Prior to the 2006 season, many of the NESCAC's elite baseball teams were enjoying a sustained run at the top of the conference. Trinity had qualified for the NESCAC Tournament every year since its inception in 2001, while Tufts, Williams and Amherst played in four of the five postseasons held to date.
Last season, however, Middlebury and Bowdoin, two squads with relatively minimal experience in the conference tournament, established themselves as NESCAC contenders by posting the best seasons in their respective histories. The bar has been set higher for both teams as they prepare to kick off the divisional portion of their 2007 schedules this weekend.
The Panthers' success was easily the biggest surprise in the NESCAC last year. Coming off a 2005 campaign that saw the squad post a .500 record, Middlebury won a school record 26 games in 2006 behind the strength of a program-best 10-game winning streak from March 25 to April 22. The Panthers' remarkable run earned them their first ever NESCAC West title and their first ever appearance in the conference tourney.
Middlebury continued to defy expectations in the postseason, twice thumping perennial-contender Tufts while en route to the program's first NESCAC Championship. The team also netted its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, where it picked up two wins before bowing to Southern Maine in the New England Regional.
The Panthers return three players, who, as sophomores, were major contributors to last season's title-winning squad. Catcher and leadoff hitter Nick Lefeber and third baseman John Lanahan helped make Middlebury, which boasted a conference-best .361 batting average, the NESCAC's most potent offense last season. Lefeber batted .432 in 2006, good for third in the conference, while setting Panther single-season marks with 44 runs scored and 60 hits. Lanahan, meanwhile, paced the NESCAC with seven home runs and set a program record for RBI in a season with 49.
"They're a good offensive club last year and not a good defensive club," said Bill Thurston, coach of Middlebury's NESCAC West rival Amherst. "They hit weak pitching a ton."
On the mound, Middlebury returns a First-Team All-NESCAC pitcher in Jack Britton, who ranked in the top five in the conference in ERA, opponent's batting average, wins, strikeouts and innings pitched last year.
"I think they're the team to beat because they do have a young pitcher back and pretty good potential," Thurston said. "They have a bunch of good athletes right now and some good pitching depth."
Bowdoin also enjoyed its best ever season in 2006, winning a program-record 28 games and the school's first NESCAC East title, earning the right to host the conference tournament for the first time in its history. Although they fell one victory shy of a berth in the NESCAC Championship game, the Polar Bears received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, their first trip to Div. III baseball's Big Dance, before falling to Middlebury in the New England Regional.
Despite the higher expectations that go hand-in-hand with its 2006 success, Bowdoin insists it feels no additional pressure.
"I think we're now at a point where we want to be, where every year we have a shot," Polar Bears coach Mike Connolly said. "The expectations every year now are to win. In a college setting that's the fun part, knowing that every time you take the field you have a chance to beat some good teams. We don't look at it as pressure, we look at it as fun, and it's right where we want to be."
Unlike Middlebury, Bowdoin will not have the advantage of returning many of its top players, as three of the team's four All-NESCAC selections from 2006 graduated. Among them are outfielder Jared Lemieux, the program's career hits leader; designated hitter Ricky Leclerc, last season's team leader in home runs and RBI; and pitcher Trevor Powers, Bowdoin's career wins leader.
"I don't think you replace those guys," Connolly said. "It's just time for the young guys to come in and step in and try to do their part now. The beauty of college is that in four years, it turns over. It's now time for the new kids to come in and play well."
Still, the Polar Bears will bring back senior shortstop and leadoff hitter Chris McCann, who paced the team with a .388 batting average, 66 hits and 53 runs scored last year. He also keyed the most aggressive offense in the conference, leading the NESCAC with 28 steals in 29 attempts.
"Chris is kind of our sparkplug, and as he goes, we go," Connolly said.
Both Middlebury and Bowdoin's success last season have made the NESCAC deeper, making any team's bid for a conference title all the more challenging.
"I think the teams at the top are just as good as they have always been," Connolly said. "But the difference is that the teams that were in the middle and the bottom have improved. Now you have a great conference where there legitimately are seven or eight teams that have a chance to play in the tournament and have a chance to be crowned champion."
