The Big Green baseball team swings into a new season with solid hitting, a deep pitching staff, and a revamped infield. Returning from their spring Florida trip with a 7-8 record (compared to last year's 1-10 record), and charged by a win over the defending National Champion Miami Hurricanes expect the Big Green to pose a threat to the powerhouse Harvard, Princeton and Brown teams this season.
With seven returning position players and three of four of last year's starters, the Big Green have a veteran team with a wealth of new talent.
"The kids have a great approach this seasonthere's a strong chemistry and a focus on team, not individual, with a nice mix of classes," said Head Coach Bob Whalen.
Dartmouth strikeout and innings- pitched leader, Conor Brooks '00, commented, "The team is more like a cohesive unit than its ever been and the comaraderie is a lot better, with great senior leadership, juniors, and sophomores that everyone can look up to."
The squad has a firm foundation with all Ivy League catcher Mike Levy '01 (second in team average in 1999 at .373). Senior captain Brian Nickerson slides over to replace the graduated Mike Conway at the hot corner and senior Aaron Meyer (all time Dartmouth homerun leader) will be across the diamond at first.
Chris Miranda has returned for his junior season to provide stalwart defense at second base and Joe Rockers '00 and Matt Klentak '02 will be sharing duties at short in what should be a much stronger defense than last season.
"We were significantly better over the trip on defense; infield in particular was stronger" said Coach Whalen.
"We're strong as ever up the middle with Miranda at second, one of the best defensive players I've seen, and Nick at third base and myself or Mileusnic at first," commented Aaron Meyer. Meyer sat out much of the spring with a sprained back but returned north immediately for rehab, and is expected to play again, if not this weekend, then early next week.
The Dartmouth outfield boasts all-Ivy Leaguer James Little '00 in center, Dan Becker '02 in left, and senior Yale Dieckmann will return in right.
Conor Brooks, who went a perfect 5-0 for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League this past summer, will lead the Dartmouth pitching staff on the hill this season.
"Brooks has had such a significant impact -- he has the stamina and the experience to finish games. When he's on the mound he's gonna throw strikes and gonna compete and the kids play better behind him," Whelan said.
John Velosky '02, who landed a starting spot his freshman year, will be on the hill again as a starter this season. Velosky threw 21 innings over spring break going 2-1, with one of his victories coming against the Miami Hurricanes.
Last year's southpaw hurler Jeff Dutremble '00 will be vying for another spot on the rotation. Dutremble started six games last season and threw 46.2 innings, but has been battling some shoulder trouble that only allowed him to make one spring appearance. Coach Bob Whelan was optimistic that Dutremble's two weeks of long toss over spring and solid appearance could get him throwing well again this year.
Covering for Mark Swan '01, who will not be playing this year, will be a more difficult decision for Whelan. This may come down to either of three freshman hurlers who had solid spring performances and show potential for making an impact from the hill.
Jim Kelly '03, Brian Gattis '03 and southpaw Jordan Glaser '03 combined for 33.2 innings over the spring and provide more depth to the Dartmouth staff.
"The staff is really deep, and the bullpen is really deep," remarked Brooks of the added hurlers.
With a well-rounded staff and a powerful offense, the question for Dartmouth this year will be one of consistency and combining those two aspects at the same time. All too often last year an unhittable Dartmouth staff saw no run support, or a slew of hits went matched by their opponents.
"Offensively we've never played up to our potential. We have nine position players who have a shot to be All Ivy or tops in the league, we've never as a team gone out and kicked butt, ending games in the third inning, but we have the potency to do that," said first base power hitter Aaron Meyer.
Dartmouth faces some tough teams this year with the likes of three-time defending champ Harvard, second-place finishing Princeton this weekend, and a very powerful Brown team in mid season.
"These Ivy teams will come right at you and you have to create your own offense and focus on preparation," said Whelan. That's just what Dartmouth will be doing this year-- preparing for a serious run at the Ivy League Championships.
After a four game series with Princeton and Cornell this weekend, Dartmouth will make their home debut at Red Rolfe field at 1:00 p.m. next Wednesday versus Siena.
