Jumbos tie school record for wins in 2014 season

The 2014 season saw Tufts baseball tie a school record for victories with a 34-9 final record and earn a fifth NCAA Div. III berth. The Jumbos also pushed eventual NESCAC Champions Wesleyan to the final game of the conference Championship, emerging as the runners-up.

After a disappointing 2013 season in which the Jumbos missed the playoffs despite posting a record of 22-13, the 2014 season saw head coach John Casey put the team back on track. He had the team ready to compete from the get go, starting with its best spring trip record in team history at 11-1.

"If I had to describe the season in one word it would be 'redemption,'" junior Kyle Slinger said. "I finally got to a spot where I wanted to be."

The Jumbos began the season with eight consecutive wins, the last of which was a 19-5 routing of Greensborough College, the most runs scored by the Jumbos in a single game all season. Their stretch was then interrupted by an 8-1 loss to Lynchburg College a day later.

Tufts then accumulated another nine wins leading up to its three-game series with Trinity College, played on the weekend of April 11 and 12. In the team's second NESCAC game of the season, headlined by staff ace senior Kyle Slinger, the Jumbos breezed past the Bantams 5-0 in the first game, but dropped the second in an 8-7 nail-biter —just the Jumbos' second loss of the season.

"[My most vivid memory of the season was] the last pitch in our game against Trinity," Slinger said."It was the first time in my career of throwing a complete game [and it] felt so good to beat them after losing in previous years," Slinger said. "It was after that point [that] I knew I had a shot at doing something great last [season]."

With the season in full swing, Tufts then embarked on several key conference series. The team pulled off a three game sweep of Colby, took two of three from Bowdoin and two of three from Bates. The Jumbos ended their 2014 regular season with 30 victories — the best in program history.

"Our guys did a good job of staying in the moment and playing it one pitch at a time. I believe that was our strength," head coach John Casey told the Daily in an email.

In the post-season, Tufts disposed of Amherst in the first game of the NESCAC Championship, a 9-5 victory that launched the Jumbos into the winner's bracket. In the team's first game in the winner's bracket, Wesleyan squeezed past Tufts with a narrow 3-2 victory, earning the former a place in the NESCAC Championship Final. The Jumbos were forced to play against the Bates Bobcats with elimination at stake. Tufts capitalized on a quick start and trounced Bates 7-1, advancing to the NESCAC title game. Playing against a Wesleyan team the Jumbos had lost to just a day earlier, senior Willie Archibald threw a seven-hit shutout as Tufts crushed Wesleyan 10-0 to force a final game in the NESCAC Championship tournament.

With an automatic entry into the NCAAs on the line, Wesleyan struck first, scoring six runs early and surviving a late Tufts push, winning by a final score of 6-4. Despite the loss, Tufts received an at-large berth into the NCAA New England Regional.

The Jumbos' Slinger threw a three-hitter to lead Tufts to a 3-1 victory over Great Northeast Athletic Conference champions St. Joseph's College (Maine) in the NCAA Regional Opener. They next played the University of Southern Maine — which would rally from a 2-1 deficit with unearned runs in the sixth and eighth innings — to narrowly defeat Tufts 3-2 in the winner's bracket of the 2014 NCAA Div. III Regional tournament.

Tufts then faced Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in an elimination game. The Engineers ran away with a 6-4 victory, ending the Jumbos' season.

Despite the loss, the Jumbos strong performances this season saw four members of the team recieve New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) honors — head coach John Casey, Christian Sbily (LA '14), and seniors Kyle Slinger and Connor McDavitt. Pitcher Slinger and center fielder McDavitt will be tri-captains of the team for the upcoming 2015 season and were named to the 2014 Division III All-New England First Team, while Sbily was named to the second team.

Slinger finished the year as one of the nation's top pitchers with a perfect 9-0 record as starter, and a 1.18 ERA including 73 strikeouts in 76 innings pitched. He was complemented by McDavitt, a premier hitter in the region and one of the area's top center fielders on defense. He hit .345 with 40 runs scored, 14 doubles, 15 stolen bases and a .461 on-base percentage in 43 games. In the field, he made just one error in 105 chances and was voted NESCAC's Defensive Player of the Year.

The cornerstone of the team, head coach John Casey, was voted Co-Coach of the Year along with Eastern Connecticut's Matt LaBranche, piloting a Jumbos team to 34 victories en route to the 600th victory of his 31-year career.

"My most vivid memory of the 2014 team was the way they showed up every day, they were happy to be there and compete," Casey said. "I really enjoyed working with them every day, they had a very strong bond and [just] competed well."