Baseball

Ivies Set to Commence 2018 Baseball Campaign

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Six Ivies will be in action this weekend to commence the 2018 Ivy League baseball campaign—the first season without conference divisional play since 1992—while Brown and Princeton will return to the diamond on Friday, March 2.
 
Yale was picked as the League favorite in the inaugural Ivy League Baseball Preseason Media Poll, with Columbia tabbed as the Bulldogs’ presumptive Ivy League Championship Series opponent.
 
BROWN
2017 Record: 13-24 (6-14 Ivy)
Season Opener: at Florida A&M, March 2, 4 p.m.
 
Senior outfielder Sam Grigo and sophomore utility man Cameron Deere (All-Ivy Honorable Mention) headline the returners for Brown head coach Grant Achilles, who will have to contend with the loss of four conference-recognized seniors from last year’s club: outfielder Rob Henry (First Team All-Ivy), catcher Josh Huntley (First Team All-Ivy), first baseman Marc Sredojevic (First Team All-Ivy) and right-handed pitcher Christian Taugner (Second Team All-Ivy). Both Henry and Taugner were MLB Draft selections a year ago. The Bears, who feature 15 underclassmen, will be looking for their first winning season in Ivy League play since a 15-5 mark in 2008-09.
 
COLUMBIA
2017 Record: 18-23 (12-8 Ivy)
Season Opener: at UNLV, Feb. 23, 9 p.m.
 
Columbia returns the heart of a youthful team that fell one win short of the Ivy League Championship Series in 2017. Paramount among those returners are 2017 Ivy League Player of the Year senior third baseman Randell Kanemaru and 2017 Ivy League Rookie of the Year sophomore outfielder Julian Bury, who were both First Team All-Ivy recipients a year ago. Head coach Brett Boretti also brings back junior shortstop Joe Engel (Second Team All-Ivy), sophomore designated hitter Liam McGill (Second Team All-Ivy), junior right-handed pitcher Ian Burns (All-Ivy Honorable Mention) and junior first baseman Chandler Bengtson (All-Ivy Honorable Mention). The Lions lone All-Ivy departure was First Team All-Ivy second baseman Kyle Bartelman.
 
CORNELL
2017 Record: 21-17 (9-11 Ivy)
Season Opener: at Texas A&M, Feb. 23, 3 p.m.
 
Cornell will look to take the next step in 2018, in the third year under head coach Dan Pepicelli. The Big Red are coming off the program’s fourth winning season since 1991 and will lean on returning All-Ivy selections senior shortstop Ryan Krainz (First Team) and junior catcher Will Simoneit (Second Team) to continue to build on those results. Cornell will have to rebuild its rotation, after seeing its top three pitchers selected in the 2017 MLB Draft: Peter Lannoo (First Team All-Ivy), Paul Balestrieri (Second Team All-Ivy) and Justin Lewis. Cornell also graduated All-Ivy Honorable Mention infielders Frankie Padulo and Tommy Wagner.
 
DARTMOUTH
2017 Record: 22-17-1 (11-9 Ivy)
Season Opener: at Georgia Tech, Feb. 23, 4 p.m.
 
Gone are pitchers Beau Sulser (First Team All-Ivy), Michael Danielak (Second Team All-Ivy), Chris Burkholder (Second Team All-Ivy) and Duncan Robinson. Gone is starting first baseman and captain Michael Ketchmark (All-Ivy Honorable Mention). This could be the steepest rebuilding curve for head coach Bob Whalen in some time—though he has a capable first baseman in Michael Calamari (Honorable Mention All-Ivy) to step into the everyday lineup and a highly-touted freshman in Ubaldo Lopez, who many in the college baseball media are predicting as the 2018 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Also returning is Second Team All-Ivy outfielder Kyle Holbrook, as the 11-time Rolfe Division champion Big Green attempt to contend in the first Ivy League season without divisional play since 1992.
 
HARVARD
2017 Record: 19-23 (7-13 Ivy)
Season Opener: at Samford, Feb. 23, 3 p.m.
 
In his sixth season at the helm, head coach Bill Decker welcomes back one of the top players in the Ivy League in junior outfielder Patrick Robinson (First Team All-Ivy), who led the conference with a .738 slugging percentage in 2017. Junior first baseman Patrick McColl (Second Team All-Ivy), who scored a team-high 30 runs in 2017, will also be a key cog in the Crimson offense, as the club looks to produce its first winning Ivy League campaign since 2007. Catcher Josh Ellis (All-Ivy Honorable Mention) and right-handed pitcher Ian Miller are the greatest losses from last year’s squad, as Harvard boast 25 returners heading into the 2018 season.   

PENN
2017 Record: 23-22 (12-8 Ivy)
Season Opener: at Northwestern State, Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m.
 
Like Dartmouth, Penn will have to reconstitute its rotation, after three pitchers—Jake Cousins (First Team All-Ivy), Adam Bleday and Billy Lescher—departed via the 2017 MLB Draft following last year’s Gehrig Division championship season. Junior Jake Nelson, who was drafted in the 33rd round following his sophomore campaign, returns for head coach John Yurkow, alongside All-Ivy Honorable Mention Gabe Kleiman. On the offensive side of the ball, junior catcher Matt O’Neill (All-Ivy Honorable Mention) will attempt to fill the shoes of Tim Graul (First Team All-Ivy) after two years of tutelage under 2016 Ivy League Player of the Year.
 
PRINCETON
2017 Record: 12-28-1 (7-13 Ivy)
Season Opener: at UNC-Wilmington, March 2, 4 p.m.
 
Head coach Scott Bradley’s Princeton club appears poised for a rebound season after a disappointing 7-13 mark in the Ivy League a year ago. The Tigers bring back 3-of-4 conference-honored players from 2017: sophomore utility man David Harding (Second Team All-Ivy), senior shortstop Asher Lee-Tyson (All-Ivy Honorable Mention) and junior outfielder Jesper Horsted (All-Ivy Honorable Mention). Horsted, a two-sport star for the Tigers, was a unanimous First Team All-Ivy wide receiver for the Princeton football team this fall. Jake Boone—son of four-time MLB Gold Glove award winner Bret Boone—joins a Princeton team that is just a year removed from an Ivy League Baseball Championship Series appearance and League crown. Boone’s family has combined for two World Series titles, 11 Gold Glove awards and 10 All-Star appearances. 
 
YALE
2017 Record: 34-18 (16-4 Ivy)
Season Opener: at Campbell, Feb. 23, 5 p.m.
 
While Yale will have to contend with the loss of a pair of Second Team All-Ivy performers and MLB Draft picks—third baseman Richard Slenker and outfielder Harrison White—from its 2017 Ivy League champion club, the Bulldogs return plenty of firepower on both sides of the ball. Yale is 1-of-2 Ivies to welcome back a First Team All-Ivy tandem in junior right-handed pitcher Scott Politz and junior designated hitter Benny Wanger. Reigning Ivy League Coach of the Year John Stuper also returns junior second baseman Simon Whiteman (Second Team All-Ivy), junior outfielder Tim DeGraw (Second Team All-Ivy), junior relief pitcher Griffin Dey (All-Ivy Honorable Mention) and sophomore utility man Alex Stiegler (All-Ivy Honorable Mention) from the Bulldogs winningest team in program history.
 
BASEBALL AMERICA TOP 10 MLB DRAFT PROSPECTS
1. Randell Kanemaru, Columbia (Sr., 3B/IF)
2. Patrick Robinson, Harvard (Jr., UT/OF)
3. Jesper Horsted, Princeton (Jr., OF)
4. Scott Politz, Yale (Jr., RHP)
5. Ben Gross, Princeton (Sr., RHP)
6. Reid Anderson, Brown (Sr., RHP)
7. Patrick McColl, Harvard (Jr., 1B)
8. Griffin Dey, Yale (Jr., RHP/1B)
9. Jake Nelson, Penn (Jr., RHP)
10. Harrison Egly, Columbia (Sr., RHP)
 
PERFECT GAME PRESEASON ALL-IVY TEAM
Will Simoneit, Cornell (Jr., C)
Patrick McColl, Harvard (Jr., 1B)
Simon Whiteman, Yale (Jr., 2B)
Randell Kanemaru, Columbia (Sr., 3B)
Ryan Krainz, Cornell (Sr., SS)
Kyle Holbrook, Dartmouth (Sr., OF)
Tim DeGraw, Yale (Jr., OF)
Julian Bury, Columbia (So., OF)
Benny Wanger, Yale (Jr., DH)
Patrick Robinson, Harvard (Jr., UT)
Scott Politz, Yale (Jr., RHP)
Gabe Kleiman, Penn (Sr., LHP)
Ty Wiest, Columbia (Sr., RHP)
Ben Gross, Princeton (Sr., RHP)
Griffin Dey, Yale (Jr., RHP)