The Bates softball team has had an impressive regular season, culminating with a sweep of rival Colby this past weekend. With their 20-13 record (5-7 in the NESCAC), they are headed to the NESCAC tournament.
Author: Max Petrie Page 1 of 3
The Bates baseball team is tournament bound. After splitting a doubleheader with Tufts on Saturday, they end the NESCAC regular season in a tie for second place in the NESCAC East Division and enter the tournament for the second season in a row. On this success, Jon Lindgren ’20 says, “Just making it to the playoffs and proving that we’re contenders two years in a row is a great feeling. This team has shown that we’re capable of beating almost anybody when we play to our potential. With the double elimination format of the NESCAC Championship, I think we’re in a great spot to make a run.” Before that however, there are a few more games to play. Captain Jake Shapiro ’18 says, “With playoffs coming up in a few weeks, we’re looking to make sure we continue to play good baseball in the games leading up to the tournament so that we can be ready to perform in the NESCAC tournament.”
When asked about individual performances this year, Lindgren mentions a slew of people, showcasing the talent that spans the whole roster: “Justin White is leading the team in batting average (.400) and has been tearing it up at the dish lately. Nolan Collins has been dominating on the mound against conference teams (he shoved in his performance against Tufts, striking out 8 against a team that does not strike out that often, boasting a 1.88 ERA in 24 conference innings). Zach Avila is mashing the balls this year batting .333 with 23 Hits and 13 RBIs. Connor Divincenzo has locked down the center field position and been a productive member of the lineup all season. Gee Torres has been hot of late at the dish and has had a smooth transition from playing second, to third.” He continues, “Connor Russell has also been one of our most consistent pitchers on the staff with a 3-2 record, a 4.5 ERA, and 31K. Jake Shapiro has been out lights out closer all year, with a 0.5 ERA, 12.5 Ks per 9, with 18 total innings of work. Jake has also set the career records for saves at Bates College. Not to mention, the consistent contributions of Kyle Carter, Asher Macdonald, Justin Foley, Miles Michaud, Alex Simon, Will Sylvia, Dan Trulli, and Jack Arend. Jack has surprised me the most in his role as an on field leader the season. As only a sophomore he, as well as the seniors, have inspired confidence in many of the players that have been able to play to their full potentials this season.”
Along with this, Shapiro says, “We have had a bunch of guys step up this season in big spots. I think the most impressive part of this year’s team has been the readiness of every player on the roster to make it happen when their names are called.” It seems that the key to success this season has been the ability of everyone to perform. Shapiro mentions players stepping up, while Lindgren provides a variety of examples of impressive performances from throughout the season.
Clearly, everyone on the team has contributed in various ways this season for the ‘Cats and it has made a huge difference. For two years in a row now, the team will compete in the NESCAC tournament and look to make a deep run. Although they look forward to this, there are still a few games before the tournament begins. This Tuesday they will play at Saint Joseph’s (ME), and then two games against Southern Maine on Wednesday and Saturday. The Saturday game will be at home at noon.
The Bates baseball team played a three-game series against Bowdoin Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 opening up their NESCAC play for the spring. They lost on Friday by a score of 3-1, and then dropped the first game on Saturday 4-3 in extra innings. In this game, they were down 3-1 heading into the seventh inning, when Connor DiVencenzo ’18 singled to left field. Next up was Kyle Carter ’20, who also singled. After another single by Dan Trulli ’19 and a sacrifice bunt by Jack Arend ’20, Bates had runners on second and third with one out. Zach Avila ’20 delivered, grounding out but bringing in Carter to tie the game. Unfortunately, Bowdoin scored a run in the top of the eighth to take back the lead, and the Bobcats could not answer in the bottom of the inning.
During the sixth inning of the first game, DiVencenzo saved the Bobcats from a potential bases clearing hit by Polar Bear Colby Joncas. DiVencenzo made an outstanding diving catch to end the inning and helped the Bobcats get back into the game. Although this play was not enough to help Bates earn the win, it was definitely a highlight of the game. DiVencenzo, Arend, and Trulli all tallied doubles in the game.
Bobcats’ five runs. Senior captain Jake Shapiro ’18 was also critical to the team’s success in this game. He came in during the seventh inning, striking out three batters and earning his second save of the season. Foley came back from his loss in game one and earned the win in this game against the Polar Bear. Foley’s record is now 2-2.
As March ends and April begins, the team heads into the bulk of their schedule, playing a number of series against NESCAC teams. They will play Colby, Williams, Hamilton, Trinity, and Tufts prior to the NESCAC championships. With all of these important games ahead, Shapiro says, “Obviously this is a big month for us, so we try to approach every game with the same intensity.”
In the second game of the double header, the ‘Cats were able to avoid the sweep by winning 5-3. Justin Foley ’19 earned the win, pitching five innings and allowing only four hits and one run. Notable hitting performances came from Trulli and Jon Lindgren ’20, who were each responsible for two RBIs, accounting for four of the Bobcats’ five runs. Senior captain Jake Shapiro ’18 was also critical to the team’s success in this game. He came in during the seventh inning, striking out three batters and earning his second save of the season. Foley came back from his loss in game one and earned the win in this game against the Polar Bears. Foley’s record is now 2-2.
As March ends and April begins, the team heads into the bulk of their schedule, playing a number of series against NESCAC teams. They will play Colby, Williams, Hamilton, Trinity, and Tufts prior to the NESCAC championships. With all of these important games ahead, Shapiro says, “Obviously this is a big month for us, so we try to approach every game with the same intensity.”
In addition to this difficult baseball schedule, there is the academic calendar to battle with as well. Shapiro stresses the necessity of staying focused as finals come around, the semester ends, and short term begins. “These couple of weeks can be tough for a lot of guys as they finish up their classes,” he says. “At this point, we want to make sure that everyone gets their work done and is ready for finals, while also making sure we’re ready for our series next weekend against Colby.” Clearly, this is a hard balance at this time of the school year.
Ultimately, the team needs to maintain focus in order to finish the season strong. To this point, Shapiro says, “In order to be successful the rest of the year, it’s going to be important that everyone does their job and stays focused. Especially with the distractions during short term, keeping everyone focused is going to be important.” The team will play this Wednesday at home against Plymouth State, and then at home against Colby on Friday.
This past weekend, members of the Bates swimming and diving team competed in Indianapolis at the Division III NCAA National Championships. Both the men’s and women’s teams had great performances by the athletes in attendance. There were a total of eleven swimmers that were selected to compete: six women and five men. From the women’s team: Caroline Apathy ’21, Janika Ho ’20 (her second NCAA’s), Monica Sears ’20 (her second), Lucy Faust ’19 (her second), Hope Logan ’18 (her second), and Logan McGill ’18 (her fourth). For the men: Tanner Fuller ’20 (his first NCAAs), Alex Bedard ’19 (his first), Jonathan Depew ’18 (his second), Teddy Pender ’18 (his third), and Riley Ewing ’18 (his fourth).
For the women’s team, they finished with 76 points, 12th place out of 51 teams. The most notable event was the 400-yard freestyle relay. This team consisted of McGill, Apathy, Sears, and Ho. The squad was able to secure a slot in the eight-team field for the final by inching out Wesleyan in the trial, swimming at 3:26:88 and winning by .37 seconds. Then, in the final itself, the relay team came in sixth place with a time of 3:26:39. This finish established a new program record for the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Other notable performances from the women’s team came from Sears and Apathy. Sears finished in 27th place with a time of 17:40:93 in the 1,650-yard freestyle, while Apathy raced in the 100-yard freestyle, coming in 38th with a time of 52:61. Perhaps most notable are the accomplishments of McGill. For her role on the women’s relay team mentioned above, she earned All-America honors for the 13th time in her Bates career, the second-most in team history and the third-most of all Bates athletes. Overall, the women’s team has now finished in the top-13 in points for three consecutive years.
There were also impressive feats performed by the men’s team, as they completed their best finish in the team’s history, scoring 48 points to secure 14th place out of the 53 teams. Fuller, Depew, Bedard, and Pender competed together in the 400-yard freestyle relay, breaking two team records. On this success, Pender says, “I’ve learnt that NCAAs is an experience to be shared with your teammates. Not only knowing that I’ve got four guys cheering for me on poolside, but also 20 more back home watching is what makes it low stress and much easier to perform at our best.” Bedard also competed in the 200-yard breaststroke, placing 24th with 2:04:78.
Notable career performances for the men came from Pender, Ewing, and Depew. Depew finishes his Bates career with five All-America honors, while Ewing secured seven. Pender, over the course of his time at Bates, finishes with eleven, setting a new record among Bates male athletes. On NCAAs in general, he says, “This year’s NCAAs was the highlight of my swimming career. It’s always so much fun to participate with my teammates at the highest level in our sport.” Now that these seniors’ careers have come to an end, Pender says, “Our careers as athletes who score points for the college might be over, but our job supporting, cheering, and helping the team in the future starts now, and I know we’re all excited to see the program continue to go from strength to strength.”
While March drags on for most students in the cold of Maine, Sally Ceesay ’18 has had a very different experience; she traveled to Birmingham, AL to compete in the 2018 NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships earlier in the month. She says, “Generally for nationals, the meets are pretty far away. My first one was in North Carolina, so it was really nice to get back down south to warmer weather. I love going away for nationals, because it’s right in the middle of March, and everyone hates this month. I always see it as my vacation and quick break away. It was great.” She continues, talking about being in a new place: “It was my first time in Alabama. I got to see a lot of civil rights landmarks and stuff like that, so that was really cool.”
The bulk of her time, obviously, was spent preparing for the competition. Ceesay competed in the triple jump, placing second and breaking her own record by a half inch with her jump of 40 feet, 4 inches. On preparation for the meet, she says, “In the last two years, I finally figured out what works for me in terms of my mental preparedness. I do the same thing that I’ve done all season, and I think that helps me best, because it keeps my nerves down. I know that if I’m doing the same routine I’ve been doing, and I’ve been doing well at any normal meet, then everything should fall in place if I’m doing everything exactly the same.”
With this preparation heading into her attempts, she then focuses on one thing: “My freshman year I had this coach. . . . He told me before every jump I have to tell myself that I am the sh*t and believe it and take every jump like it was my last one. I still do that to this day. I run through it in my mind.” After this, she gets on the runway and clears her head. She says, “I try to clear my mind so I’m not thinking about anything.”
Clearly this method of preparation has paid off, as Ceesay as earned All-American honors five times, the fifth coming at this NCAAs. As a first-year, she competed in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing 16th with a jump of 35 feet, 3.25 inches. A year later, during the 2015-16 indoor season, she earned her first All-American honors with a Bates record-breaking jump of 38 feet, 1.25 inches. With this jump, she became Bates’s first All-American triple jumper since 1985. She went on to earn four more All-American honors in the event and has broken her record multiple times.
Of this accomplishment, she says, “It’s really exciting. It’s not something that I expected before I got to Bates, but ever since I’ve been here and realized what I’m capable of achieving, I’ve always been working towards it. It’s an honor, and I’m thankful every time I think about it.” As this is her senior year, her last indoor season has come to a close.
Reflecting on all four years of competition, she says, “It’s sad thinking about it coming to an end.” However, despite the emotion, she is proud of her accomplishments and does not wish for anything to have gone differently. She says, “I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve. I’ll walk away knowing I had a great track career, put everything out there, and have no regrets.”
Of this accomplishment, she says, “It’s really exciting. It’s not something that I expected before I got to Bates, but ever since I’ve been here and realized what I’m capable of achieving, I’ve always been working towards it. It’s an honor, and I’m thankful every time I think about it.” As this is her senior year, her last indoor season has come to a close.
Reflecting on all four years of competition, she says, “It’s sad thinking about it coming to an end.” However, despite the emotion, she is proud of her accomplishments and does not wish for anything to have gone differently. She says, “I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve. I’ll walk away knowing I had a great track career, put everything out there, and have no regrets.”
The Bates women’s tennis team has put together an impressive start to their season, with a 6-1 record so far. Their only loss was to Pomona-Pitzer, and since that match they have rattled off five straight wins. For their season opener, the Bobcats traveled to Chapman University in Orange, California and came back to Maine with a 7-2 victory to drive the rest of their season. Also in California, the women earned an impressive 8-1 win at Cal Lutheran. Back in New England to begin their March competitions, the Bobcats dominated the NEWMAC teams, defeating Mt. Holyoke and Wheaton by scores of 6-3 and sweeping Smith College 9-0.
On their early success, Captain Maisie Silverman ’18 says, “I did not anticipate that we would be 6-1 at the start of the season, mainly because we have had various injuries that have affected our lineup. However, I am not surprised at all. This group of girls are such fierce competitors who are competing not only for themselves in their single matches but for the team. By controlling the controllable, the girls on the team have been able to persevere and encourage each other through various adversities.”
Silverman also stated the main goals for the season. The first is “to go out to every match, regardless of who we are playing and compete and fight for every point.” The second: “Transform our team culture—we fight for each other and leave everything out on the courts for our teammates. If we have left everything on the court and haven’t focused on the outcome, we will improve and become better tennis players and teammates throughout the season.”
So far, these goals have paid off. In the most recent match, the women defeated Hamilton in their first NESCAC matchup 9-0. A standout performance in this match came from the doubles duo of Lauren Hernandez ’20 and Hannah Sweeney ’21, who notched a 8-1 victory. Silverman says of the two, “First-year Hannah Sweeney continues to stand out—her mental toughness, fight, and competitiveness have led her to multiple wins in both singles and doubles. Also, Lauren Hernandez has stepped up her fearlessness at the net and has helped create a dynamic duo doubles team with Hannah and Lauren.” Silverman also praised the impressive play of Suzanne Elfman ’20, while noting that in addition to these individuals “Everyone on the team has stepped up this season. There are several girls who have gone above and beyond especially with unexpected injures that have affected some of the players in the top of the lineup.”
Ultimately, the team has embraced “When we compete, we are difficult to beat” as their mantra, says Silverman. In her words, “I feel like this has shown in various ways throughout the season, and it is just the beginning!” With such an impressive start to the season, the team seems poised for big things as the season rolls on. In the coming weeks, the women will play some high-stakes NESCAC matchups, many at home, so be sure to check out a match as the team looks to continue their winning streak. First, however, they will be on the road this coming weekend, with matchups against Case Western Reserve, Swarthmore, and Washington & Lee on a trip to Fredericksburg, Virginia.
With spring sports starting, there are high expectations for both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. The women’s team looks to bounce back from a disappointing 7-8 season last year, with a 2-8 record in the NESCAC. Meanwhile, the men’s team hopes to attain even more than their success from last year, when they went 16-2 and made it to the NCAA quarterfinals.
So far, the women’s team has started out 2-1. They notched wins against Colorado College and Wellesley before dropping a game in their first NESCAC action against Middlebury.
In the Middlebury game, the Bobcats were outscored 12-5. The Panthers were ranked No. 4 nationally, so this was a tough matchup to start conference play with. In the game, the Bobcats were outscored 7-1 in the first half and 5-4 in the second half. After getting down by such a deficit, the second half showed their ability to battle back and play a closer game, but, unfortunately, they could not come all the way back. There were some impressive performances despite the loss. Summer Dias ’21 scored three goals for Bates, already her second hat trick in the three games so far this season. The women’s team will take on Babson next, at home on Wednesday, March 7 at 5:00 p.m.
For the men, the season has not gotten off to a great start. They are 1-2, with losses to nationally ranked No. 4 Rochester Institute of Technology and Middlebury. Their one win so far came in a game against Babson at home. In the most recent game against Middlebury, Bates fought a close battle but ended up a goal short, losing 11-10.
Captain Burke Smith ’18 says of the level of competition in the NESCAC, “We try to be focused for every game, because we have a lot of respect for every team on our schedule. It is honestly more fun to play in a competitive conference –most games are a battle. Playing in a lot of lopsided games isn’t very fun.” Unfortunately, this means that every game is tight, and some end the wrong way. This was the case of the Middlebury game. Matt Chlastawa ’20 led the team in both goals (four) and assists (three), while senior captain Clarke Jones ’18 scored three goals. Another bright spot was Eli Cooper ’19, who won 14-24 face-offs throughout the game. The game fit the description of NESCAC lacrosse, as it was evenly matched throughout.
Jones said of the season, “This year’s team can definitely have the same success we had last year.”
Smith adds, “This year we aren’t as much concerned with last year, but are excited to go out and earn our success.” He also states “The goal is to win every game we play, which would ideally result in a championship.” Although there have been a few setbacks thus far, this team knows how to win and is likely to put it all together and create a lot of success this season. The men’s team plays next on Saturday, March 10 at Wesleyan, another NESCAC matchup.
At the beginning of February, Kristyna Alexova ‘19 of the Bates women’s squash team played terrifically and kept improving her individual record. Alexova, from Boskovice, Czech Republic, played at the No. 3 position for the Bobcats and went 4-0 over the span of the week. For her performances, she earned NESCAC Women’s Squash Player of the Week. This marks Alexova’s first time that she has received this award. About her play, she says, “I felt really good last weekend. The team has been helping me a lot after rejoining post-study abroad.” Making the adjustment from a semester abroad back to the middle of a busy season cannot be easy, but clearly Alexova has done an impressive job. Success in squash at Bates is not new to Alexova, who has been selected first team All-NESCAC in both 2016 and 2017, her freshman and sophomore years at Bates.
During her first year at Bates she played at the No. 1 position for Bates and compiled a record of 21-5. That same year she competed as an individual at the national championships and even advanced to the Holleran Division (C) finals. Last year, she played at the No. 1 and No.2 positions for Bates and compiled a record of 16-5. As Alexova gains more experience on the team, she continually shines as a squash athlete, sweeping individuals in high-stakes competitions such as the NESCAC tournament.
Back to this year, last week, Alexova began with a 3-1 win in her match as the Bobcats took on the Polar Bears, ultimately defeating Bowdoin 9-0. In this match, Alexova lost the first set 10-12, but then won three straight with scores of 11-5, 11-7, and 11-5. Next, on Saturday, February 3 she first played Middlebury and then Wesleyan. Against Middlebury, she won her match 3-0, and then beat the Wesleyan player 3-0 as well. In the match playing the Panthers, she won the sets by scores of 11-6, 11-5, and 11-8. Later in the day, she beat the Cardinals in her match with sets of 11-8, 11-5, and 11-9.
To conclude the NESCAC tournament, the Bobcats played Tufts on Sunday, February 4. Alexova swept her match then, as well, winning 3-0 with sets of 11-7, 11-7, and 11-8. As a team, the Bobcats placed fifth in the tournament. Looking at the season as a whole, she says, “I think everyone is in good shape, including myself. We have some really great young players on the team, and I think the season went great overall.”
Still to come is team nationals next weekend, followed by individual nationals in March. When asked about the team matches coming up, Alexova says, ” I believe we worked really hard and we can win every single match. Hopefully everybody stays healthy so we have our best chance.” Although the NESCAC season may be done, she is still focused on finishing the rest of the season strong.
Ultimately, as Alexova completes her third year at Bates and third season on the squash team, she reflects on what the experience has been like so far: “Bates Squash has taught me a lot about teamwork and time management. I have really enjoyed being with my teammates both on and off the court. We had some great times together. I think Bates Squash has a very bright future ahead.”
For the Bates women’s basketball team, this season has not been what they wanted it to be. With a 7-16 record overall and a 1-8 record in the NESCAC, expectations have not been met for what they wanted to accomplish in terms of wins and losses. However, the record may not reflect everything. Speaking with Emily Freedland ’18 about her four years playing basketball at Bates and the team looking forward, she says, “Although our record may not show it, I feel that this season was definitely a huge turning point for the program. As a team, we’ve grown so much in terms of basketball, but also team culture-wise, which is something that can be carried on for future seasons.” It seems that the adversity faced this season can help the team in the future. Freedland continues, “This season has been a particularly special one, not only because it was my last one, but because we have such a great group of girls. Every single person on the team contributes in different ways, and everyone genuinely wants to work hard and push each other to get better, which has contributed to our successes this season.”
With this young team, the future is bright for the Bobcats. Freedland says, “We have a strong, talented group of underclassmen, and several of them have gotten the experience playing this year and have made a huge impact on the team already.” With such great experience in their first-years, they will have lots to build off of and contribute even more as they become upperclassmen.
Speaking with Freedland about what playing in her last game on Friday will be like, she says, “It’s definitely a sad feeling, especially because I have put so much time and effort into the sport and the team, and to know it’s all coming to an end is surreal. I’m definitely going to miss all of the games and practices and everything that goes into it, and also the time we spend together as a team.” The team atmosphere is especially strong, as she stresses here, and losing that after four years will be a hard adjustment, as it is for any athlete. But Freedland is happy to have had the experience she has with basketball at Bates. She says, “My experience at Bates would not be complete without playing basketball. I learned so much, on and off the court, and have built such strong friendships with my teammates. My team has really been my family away from home for the past 4 years.” This certainly is the atmosphere that athletics at Bates are supposed to create, and with this kind of culture present for the women’s team, their future seems bright. They play their last game of the season at Trinity on Friday, February 9.
The men’s club hockey team had back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday, January 25 and 26. In the action on Thursday, they defeated Thomas College by a score of 3-2. On Friday, they dropped the game to University of New England 9-3. When asked about the weekend as a whole, senior captain Sam Levin ’18 says, “I was proud of the guys this weekend. We’ve been hit hard by injuries lately and the fact that the squad hasn’t been rattled by that speaks a lot to our character as a team.”
The game against Thomas on Thursday was a closely contested match, with Bates able to pull out the win in the end 3-2. After the first period, Bates was down 2-1 but did not give up, fighting through a scoreless second period and then rounding out the third with two goals while giving up zero, to finish out a come-from-behind win. Goals in this game were scored by David Katzman ’18, Andrew Cahill ’18 and Nicholas Barker ’18. On this win and the fact that injuries have been a problem for the team this year, Levin says, “We pulled into an opposing team’s barn Thursday night with a depleted squad and still managed to pull out a gritty win.” Levin also made a point of saying how impressive the goalkeeping was by Matt Flanagan ’20: “Flanagan was spectacular this past weekend. The guy was a brick wall against Thomas on Thursday night and he was a key reason that we went into the third period against UNE on Friday night with a shot to pull out the W.”
Friday’s game did not see the same results. At home against UNE, Bates dropped the game by a score of 9-3. Goals were scored by Barker, Alan Bisesi, and Ned Moreland ’19. Unfortunately, coming off of a great win, the Bobcats gave up nine and their three goals were not enough. Despite the result, the team played well through two periods, after which the score was 4-2. Things unraveled in the third, however. Levin says, “Friday night we played a team that was a lot deeper than we were and we held the line for two periods because we played a smart system. The end result wasn’t what we wanted, but the effort and mental toughness were there.”
Looking forward to the rest of the season, Levin thinks that the team can finish strong. The one improvement that needs to be made is penalties. “The key for the rest of the season is to keep playing our system and to stay out of the penalty box,” he says. “Between the past two games we committed fourteen penalties while the opposition committed only four. It’s hard to generate momentum when you spend that much time on the penalty kill.”
With this goal in mind, Levin looks forward to what remains of his last season playing club hockey for Bates. He says, “It drives you for sure to relish every second you have on the ice and to leave everything out there day in and day out, but to be honest I don’t think about it too much. I’m sure that after the end of the season it’ll cut pretty deep, but there’s no use dwelling on it when there’s still hockey yet to be played. For now, we’re just focused on preparing for the game this Friday.” With his focus on the next game rather than what has already happened, the men’s team seems ready to finish the season strong. They play next on Friday, February 2 at home.