03.28.16
Justin Donawa ’19: a double sport phenom
TEAMS SEEK WARMER WEATHER p. 4
THE NUMBERS GAME: VIKRAM BODAS ’18 p. 6
BASEBALL RETURNS FROM PRESEASON p. 8 COURTESY OF JUSTIN DONAWA, NEVIN CUNNINGHAM
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
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RUNDOWN THE
Compiled by James Handal and Evan Morgan
Men’s Hockey The Dartmouth men’s hockey team fell to the No. 1 ranked Quinnipiac University in the ECAC semifinals after edging the No. 7 Yale University Bulldogs in two close quarterfinal games. Quinnipiac had a bye coming into the semifinals. Dartmouth fell 3-1 to the Bobcats in Lake Placid after three tallies in the first and second period. Quinnipiac was strong and overtook Dartmouth in the semifinals and beat Harvard University 4-1 in the finals to win the ECAC Hockey Championship. In the quarterfinal series, Yale came in having a bye in the first round of the ECAC tournament, but the Big Green was rearing to go and upset the Bulldogs in New Haven. In the first game against Yale, the Big Green won 4-3 with 2:36 left in overtime thanks to a game-winner from Connor Yau ’19. Nick Bligh ’16 gave Dartmouth the lead two times in the third period, but Yale fought to tie the game at 3-3. Charles Grant ’16 had a career high 48 saves. The second game in New Haven was a tight contest, but Dartmouth edged out to win the game 2-1 and advance. Grant recorded 46 saves to give the Big Green the win. Grant also won his third ECAC Goaltender of the Week respectively after his performance. Seniors Jack Barre ’16 and Brett Patterson ’16 helped lead the team, finishing first and tied for second in points for the season, respectively. Barre tallied 12 goals and 14 assists and Patterson scored nine goals and 12 assists. James Kruger ’16 recently signed an Amateur Try Out contract with the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League. This Big Green team fielded 10 seniors and will look to rebuild next season after this successful campaign. Men’s Basketball Dartmouth men’s basketball closed out its season with a disappointing Ivy League record of 4-10 and an overall record of 10-18. In its last two games, the Big Green grabbed a close win versus the University of Pennsylvania and a tough loss to Princeton University.
Dartmouth finished sixth in the Ivy League standings. Evan Boudreaux ’19 was awarded the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and was also awarded the A.D. “Dolly Stark” most valuable player award on Dartmouth’s team. He averaged 17.7 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game. Boudreaux and Miles Wright ’18 look to lead this program into next season. The increasingly young team will graduate six seniors at the end of this year. Athletic Director Harry Sheehy also announced that head coach Paul Cormier will not return to coach next season. The Ivy League will also add a men’s basketball tournament in 2016-17 with more information to come. The tournament will determine the Ivy League’s representative at the NCAA Division I Basketball Championships. Women’s Basketball The women’s basketball team finished with a 12-18 overall record and a 7-7 record in Ivy League play. Dartmouth finished fourth in Ivy League, its best finish since 2009. The Big Green had a five game unbeaten run in the Ivy League from Feb. 12 to 26. Daisy Jordan ’16 and Lakin Roland ’16 led the team with strong play, and both will graduate this season as the only two seniors. Roland led the team in points with 15.1 per game and 7.9 rebounds and also became the 16th Dartmouth player to reach 1,000 points, ending the season with 1,235 points. Roland was awarded the Gail Koziara ’82 Most Valuable Player award after another fantastic season. In the Ivy League awards, Roland was nominated for the First Team All-Ivy and Kate Letkewicz ’18 received an honorable mention. Fanni Szabo ’17 and Letkewicz look to lead the Big Green next season. The Ivy League will also add a women’s basketball tournament next year to determine bids to the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship. Men’s Squash
Rebecca Asoulin ’17 Editor-in-Chief
03.28.16 VOLUME CLXXIII NO. 47
Rachel DeChiara ’17 Publisher
Annie Ma ’17 Executive Editor
Gayne Kalustian ’17 Ray Lu ’18 Sports Editors
Annie Duncan ’17 Kate Herrington ’17 Photography Editors
The Dartmouth men’s squash team had a historic season, finishing the season ranked No. 7 in the country. The Big Green were 10-6 overall and 4-3 in Ivy League play. This season was one of many firsts for the team as the Big Green beat the Harvard Crimson 5-4 for the first time in nearly 70 years. The Big Green also beat the Princeton University Tigers 8-1 for the team’s first victory over the Tigers in Ivy League history. The current roster of the squash team is young and can look to build upon this year’s high ranking and Potter Cup qualifying play. Individually, Carson Spahr ’19 was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year and head coach Hansi Wiens was named Ivy League Coach of the Year. Alvin Heumann ’18 was named unanimously to the First Team All-Ivy. Women’s Squash Women’s squash was victorious and brought home the Kurtz Cup after a strong performance to end the season. The Kurtz Cup was named for former Dartmouth head coach Aggie Kurtz. In the Kurtz Cup, Dartmouth was able to defeat the University of Virginia, Williams College and Drexel University to bring the Kurtz Cup back to Dartmouth. Dartmouth last won the cup in 2012. Four members of the women’s squash team were able to compete in the College Squash Invitational Individual Championship. The team ended the season with a
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8-9 overall record and a 1-6 record in Ivy League play. Dartmouth’s only Ivy League win was against Brown, winning 6-3 in the last game of the season. The team fielded two seniors, captain Lydie McKenzie ’16 and Tori Dewey ’16, and will look to develop underclassmen to have continued success next season. Women’s Lacrosse The Big Green women’s lacrosse started out the season strong with a record of 5-3. Dartmouth beat Granite State rival the University of New Hampshire and captured victories against Boston University, the University of Denver, the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the University of Pennsylvania. The Big Green also played against ranked opponents such as the University of Florida, Princeton University and the University of South California. Dartmouth’s recent trip out west to Los Angeles led to a win against Denver but a loss against No. 8 USC. Dartmouth opened its Ivy League play against Princeton with an 11-5 loss. All-Ivy First Team player Jaclyn Leto ’16 leads the team in goals with 32 over eight games. Taryn Deck ’17 leads the team with seven assists and netminder Charlotte Wahle ’19 has recorded 54 saves in eight games. Head coach Amy Patton was also recently selected to be the first head coach of the United Women’s Lacrosse League’s Boston-based team next season.
Dartmouth this season is a stalwart at home at 4-0 but struggle away at 0-3, with one win coming in neutral territory. Men’s Lacrosse Men’s lacrosse opened the season with a 1-6 record and 0-1 in Ivy League play. Big Green lacrosse dropped its season opener against Sacred Heart University 10-8. The Big Green then traveled to Denver to face the Air Force Academy and No. 1 Denver, falling short in both contests. The team picked up its first win of the season versus the University of Michigan 13-12 in its fifth game of the season. Dartmouth opened its Ivy League play on March 26 versus No. 14 Harvard University and lost 18-8. The Big Green also lost to the New Jersey Institute of Technology 10-7. The Highlanders, in only two years of existence, picked up its first lacrosse win in team history. Wiley Osborne ’17 leads the Big Green with 16 goals and eight assists while Jack Korzelius ’18 has eight goals and three assists. Fourteen of the 40 Big Green players are freshmen. Scott Hackett-Dalgliesh and Brian Small join head coach Brendan Callahan as assistants this season. Baseball The Big Green baseball team opened its season down in Florida playing in the Snowbird Classic and the Russ Matt Invitational. The Big Green stand at 5-13 currently. In the Snowbird Classic at the end of
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North Carolina the next weekend for the non-scoring Raleigh Relays, where Meech and Whitehorn each took third in their events. Men’s Track and Field After a third-place showing at the Heptagonal Championship in February, men’s track and field opened the outdoor season in fine form at two non-scoring meets. At Coastal Carolina University’s Shamrock Invitational on the weekend of March 17, Ben Ose ’19 shined and won the decathlon. Other highlights included Corey Muggler ’17’s fourth place in the seeded long jump and first place in the 200-meter. The team then participated in the Raleigh Relays, hosted by North Carolina State University. In the 110-meter hurdles, Parker Johnson ’19 blazed to fifth overall in Friday’s prelims and placed sixth in the finals the following day. Dartmouth also performed well on the field with top-10 showings in the discus, pole vault (invitational), hammer and javelin.
February, the Big Green lost to University of Iowa, Villanova University and Indiana State University. Dartmouth also traveled to take on the No. 1 ranked University of Florida Gators and fell in each of the three games. At the Russ Matt Invitational, Dartmouth claimed its first win of the season against Bucknell University 6-4. Overall, Dartmouth went 3-3 in the invitational with two other wins against Lehigh University and the University of Maine. Dartmouth then defeated Stetson University 2-1 before losing a pair to North Florida. Over the weekend, the team lost two games to the University of South Florida and picked up one 1-0 win. Currently Joe Purritano ’16 leads the Big Green in hits. Matt Feinstein ’19 and Kyle Holbrook ’18 lead the team in slugging percentage. Ivy League play starts April 2 versus Princeton University in New Jersey. Women’s Softball Two-time reigning Ivy League Champion women’s softball traveled to Alabama, Oklahoma and California over the break to test themselves against the likes of No. 14 the University of Oklahoma and Stanford University among a slew of other non-conference opponents. The Big Green currently are 11-9. The reigning champs grabbed their first win of the season on Feb. 27 versus the University of South Alabama with a 12-7 win. The Big Green lost a pair of games
against No. 14 Oklahoma 9-0 and 7-0. While in California, the team strung together seven wins in a row against Iona College twice, Santa Clara University, University of Pacific twice, California State University Bakersfield and Stanford, outscoring opponents 38-14 before a loss at the University of California Davis this past Saturday 6-1. Yesterday, the team won its second game against UC Davis 2-0. Katie McEachern ’16 and Morgan Martinelli ’19 lead the team with slugging percentages over .570. McEachern has hit four home runs so far. Ivy League play starts April 1 against Princeton University. Sailing Dartmouth sailors made what they could of pulsing and fickle breezes at Brown University’s Sharpe Team Race, placing second out of 10 schools competing. The Big Green went 7-2 in its round one races, falling only to the host school and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The 7-2 record was enough to make the final four, where the Big Green squared off against Brown University, MIT and Tufts University. Good 1-2-3 finishes over both MIT and Tufts boded well for the Big Green sailors. However, a disqualification in the final race led to a Brown victory, and Dartmouth settled for second place behind the Bears. Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving
Three divers represented the Big Green at the NCAA Zone A Diving Regionals on March 7 and 8. Two of Dartmouth’s three divers were freshmen: AJ Krok ’19 and Allison Green ’19. Krok and Green could not escape the prelims, taking 26th and 43rd respectively in the men’s and women’s 3-meter event along with 34th and 41st on the 1-meter board. Brett Gillis ’16 competed at Zones for the fourth time — the final meet of his career. His 25th place in the 1-meter event was not enough to make the finals. However, his 18th place showing in preliminaries was enough to edge into the finals on the 3-meter board. One of just two Ivy League divers in the final, Gillis moved up a spot to repeat his 17th overall finish from last season. Women’s Track and Field Kaitlin Whitehorn ’16, ranked 12th nationally in the high jump, soared to a seventh place finish on March 12 at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship. Whitehorn’s jump of 1.81 meters made her a First-Team All-American. March marked the beginning of the outdoor season for women’s track and field. The team traveled to South Carolina for the non-scoring Shamrock Invitational from March 17 to March 19. Standout performances included Jennifer Meech ’16’s fifth place finish in the seeded 400-meter dash and Maria Garman ’19’s seventh place finish in the women heptathlon. The women traveled north to Raleigh,
Women’s Tennis Dartmouth women’s tennis played three unranked California opponents over a four-day span March 19 to 22. The now 46-ranked women opened their road slate with a 4-3 win at San Diego State University. The next day, the Big Green bowled over University of California, Irvine 6-1, including three wins in straight sets. The game marked the 400th win for Big Green coach Bob Dallis. However, the trip was marred by a 5-2 loss at the hands of California State University, Long Beach and the 49ers’ No. 60 singles player, Maeva Razakasoa. The loss snapped the Big Green’s seven game winning streak. Back home at the Boss Tennis Center on March 26, the women rebounded to down the University of Houston 6-1. Men’s Tennis The Big Green men’s tennis team took a spring break swing through the south, playing five games between March 17 and March 24. The then No. 35 Big Green blanked unranked Midwestern State University 7-0 to begin the trip but followed the win with a tight 4-3 loss to No. 44 Southern Methodist University. Subsequently, Dartmouth
slipped to No. 42 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings. The men fell again 4-0 to No. 3 Texas Christian University and 4-3 to No. 27 University of Tulsa before ending the trip on a high note, with a 4-0 defeat of No. 33 University of Memphis. Women’s Golf This weekend marked the first tournament of spring play for women’s golf. The women teed off Friday at the Bearcat Spring Classic, hosted by the University of Cincinnati at Howey-inthe-Hills, Florida. After three rounds, the Big Green was led by Jessica Kittelberger ’18, who shot 243 (+27). Kittelberger was closely followed by teammates Radi Sauro ’18 (244, +28), Julia Calbi ’19 (245, +29) and Isabelle Kane ’18 (246, +30). Dartmouth placed 11th overall. Men’s Golf Men’s golf took to the links for the first time since October at the 19-team Furman Intercollegiate, hosted at the par-72 Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, South Carolina. The first round saw the Big Green in sixth place with 290 (+2), six shots off the lead of Ivy League rival Harvard University. Jeff Lang ’17 paced the Big Green, birdieing two holes and eagling second hole for a first-day score of 70 (-2). Dartmouth bettered its first-round total by eight shots on the second day for a combined score of 572 (-4) and ended the day in sixth place. At the conclusion of the Furman Intercollegiate, the Big Green found themselves tied for 11th place, shooting 872 (+6). Women’s Rugby The Big Green traveled to California to take on three opponents: the San Diego Surfers, Stanford University and the Berkeley All Blues. Dartmouth won all three games, played with rolling subs to help develop players on both sides. Dartmouth defeated the Surfers and the All Blues, senior women’s club sides in California, 27-15 and 40-15, respectively. The Big Green battled with Stanford to eventually win 29-22 but played defense for most of the game. All of the games were played in a scrimmage format.
GAYNE KALUSTIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Women’s tennis took home a victory at San Diego State University.
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
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TEAMS TRAVEL ACROSS NATION FOR SPRING INTERIM
NUMBERS
34 Season points for Jaclyn Leto ’16 in eight games
401 Wins for women’s tennis coach Bob Dallis
12 Strikeouts for Duncan Robinson ’16 in nine IP
7 Place for All-American Kaitlin Whitehorn ’16 at NCAAs in high jump
GAYNE KALUSTIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Women’s tennis extended win streak to seven games before losing to Long Beach.
COURTESY OF KATHLEEN SPROUT
Track and field trained and competed in the Carolinas over break.
ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Women’s lacrosse split a pair in Los Angeles before returning home for a win.
COURTESY OF NEVIN CUNNINGHAM
All three Big Green rowing teams spent the spring interim together in Clemson, South Carolina.
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Justin Donawa ’19 finds success on the pitch and the track
COURTESY OF JUSTIN DONAWA
Justin Donawa ’19 represents both the Big Green and Bermuda in track and field and soccer.
By CHRIS SHIM The Dartmouth Staff
Justin Donawa ’19 began his collegiate athletic career with a bang. On a cool October night at Burnham Field in Hanover, the Dartmouth men’s soccer team was locked in a nail-biter against Ivy League rival Columbia University. Midway through the first half, Donawa made his second career appearance for the Big Green as a substitute, and in the 42nd minute, fired a bullet from 40 yards out that landed in the bottom back right corner of the net. In celebration, Donawa ran over to the sideline, exuberantly punching the air as he was mobbed by his teammates. When asked about the goal in an interview with Dartmouth Sports, Donawa shrugged off the feat. “Only being my second game back, I was just looking to make an impact as soon as I came on the field,” he said of the goal. “I actually underestimated how far out it was and just said ‘let me take a shot,’ and caught the keeper off guard.” Donawa is no stranger to the limelight. At Dartmouth, he stars as a forward and midfielder for the men’s soccer team and as a triple jumper for the track and field team. Hailing from the tropical island of Bermuda, Donawa has represented his country in both soccer and track and field. In his first official appearance for Bermuda’s national soccer team in a World Cup Qualifier against the Bahamas in March 2015, Donawa scored two goals. In 2013, he placed seventh in the world among youth triple jumpers at the IAAF World Youth Track and Field Championships. “It’s rare that we get a guy like Justin, who’s competed [at the international level], to come to Dartmouth,” said Tim Wunderlich, who coaches jumps and multis events for the Dartmouth track and field teams. Despite his pedigree, Donawa seemed down-to-earth when I met him in the Collis Center on campus.
Dressed in sweats and an FC Barcelona jacket on a sunny Sunday afternoon, he ambles surprisingly slowly for someone with so much speed on the pitch and on the track, in contrast to the fast pace of Dartmouth life. But he’s excited about how his first year at Dartmouth has been so far. “I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “I’m a lot busier, but I love doing both sports.” Donawa has been playing soccer and competing in track for as long as he can remember. His father, Jay Donawa, described playing soccer as a rite of passage for every kid in Bermuda. “It was just a natural progression to enroll him in the pee wee program at our local football club,” Jay Donawa said. “He excelled as he raised through the age group ranks.” His aptitude for track and field also emerged early on. Every year, his elementary school would host a track and field sports day, in which young students were encouraged to try out different track and field events. Jay Donawa pointed out that Justin was named “champion boy” each year he participated, the equivalent to the event’s Most Valuable Player. Not long after, at eight years old, Donawa joined the Bermuda Pacers Track Club, where his father also competed as a kid. Indeed, Donawa has benefited from the guidance of his parents, both of whom were athletic stars in their day. Jay Donawa starred for Bermuda in many international distance running races, including in the marathon and in cross country. Justin’s mother, Keena Donawa, was a jumper and sprinter in her high school days as well. “[Justin] often reaches out to me for advice when it comes to his track and field ambitions,” she said. He began his track career mainly as a sprinter, running the 100- and 200-meter dashes and competing in the long jump. But, when “my coach saw my friend and I playing around in the triple jump, just joking around
about it, he told me to try it,” Donawa said. And it stuck. His success as a youth led him to transfer to the Berkshire School, a private boarding school in western Massachusetts, during his high school years, in order to gain exposure to a higher level of competition. While he was there, Berkshire’s soccer team won the New England Class A Championships three times and was the top-ranked prep school in the United States according to Top Drawer Soccer, which covers prep soccer in the U.S. Donawa was the team’s captain as a senior and was also named a 2014 Boys High School All-American. But when it came to applying to college, Donawa thought that he might have to finally choose between soccer and track. “I would say soccer is my first love, but I also love to jump,” he said, a sentiment that he repeated throughout our conversation. With this in mind, he looked at colleges with the hopes of playing for their soccer teams, with the chance of continuing to compete in the triple jump only as an afterthought. Chad Riley, head coach for the men’s soccer team, first saw Donawa play when he was a sophomore, when Dartmouth was actually scouting an older player on his team. But they left impressed with Donawa. “From what we saw that day we knew we would want to continue to track Justin’s progress,” Riley said. His first season with Dartmouth’s soccer team got off to a rough start when he sprained his ankle during preseason training. Despite the setback, he came back with a vengeance in the second half of the season, helping the team to its second consecutive Ivy League title and receiving honorable mention accolades by the Ivy League for his first-year performance. “I really feel he is just getting started and has the potential to be one of the most dominant attacking players in college soccer,” Riley said. After his successful soccer cam-
paign, despite having not been recruited to compete in track, the wheels were set in motion for Donawa to join the track team. Wunderlich remembered talking to the Dartmouth soccer coaches the previous summer, who mentioned an incoming player also talented in the triple jump. The track team was patient in pitching him the idea of competing for the track team, however. “I wanted him to go through the soccer season before I talked about the possibility of jumping for us,” Wunderlich revealed. “I left it up to him because being a two-sport athlete is really tough. It takes a lot of coordination between the coaches and a lot of people are involved, as well as managing the classes.” It didn’t take too much convincing to get Donawa back on track. “I hadn’t done track since last year, so I gave it some thought, and decided, ‘why not?’” Donawa said. With that, he decided to walk on to the track and field team this past winter. “Good things have come from it so far,” Donawa continued. Good things have indeed come for Donawa in his first indoor track season. He placed second at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in the triple jump, and in the process, recorded the second-farthest jump in Dartmouth track and field history. Donawa’s transition to competing at the collegiate level has been seamless. “He’s a mature athlete, he knows a lot about the event, and that’s helped him into the system,” Wunderlich said. “He’s also been to a lot of really big meets, and having that experience really helps.” Competing in both sports has made his practice and training schedule quite hectic. On Mondays, he works out with the soccer team. On Tuesday mornings he does soccer training and then works with Wunderlich on jumps right after. On Wednesdays, he lifts with the soccer team. On Thursdays, he practices with the soccer team and
then later in the day works with the track team. On Fridays, if he has a track meet on Saturday, he does the track team’s pre-meet workout — “so that he’s a bit fresher,” Wunderlich said. Donawa attends the meet on Saturday and then gets back to soccer practice on Sunday. But if he isn’t competing on Saturday, he goes to practice with the soccer team on Friday and Sunday and gets Saturday off. “It’s pretty busy, but it’s manageable,” Donawa said of his schedule. “Most of my time is devoted to soccer, even though triple jump is a more technical event.” His schedule is definitely skewed to focus on soccer. “I told him that soccer should be his priority, since he was recruited to play for them,” Wunderlich said. Donawa also credits his years of work with his track coach at the Bermuda Pacers, Calvin Simons, and his triple jump coach Brian Wellman, who placed first in the 1995 World Indoor Championships in the triple jump. It is as a result of this foundation that, as Wunderlich points out, Donawa doesn’t need too much triple jumpspecific work. “Justin is very good technically, and he’s already pretty strong and fast from soccer,” Wunderlich said. “For me, it’s all about progressing him in the event and getting him to jump far as the season goes.” His coaches also believe that he has yet to reach his full potential. “He’s had a good start and he has the ability and mentality to continue to grow as a person and as a player,” Riley said. “His best days are ahead of him and we are looking forward to helping him reach his potential both on and off the field.” Wunderlich emphasized maintaining a strong balance in the two sports and working not to push him too far. “He really enjoys triple jump, and I can tell that, but if he gets more involved with our team and we can provide more of a balance, I could see him helping out in other events,” Wunderlich said. “But he’s still a freshman and I don’t want to put too much on his plate.” Nonetheless, in his first year at Dartmouth, Donawa has already proven himself to be a unique talent. “He’s someone who’s a special kind of athlete, that coaches don’t get to work with often,” Wunderlich continued. “It’s pretty exciting to be a part of that and try to develop someone.” The two-sport athlete will continue to work hard on the track and the soccer field. “The next three years, I’m just trying to do the best I can in whatever I do,” Donawa said. “Hopefully good results come from that.” Based on what he’s already accomplished, it’s safe to say we can expect more good results from Justin Donawa in the future.
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The Numbers Game: Dartmouth baseball is .784 in Biondi Park By VIKRAM BODAS The Dartmouth
Each week The Numbers Game breaks down one Dartmouth sports statistic. This week’s number: .784 — Dartmouth baseball’s home winning percentage When the Biondi family donated $5.2 million in 2009 to help renovate the facilities of Red Rolfe Field, they hoped to provide Dartmouth baseball with the facilities necessary to foster an environment where the team’s winning tradition would continue for decades to come. The renovation included new state of the art dugouts, press boxes and increased seating capacity. That being said, the field’s new synthetic surface may have had the greatest impact on the Big Green’s win-loss record. Since the installation of the new playing surface, Dartmouth baseball has won at a gaudy .784 clip in 97 contests at what is now known as Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park. To put that number in perspective, the team has amassed a .495 overall in all games over that time. This stark difference indicates that there is something else going on other than some good old-fashioned home cooking in Hanover. As a means for comparison, the winningest team in Major League Baseball history, the New York Yankees, has recorded an overall winning percentage of .569 since the team was founded in 1903.
Some may argue that Dartmouth’s recent success at home can be attributed to the fact that they play stronger opponents away from home while almost exclusively playing Ivy League teams in Hanover. This notion can be easily refuted based on the fact that Dartmouth is 32-6 against non-Ivy League opponents at home, while recording an overall 61-106 record against non-Ivy teams away from Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park over the same time frame. In other words, Dartmouth has benefitted from an increased bump in winning against both Ivy and non-Ivy opponents. The Big Green’s home and away splits prior to 2009 also help to support the idea that the turf field has given the team an advantage in recent years. In the five years before the new field was put in the Big Green accumulated a record of 33-32 or a .508 winning percentage in home games. In essence, the installation of the turf has coincided with Dartmouth winning at a more than 20 percent higher rate. This dramatic shift in home performance has propelled Dartmouth to five straight appearances in the Ivy League Baseball Championship Series, where they have just come up short of capturing an Ivy title each year. Apart from the Dartmouth baseball program simply trending upward over the last decade, these numbers make it evident that the turf field must have had some impact on the team’s recent success — specifically, from a defensive perspective. For one, it
allows the team to train throughout Hanover’s capricious weather patterns. A regular grass field requires a significant more amount of grounds crew maintenance and is often rendered completely useless on wet or icy days. This turf field is equipped with advanced drainage, allowing the field to be usable even on extreme weather days. This flexibility gives head coach Bob Whalen and his players more repetitions on their home field,
leading to more sure-handed plays being made come game time. Secondly, turf fields play at a much faster speed than traditional grass surfaces. Most teams in the Ivy League and across the nation have to adjust to the quicker infield when they come to Hanover, affording Dartmouth with another advantage over its opponents. As Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park enters its seventh year, the turf field hopefully will once again
give a leg-up to the Big Green over its opposition during home games this year. This bodes well for Whalen and his players as they attempt to get to the Ivy League Championship Series for a sixth straight year and win their first title since the 2009-10 season. The team opens Ivy League play away against Princeton University and Cornell University before returning to Hanover for a week-long homestand.
where he excelled in an utility role and batted .292 in 233 minor league at-bats, Sclafani was recently invited to Spring Training as one of 19 other non-roster invitees. Cole Sulser ’12: Sulser, another right-handed pitcher, joined professional baseball when the Cleveland Indians drafted him in the 25th round of the 2013 draft. He was derailed by injury last season, and Sulser’s last pitch in the minors came September of 2014 for the Akron RubberDucks, the Indians’ Double-A affiliate. Although Sulser has a challenging road ahead to pitch in the majors, he’s not unfamiliar with the process of coming back from serious injury. During his time at Dartmouth, he came back strong from Tommy John surgery and into the school’s baseball record books.
Michael Johnson ’13: Currently a southpaw relief pitcher, Johnson was drafted in the 14th round of the 2013 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Johnson’s career as a minor leaguer has been excellent as he sports a 2.63 ERA in 116 total innings. Recently assigned onto the Dodgers 40man roster, Johnson currently plays for their Class A-Advanced affiliate the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Mitch Horacek ’14: Also a lefty pitcher in a Class AAdvanced affiliate, the Frederick Keys, of his MLB organization, the Baltimore Orioles. Horacek was taken in the 9th round of the 2013 draft. Even though Horacek’s 4.90 ERA in 154 innings last season may not have been pristine, he showed off his talent by leading his league in strikeouts with 146.
Big Green baseball players in the big leagues seek success By MAX ZHUANG
The Dartmouth Staff
The Big Green’s active players drafted by Major League Baseball since 2010 still have a shot to not only make it to the show, but star in it. For the players, making it from the minors and into the major leagues is the ultimate job promotion. Without further ado, here are my previews for upcoming profile features. Kyle Hendricks ’12: If you take away only one name and face, it should definitely be Kyle Hendricks. Drafted in 2011 during the eighth round by the Texas Rangers, he’s been one of the top flight talents the Big Green has sent to the majors in the past decade. Currently as a bottom of the rotation right-handed pitcher with promise for the Chicago Cubs,
he continues to build on his early career success since his 2014 debut. He finished his rookie year with a 2.46 ERA in 80 innings pitched and a 3.95 ERA in 180 innings of work last year. This Spring Training, in 19 innings pitched, Hendricks has only allowed four runs (1.89 ERA) and a slick strikeout to walk ratio of 19 to 2. At this point in his career, I would most definitely advise hopping onto the Hendricks bandwagon and wouldn’t be surprised to see him pitching in the World Series this year. Chris O’Dowd ’13: Drafted just a year after Hendricks, during the 23rd round in 2012 by the San Diego Padres, O’Dowd currently plays catcher for the Double-A team the Mississippi Braves, an affiliate of the MLB parent club the Atlanta Braves. The son of Dan O’Dowd, the
former longtime General Manager of the Colorado Rockies, O’Dowd has mostly spent his time as a professional baseball player bouncing around in the minor leagues. Despite showing flashes of potential such as during his 2015 campaign where he batted .304 with two home runs and 16 RBI in 79 at-bats in Double-A, O’Dowd hasn’t been without trouble as he received an 80 game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance and therefore violating baseball’s minor league drug prevention and treatment program. Joe Sclafani ’12: Selected in the 14th round of the 2012 draft by the Houston Astros, Sclafani has proven himself to be a strong infield and utility player for the team. After his strong play last year in Double-A and Triple-A
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016
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Baseball star Bryce Harper and the tired state of the game By SAM STOCKTON The Dartmouth Staff
Since appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 16-year-old high school baseball prodigy, Bryce Harper has been one of the most polarizing figures in American sports. Some, like Tom Verducci, who profiled him for that Sports Illustrated cover, have billed him as a prodigy — “baseball’s Lebron [James].” Others, like Mike Wise of The Washington Post, have referred to him as immature and entitled. At just 23 years old, Harper has stirred up controversies by blowing kisses at pitchers while playing with the single-A Hagerstown Suns, publicly questioning his manager’s line-up choices, and being choked out by teammate Jonathan Papelbon in the dugout. But despite all that controversy, last year Harper became the third youngest player to take home the National League Most Valuable Player award on the strength of a dominant season with 42 home runs, 99 RBI and a slash line of .330/.460/.649. The latest controversy involving the Nationals’ outfielder stems from comments he made to ESPN The Magazine’s Tim Keown. “Baseball’s tired,” Harper said in the March 10 feature. “It’s a
tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair.” From the moment it was released, Keown’s article prompted a referendum on the state of Major League Baseball. Hall-of-Famers and current all-stars alike offered their own take on Harper’s remarks. Richard “Goose” Gossage, a Hall of Fame pitcher, ridiculed players that are prone to show emotions such as Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, who notably flipped his bat after a three-run shot in a decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers this past season. Gossage referred to Bautista as a “disgrace to the game” in an interview with ESPN, saying Bautista embarrassed “all the Latin players, whoever played before him.” Gossage, representative of an older vein of thought, would like to see a league where pitchers can throw at batters who offend them, batters quietly sprint around the bases after a homer and pitchers act like they’ve been there before after a strikeout, as the old adage
goes. However, more modern players have pushed back against Gossage and the old guard of professional baseball. Both David Ortiz and Derek Jeter, perhaps the two most notable ballplayers of the 21st century, supported Harper’s movement for a more fun MLB. During ESPN’s broadcast of the Tampa Bay Rays’ historic game against the Cuban national team, Jeter pointed out that the game is evolving and encouraged young players to show their personalities. Ortiz, in an interview with The Boston Globe, pointed out that most of the people who criticize home run celebrations, have seldom actually hit one. “You don’t know that feeling,” he said in a March 20 feature. “You don’t know what it takes to hit a homer off a guy who throws 95 miles per hour. You don’t know anything about it.” On the other hand, Harper’s biggest rival for the “face of the MLB,” Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Mike Trout, stated that he has always tried to avoid any kind of disrespect towards his opponents. The fact of the matter is that Harper, however unlikable, is correct. He aptly points to athletes
in other sports such as Carolina zone, Washington Capitals winger Panthers quarterback Cam New- Alex Ovechkin leaping into the ton, who boasts a celebrity that glass after scoring a big goal, or exceeds any professional baseball Golden State Warriors star Steph player. While Newton has faced Curry draining a buzzer-beater. some criticism for his flashy style They don’t come to see Gossage of play, he has become one of strike someone out and then walk the pre-eminent stars in a league to the dugout as if he didn’t even full of them care. No one thanks to that wants to watch “It is time for baseball, flashiness. To a press conferw a t c h t h e and the rest of the ence in which P a n t h e r ’ s world of professional Trout humbly quarterback defers credit to is to watch sports, to embrace its his teammates. someone who new generation and It is brings sometime for baseallow them to turn the thing that ball, and the seems to be game into what they rest of the world in short sup- want it to be.” of professional ply in other sports, to emsports — fun. brace its new Newton plays the game well and generation and allow for them to enjoys doing it. Trout on the other turn the game into what they want it hand, however well he may play, will to be. Gossage’s era, a great one for never be a superstar in the same the sport, is over. Now it is time for way. Trout’s leaping home-run robs the game’s young and exciting stars, may be impressive, but Trout the Harper among them, to transform person is boring. the game. In recent years, the MLB’s When Bautista smashes a home popularity has dwindled. Fans of run that puts his team on the brink professional sports are bored with of the World Series, why shouldn’t unwritten rules, stoicism and mod- he celebrate? As Ortiz pointed esty, genuine or otherwise. They out, if you don’t want a player show up to stadiums and arenas showboating after a big hit, don’t to see Newton dancing in the end let him get the hit in the first place.
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
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SPORTS
MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016
TUESDAY MONDAY LINEUP LINEUP
MEN’S LACROSSE No athletic AT VERMONT events 3 PM scheduled
Dartmouth baseball plays tough preseason slate in Florida By ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN The Dartmouth Staff
After winning two consecutive Ivy League titles to end a 22-year drought, the Dartmouth baseball team has met an identical endof-season fate each of the last five years: winning its own Red Rolfe Division, only to lose in the ensuing Ivy championship series each time. With the Ivy League portion of the 2016 schedule on the horizon, the Big Green will now gear towards recreating the same success as in years past but overcome this final hurdle. Intentionally designed to provide some challenges, the team’s preseason has brought many more defeats than victories with a 5-13 record — and a troubling Ivy-worst -60 run differential — but generally produced a mixed bag of results. “I think the biggest think to take away from the start of the season is how we progressed from the first week up until this point,” co-captain Thomas Roulis ’15 said. “We’ve been stringing some hits together, our pitching and bats have gotten progressively better. And that’s really what we’re looking for in this part of the season, especially going into conference play [soon].” Participating in various invitationals, tournaments and other individual games, Dartmouth has played its entire preseason slate in the state of Florida. The team floundered in its first trip south during the Snowbird Classic in late February, dropping all three of its first games of the season while only scoring two runs over that time, despite reaching nearly an average of eight total bases in each game. While two of these losses came by margins of three runs, the third against Villanova University was a more disappointing 14-1 blowout defeat. The following weekend the team returned to the Sunshine State, only this time playing the most formidable opponent it will face all season in the University of Florida Gators, the unanimous No. 1 ranked team in the country. Despite getting swept in the three game series in Gainesville, Florida, the Big Green played the Gators very closely in the final two games of the set — barely faltering in 12 innings 4-3 after a ninth-inning rally to tie it up, followed by an 8-6 loss after surrendering an early-game lead. “In terms of playing a tough out
of conference schedule, I think it definitely helps,” star pitcher Duncan Robinson ’16 noted about playing a team like Florida. “You have guys who don’t have a ton of experience, you get out and play if front of large crowds and a great venue, it shakes off some of those nerves.” A third return trip down south to Florida brought about more success, as Dartmouth snapped a six-game losing streak to start the year with a 6-4 victory over Bucknell University in its first game playing in the Russ Matt Invitational. With the game tied at four with two outs in the ninth inning, Dustin Shirley ’18 came through with a 2-RBI triple as Dartmouth stormed back in crossing the plate four times in the last two innings. Three consecutive defeats would follow, but the Big Green responded with its most successful stretch of the season: three straight wins fueled by excellent pitching performances. First, Robinson went the distance for a complete game victory, allowing four runs but striking out 12 — the most by a Big Green player in over three years. Later in the same day, Michael Danielak ’16 capped off a brilliant Sunday of pitching, fanning nine with just one earned run en route to another win. Two days later, Ben Socher ’17 broke a deadlock in the top of the 10th with an RBI double to continue the team’s winning ways. Those would end as quickly as they arrived however, as Dartmouth got thumped by the University of North Florida 17-3 and lost the rematch the next day 8-6. “I thought down at the University of Florida, everybody pitched well,” Robinson said, reflecting back on the past games. “We knew going in it was going to be a good hitting team, and we stepped up to the challenge. We had a couple bad pitches here and there, but the weekend as a whole was a good one. At the beginning of the spring break tournament, I thought we struggled on the mound a little bit. In these last couple days [against Lehigh University, the University of Maine and Stetson University], the pitching has been phenomenal.” The team played its final preseason series this past weekend against the University of South Florida, winning the second game 1-0 but dropping both the first and the third. While the team as a whole has a
ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Dartmouth baseball continued its tradition of facing off with extremely skilled teams this spring interim.
poor ERA, some more meaningful peripheral stats confirm Robinson’s observation of his staff’s progress. As a team, Dartmouth’s 2.67 strikeout to walk ratio leads the Ivy League by a large margin, as pitchers have been able to keep men off base while retaining good pitching control. Yet the unit’s pitfall lies with respect to the long ball, as the Big Green has yielded 1.32 home runs per nine innings, far and away the worst mark in the conference. All of this has amounted to a Dartmouth pitching staff that stands as the second worst as a whole in the Ivy League, at least in terms of fielding independent pitching, a statistic that strips away defense in estimating run prevention and thus actual pitching ability. Robinson, the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, has gotten off to a strong start this season. Yet traditional stats don’t properly reflect it, as pitchers have little control of where hits may fall in the field of play or the defense behind them, making a stat like ERA deceptive, while no control over the batting side makes win-loss records unhelpful. Strikeouts, walks and home runs yielded, on the other hand, give a better indication of a pitcher’s strength and signal of future success, and Robinson has excelled across the board in this aspect. The senior has struck out 26.9 percent of batters he’s faced and
posts 9.67 strikeouts per nine innings, both of which rank second among Ivy League pitchers who have started at least three games. Crucially, Robinson also keeps his walk rate low: a 2.6 walk percentage lands in the top five among the same group of regular starters in the conference. Summing it all up, Robinson has one of the best K/BB ratios in the conference, striking out 14.5 batters for every one walked, and a 10th best FIP among starters. In terms of its hitting, Dartmouth has so far ranked as a middling team in the context of other Ivy clubs. A .623 OPS comes in at fifth in the conference, while the team’s isolated power — a stat the measures hitting power specifically — ranks a little better at fourth. The Big Green has also importantly kept its strikeouts low, with a second-best 19.1 strikeout percentage, a good patience at the plate indicative of more success to come in the near future. “We were hitting some balls hard early in the season that weren’t falling, and now we’re putting some more barrel on the baseball and finding more grass in the outfield,” Roulis said about his team’s batting development as of late. Michael Ketchmark ’17 in particular has provided a nice dose of power in the lineup. Tied for the second most total home runs in the league, the junior first baseman has
the fourth best ISO among all Ivy players with at least 40 at-bats with a .212 mark, one that leads the team as well. Joe Purritano ’16 — a 30th round selection of the Cincinnati Reds in last year’s MLB draft — has also batted well, posting a .386 OBP, the second best rate of getting on base among Dartmouth players. Though in a smaller sample of 31 at-bats, Matt Feinstein ’19 has posted the highest on-base percentage of .475 on the team. Traveling to New Jersey to face Princeton University in a doubleheader, the Big Green will open up the Ivy League season this coming Saturday. A few out-of-conference schools such as College of the Holy Cross, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Boston College and Siena College remain interspersed throughout the rest of the schedule, but the season still begins in earnest once Dartmouth plays its first Ivy games. “Ivy play is a little different than what we do on the spring trip,” Roulis said. “It’s a much quicker and condensed season where we don’t have time to fall behind in the standings. Once you fall behind early in the conference season, it puts you in a hole going down the stretch. Our focus is to come out strong, put those wins in the column early, and continue with that down the road.”