Individual superstars matter less in baseball than in most other team sports. As opposed to basketball, where the addition of a single star player can alter the fortunes of an entire franchise, stud ballplayers impact their teams’ title chances much less.
In 1989, the Harvard men’s ice hockey team won the national championship. The extraordinary amount of hockey-specific preparation allowed the Ivy League university to stand alone above some of the most storied collegiate hockey programs in the country. Harvard head coach Bill Cleary, former three-sport athlete and U.S. Olympic hockey gold medalist, had a unique perspective regarding how his players should train. He believed that by participating in different sports, the athletes would have a better, more diverse understanding of what it took to be successful on the ice.
Men
The Amherst men’s golf team finished off its spring season this week with two tournaments: the Little Three Championship on Wednesday and the NESCAC Championship this past weekend.
The Amherst softball team finished their 2014 season this week, going 4-2 on the week. After knocking off Elms College and winning their Hamilton series, the team split a doubleheader with WPI to finish the season 21-11. The Jeffs end the year in third place in the NESCAC West behind Williams and Middlebury — just short of qualifying for the NESCAC tournament.
Against non-conference opponent Elms College (11-14) on Wednesday, April 23, Jackie Buechler ’17 had a phenomenal showing on the mound, tossing a one-hit shutout and amassing 10 strikeouts as Amherst topped the Bolts 5-0.
The third-ranked Amherst men’s tennis team had their 17-match win streak snapped on Saturday by eighth-ranked NESCAC foe Middlebury. With both teams previously undefeated in the NESCAC and the top-seed of the conference at stake, the Panthers edged the Jeffs 5-4.
Amherst got on the board first with a win the top doubles spot, as senior co-captains Joey Fritz and Justin Reindel defeated Alex Johnston and Andrew Lebovitz 8-6. However, Middlebury answered with a win in the second spot, as Bratner Jones and Palmer Campbell topped sophomores Aaron Revzin and Andrew Yaraghi 8-3.
Men
The men’s track and field team traveled to Colby this past weekend to compete in the NESCAC championships. Battling the elements, the Jeffs struggled to maintain the momentum they had gained the previous week at the Little Three Championships and took eighth place out of 11 teams with 31 points. Tufts took the conference crown by winning the meet with a score of 178.90.
Fourth-ranked Amherst women’s tennis wrapped up an undefeated NESCAC season with a dominating 9-0 victory over 10th-ranked Middlebury. The win was the Jeffs’ seventh in a row, moving them to 16-3 on the year and 8-0 in the NESCAC. Coach Jackie Bagwell’s team will look to maintain their momentum at the NESCAC Championships, beginning on this Friday, May 2 at Bowdoin.
