The baseball team had every excuse if it lost the NESCAC championship game two weeks ago. The Jumbos had completed a rain-suspended game that was resumed at 9 a.m. that day, and despite not having lost in the double-elimination tournament, Tufts was forced to take part in a one-game championship playoff against Bowdoin — a team that had already fallen once in the tournament — because of the change in schedule.
But coach John Casey's squad is not one for excuses. Down 1-0 through the first five innings of the title game, Tufts rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth and tacked on two more in the seventh. The team went on to win the game 6-1 and capture its first NESCAC championship in eight years.
"It meant everything," graduating senior tri-captain Corey Pontes said. "It's something we've been working toward, and for me personally, the last four years. This year, our group of guys, we all put our noses down and grinded it out. It started in the weight room in fall, getting stronger and faster, and we all worked together and were able to do something special."
The title game also marked the 500th victory in Casey's 27-year coaching career, by far the most by any coach in any sport in Tufts history.
"A couple weeks ago, we were thinking about just how many wins coach Casey needed to get his 500th," Pontes said. "We saw it would be a NESCAC Championship game if we would win it. Here's a guy that's given everything to the program, to the players. He's given us life lessons on and off field. There's no better way to get his 500th than in the NESCAC Championship. I couldn't be happier for him as a player; it really was a storybook ending."
Casey's teams have not finished a season with a record under .500 since 1987, and his players, both past and present, swear by his program.
"This program has definitely shaped me in all aspects of my life, from what I've learned on the field to what I've learned off it," graduating senior tri-captain Alex Perry said. "It's just a certain type of person that can make it through this program. Myself and five other guys did it; nobody can ever take that and what we accomplished from us."
The Jumbos found themselves down quickly against the Polar Bears, who plated their only run of the game in the first inning by leading the game off with a walk and an RBI double. The score stayed the same for five innings before Tufts benefited from timely hitting and Bowdoin miscues in the field in the fifth.
The Jumbos scored four runs on three hits and three errors in the frame, as eight Tufts players came up to bat in the inning. The team followed that with a two-run seventh, during which rising senior Chase Rose — who was hit in the head with a pitch earlier in the game — got some revenge with a sacrifice fly, and rising junior Matt Collins knocked in a run with a two-out double.
"Everyone was just confident," Perry said. "That's just the quiet confidence we've had in our team all year. It just takes one inning, and we've done so much damage with two outs this year. Not once did I question if we were going to get runs — it was just a matter of when. The attitude was the same it's been all year; everyone stuck with it. Everyone was confident we would have that inning and bust out, and we ended up doing it."
Eight Jumbos pitchers combined to hold Bowdoin to just one run on three hits in the game. The strategy of using so many pitchers in a single game is one that Casey had employed with great success in non-conference contests during the regular season, but it was mostly done for the purpose of getting numerous pitchers work. Nobody could have predicted that Casey, who had not used the tactic in any NESCAC or playoff game, would resort to a "staff day" in the most important game of the year.
"I had no idea, but to be honest, I wasn't so surprised," said Perry, who caught the title game. "That's kind of been our third starter all year. That speaks to the depth we have on our pitching staff; we can throw so much at you, from [graduating senior] Tommy Hill to [rising sophomore] Alex Cronkite … I always trust coach Casey. It worked for us all year, and it worked in the championship game."
Rising junior Jake Crawford earned his first win of the year by pitching a perfect sixth inning, while classmate Chris DeGoti — who set the Tufts saves record this season with 11 — made his second appearance of the day to close the game out. Tufts allowed nine base runners in the game, but only five came after the second inning.
"You just have to take advantage, know the hitter and the pitchers," Perry said of managing so many pitchers in one game. "We just attacked hitters pitch by pitch. It wasn't really a set game plan other than what I learned form the scouting report. I know what pitchers have done well this year and what they can hit and locate."
Tufts ended up winning the title game by a healthy five-run margin, but its two earlier games that paved the way to the championship game were much closer affairs. The Jumbos managed to pull out a 14-12 second-round victory against Williams and a 5-4 win in their opener versus Wesleyan.
Tufts appeared to have a comfortable lead against the Ephs through five innings, leading 8-2 when the game was called due to rain on Saturday, May 8. But when it was resumed the next morning, things got much closer.
Williams scored nine runs to Tufts' five in the sixth and seventh innings — including a seven-run seventh during which 12 Ephs came up to bat — to put the score at 13-11. But DeGoti shut the door on Williams by pitching 2.1 innings and giving up only one run with four strikeouts to extend his saves record.
"I'd say that more than any other years, we've really had a loose team, a team that doesn't press or necessarily get on each other when things aren't going well," Pontes said. "We don't get too high when we're winning or too low when we're losing; we just keep playing the way we know how."
Facing the Cardinals on Friday, Tufts was led by rising junior starter Kevin Gilchrist, who pitched 7.2 strong innings and held Wesleyan to just three runs on six hits. Graduating senior Nate Bankoff and rising senior Frank Petroskey came through at the dish, as Bankoff drove in three runs on two doubles, and Petroskey knocked home the eventual game-winner with a two-out double in the bottom of the seventh.
By winning the NESCAC championship, Tufts earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, making its first appearance there since it last won the conference title in 2002. The team's record also moved to 31-5 after three NESCAC Tournament victories — four more wins than the previous best in program history.
The Jumbos will graduate a plethora of seniors today: Perry, Pontes, Bankoff, Hill, Caleb Sims and Alex Grzymala. With all the team's success this year, it's safe to say that all of them have already received their best graduation present — and that all of them will remember well their final days at Tufts.
"I'm proud as hell at this team and all the guys on the team," Pontes said. "I can honestly say I love every guy on our team, and I love being down on the field and spending time with my teammates and the coaches. I truly cherish the time I spent with these guys, and I'm happy we made it to [NCAA] Regionals, if only because I can spend more time with these guys. I love them, and I'll never forget what we've done."
Editor's Note: At press time, the baseball team was getting set to take on St. Joseph's in the opening round of the NCAA Regional tournament. For updates on the Jumbos' postseason run, visit twitter.com/tuftsdailysport.
