The baseball season began as the Amherst offense led the team to a 10-2 victory over Fontbonne on Sat., March 17. Co-captain Dave Siegle '01 spearheaded the Jeffs' attack with an RBI single in the first inning to drive home John Brody '02, who doubled the previous at bat on the first pitch of the 2001 season. Three more hits and three more runs would follow in the first before the Jeffs were done, and Fontbonne knocked out.
Later in the game Siegle added a two-run homerun, the first round-tripper of the 2001 season. Ryan Whitmarsh '01, who led the team in homers last season, was not to be outdone, adding another dinger two batters after Siegle.
Giving up only six hits over five innings, Dave Krauser '02 made the lead stand for the Jeffs, while Chris Vecsey '03 and Andy Kerns '04 added scoreless innings of relief work to help the Jeffs claim their first victory.
Amherst continued their winning streak against Franklin Pierce, winning 6-3 on Sunday, and again last Tuesday against Hampden-Sydney, winning 14-5.
Against Franklin Pierce the Jeffs fell behind early, giving up three runs in the first inning. However, they rebounded quickly to tie the game at three apiece as Joe Katuska '03 belted a two-run double in the second and Jordan Krall '01 followed with a sacrifice fly in the third.
With the bases loaded in the sixth, Brett Nicol '03 smashed a two-run double to secure a win for Duncan Webb '04, who pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless ball for the Jeffs.
Hampden-Sydney was no match for Amherst's hidden power attack, which included 14 runs and three round trippers. Krall started things off with a home run in the second inning that saw 14 Jeffs go to the plate and eight make it around. Whitmarsh added his second home run of the season, and Kevin Grant '02 launched a homer in his first at bat of the season. Kerns pitched the first three for the Jeffs, giving up no runs, while recording his first win of the season.
As fate would have it, Amherst's first loss of the season came to the defending Div. III runners-up, St. Thomas College. Despite four strong innings, in which he held St. Thomas scoreless, a nagging shoulder caught up with Co-captain Kevin Downes '01 in his first start of the season. Downes gave up three in the fifth, and Krauser, who entered the game in relief, eventually took the loss for the Jeffs as St. Thomas went on to win 9-4. Although Downes found the loss "disappointing," he realizes that his lack of preparation time due to his injury this off-season meant that he was not in top shape. "Still," said Downes, "it was good to be out there."
Amherst rebounded from its second loss of the season in the nightcap of a doubleheader with Calvin, taking the game 7-1. Jeff Leduc '02 pitched the first complete game for the Jeffs, allowing just five hits and striking out seven. Although they lost the opener 4-2 earlier in the day, Amherst came at Calvin hard in the second game played at the Boston Red Sox minor league complex, jumping on top with three runs in the first. Again Whitmarsh, Krall and Siegle led the Jeffs offense that brought more than enough hurt to backup Leduc.
On Friday Amherst improved to 5-2 with a 5-2 win over Macalester College. The team put up a season-high 15 hits, including three more for Whitmarsh and another bomb for Krall, tying Whitmarsh for the team lead. Despite this senior power, the star of the game was undoubtedly Webb, who hurled 1 2/3 innings in relief to gain his second win of the season for the Jeffs.
After beating Elmhurst College in the early game last Saturday, the Jeffs dropped their third game of the season to the University of Chicago. Whitmarsh added another three hit game to his resume in the 11-6 win over Elmhurst. Nicol hit his first career home run and starting pitcher Vecsey took home the win after pitching 4 2/3 innings.
In the second game Krauser pitched brilliantly for seven innings after giving up two runs in the first, though could not hold on for extra innings as Chicago drove three runs home in the eighth inning.
Amherst finished off the trip against Upper Iowa, losing 9-5.
Downes and Leduc both pitched well, with Downes battling shoulder problems and Leduc pitching on only two days' rest, but it was not enough for the Jeffs.
Overall, the spring break exposed some weaknesses for the Jeffs, as well as demonstrating their strengths. While in every game there was something new to work on, the Jeffs showed that when push comes to shove, their offense could provide a spark and their defense could shut opponents down. Whitmarsh excelled at the plate, and he was not alone. Krall showed power drilling two home runs, and Siegle also came through with clutch hits. On the pitching staff Webb certainly proved himself. Kerns, Leduc, Krauser and Vecsey also showed that they were ready to step up this season for Amherst.
So what does this all mean? Well Downes put it well when he described the team as "coming together." He said, "Right now we're getting comfortable, getting everything in shape," and added that the Jeffs "will be pumped up for the games up north."
The Jeffs first game up north, scheduled to be this Thursday against Westfield State College, has been canceled due to the weather, and it is unlikely that the Jeffs will be able to play at home in their NESCAC opener this weekend. Currently there is a possibility that the Jeffs will play either in Norwich, Conn., at a Yankees minor-league facility, or on Cape Cod. The Jeffs are scheduled to take on Middlebury College, who is currently 2-1 on their spring break trip to Ft. Myers.