Harvard Crimson
Ivy League |
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The Harvard hardball team has undertaken
one of the most arduous opening months in all college baseball
with the Crimson going toe to toe with some of the best teams
in the nation. Twelve of the first fifteen Crimson contests
have Harvard playing teams that were in the NCAAs last season,
and all of the games have been on the road nowhere even close
to 1,000 miles of Harvard’s Cambridge base.  So
far this season Harvard has undertaken games perennial powers
and 2007 conference champions Wichita State, Ohio State, Lafayette,
San Diego and UC Riverside and also has upcoming contests
against Long Beach State and 2008 CWS participant UC Irvine
in action which should leave the Crimson beaten and battered,
yet battle tested and experienced once they start integral
Ivy League play – the most vital part of their schedule.
Historically the Crimson have always been
contenders, with an all-time record of 2,305-1,468-34 which
ranks them in the top ten in all-time wins in Division I.
Harvard can lay claim to 19 Ivy League titles and has four
College World Series appearances, with the most recent being
in 1974, the last time an Ivy League school advanced to Omaha.
Last season Harvard finished at an even 18-18 with a 12-8
league record which placed them second in the Ivy’s
Rolfe Division. This year, with a strong core of returning
players both on offense and on the mound, the Crimson are
excellent candidates to reclaim the Ivy title and earn their
15th NCAA appearance.
The straw the stirs the Harvard drink on
offense is senior captain Matt Vance. Vance’s quick
bat and even faster feet have been integral since arriving
from Solana Beach, California. His freshman year Vance played
in all 45 Crimson games, playing primarily as the centerfield
starter, and batted .275 with 16 extra base hits and 15 stolen
bases. Since then the versatile Vance has moved to shortstop
and has been named All-Ivy League First Team twice. Last season
he batted .341 which included a robust .429 Ivy League average.
He led the Crimson in hits (46), extra base hits (15), RBI
(30), slugging (.519), on-base-percentage (.418) and stolen
bases (12). He has kept up his torrid hitting so far this
season, flirting with .400 and hitting in the middle of the
order.
After being named an Honorable Mention All-Ivy
League in the outfield last season when he batted .313, tied
for the team lead with 15 extra base and stole 11 bases, senior
outfielder Tom Stack-Babich has been incredible so far in
the young season. Recently he was named the Ivy League Player
of the Week after batting .750 with five extra base hits (including
two home runs) and six runs batted in four games. This fall,
Stack-Babich will play for Great Britain in the European Baseball
Championships, an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Barcelon,
Spain. Senior second baseman Taylor Meehan was limited to
just five games due to injury last season, but appears to
be back to his sophomore season form when he batted .330 with
eight stolen bases as he is hitting in the upper .300’s.
He can also take to the hill in a pitching role as need. After
struggling to make contact his first two seasons (a combined
.162 batting average), third baseman Harry Douglas could be
the player Coach Walsh needed to step up this season. The
junior starting strong before slowing down as of late and
tallied his two collegiate homers, including a grand slam,
against Wichita State. Other players who are expected to contribute
big this season are junior outfielder Matt Rogers (.286, 1,
15, 11 SB in 2007) and senior shortstop Jeff Stoeckel (.264,
1, 15, .973 FPCT in ‘07).
Senior starter Shawn Haviland is the Crimson’s
ace this season after going 3-3 in nine starts last season.
In 57 innings last year Haviland complied a 4.26 ERA and threw
a pair of complete games – one of which was a one hit
shutout of Yale.
Over the summer he pitched for the Torrington Twisters of
the New England Collegiate Baseball League where he struck
out 20 batters in 18.2 innings. In an early game in Wichita
this season he struck out eight Shockers in seven innings
and didn’t allow a single walk.
The rest of the Crimson pitching staff has
suffered some serious setbacks which have made an already
difficult schedule even more daunting. All Ping! Freshman
Team performer Max Perlman dazzled in his debut season last
year, going 5-1 in seven starts last season. Perlman accumulated
a 2.91 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 43.1 innings with only eight
walks. Additionally the 6-foot-6 right-hander who can throw
in the 90’s once threw 20 consecutive strikes in a game
against Yale last season. Unfortunately a close relative of
Perlman’s fell ill and which led to him taking a leave
of absence for the season. Sophomore Eric Eadington impressed
last season going 1-1 record with a 3.94 ERA and 34 strikeouts
in 32 innings; however went down with an arm injury last week
and the prognosis is unknown. Additionally Greg Malley, who
was named to the pre-season All-Ivy League Newcomer of the
Year by Baseball America, has yet to see action due to a back
problem.
Stepping up early has been freshman Ben Sestanvoich
who had been Harvard’s early leader in ERA until getting
roughed up by San Diego last weekend. Earlier this year Sestanvoich
threw five innings against Northern Iowa without allowing
an earned run and also had four strikeouts in 3.1 innings
against UC Riverside. Senior Brad Unger picked up Harvard's
first victory of the season in his debut against Lafayette,
tossing seven innings and striking out six batters while only
allowing a single run to the reigning Patriot League champs.
Last season Unger was second on the team in starts with seven,
and went 3-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Anthony Nutter, a freshman from
Escondido, California, has also looked good early. Nutter
threw a scoreless ninth inning against the Northern Iowa Panthers
after entering the inning with runners on second and third
with no outs and ended the game with a bases loaded strikeout.
He also recently struck out three in two hitless innings of
relief against ranked San Diego.
The Crimson’s California trip ends
this Thursday against San Diego. After that they finally return
east to being conference play against Cornell - the oft mentioned
alma mater of The Office’s Andy Bernard!
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