WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — The 2010 Williams College baseball team will be athletic and it will have pitching depth.
The rest, said head coach Bill Barrale, will come with time. Barrale returns for his fourth season at the helm of the Ephs, having won the NESCAC West Division all three years he’s been in charge, including 2009, when Williams went 25-12 and earned the right to host the conference tournament.
To get back to the postseason, Barrale will have to find some weekend starters to pitch the critical games, because he’ll be without Dan Benz and Ben Horwitz, a pair of southpaws who went a combined 8-3 last season on the hill.
“I think our two biggest strengths heading into the season are our athleticism and our pitching depth,” Barrale said. “We have a bunch of really good college pitchers. We’re deep, so it’s up to me to do a better job, when someone is struggling, to get them out and give someone else a chance.”
Sophomore Harry Marino has emerged as one of the top candidates
to become a weekend starter. The hard-throwing left-hander finished
2009 3-1 with a 6.11 ERA. In 35 1/3 innings, he struck out 28.
Other candidates include senior Paul Burgdorf (3-2, 3.83 ERA),
junior Wilson Barr (3-0, 5.54 ERA), sophomores Eddie Nadel (2-1,
3.42 ERA) and Ben Oliva (1-0, 1.38 ERA) and first-years Pat
Blizzard and Jimmy Ray.
In addition, senior Tom Coleman could be a swingman between the bullpen and starting rotation. Barrale has plenty of options out in the ‘pen as well, with sophomore Dan Grossman (3-1, 2.93 ERA, 29 Ks in 30 2/3 innings) leading the way.
|
| Chad Brown '10 |
The closer’s role is open, and Barrale is hoping
that’s something that works itself out over the course of the
Ephs 16-game trip to Arizona which begins today with a doubleheader
against the University of Southern Maine.
Juniors Dan Marcet and Tom Hester, sophomores Evan Oleson and Matt
Berdoff and first-year Lucas Casso should all see time on the hill
in 2010.
“We have a lot of options, so my hope is some guys will
take advantage of their opportunities out West,” Barrale
said.
Offensively, the Ephs hit .345 as a team in 2009 and bring back
seven players who hit .300 or better as full or part-time players
last season. The leader is senior captain Al Mathews, a Third Team
All-New England selection a year ago when he hit a robust .466 with
51 RBI in 37 games. He’ll start in the outfield, likely left,
with sophomore Stephen Maier (.349, 3 HRs, 13 SBs) in center and a
combination of junior Pat Barren and sophomore Olivia (.306) in
right.
First-years Darren Hartwell and Blizzard will also get a long look in the outfield.
“We have six very athletic guys around the outfield,” Barrale said. “I joke with them that a ball shouldn’t hit the ground all season.”
Senior Chad Brown (.327, 37 RBI) will be back behind the plate for the Ephs, although an injury has left the role of his back-up up in the air. At third base, sophomore Cameron Susk had a beat on the starters job after batting .299 with 24 RBI as a first year. Senior Allemand is back for his third season at shortstop and brings a .352 average and a .510 slugging percentage with him. First-year Taylor Mondshein will spot Allemand and bring the Ephs some speed off the bench.
At second base, both senior Jim Entwisle and junior Barrett Allison will be given a chance to start. Both batted .339 a year ago, and Barrale has said whomever proves themselves the better fielder will see the majority of playing time.
The biggest question mark for the Ephs is likely at first base, where a pair of first years, KC Murphy and Andrew Bishop, will vie for playing time in an effort to replace Taylor Mikell and Zach Stone, who both batted over .400 last season.
“They’re both talented,” Barrale said. “They’re both going to play in Arizona and we will see how it plays out.”
|
| Robin Allemand '10 |
Barrale’s philosophy has remained the same year in and
year out. Home runs will come, so practice the fundamental aspects
of the game. That translates to small ball, of which the coach is a
big fan.
“We’re lacking power, so we’ll need to remain aggressive on the bases, stealing, taking the extra base, using the hit and run, using the bunt,” he said. “We’re going to have some legitimate options off the bench speed-wise and with the bat. In the preseason, I’ve been trying to get the guys to think about winning each pitch to win the battle.”
There will be plenty of battles early for the Ephs, with games against Southern Maine, Eastern Connecticut, a key three-game series with division rival Middlebury, all out in Arizona. And upon their return, they open at Div. I Dartmouth. And that’s all before they face their other division rivals from Amherst, Wesleyan and Hamilton.
“The seniors have been doing a great job getting everyone
to buy into what we’re doing,” Barrale said.
“Plus the coaching staff has been great. We’re more
focused on the process right now, trying to focus on one pitch at a
time, but of course we’d like to win as many games as
possible, win the division and get into the conference tournament.
Those are always goals.”
