Explosive offense leads baseball in Ivy League title defense

Winter is over. It's time for spring, and that means one thing: baseball.

The weeks of spring training leading up to the Major League baseball season are full of anticipation. Every team is undefeated and every team has a chance. More than likely, within the next few months, the usual will happen. The Yankees will be in first place, the Devil Rays in last, but until then, everyone is a contender.

The buildup before the Ivy League season is no different, as the Princeton baseball team, along with its opponents, looks at the upcoming season with high expectations.

"We always set high goals," head coach Scott Bradley said. "We want to win our division and have a chance to play for the Ivy championship and that NCAA tournament automatic bid."

That would be a repeat of last year's success when the Tigers won their eighth straight Gehrig Division title and their fourth Ivy League title. They capped off the season with a trip to NCAAs , the eighth time in the team's history.

Last year's success however, came with a different team, one loaded with senior leadership, especially on the mound. In contrast, this year Princeton will have to rely on a relatively young rotation that includes freshman Gavin Fabian, sophomore Erik Stiller and junior Ross Ohlendorf. The staff will look to fill the large void left by the five senior pitchers that carried the Tigers through the Ivy League last season.

"This staff has the chance to be pretty good," Bradley said. "Everyone will get the chance to prove himself and fight for the starting and relief roles on this team."

Fortunately for the young pitchers, the defense behind them is loaded with both talent and experience. This will allow them to focus solely on their pitching and not having to worry about an excess of fielding errors.

The defense is led by an outfielding corp that is perhaps one of the most capable group ever seen at Princeton. Junior B.J Szymanski, the centerfielder, is the captain of the outfield and is a possible selection in the upcoming draft. The outfield is rounded out with senior Eric Fitzgerald, junior Will Venable and sophomore Andrew Salini. These four will rotate in and out of the lineup, assuring that whoever has the hot bat is always in.

The infield is also very interchangeable and the lineup will likely change from day to day.

"We are just going to try and piece our lineup together to get our hot hitters in the lineup," Bradley said.

Three first-basemen will see playing time throughout the season while senior Steve Young will take care of second base. The left side of the infield consists of sophomore Matthew Becker at shortstop, while freshman Sal Iacono looks to step up and take over third. Behind the plate, senior Tim Lahey looks to follow up an excellent junior year with an even better senior campaign.

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Perhaps more impressive than the Tiger defense is the team's explosive top-to-bottom offense. Almost everyone in the lineup is more than capable of putting up runs on the board with one swing of the bat. Lahey led the team last year with 11 dingers, the second most in school history.

"This team's offense is special," Bradley said. "We have a lineup where almost everybody is capable of hitting home runs and stealing bases." The strength of the offense will certainly be the biggest advantage for Princeton, as sufficient run support will be needed to support the young pitching staff.

To begin the season, the Tigers head to Virginia this weekend for a three-game series with Old Dominion. Spring Break for the team will be spent in North Carolina, where they will compete against Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State.