One would have to look at rookie third baseman Brendan Powers as the source of the recent offensive success. The Walpole, Mass. native has gone 6-16 scoring seven runs while driving in 12 runners and bombing two homers, including a grand-slam, in the past four contests.
His teammates are starting to take notice. First baseman Dave Levinson '06 who has been incredible as well, hitting .346 with 11 RBI's said, "Powers has been amazing. We needed someone to step up and take the third base job and he's been unconscious, and maybe just as important, he's played a great third base." Nobody has been able to shut down Powers yet and the Jeffs will look for more contributions from him as they progress through the season.
But Powers knows how good it is to hit behind a pair of all-NESCAC seniors in Levinson and shortstop Zach Schonberger '06 who is tied for the team lead in RBI's with 17. "One of the best things about hitting behind those guys is that they're always on base. With Zach and Dave on base, a pitcher has to throw strikes, which often translates into more fastballs and better pitches to hit," explained Powers. "Purely based on stats, they're obviously phenomenal players. But what most people don't realize is the effect that guys like them can have on the rest of the team."
The Jeffs came home from their Spring Break trip to Ft. Myers, Fla with a 7-4 record including a number of one-run losses where games seemed to be lost in the later innings. The Jeffs opened the home season with Westfield St. and used the trio of Rob Anderson '06, Ryan Platzbecker '09 and Ben Goldfarb '09 to shut down the visiting Owls en route to a 18-6 drumming, fueled by four-run first inning, and a seven-run fifth inning. Designated hitter Neal Allar '08 was solid at the plate knocking in four Jeffs and crossing the plate three times himself while Powers drove in four runners.
The Jeffs opened conference play welcoming Little Three rival Wesleyan on a gorgeous Friday afternoon with a slew of students watching from Memorial Hill. The Jeffs did not disappoint with a score more frequently seen on the football field than the diamond as the Jeffs cruised to a 24-3 win. One of Amherst's aces Brian Donahue '07, was solid going seven innings and only giving up a pair of runs while scattering nine hits for his second win of the season.
Donahue gets better and better each game and attributes his success to a little advice from Coach Thurston. "One thing coach has done for me over the past few years is taught me to challenge hitters," he said "There is no sense in giving them a free pass." Donahue gave no Cardinals a free pass, issuing zero walks while striking out seven. It's tough to imagine Donahue having much to improve upon, but he is not about to rest on his laurels. "The main thing that I need to work on to stay successful is make sure that I can throw all four of my pitches for strikes when I need to," he said. "I find myself getting in trouble when I fall behind, and if I can throw all my pitches for strikes I won't fall into that problem."
Powers led the Jeffs with six RBIs while Allar added four more as did rightfielder Angus Schaller '09 who has also been a sensational addition to the Jeff lineup as he is tied for the team lead in RBIs with 17.
Amherst traveled for a double-header at Wesleyan and continued their winning ways with an 8-3 victory. The Jeffs were led by another one of the Amherst aces, Chris Edgar '08, who finally gave up a run after opening the season with 15 shutout innings. Edgar went the distance for the second time this year and has been outstanding so far with a miniscule 1.21 earned run average and 21 strikeouts. Building off last years' experience, he seems confident to continue his early season success. "Last year was a good learning experience because I was immediately thrown into games with tight situations," Edgar said. "This season I know what my role is and what needs to be done.
The Jeffs and Wesleyan played the second half of he doubleheader to a 3-3 stalemate with the game being called due to darkness after 11 innings. Amherst's fourth ace, Nick Kehoe '07 was solid going six innings and striking out five in the no decision. Levinson, Allar and second baseman Mark Mazzone '07 all knocked in a run for the Jeffs who now sit at 10-4-1 on the year and 2-0-1 in conference play.
Levinson knows how well the Jeffs are playing right now but won't look ahead, "Right now we just need to get and stay healthy. The other thing is to keep taking it one day at a time, keep playing hard every day and we know the results will come," he said "We'll worry about doing better in the postseason once it gets here." Keep looking for the Jeffs to roll through opponents as they host four games this week starting with Eastern Connecticut St. University on Wednesday and Hamilton College on Friday, followed by a doubleheader with the Continentals on Saturday.
NESCAC Notes
Senior pitcher Kyle Cox of Trinity College was NESCAC Player of the Week last week while Amherst's Schuller was Player of the Week to after going 6-9 with two homers and seven RBI's to begin the season.