Japanese pitcher Shohei Otani announced this weekend that he is making himself available to Major League Baseball as an international free agent, beginning the most intriguing bidding contest in recent memory. Otani currently plays professionally in Japan for the Nippon-Ham Fighters, and before you laugh, remember that two MLB teams are named after sock colors.
The 2017-2018 season looks to be promising for the Amherst men’s track and field team, which includes a solid core of returners and several first-years looking to make an impact for the Mammoths. The team adds three first-years in Andrew Swenson, Kyland Smith and Ryan Prenosil, in addition to Bill Massey, Jamie Mazzola and Braxton Schuldt who competed for the Mammoths in cross country this fall.
This will be the first season since 2012 where the men’s and women’s teams will be combined, so there will be a group of six coaches leading the Mammoths.
The Amherst women’s indoor track and field team will look to build on the momentum of the fall cross-country season, which concluded with a fifth-place finish at the NESCAC championships and an individual championship from Nicky Roberts ’18. While the Mammoths will miss the presence of since graduated Kiana Herold, who finished ninth in the high jump at the Division III Indoor Championships, the team will return several standouts, including Abbey Asare-Bediako ’18 in the triple jump.
Nov. 1 officially marked the beginning of the Amherst men’s swimming and diving team’s 2017-2018 season.
This will be Head Coach Nick Nichol’s 21st year of coaching at Amherst, and he will be joined by assistant coaches Kai Robinson and Cody Cupit. Together, the trio has been confidently preparing the team for an exciting season.
The team enters the pool this season with six wins in dual meet action last season, three Little Three Championships to their name and 11 top-ten team finishes at the NCAA Division III Championship meet in program history.
The host of students’ family and friends who were at Amherst for Family Weekend got to watch a huge win by the Amherst football team on Saturday.
The Mammoths picked up an important victory against the Trinity Bantams, who had entered the showdown undefeated.
With the win, Amherst improved to a 7-1 record, while Trinity fell to a matching 7-1, so the Mammoths are now tied for first place in the NESCAC with only one game left in the season.
Against the Bantams, Amherst jumped out to a quick lead, scoring on its first possession.
This past weekend, the Amherst volleyball team closed its season with a loss in the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament against top-seeded Tufts. Although, the Mammoths had put forward an inspired performance in their quarterfinal matchup against Hamilton the previous weekend, Amherst eventually fell to the Jumbos in three sets, erasing any hopes of making it to the NCAA tournament.
After finishing 14-8-5 and advancing to the NESCAC championship game, the Amherst women’s ice hockey team is poised to rise to the top of the conference yet again. After falling for the second consecutive year in the NESCAC final to Middlebury, this year the Mammoths will seek to reclaim the coveted title.
The Mammoths return plenty of strong veterans, including last year’s leading scorer Alex Toupal ’18, who garnered several honors last year for her outstanding play, including First Team All-NESCAC, NEHWA All-Star and CCM Second-Team All-American.
