This season Roberts, a senior captain, will
head the charge as the Lions look to repeat their winning
fortunes. Tested and tired from playing their first seventeen
games on the road with almost every game against teams which
has been ranked in the top 30 at some point over the last
two years, Columbia has their first conference games this
weekend as they host Harvard and Dartmouth in back to back
doubleheaders.
Roberts found some time between hitting the
diamond and the books to answer a few questions from Ping!Baseball:
PING!BASEBALL:
Last season the Lions won the Ivy League Championship by
defeating Dartmouth in an über tight three game series
to earn Columbia's first NCAA appearance since 1976. It’s
not going to be another 30 years for the another title will
it? How do you feel about the Lions’ chances of winning
back to back titles?
ROBERTS:
I feel like we have a great chance to win back-to-back titles.
This year we return a number of key players and have the
deepest pitching staff in my four years here at Columbia.
Our team heavily emphasizes the importance of pitching and
defense, and I am more than confident our offense can muster
up enough runs to put us in a good position to win ball
games.
PING!BASEBALL:
You were named one of three captains for the upcoming 2009
season and held the title last year as well. What are some
ways you embrace the captain’s role and lead the team?
ROBERTS:
It was a great honor to be nominated by my teammates in
back to back years to represent them as their captain. This
year my fellow teammates Joe Mizzoni and Joe Scarlata will
help lead our team to our end goal of winning another Ivy
League Championship. The three of us are focused on keeping
the team focused on our goals by working hard and getting
better every time we step on the field.
PING!BASEBALL:
The Lions played games ten days in row during a swing through
California. Do you find it difficult to keep up with your
studies where you are playing baseball day after day? Especially
where you’re in sunny California…
ROBERTS:
While we were in California we were actually on spring break
but during the season keeping up with your academics is
definitely a grind. This is true of student-athletes all
over the country and in any sport; you just have to manage
your time wisely so academics does not affect your focus
on athletics.
PING!BASEBALL:
Over the summer you played for the Ft. Collins Foxes in
the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League. How did an east
coast guy like yourself enjoy spending the summer in the
Rockies?
ROBERTS:
I went out to Colorado this past summer to play in the MCBL
with two of my teammates Jason Banos and Dean Forthun. I
think it was a good experience for the three of us. I had
never been to Colorado or anywhere in the remote area for
that matter and I thoroughly embraced my opportunity to
explore this part of the country. We did some unbelievable
sightseeing in Rocky Mountain National Park and in surrounding
areas. It was great to see but I could never imagine living
there after spending the past four years in New York City.
PING!BASEBALL:
The MCBL is a wood bat league. Which way do you lean in
the wood vs metal bats for use at the college level?
ROBERTS:
I think the transition to wood bats is not in the near future.
I was part of a wood bat experiment while playing high school
baseball in Massachusetts but it lasted only one year. I
think that eventually it would be great to switch to wood
because it makes for a better game and it is how the game
is really supposed to be played.
PING!BASEBALL:
Not to big up a bad memory, but last season Georgia Southern
hit an NCAA single-game record 14 home runs against you
guys. Yet, what I find nearly just as impressive is that
you guys came back and thrashed the Eagles the next day,
pounding out 20 hits and winning 11-3. Did the lopsided
loss from the day motivate the team to get some revenge?
ROBERTS:.
Entering our spring break trip last year we were 0-8 after
played Duke and Pepperdine and we were hungry for some wins.
The 4 game set with GS was extremely competitive and I think
after they smacked us one day, we wanted to show them that
we could do the same thing and they could not walk all over
us. Our team last year was extremely resilient and truly
believed the game is not over until the last out, as we
demonstrated in the Ivy League Championship Series.
PING!BASEBALL:
Aside from the baseball, what the number one thing you like
about Columbia?
ROBERTS:
7. Living in New York City. The city is an amazing place
to live especially when you are 18-22 years old. There is
always something to do and Columbia provides you with a
cultural experience that you cannot get anywhere else in
the world.
PING!BASEBALL:
Settle all debates. Where is the best pizza in NYC?
ROBERTS:
Best pizza in NYC…I’ll have
to go with…Koronets on the Upper West Side, biggest
slices I have ever seen.
MIKE
ROBERTS - columbia lions
Last
season the Columbia Lions won the Ivy League Baseball Championship,
defeating the Dartmouth Big Green 7-5 in the deciding game
of the best-of-three series at Red Rolfe Field to win their
first Ivy League title in 31 years and make their first NCAA
appearance since 1976. Helping leading the charge for the
Lions was All-Ivy League second team third baseman Mike Roberts.
The New England native batted .324 in Ivy League play with
six doubles and two home runs and hit a team-best six home
runs for the season. He also drove in 37 RBIs with nine doubles
and five stolen bases. A true student-athlete, Roberts earned
nine letters in high school (four in baseball, three in basketball,
two in cross country) as well a as member of the National
Honor Society. 
