A whole new ballgame

Call it, "The Will Venable Effect, Part II."

The script for part one is still in the final stages of being written by the men's basketball team, which is only now recovering from the major loss of star power that accompanied the graduation of Venable '05. After a dozen games in which the Tigers seemed to be waiting to be saved by the spectacular play of their former point guard, upperclassmen filled the leadership void and the team moved on.

But Venable was a two-sport star, which means a second Princeton squad has yet to see how it can rebound from the loss of its dynamic leader. This weekend, the baseball team opens its season without Venable and head coach Scott Bradley knows his team needs a change in mentality if it is going to improve on last year's 17-24 record.

"[Last year], our guys almost had a tendency to sit back and say, 'Well, we don't need to churn out a run this inning because Will is going to come up next inning and hit a two-run homer or a three-run homer,' " Bradley said.

But having lost Venable, along with seven of his classmates — most of whom played crucial roles last season — the returning Tigers need to quickly realize that the fate of the team is now in their hands. Princeton will look to a group of solid, and in some cases outstanding, holdovers from the 2005 squad to occupy the spotlight and put up big numbers, but wins will be earned at another level.

"We'll have a grittier team," Bradley said. "You're going to see us fighting harder, working harder in the batter's box as far as not striking out as much and being more aggressive on the base paths."

One player who should embody all of those qualities is junior second baseman Aaron Prince, who paced all regulars last season by striking out just once per eight at-bats, while tying for the team lead with 15 walks.

As the leadoff hitter last season, Prince stole just two bases, but the Tigers will certainly count on him for more thefts as he returns in that role this year. The rest of the Princeton returnees combined for just three stolen bases in 2005.

Prince's job will be to set the table for the trio of senior sluggers who should form the meat of the Tiger lineup. Outfielder Andrew Salini will look to improve on a 2005 campaign that saw him earn All-Ivy honorable mention after finishing second on the team only to Venable with a .371 batting average, 33 runs scored, and 26 runs batted in.

The owners of the other two most potent bats in the Princeton lineup are catcher Zach Wendkos and first baseman Stephen Wendell, team co-captains along with senior starting pitcher Erik Stiller. Wendkos finished last season with a solid .328 batting average, while Wendell managed 25 RBIs.

Rounding out the group of returning starters are junior third baseman Sal Iacono, whose 24 runs scored were third best on the team, and senior shortstop Matthew Becker. The chief concern for the Tigers is where the production will come from after that.

"We're young and very thin this year," Bradley said. "We have only 12 healthy position players, which means that we'll have only three extra guys on our bench. Over the first 20 games, we are going to run everybody into the lineup to find out who can do what."

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Bradley is most eager to discover what kind of production he can expect from his freshmen, including outfielders Derek Beckman and the powerful Andrew Doupe, both of whom should compete for a starting spot.

"If we have any question marks this year," Stiller said, "it's about who's going to step up at the plate and have a strong, breakout season."

Pitching looks strong

Stiller himself, meanwhile, likely represents the team's biggest sure thing. The ace of the staff last season, Stiller finished with a 6-2 record, including two shutouts. His earned run average of 2.98 was tops among starters, and his 49 strikeouts led the team by a wide margin.

He anchors a four-man weekend rotation that is made up of the same arms as last year's, with juniors Gavin Fabian and Eric Walz and sophomore Christian Staehely joining Stiller. None of those other three starters posted ERAs under 4.72 last season, but their experience and confidence in each other should provide them with an edge on the competition.

Faith can also be placed in a bullpen that should still be one of the team's strengths despite the loss of Brian Kappel '05, who graduated one save shy of the all-time Tiger mark for saves in a career.

It is a relief corps anchored by sophomore workhorse Steven Miller, who pitched more innings out of the bullpen than any other Princeton hurler in 2005. As the team's primary setup man, he posted an ERA of 2.78, second only to Kappel's. The closer's job is Miller's to lose as the season opens.

While that is bad news for Ivy League foes, it makes Miller a rarity on a team with a dearth of underclassmen who have proven themselves ready for leading roles. The most important thing for the talented Tiger freshmen and sophomores to remember is that, with Venable gone, the limelight is theirs for the taking. Even without Will, there is still a way.