Now past the halfway point in its season, the baseball team's record stands at 10-15, which includes a 3-1 Ivy League performance.
While the season started off rocky against tough competition on the road, the Tigers have settled down and performed well as of late.
The 'Prince' has made it a tradition to honor those players who have stood out at the halfway point of the baseball season. So here they are — the mid-season baseball award selections, as determined by the Prince's baseball beat writers.
The Barry Bonds Award:
Best Hitter
Nominees: Jon Miller, B.J. Szymanski, Ryan Eldridge
Winner: Miller. While Szymanski is having a terrific rookie year at the plate, Miller has come out as the leader in this category. Miller leads the team in batting average (.351), on-base percentage (.440) and runs batted in (18), and is second only to catcher Tim Lahey in slugging percentage (.519). With these stats under his belt, Miller edges out the competition as the Tigers' most effective hitter.
The Barry Zito Award
Best Starting Pitcher
Nominees: Ryan Quillian, David Boehle, Brian Biegen
Winner: Boehle. While opponents would not relish the opportunity to face any of these four starters, Boehle's 3.24 ERA sets him apart from the others. Especially after battling back from a knee injury from last year, his record is impressive. Boehle is 1-1 on the year in five starts. He has struck out an impressive 25 batters in 25 innings, while only walking five.
The John Smoltz Award:
Best Relief Pitcher
Nominees: Mark Siano, Thomas Pauly, Bill Broome
Winner: Pauly. This one was easier than picking Anna Kournikova in a hottest female athlete poll. Pauly, the only Ivy Leaguer last year to be named to an All-America team, has been dominant once again this year. He sports a 3-0 record, and has struck out 24 batters in only 18 innings pitched. Opponents are batting just .206 against him. When the Tigers have a lead in the seventh inning, you can expect Pauly to come out and pitch three good innings to close the door. You can also expect a crowd of baseball scouts to take out its radar guns and stand up behind home plate when this happens. We hear he's been clocked at 91 mph.
The Eric Hinske Award:
Best Rookie Performance
Nominees: Andy Salini, B.J. Szymanski, Will Venable
Winner: Szymanski. The baseball team was extremely lucky this season to pick up two players that had been better known for their prowess in other sports at Princeton. Szymanski, a starting wide receiver, has added a great deal of athleticism to the baseball team. Szymanski, who bats leadoff for the Tigers, has been hitting .344 this season, and is leading the team in runs scored (21), and hits (32). He plays defense well too, registering 46 putouts and three assists in center field.
The Mo Vaughn Award:
Best Combination of Good Hitting and Slow Base Running
Nominees: Ryan Eldridge, Tim Lahey
Winner: Eldridge. Eldridge is currently sporting a .305 batting average, good enough for a solid third place on the Princeton team. Eldridge's lack of speed is evidenced by his zero stolen base attempts, which matches his total from last season. Add to this the fact that Eldridge plays the same position (first base), and wears the same number (42) as Mo Vaughn, and this category is a no-contest.
The Sammy Sosa Award:
Player That Makes You Want to Come Out to the Ballpark
Nominees: Steve Young, Worth Lumry, Thomas Pauly
Winner: Young. While Lumry's left-handed submarine delivery is quite a spectacle, and Pauly's pitching is simply dynamite, Young's pump-up song of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On" still warms our hearts. Also, the excitement he adds on the basepaths (six steals in seven attempts) is food for our baseball souls.
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