Bates Baseball fell to a record of 3-5 on Thursday after the team lost to Endicott College (2-2) by a score of 8-0. The loss follows a three game win-streak that brought the Bobcats a win away from an early-season 0.500 winning percentage in their overall record.

Before losing to Endicott, the team competed and won against Salem State and Nichols College 11-0 and 5-4 respectively. Before this, last time the team lost was at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Feb 22.

However, it is still early in the season and Head Coach Jon Martin says there are plenty of reasons to expect better results in the games to come. Just last week, Nolan Collins ’20 was named the first NESCAC pitcher of the week for the 2019 season.

“Each year that I’ve been at Bates, the players have been on an upward trend to success,” Martin, who is entering his third season as head coach, said. “We have great leadership from our captains and senior class, which I know will carry us where we intend to be.”

Martin’s goals remain the same, to “win one game at a time, and play postseason baseball.” “It’s a good mix with talent, depth, and a great team dynamic.” Martin said.

Martin acknowledged the losses of the 2018 senior class: “Our senior class from 2018 was a great group of young men that held our program in high regard…Our captains, Jake Shapiro ‘18 and Connor Russell ‘18, were a strong tandem to lead us back into the NESCAC Playoffs. Also, Connor Divincenzo ‘18 provided a spark in our lineup with his grit and determination.”

But now Shapiro, Russell, and Divincenzo have graduated. Nonetheless, his optimism and hopes for this year’s team remains high. “I think we have some key players this year that will fill those roles,” he said.

Martin named four first-years in particular who he said he is excited to have on the team. Two first years, Andrew Chi ’22 and Bryan Gotti ’22 have already found their way into the lineup. Martin said that both first years “have been swinging the bat well and pretty much hit the ground running.”

He also sees potential in first year pitchers Jared Pantalony ’22 and Ian Tolis ’22. Overall, Martin believes that the first-year class will add to their depth and will continue to develop as the year progresses.

The Bates Head Coach speaks of high aspirations for this group of Bobcats and those going forward. “Championship programs are consistently in the postseason.” he said. “If we want to be considered in that group of college baseball programs, we need to compete on a big stage when the stakes are high.”

The Bobcats will play their first home games against Plymouth State on March 24 next Sunday looking to renew their lost winning-streak.