Freshmen contribute to baseball success

With experienced players like junior pitchers Ryan Quillian and David Boehle, and steady senior shortstop Pat Boran, the face of the baseball team has been mostly characterized by the athletes who have been tried in the fire of several college baseball seasons. And well it should — these players make up the core of the team and provide the leadership that makes a team what it is.

However, the one thing that this year's Tigers, now 10-15 overall and 6-2 in the Ivy League, have found is that you cannot discount the freshmen phenoms that have made important contributions to the team's success.

At the beginning of the season, head coach Scott Bradley recognized that while he had a solid group of returning players who had game experience from previous seasons with the team, he also had a group of inexperienced players — especially freshmen — who did not know what it was like to play at the college level.

In order to create a complete team, Bradley sought out tougher competition than what Princeton would see in the Ivy League play at the beginning of the season. He tried to get his entire roster time on the field and in the batter's box so as to force the squad to the same level of playing.

"How far we go is going to really depend on how our young kids that we're playing can figure things out," Bradley said. "We're very young around the field, position-wise, and they're the guys that just have to figure out the pace of college baseball."

Coach Bradley's strategy certainly worked. With their excellent league record, the Tigers sit atop the Gehrig division. Leading the Rolfe division is Harvard, the only team Princeton has lost to in the Ivy League. After dropping two to the Crimson on Saturday, the Tigers picked up two wins against Dartmouth Sunday on the strength of great pitching from two freshmen — Ross Ohlendorf and Jason Vaughan.

Vaughan, who played for the Dallas Hurricanes — the team that won the Junior Olympics in 1999 — is accustomed to playing for great teams. Vaughan threw a one-hitter in eight and a third innings in the second game against the Big Green. He fanned four batters in the 1-0 win. His performance in that game earned him the honor of being named Pitcher of the Week by Ivyleaguesports.com. The Tiger now stands at 2-1 on the season.

Ohlendorf — who leads the Tigers in wins this season with three — led the team to its first win over Dartmouth on Sunday. He allowed only three hits and one earned run, while striking out seven batters in the five innings that he pitched.

Although his record put him in the limelight, he shows modesty, recognizing instead the contributions that other freshmen have brought to the team.

"The freshmen have done very well so far, particularly Adam Balkan and Ryan Eldridge who have started just about every game and have played well both offensively and defensively," he said. "Jason Vaughan pitched the best game that I have seen this year against Dartmouth last Sunday."

Balkan has stepped up his play in the outfield, and Eldridge has been a solid first baseman. However, Eldridge's greatest contribution has been his sure bat. This weekend, he went 7-14 (3-3 against Dartmouth in the first game) with six runs-batted-in and two runs scored. That performance earned him a spot on the Ivyleaguesports.com Baseball Honor Roll, the only Tiger earning honors this weekend aside from Vaughan.

The key to the freshmen's success has not necessarily been their individual talents. As Vaughan explains:

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"The upperclassmen leaders have accepted all of the freshman as part of the team and created a strong 'team atmosphere.' This not only has helped us come together this year, but will create a strong core of players for years to come."

While the freshmen have certainly contributed to the team's success, in the end it is the heart of the team — the more experienced players like Boran, Quilian, and Boehle — that has brought the team together and drives it to succeed.