For the ninth straight season, the baseball team prevailed as champions of the Lou Gehrig Division, a spectacular tradition of divisional dominance unmatched this side of the Atlanta Braves.
In four of those past springs, Princeton claimed the Ivy League title, fulfilling its supreme goal. On those occasions when they fell short, however, the Tigers learned a lesson the Braves know all too well: a divisional title does little to soften the pain of a playoff loss.
In other words, Princeton's (25-18 overall, 12-8 Ivy League) season ultimately will be judged by the outcome of this weekend's Ivy League Championship Series. The Tigers will battle Red Rolfe Division champ Dartmouth (25-15, 15-5) in a best-of-three series in Hanover, NH this weekend, with the league title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament up for grabs. The first two games will be playedSaturday, and, if neither team wins both of those games, the decisive third game will be Sunday afternoon.
"It's a good season if you put yourself in position to play for the league championship," head coach Scott Bradley said. "It becomes a great season if you win."
Although the Tigers are the defending Ivy champions — they dispatched Harvard in the 2003 ILCS — the Big Green enter as slight favorites. Dartmouth earned home-field advantage by way of its better league record, a performance made more impressive given that the Rolfe Division was, top-to-bottom, much stronger than the Gehrig Division this year.
Dartmouth's big three
Steadiness has been a key to Dartmouth's success. In a division where every loss was damaging, the Big Green refused to beat themselves, ranking near the top of the league in fewest errors and strikeouts. The three hurlers Dartmouth will send to the mound are typical of the squad's steadiness.
Senior Tim Grant (5-3, 4.25 earned run average) and sophomore Josh Faiola (5-1, 3.59) will start games one and two, respectively. Faiola pitched eight innings to carry Dartmouth to a 5-2 win over Princeton on April 3rd. The Tigers won the other game of that doubleheader, 10-2, played at Clarke Field in Princeton.
If the ILCS goes to a third game, the Big Green will start a pitcher who proved last weekend that he knows how to win big games. Freshman Stephen Perry (6-1, 3.64) hurled a complete game to defeat Harvard and hand Dartmouth the Rolfe title. Perry was nearly unhittable during the league slate, going 4-0 and at one point pitching 16 1/3 straight scoreless innings.
"All three have good command, all three throw strikes, but they're not overpowering," Bradley said. "There's no real difference between the number one and number three."
As good as the trio of Grant, Faiola, and Perry has been, the Tigers will counter with a staff every bit as dominant. Junior ace Ross Ohlendorf (5-3, 3.63) gets the call in game one. Ohlendorf picked up a complete-game win in Princeton's victory in the earlier doubleheader. Freshman Gavin Fabian (4-2, 3.36) and sophomore Erik Stiller (4-3, 3.61) will toe the rubber in games two and three, respectively.
Offensively, though they have had several very rough days at the plate, the Tigers boast the more explosive lineup. Junior center fielder B.J. Szymanski leads the team in all three triple crown categories, hitting .381 with 47 runs batted in and six home runs. While Szymanski provided the pyrotechnics, the small-ball skills of speedy senior lead-off man Steve Young have been just as important.
"When Steve gets on base, we're going to win," Bradley said.
For Dartmouth, the entire lineup is dangerous — seven starters hit over .300, for a ridiculous .329 team batting average. Senior Ed Lucas leads the way, hitting at a .431 clip. Junior Jeff Speights is the big bopper, with eight dingers and 52 RBIs. Senior Scott Shirrell has also been wielding a big stick lately, clobbering three round-trippers last week, including a game-winning blast against Harvard.
Ultimately, the series will likely come down to which team gets hot at the plate. Dartmouth's stadium is markedly smaller than Princeton's Clarke Field, so balls are likely to be flying out.
One positive sign for the Tigers was their midweek victory over Rider on Wednesday. Bradley was quick to mention the benefit of the extra tuneup before the ILCS. In that game, Princeton destroyed the home-standing Broncos, 15-1.
The game was never in doubt, as the Tigers jumped to a 13-1 lead after three innings, and a quartet of pitchers combined to limit Rider to six hits for the day. Junior designated hitter Will Venable and senior first baseman Ryan Reich drove in four runs apiece.
Dartmouth, of course, will provide far greater resistance than the Broncos. But the Tigers, far from satisfied, are not about to fold.
Because, as well as the Braves play all year long, it's the Yankees who end up smiling in October.
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