BROWN
2008: 20-24 (9-11 Ivy)
After capturing its first-ever Ivy League championship two years ago, Brown struggled last season from the outset, stumbling to a 6-8 overall record in nonconference play. Two days before their Ivy opener at Columbia, the Bears erased a five-run deficit in a rally that culminated with two home runs in the top of the ninth to tie George Mason at five. But Greg Karwaski yielded a walk-off homer to Patriot left fielder Scott Krieger on the fourth pitch of the bottom of the inning to ignite Brown’s tailspin. The Bears lost three of their four opening Ivy matchups and never quite recovered, finishing third in the Rolfe Division with a 9-11 league record. A four-game weekend sweep at the hands of Harvard in mid-April put an exclamation point on Brown’s 2008 woes.
This season, Head Coach Marek Drabinski has tapped senior Matt Nuzzo and junior Will Weidig to captain his crew. Nuzzo, Brown’s starting shortstop led the Bears with six home runs and 40 RBIs last season and has started 92 consecutive games. On the mound, the right-handed Weidig posted a 4.93 ERA in 2008 with four wins and two complete games.
After a disappointing season that began with high expectations following a championship run in 2007, the Bears will be hungry to rebound from their mediocre showing last year and hope to get off to a hot start on Feb. 27, when they take on Florida International in South Carolina.
CORNELL
2008: 12-27 (6-14 Ivy)
After finishing at the bottom of the Ivy League in 2008, the big story in Ithaca is Cornell’s new head coach, Bill Walkenbach. Walkenbach, who played at Cornell, replaces Tom Ford, who will still be with the team but in a role subordinate to Walkenbach’s. As head coach of Franklin & Marshall for the last three years, Walkenbach guided the Diplomats to an overall record of 69-42 and looks to translate his experience into Ivy League success.
The Big Red dropped its first six conference games last season on its trip to the Gehrig Division cellar.
Senior Nathan Ford, an infielder and catcher who batted .410 last year, will be the linchpin of Cornell’s offense along with Mickey Brodsky, who hit .336 with four home runs his freshman year. At pitcher, junior southpaw Matt Hill hopes to build on his 5-3 record last season.
DARTMOUTH
2008: 25-17 (15-5 Ivy)
From this season’s first pitch, the Columbia Lions will find themselves squarely in Dartmouth’s crosshairs. The Big Green suffered a heartbreaking end to a strong season after losing to Columbia in the best-of-three 2008 Ivy League championship. After forcing a third game with a thrilling 16-15 ninth-inning victory the previous day, Dartmouth fell 7-5 in the rubber match and enters this season seeking revenge.
If the Big Green is going to make a run, it will have to do so without star shortstop Erik Bell, who swatted six homers last season, and reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Russell Young. Bell and Young both graduated last spring. But several impact players will be returning.
Russell’s brother, Robert Young – a junior co-captain —went 3-1 with two complete games last season. Outfielder Nick Santomauro will be asked to carry much of the offensive load following his performance in the 2008 league championship series, when he hit four long balls and had eight RBIs over three games.
Head coach Bob Whalen, Dartmouth’s skipper since 1990, has learned to mold competitive teams out of whatever talent he is given. The Lions had better hope the Big Green doesn’t have a breakthrough season.
HARVARD
2008: 10-30 (8-12 Ivy)
Harvard had a dismal start to the 2008 season, winning only once in its first 23 games on their way to a last-place finish in the Rolfe Division. Perhaps the Crimson’s only bright spot was a four-game weekend sweep over Brown in April that accounted for a large chunk of its win total.
Offensively, the Crimson will be led by senior Taylor Meehan, a pitcher/infielder who hit .330 last year with seven doubles and eight stolen bases. Sophomore Dan Berardo had a strong freshman campaign at pitcher, posting a 2-0 record and 4.38 ERA in 10 appearances. Junior Eric Eadington, who sat out most of last year with an arm injury, will be eager to take the hill after racking up 34 strikeouts in 32 innings his freshman season.
Harvard plays 15 nonconference games before opening its Ivy season by hosting Columbia for a twin bill on Mar. 28.
PENN
2008: 15-23-1 (6-13-1 Ivy)
Penn lost 10 of its final 13 games last season, putting a close to an uninspiring season where the Quakers emerged tied for the fewest number of Ivy League wins. Their outlook for this season does not look much better, particularly after losing their most productive hitter, Kyle Armeny, to graduation. The Quakers will sorely miss Armeny’s 2008 contributions of six homers and 27 RBIs as well as his .302 batting average. Junior infielder/pitcher William Gordon will be expected to shoulder much of the offensive load with Armeny gone. Last season, Gordon hit .292 with four home runs and 13 doubles.
Fortunately for the Quakers, they do return their workhorse starter Todd Roth, who racked up 62 innings on the mound last year—23 more than any teammate. He also finished the season with a 2.32 ERA and whiffed 54 batters, the second-highest total in the league. For Penn to succeed this year, Roth will have to get some run support from his offense.
PRINCETON
2008: 20-22 (11-9 Ivy)
The Tigers went 6-1 in their first two weekends of play last season, but squandered that momentum with seven straight losses as they approached Ivy play. After playing .500 ball for most of the year, a four-game win streak to close out the season tipped the scales and gave them a winning league record and second place in the Gehrig Division.
Unfortunately for Princeton (but fortunately for the rest of the Ivy League), Spencer Lucian graduated last season, leaving behind a .425 batting average and .511 on-base percentage. The team’s other primary producer, Jack Murphy, remains, Murphy, a junior catcher, had eight round-trippers and 40 RBIs last year while starting all 48 games behind the plate.
On the mound, Brad Gemberling posted an impressive 3.61 ERA and walked only 14 batters in 45 innings. He will aim to improve upon these numbers as he enters his last season of play.
YALE
2008: 20-24-1 (9-10-1 Ivy)
Losing their last four contests of the season to Brown ruined the Bulldogs’ chances at a .500 overall record, but their accomplishments last year were still far from marginal. It will be difficult for them to achieve similar success in 2009 after graduating their two strongest offensive presences. Ryan Lavarnway’s .824 slugging percentage and Josh Cox’s 21 stolen bases are numbers not easily absorbed by this year’s squad.
Stefan Schropp, Yale’s captain and an outfielder/pitcher, leads a group that will be searching for offense from day one without perennial mainstays Lavarnway and Cox. Last year, Schropp maintained a .345 average and stole 10 bases in 10 attempts.
The Elis will also have to replenish their pitching staff this season after the graduations of Brian Irving, a 51-inning starter, and ace closer Steve Gilman, who compiled five saves and a 1.00 ERA over 17 appearances last season. Brandon Josselyn, who went 2-7 with an ERA approaching 8 last year, will have to step up in his senior year if the Bulldogs hope to compete.
Heavily victimized by a crop of departed stars, the Bulldogs hope to have their act together by the time they finish the season with another four-game set against Brown.
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