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| Ping!Baseball Spotlight Interview
Devin Thomas & Jeff
Dietz
Brown Bears |
 Brown
senior catcher Devin Thomas and junior pitcher/first baseman
Jeff Dietz were named the Ivy League Player and Pitcher of
the Year, respectively, leading the way for the Bears who
are fresh off their first-ever Ivy League Championship. After
sweeping NYIT in a doubleheader on May 19th, the current edition
of the Brown baseball set a new record for wins in a season
with 26; the records don’t stop there. Thomas has already
set new standards for homeruns (16) and RBI (63) in a season,
and needs just one more run (he's at 49) and five more hits
(he's at 68) to break those records. He also leads the country
in RBI per game. Thomas was an All-Ivy honoree all four years
at Brown, earning First Team and Honorable Mention at catcher
in 2006 and 2005, and earning Second Team as a utility player
in 2004.
Dietz led the Ivy League in wins both in Ivy play (5-1) and
overall (8-3), and threw complete-game shutouts in Brown's
Red Rolfe Division-clinching win against Yale and in the first
game of the Ivy League Championship Series against Penn. At
the plate, his 49 RBIs on the season would have broken Brown's
single-season record if Thomas had not beaten him to the punch.
Dietz's abilities as a double-threat on the mound and at the
plate were well-known throughout the league, as he had earned
First Team honors as a utility player last season and Second
Team honors as a pitcher in 2005.
Making swift work of competition lately freed up some time
for the Ivy MVPs to answer some questions from Ping!
PING!: For
the first time in the history of the program, the Brown baseball
team is the Ivy League Champion, earning Brown's first appearance
in the NCAA Tournament in its 61st year of existence. You’ve
got some tuneup games scheduled before regionals, but will
you be able to regain your momentum going into the NCAAs despite
a two-week hiatus from competitive baseball for finals?
 Dietz:
We have been practicing and intra-squading, and now
we have 4 games before we leave. This is our school’s
first-ever NCAA regional appearance, we shouldn’t have
any problem gaining momentum.
Thomas: We've been practicing pretty hard
these last two weeks both as a team and in individual sessions
to accommodate each player’s exam schedule. We just
really need to focus in at the task at hand and start preparing
for regionals. If we can do this, I don’t think we will
have any problems carrying our momentum into the regionals.
PING!: In the
first game of the Ivy League Championship Series, Brown slipped
past 1-0 over Penn, then exploded for a 20-6 dismantling of
the Quakers in game two. How does a team go from scoring a
single run to nearly a double dozen in a second game the same
day?
Dietz: Penn threw a very good pitcher in
Todd Roth against us in game one and we were lucky to even
score that run. We then got some timely hitting early in the
second game and used that to propel us to the 20 runs.
Thomas: Well you have to give Penn's pitcher,
Roth, a lot of credit. He kept us off balance by throwing
all of his pitches for strikes and really buckling down when
we got runners on. We had a few opportunities to score, but
he seemed to buckle down and pitch his way out of the inning
each time. However, I think as a team offensively, we didn’t
make the necessary adjustments and that cost us a few runs.
Having won the first one, when the second one came around
we were so determined to win. We weren't going to be denied
and that was obvious in the way we swung the bats. We stayed
with our approach, got some pitches to hit, and cashed in
for a lot of runs. We've been a good hitting team all year,
so I wasn't surprised by our output.
 PING!:
The Bears haven’t shied away from playing against stiff
out-of-conference competition in recent years, taking on teams
such as South Carolina, Florida State, Florida and Vanderbilt.
How do the early match ups against the who’s who of
college baseball help you once conference season starts?
Dietz: We know we aren’t going to face
anyone better than those guys, so we go into conference play
with confidence.
Thomas: I think it’s what you make
of it. Simply playing against these teams and conceding a
loss does not get anyone any better. However, we come into
these games focused and actually expect to win. Also, we aren’t
going be as shell-shocked when we go to our regional because
we have already played high-caliber teams. Overall, I think
playing these good teams is great preparation for the season.
PING!: You’ve
had a prodigious offensive year which includes the rare feet
of driving in more runs than games you played in. How do you
attribute your ability to hit for a high average when there
are runners in scoring position and pressure is on to move
runners across the plate?
Dietz: Concentration, when there are runners
on base, I tend to concentrate more. I think that is why I
have been able to do what I have done.
Thomas: First off, the guys ahead of me have
been on base so frequently that it seems there are runners
on every time I get up. That puts pressure on the pitchers
and usually means that I have better pitches to hit. I definitely
think that my focus increases when there are runners on, so
that may contribute to my success.
PING!: Who is
someone who deserves more credit for the Bears success this
season who is regrettably overlooked because they don’t
have the flashy numbers or a high profile? A role player,
coach or trainer for example?
Dietz: Brad Rifkin, he is a player who had
multiple injuries this year that he played through. He had
a big home run against Harvard to help us win that game, and
then a 2-RBI double against Yale when we clinched our division
that were the only runs we scored.
Thomas: I think there are a bunch of guys
that deserve more credit. For one, Ryan Murphy has been unbelievably
consistent all year and has really solidified the number two
spot in the lineup. The guy is hitting close to .400, which
makes it easier for me to hit because he is on base a lot
in front of me. Bryan Tews also deserves to be recognized
for the fact that he has played hurt the whole season. He
has some serious shoulder problems that require prescription
medicine, and you can see the pain he is going through when
he makes certain throws. The truly inspiring thing about it
is that he hasn’t complained once about the pain and
has sucked it up. He has played a great 2B and has put up
another great year offensively. Another guy is Robert Papenhause.
He has been clutch all year and pretty much single-handedly
won us a couple games against Harvard this year. I was shocked
to see that he didn't make All-Ivy even though he is arguably
the best 3B in the Ivy League.
PING!: What
are your plans for your Brown degree once you hang up your
glove and spikes?
Dietz: I am not really sure, I am just happy
to be playing baseball. If I had to guess, either law school
or working for the FBI or something.
Thomas: I hope to go into real estate, but
I am pretty sure that I would be happy working at a number
of different jobs.
PING!: In a
year which you’ve had a number of individual and team
successes and highlights, what is one game, at bat or play
which you wish you could forget?
Dietz: My final at bat against Penn during
the regular season, when I struck out looking with 2 men on
and down by 2. We ended up losing that game.
Thomas: I don't have one because I think
the down times of our season this year served a purpose in
that they motivated us to become a better team.
PING!: You’ve
both already made your mark in several categories in Brown’s
all-time record book. Is that something you think much about,
either on the field during a game or afterwards?
Dietz: It is not anything you think about when your playing.
But afterwards it is something that gives me a little more
motivation.
Thomas: It's something that I'll probably look at once the year
is over, but the records that are the most important to me
are team records. Becoming the first team in school history
to win the league and becoming the winningest team in school
history are records that I am truly proud of.
PING!: Four
of the last five and six of the last eight Ivy Champions have
gone two-and-out at the NCAA Regionals. What’s different
about this Brown team that will keep that from happening again?
Dietz: We have a very good offense and can score against anyone.
With myself and James Cramphin on the mound we have a chance
to beat anybody.
Thomas: We are a confident and determined bunch that is going
to be a tough draw for a number one seed. Dietz is as good
as any pitcher in the country, so I am confident we can compete
with anyone at regionals.
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