The baseball and softball teams were two of the Big Green’s most successful teams this season. The softball team won its first League title in program history, then advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The baseball team ended its season with an 8-0 run to place in the Ivy League Championship Series for the eighth year in a row, where the team fell to Columbia University.
The rest of the Ancient Eight took note. Four members of the softball team and eight members of the baseball team nabbed All-Ivy honors.
Morgan McCalmon ’16 and Kristen Rumley ’15 were named the 2014 Ivy League Softball Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.
Before McCalmon, no Dartmouth player had ever won Player of the Year, which was established in 1985.
McCalmon and Rumley were named to the first team for designated player and pitcher, respectively, along with Katie McEachern ’16 as shortstop.
McCalmon and co-captain Kara Curosh ’14 made the second team roster for pitcher and second base, respectively.
McEachern said she was both a little bit surprised but excited about her selection.
“It’s a lot of fun being able to represent your college in that way, and hopefully I continue to represent and do well for Dartmouth,” McEachern said.
McEachern, last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, hit .333 and led the team in slugging percentage, hits, home runs and RBIs, and set the single-season record for doubles with 15.
McCalmon is the youngest of the four pitchers to receive All-Ivy honors.
“I’m just glad I was able to do my role for the team this year,” McCalmon, who led the Ivy League with a .389 batting average, said.
Curosh provided strong leadership for Dartmouth’s young team and performed solidly. Third in runs on the team, her two-run home run in game three of the Ivy League Championship Series against the University of Pennsylvania propelled the Big Green to their first title in school history.
Co-captain Dustin Selzer ’14 and Duncan Robinson ’16 earned first team honors as first base and relief pitcher, respectively. Three players — co-captain Jeff Keller ’14, Nick Lombardi ’15 and Joe Purritano ’16 — were named to the second team while Matt Parisi ’15, Thomas Roulis ’15 and Nick Ruppert ’16 received honorable mentions.
Two-time first team appointee Selzer committed just one error in 378 chances. The first baseman finished the season with a .294 overall batting average after experiencing some frustration at the plate early on. After piecing together his offensive mindset, Selzer hit .350 in League play, spending most of the season cleaning up for the Big Green.
Finishing the season and his baseball career strongly was exciting, Selzer said.
“If you had told me any time in the past that my baseball career was over, I would have been devastated, never believed you, no way,” he said. “But it feels right and it’s time to move on, and I guess being first team All-Ivy kind of helped with that. I feel like I have a clean slate and I’m feeling good about it.”
Robinson finished the season tied in the Ivy League for most wins with seven. He led the Big Green in all major pitching categories, racking up a 2.96 earned run average and 40 strikeouts on the season. Though he had hoped to come into the season with a slot in the starting rotation, Robinson said, a conversation before League play with head coach Bob Whalen let him know the team needed him to come out of the pen whenever necessary to give Dartmouth reliable relief in tight situations. Robinson was a utility pitcher for Dartmouth this season.
Making first team, Robinson said, is a validation of the growth he’s seen since suiting up for the Big Green for the first time as a freshman, even since his first outing against Florida International University this season in which he gave up eight runs in the 2.1 inning outing.
“It’s pretty incredible looking back to freshman year,” he said. “I didn’t make a pitch in any Ivy games. I feel that I’ve grown an incredible amount. Obviously it would have been nice to end the year with an Ivy Championship, but I thought we fought hard and made a good run at the end of the year.”
The Ivy League office in Princeton, New Jersey, announced the selections of the softball and baseball All-Ivy selections on May 13 and May 16, respectively.
