Photo Courtesy of @HamCollBaseball Twitter
Over the weekend, the Hamilton baseball team took two out of three games from the Wesleyan Cardinals, who were previously 3–0 in NESCAC West play. The series victory represents Hamilton’s first series win over Wesleyan in at least 18 years. In fact, the two wins over Wesleyan gave Hamilton its first NESCAC West series win since taking two out of three from Williams in April 2015.
The series opener on Friday afternoon was a thriller. Brian Lawson ’20 was solid for the Continentals for five innings, giving up just one earned run and two overall. When he was replaced by Chris Keane ’20 in the sixth, however, the game was even at two. Hamilton managed just two runs over 5 ⅔ off Wesleyan starter Mike McCaffrey. Both runs came off a Craig Sandford ’19 two-run triple that just tailed out of reach of Wesleyan’s left fielder Alex Cappitelli. Sandford’s three-bagger plated Matt Cappelletti ’21 and Rich Marooney ’21 who had reached base by a walk and hit-by-pitch respectively. Keane, who would ultimately be credited with this third win on the season, shut down the Cardinals in relief, scattering four hits over three scoreless innings. Pat Clare kept the Continentals in check, however, and the game remained tied at two as the innings wore on. Hamilton finally broke through with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Marooney reached base by way of a catcher’s interference call and moved to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Nate Goodman ’20 beat out a chopper for an infield single, putting runners on the corners. Ethan Wallis ’21 delivered the clutch hit Hamilton needed, roping a single to right field to plate what would prove to be the winning run. Up 3–2 entering the ninth, Hamilton called on its closer, Ian Nish ’19, who put the Cardinals down in order while striking out the side to secure the victory in the series opener, Hamilton’s first NESCAC West win on the season.
The Continentals and Cardinals returned to action on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. to begin a doubleheader. Gavin Schaeffer-Hood ’21 got the start for Hamilton, and they would never take him out. Schaeffer-Hood picked apart the Wesleyan lineup for seven innings, taking a no-hitter into the sixth and finishing his complete game with seven strikeouts and having yielded just three hits. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when a Graham McCosker ’20 double plated Marooney, who had reached base via walk. Hamilton then gave itself breathing room in the fifth. Wallis started the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Jarrett Lee ’21. After Cappelletti was hit by a pitch, Matt Zaffino ’21 extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a two Runs Batted In (RBI) double. Zaffino would score on an RBI double by Dean Rosenberg ’18. Rosenberg came home on a Wesleyan throwing error to give the Continentals a 5–0 lead. Wesleyan got on the board in the top of the sixth when Cappitelli singled home shortstop Kevin Walek, but that was the only run they would score off Schaeffer-Hood. The first-year pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out Walek to give Hamilton the victory in the game and the series.
The Continentals gave the ball to Tom Riley ’20 in game two of the doubleheader, the final game of the series. Riley struggled, giving up four runs in two innings, in which he yielded four hits, one walk, and hit two batsmen. Brett Sandford ’19 relieved Riley in the third and did not fare much better. The Cardinals roughed up Sandford for four runs, and Coach Tim Byrnes pulled his pitcher after getting just two outs. Carter King ’19 came in with a runner in scoring position and recorded the final out. Down 8–0, Hamilton scratched across a couple of runs in the bottom of the third. Jordan Northrup ’19 singled to lead off the inning then, with one out, Wallis doubled to put runners on second and third. Lee plated Northrup on an RBI groundout and Wallis scored on a wild pitch. Wesleyan scored one off of King in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to 9–2. While that was the last run they scored, it was more than enough to hold off the Continentals. Mike Borek ’18 took the mound in the fifth and dealt five scoreless innings to close out the game. Unfortunately, Hamilton would only score twice more. One run came in the fifth when Goodman scored on a double steal; the other came in the seventh off a Marooney single which brought home Wallis. Zaffino went 0-for-3 on the game, which put an end to his 15-game hit streak. Alec Olmstead struck out nine Continentals over 6 ⅔ to earn the win. Ryan Earle pitched a scoreless 2 ⅓ to put the game away for the Cardinals.
Despite losing the last game of the series, there were a lot of positive takeaways for the Continentals. “All year we have been regarded as a bottom-of-the-league team, and the series win against one of the highest-ranked teams in the conference definitely proves we have been underestimated,” remarks King, who added that, “[Wesleyan] competed like we expected them too, but ultimately we were the better team.” After the Wesleyan series, Hamilton sits at 2–3, good enough for third in the five-team NESCAC West, behind 4–1 Amherst and 4–2 Wesleyan. Middlebury and Williams are both 2–4. Only two teams make the playoffs from each NESCAC division, so Hamilton will have to maintain its success in order to earn its first NESCAC playoff berth. After a tune-up against Bates on Tuesday, Hamilton travels to Williams this weekend to take on the Ephs, who dropped two of three to both Middlebury and Amherst. Hamilton realistically needs to win at least two if not three games to stay in the playoff hunt. The following weekend, Hamilton hosts Middlebury, who took two of three from Williams but was swept by Wesleyan, in the final weekend of the season. Hamilton will have to make up its first game from the Amherst series on Saturday, May 5, a game that hopefully will carry playoff implications. The road ahead is not easy for Hamilton, but they have a real shot at the playoffs if they play to their maximum potential. “We have a lot of young talent,” King comments, “we hope to stay hot in our remaining NESCAC games against Middlebury and Williams.” The Continentals will have to in order to make the postseason for the first time since joining the conference.
