Baseball suffers setback against the Lord Jeffs Panthers trounce St. Michael's before dropping three straight at Amherst

Author: James Edward Kerrigan

Panther's baseball looked strong in its home opener Wednesday, April 6, pounding St. Michaels 15-4. But over the weekend, the men lost all three divisional games to Amherst College.

Wednesday afternoon provided bright sunshine and sharp baseball. The grass was brown and lifeless, but the team was in mid-season form. Head Coach Bob Smith was impressed with the level of play, "We showed depth in pitching, solid hitting, and error-free defense."

The pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts while only allowing two earned runs over nine innings. Dave Irwin '05 pitched the seventh and eighth innings. He surrendered only one hit as he struck out two on his way to earning his first win of the season. The bat attack exploded in the seven run second inning. It looked like batting practice as the men had five extra base hits - all of which reached the warning track.

For the game, David Riester '05 and Ryan Armstrong '06 each tallied three hits while Dom DiDomenico '06 reached base in all of his plate appearances and knocked in three runs. The Panthers clearly outplayed the St. Michael's squad in its home opener. Smith noted that the team "played how they are capable of [playing]."

The weekend was not as kind to the Panthers. On Friday, Middlebury took a 3-2 lead into the bottom half of the fifth inning. Amherst loaded the bases with no outs and capitalized on this opportunity with back to back two RBI base hits. Despite three hits and two RBIs for Noah Walker '06, Amherst never looked back as their pitcher threw three shutout innings to close out the 7-4 win.

Battling for mound supremacy, Amherst junior Joe Vladeck and Middlebury senior David Riester both brought their best stuff. The two pitchers both brought shutouts into the sixth inning, but it was Amherst that drew first blood. A walk and an RBI single pulled Amherst ahead.

Showing their resiliency, Middlebury rebounded in the top of the last inning with three straight singles to begin the frame. Senior Joe Ramoin batted in Middlebury's only run of the game. But in the bottom of the last inning, the Panthers committed two costly errors and Amherst sighed with relief after the 2-1 win.

In the rubber match of the three game series, Amherst again took the first lead of the game in the second inning. Amherst stayed ahead with continued solid pitching.

The pivotal play of the game ruined Middlebury's sniff of a momentum shift. In the top of the fifth, the Panthers began with four straight singles including a RBI for Ryan Whyte '08. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Smith called for the suicide squeeze. Unfortunately the outcome really was suicide as an improbable triple play ensued. First-year catcher Nick Lefeber squared to bunt. The Amherst pitcher made a diving attempt - the ball popped off his glove, and was arguably caught. He fired to third then the third basemen threw to second for the inning ending play.

Smith questioned the umpire's call and was nearly ejected, but said, "I'd do it again." In the end, Russ Budnick '05 suffered his first loss of the season, as the Panthers lost 9-3.

The Panthers now stand 2-4 in NESCAC divisional play. The conference is broken up into east and west. The top two teams from each division make the playoffs. Amherst stands atop the division with a 3-0 record. Smith praised Amherst's squad, saying, "Amherst has better pitching than Williams. They play with a lot of intensity."

Middlebury will have to play with some of their own intensity this weekend and for the remaining of the season. After a game on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., Middlebury hosts their first three game divisional series against Hamilton College. They will play Friday at 4:00 p.m., Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and 2:30p.m.