feels "can match up with anybody in the league," the Panthers should be able to make a run at what is an incredibly competitive Western NESCAC division. Yet, coach Smith cautions relying on talent alone. "We had strong talent last year, but we were unable to make that talent work and we lacked chemistry as a team, as a ball club".

There is no secret around the locker room that the end of last year went the way of the dodo and that this year is going to be different. In talking with the players and coaching staff, chemistry seems to be on the tip of most everybody's tongue. "We have great talent", says co-captain Brain Hamm '02, "but this is baseball, chemistry is much more important, and in reflecting on this team we have great chemistry."

With strong senior leadership in Hamm, and the other co-captain Jon Downs '02, the team is feeling a new sense of drive toward baseball. "Its fun to coach them," says Smith. "The fact that they want to be out there enables the coaches to want to work even harder to make this team successful." And it is not just the coaching staff that can see the improvements from last year. "Last year was tough, we lacked the right amount of leadership that was needed to bind that team together", says catcher Jason Hanna '03, "but this spring, we are having fun, the leadership from the seniors is fantastic and it should make for a great season."

Another bright spot for the Panthers is the addition of a strong first-year class. With the Panthers philosophy toward their pitching centered around stamina and long innings, Smith brought in quality first-year pitching to try and spread out tough innings. The addition of Russell Budnick '05 and Brian Vickery '05 has brought the pitching staff to a higher level than it has been in years past. Besides pitching, switch-hitting first-year Gil Kim, is what Smith describes "as a pleasant surprise, and if the season were to start tomorrow, Kim has played his way into the starting spot." Kim will be a nice compliment at second base to the fantastic play of Hamm at shortstop, which should make for a solid middle.

The Panthers will be able to see how good they really are in a little over two weeks as they make their annual trip to Florida where they start their conference games right away, including two huge games at the end of the week against arch rival Williams. Also, later in the season look as the Panthers take on instate foe St. Michaels on April 3.

When asked how the team was this year, centerfielder Denver Smith '03 replied without hesitation, "We're nasty!" With a team with this much potential, it should be a pleasure to see how nasty this team really is.