With the Panthers coming to town, the Jeffs knew that they would have to take the series to stay tied with Williams College at the top of the NESCAC West. Additionally, getting swept would drop the Jeffs all the way to third place.
Everything did not start well for the Jeffs, as they lost the first game 3-2. It wasn't lack of pitching that contributed to the Jeffs' loss, but the bats did not wake up until it was too late. Junior pitcher Chris Edgar produced a quality start, lasing 6.1 innings and allowing three earned runs. Despite allowing 10 hits and four walks, Edgar continually showed the ability to pitch with runners on and forced Middlebury to strand several runners. As a team the Panthers left 14 runners on base. Edgar was hit for a run in the third and fourth innings and another in the seventh when first-year pitcher Teddy Blank provided relief. Blank came in with the bases loaded and one out, but retired the next two batters on a pop up and line drive to the second baseman.
The Jeffs, however, were having trouble getting hits and getting on base. Wright of Middlebury went the distance, allowing just five hits and two walks in nine innings of work. Amherst was not able to get to him until the bottom of the eighth. After sophomore outfielder Angus Schaller doubled with one out, he later scored as the Middlebury third baseman made an error on a grounder off the bat of senior second baseman Mark Mazzone.
Sophomore pitcher Ryan Platzbecker came in to pitch a scoreless final two innings, striking out three. Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Jeffs trailed 3-1 and finally had the confidence that they could score. Senior designated hitter Jared Banner led off with a single and later scored on a single by first-year outfielder Will Lawton. Although Lawton got into scoring position with one out and represented the tying run, the Jeffs were unable to drive him in and lost 3-2.
"We knew coming in that not only was this the most important series of our season," said senior pitcher Nick Kehoe, "but that in order to win, we would have to play the type of baseball that has been old style here at Amherst since the institution's founding."
With a bad taste from the previous night's loss, the Jeffs were ready to comeback and sweep the doubleheader. Led by Kehoe, the Jeffs played true old style baseball, winning with pitching, defense and timely hitting. Those who saw Kehoe on the mound saw a truly spectacular performance–a complete game one-hitter. Kehoe had the Middlebury hitters off all day, making just one mistake, a solo homerun in the second inning. However, before and after that, Kehoe did not allow another hit and did not walk a batter in his seven-inning, five-strikeout performance.
The Middlebury pitcher was also dominant, but not at Kehoe's level. The Jeffs were able to score a run in the top of the first when junior first baseman Neal Allar drove in Mazzone with a base hit up the middle. However, sophomore third baseman Brendan Powers, who doubled earlier in the inning, was gunned out at home on a nice throw by the Panther centerfielder. As Kehoe continued to roll, the game was still tied at 1-1. But, in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Jeffs made sure that they would not waste such a special pitching performance.
After Allar reached second on an error by the shortstop, sophomore first baseman Nat Pedley came in to pinch run. Senior center fielder Tom Scott grounded out to third, but Pedley showed smart base running, as he was able to advance to third on the play. His heads-up base running set up Banner's game winning single to left field, a ball that Pedley probably could not have scored from second.
"Kehoe did an exceptional job and really helped us get the first win Saturday," said Powers.
With the first two games both coming down to the final at bats and by one run each, the Jeffs decided that they next one would not be close. After senior pitcher Brian Donahue allowed a run in the top of the first inning, the Jeffs came back to put four runs on the board in the bottom half. The Jeffs used three hits by Thal, Mazzone and Powers to get the offense started. They were able to plate four runs with the help of a Panther error and a hit by pitch.
Donahue pitched a scoreless second inning, but ran into trouble in the top of the third. After allowing back-to-back walks, Blank entered the game in relief. After allowing a walk to load the bases with no outs, Blank did a great job to minimize damage. He forced the next batter to ground into a double playing, plating a run. He was able to retire the next batter on strikes, escaping the inning with a 4-2 lead.
With the lead cut down to just two runs, the Jeffs were able to provide a cushion by extending the lead to 7-2 with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Driving in runs for the Jeffs were Lawton with a sacrifice fly and Schaller with a single. With the big lead, it appeared that the Jeffs were going to pull away from the Panthers. However, in the very next inning the Panthers put a four spot on the board off Blank and pulled within one run. First-year pitcher John D'Angelo came in with one out and stopped the bleeding.
After a couple of scoreless innings, the Jeffs pulled away, scoring a run in the seventh and seven in the eighth inning. D'Angelo completely shut down the Middlebury offense, pitching 5.2 innings, allowing zero runs and two hits. Leading the offense for the Jeffs on the day was third baseman Brendan Powers who was 4-5 with three runs batted in and three scored. At the leadoff spot Thal was 4-6 with two runs scored and batted in. Also driving in runs for the Jeffs were Scott, Lawton and Schaller all with two and Banner and junior catcher with Josh Card with one each.
"Before the games on Saturday, coach told us, 'Men, we have to old style here on the field today or else we'll be listening to the playoffs on our clock radios instead of playing in them'," said Kehoe. "That lit a good old style fire under our team."
Winning the series was exactly what the Jeffs needed, and with a game at Springfield College the next day, they certainly played like a team that was on fire. Platzbecker got the start for the Jeffs, and before he even walked on the mound he had a seven-run lead. The game was never close, as the Jeffs exploded for 22 runs on 21 hits. Platzbecker pitched seven innings, allowing one unearned run and striking out seven. Sophomore pitcher Ben Goldfarb pitched the last two innings, allowing four earned runs. Several people had a big game at the plate, as Banner drove in five runs, Powers drove in four, Allar and junior right fielder Evan Bruno each drove in three, and Pedley, Schaller, Thal, Mazzone, Scott and sophomore outfielder John DeCarlo all drove in one run. Allar hit his sixth homerun of the year and Powers cranked out his third.
"This weekend was huge for us," said Banner. "We needed to win the series to put ourselves in position to play in the postseason. We know that if we stay focused and play our game, we can accomplish our goal of winning the NESCAC."
NESCAC Notes
Amherst and Williams College are tied for the lead in the NESCAC West, both with a 6-3 conference record. In the East, Tufts University is first with a 7-2 conference record and Trinity College is second.