Winter in New England decided to hang around until the first week of April this year. Warmer temperatures and drier weather comes as a welcome relief to a Northeastern baseball team that is pushing for the playoffs and will have several opportunities to place themselves into the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament in May.
Entering the season, and even during their current skid in conference play, the team’s mood could be described as guarded optimism. The team’s offensive performances this year have been phenomenal. So far this season, the Achilles’ heel for the Huskies has been their pitching staff.
Les Williams is the epitome of the youth movement that encompasses the team, especially in the area of pitching. Last week against Holy Cross, Williams had perhaps his best regular season outing of the year when he went seven innings, allowing just five hits and two runs. As he continues to mature and gain experience pitching at the collegiate level (especially that of the CAA), he will undoubtedly be the staff ace in the future.
Still, Williams’ results in the future are just that – in the future. Kris Dabrowiecki entered this season as the Huskies’ primary starter, but after a handful of rocky outings, has been put behind Jeff Thomson for the second straight weekend. Thomson has pitched outstanding baseball, including a complete game against nationally ranked UNC Wilmington last weekend. However, even Thomson had an uncharacteristic outing against Virginia Commonwealth Friday.
So what now? Each game presents a new challenge that, on paper, can’t be decided one way or another. Northeastern has won games they should not have (on paper) and the Huskies have lost games where they supposedly had a guaranteed victory (on paper). The answer is to reset with one month left in the season. The style of recruits that head coach Neil McPhee has brought on board of late represents the scrappy nature of this Northeastern team.
Chris Guillemette got his first collegiate start against Boston College and immediately contributed with the bat and with the glove. Leadoff man David Gustafson, center fielder Frank Compagnone, second baseman Ryan Maguire, right fielder Tony DiCesare and Guillemette are all sophomores or freshmen. Many of them are going through this rigorous travel schedule for only the second time, but are the right crop of players to hit the “reset button” in this push for the playoffs.
Before you assume that Northeastern’s performance of late is all gloom and doom, and that even with this young group of players they don’t stand a chance, it’s worth looking at the remainder of the Huskies’ 2008 schedule. They play the same teams they are fighting with for a playoff spot.
Next weekend, the Huskies (currently ranked eighth) host a three-game set against Towson, who might be fifth in conference but is also winless on the road this season. (Northeastern obviously is not the only school dealing with a tough travel schedule.)
In two weeks, the Huskies will visit Old Dominion for their second to last road trip of the season. Old Dominion is likely to be the team the Huskies must win a series against in order to have a shot at the playoffs, as Northeastern is only 1.5 games back from the sixth place Monarchs for that final spot.
The final two weekends of the regular season are against top CAA squads in William ‘ Mary (fourth) and James Madison (second), where one or two wins would be considered freebies, because on paper Northeastern should get swept in both series. Anything other than that is a plus.
A confidence boost could come in the form of a cross-river victory against Harvard tomorrow in the Beanpot consolation game. Since the Beanpot started playing games at Fenway Park, the Huskies are 8-5 all time at Fenway, including a victory to secure last year’s Beanpot championship. A win would do wonders, since the weather is beginning to take on that traditional spring feel and the end of the regular season is only one month away.
It’s acceptable to be cautiously optimistic. The Huskies have shown glimpses of what they’re capable of when hitting and pitching have good days. If those good days come every two out of three games, the playoffs will not be a problem.
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– Dan Nettell and Alex Faust can be reached
