After capturing a rare Ivy League championship for Columbia last year, the Lions baseball team will resume play on Friday against undefeated Lamar in Southeast Texas.
Despite the team's recent successes, the Lions are a different team this year, and enter opening weekend with position battles at 2nd base and the corner outfield spots.
After losing Jay Banos on the first day of spring practice to a torn achilles tendon, an injury eerily reminiscent of Lion basketball player Brian Grimes' on his first day of practice, left field has become a glaring vacancy. Among the competitors for the spot are freshman giant (and starting goalkeeper for the soccer team) Alex Auricchio, freshman Anthony Potter, and the probable opening day starter, senior Jon Tasman.
The graduation of Noah Cooper, the league's batting champ last season, creates another hole in right field. Freshman speedster Billy Rumpke is expected to take his place.
Another promising freshman is Jon Eisen, who may well get the opening day start at second base. Also being considered for left field, Eisen has impressed so far this spring. Senior Kyle Roberts has been hampered by injuries this spring, but would, in theory, get his spot back when he recovers. Then there is Chris Meininger, who started the double play which sealed the team's first Ivy championship in decades. He is also contending for the left field spot abruptly vacated by Banos.
The Lions can find solace in their proven returning starters, however. Senior captians Joe Scarlata and Mike Roberts are both experienced and both have the opportunity to dominate the Ancient Eight. Scarlata will head up a rotation that will also include the team's leader in wins from a year ago, Sophomore Geoff Whitaker. Roberts, on the other hand, returns as the starting third basemen, and will be joined in the infield with senior first basmen Ron Williams, who will likely bat third in the lineup, and sophomore shortstop Alex Ferrera, who showed good poise and a good arm along with some power while earning the starting shortstop gig in his first year with the team.
Then there's Nick Cox, the much-hyped, five-tool centerfielder who was named to the Freshman All-America team last year. He may already be the most dangerous all-around player in the league.
Do not expect too much from this team on opening weekend, or throughout the rest of the conference schedule for that matter. They will be travelling heavily over the next month, and their opponents will have all had more games under their belts than the Lions.
Until the Ivy season begins, we will not truly know if this team can repeat as champions of the league.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
How Good Are These Guys? Better Than Last Year, That's For Sure
I hate to say I told you so. Actually, I love saying that. And it applies here, as I was mocked for claiming before the season that this team would outperform last year's senior laden group.
What the Columbia basketball team had last year was John Baumann. What they have this year is heart.
The Lions showed it last night with a breathtaking 60-59 win over Harvard at Levien that left the again boisterous Columbia crowd wanting more. Talk about home court advantage, huh? The Lions have now won four games in a row at home and have bumped their Ivy League record up to 5-3.
More importantly, Princeton fell at Brown (a bad loss with a capital B), leaving the Lions' hopes for second place in the league wide open. If you take into account the fact that Columbia's 4 toughest games of the season (both Cornell games and road games at Penn and Princeton) are behind them, prospects seem good for an impressive and utterly shocking league performance from the 2008-2009 Lions.
Realistically though, Columbia was too sloppy last night against Harvard and were lucky to be in a position to win. Suspect coaching from the Ancient Eight's highest profile coach left the game wide open for Columbia when Tommy Amaker decided to try to kill the clock with a 4 point lead and 4 minutes remaining. The result of that brilliant strategy was 2 shot clock violations in 3 possessions and 0 points. On the other end, big baskets from Agho and Miller allowed the Lions to claw back into it, and Kevin Bulger's miracle floater sealed the deal.
A second or third place league finish will take a major offensive improvement from this team over the rest of the season. But the emergence of Jason Miller as the premier big man in the Ivy League and the steadily improving stellar play of superfrosh Noruwa Agho does give a fan hope...
What the Columbia basketball team had last year was John Baumann. What they have this year is heart.
The Lions showed it last night with a breathtaking 60-59 win over Harvard at Levien that left the again boisterous Columbia crowd wanting more. Talk about home court advantage, huh? The Lions have now won four games in a row at home and have bumped their Ivy League record up to 5-3.
More importantly, Princeton fell at Brown (a bad loss with a capital B), leaving the Lions' hopes for second place in the league wide open. If you take into account the fact that Columbia's 4 toughest games of the season (both Cornell games and road games at Penn and Princeton) are behind them, prospects seem good for an impressive and utterly shocking league performance from the 2008-2009 Lions.
Realistically though, Columbia was too sloppy last night against Harvard and were lucky to be in a position to win. Suspect coaching from the Ancient Eight's highest profile coach left the game wide open for Columbia when Tommy Amaker decided to try to kill the clock with a 4 point lead and 4 minutes remaining. The result of that brilliant strategy was 2 shot clock violations in 3 possessions and 0 points. On the other end, big baskets from Agho and Miller allowed the Lions to claw back into it, and Kevin Bulger's miracle floater sealed the deal.
A second or third place league finish will take a major offensive improvement from this team over the rest of the season. But the emergence of Jason Miller as the premier big man in the Ivy League and the steadily improving stellar play of superfrosh Noruwa Agho does give a fan hope...
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Second Half Surge Gives Columbia Chance to Complete Another Home Sweep
The first half of last night's Columbia-Dartmouth game at Levien ended in spectacular fashion for the Lions as KJ Matsui drained a circus shot from the corner at the buzzer to give Columbia its first lead.
The shot capped an embarrassingly poor half of basketball for the Lions, who found themselves trailing from the first minute of the game. Poor defense and sloppy execution from the Lions kept the Big Green ahead for most of the half, but KJ's buzzer beater turned the momentum and Columbia cruised to victory in the second half.
The star of the game was, without doubt, Noruwa Agho, who successfully dueled with possibly the best player in the Ivy league, Alex Barnett. The 6'6'' senior had his hands full with Agho, whose physical and resilient play led the Lions to victory. Agho finished with 20 points and a career high 9 rebounds.
Tonight, Columbia looks for their second consecutive Ivy weekend sweep at home against Harvard. The game marks a turning point in the season for the Lions, who could go to 5-3 in the Ancient Eight with a win. That record would have Columbia seriously thinking about a number 2 or 3 finish in the league. However, a loss tonight adjusts those aspirations, and maintaining a .500 record becomes the more reasonable goal.
The game tips at 7 in Levien, with Lions Countdown on WKCR 89.9 FM starting at 6:45.
The shot capped an embarrassingly poor half of basketball for the Lions, who found themselves trailing from the first minute of the game. Poor defense and sloppy execution from the Lions kept the Big Green ahead for most of the half, but KJ's buzzer beater turned the momentum and Columbia cruised to victory in the second half.
The star of the game was, without doubt, Noruwa Agho, who successfully dueled with possibly the best player in the Ivy league, Alex Barnett. The 6'6'' senior had his hands full with Agho, whose physical and resilient play led the Lions to victory. Agho finished with 20 points and a career high 9 rebounds.
Tonight, Columbia looks for their second consecutive Ivy weekend sweep at home against Harvard. The game marks a turning point in the season for the Lions, who could go to 5-3 in the Ancient Eight with a win. That record would have Columbia seriously thinking about a number 2 or 3 finish in the league. However, a loss tonight adjusts those aspirations, and maintaining a .500 record becomes the more reasonable goal.
The game tips at 7 in Levien, with Lions Countdown on WKCR 89.9 FM starting at 6:45.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Mouth Blog
Welcome to the official (and only) blog of WBAR's NY sports talk radio show, The Mouth That Roared.
Stay tuned for sports news and opinion as well as access to show archives.
The Mouth That Roared- Sundays from 2-4 PM only on WBAR.
Stay tuned for sports news and opinion as well as access to show archives.
The Mouth That Roared- Sundays from 2-4 PM only on WBAR.
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