After success earlier in the season, the Bowdoin baseball team has dropped to the bottom of its division with a 3-6 conference record. This standing makes it highly unlikely that the Polar Bears will qualify for the NESCAC playoffs this year, as only the top two teams in each five-team division qualify. The team has three more divisional games which will be played in the series against Tufts during the last weekend in April.

This past weekend the team lost twice to Colby before finishing the series on a good note with a 5-2 win in the third game. On Monday, Bowdoin won 11-1 at Thomas College. On Thursday, the Polar Bears won their third straight game with a 8-2 victory against Husson, hopefully giving them momentum for a successful upcoming weekend.

“I think we’re definitely behind where we expected to be,” said Captain Harry Ridge ’16. “But I think that this year we’ve worked as hard, if not a lot harder, to prepare ourselves in the off-season, which is why it is so frustrating because going into the year, we were in a pretty good spot.”

Both Ridge and Head Coach Mike Connolly agree that when the team has struggled this season, it has not been for a lack of effort, preparation or desire to win. In fact, Ridge thinks that at times, the team may have been trying too hard, straining to accomplish too many things at once and thus coming up short. For Connolly, the problem seems to be failing to achieve a consistency that allows the team to excel in all areas at once.

“When we did play well, I would say it was a complete effort, where we weren’t necessarily outstanding at any one particular area, but we were very good at all three,” said Connolly, referring to pitching, fielding and hitting. “When we struggled, we just weren’t as consistent. I think what we’re trying to do moving forward is just be as consistent as possible to put ourselves in the best position to win every game down the stretch.”

Still, there have been impressive team performances and individual players who stand out this season. Among these are Sean Mullaney ’17 at shortstop, who is the best defensive shortstop in the league according to Connolly. Meanwhile, Ridge is the team’s number one pitcher and has started five games for the team.

“[Ridge] is the definition of consistency,” said Connolly. “We know what we’re going to get from him every time he pitches; he’s been a standout for us.”

New additions and younger players’ improvement have also impacted the team. Within the past few weeks, Nick Sadler ’18 and Joe Gentile ’18 have proved themselves to be very valuable players in the outfield. Meanwhile, Luke Cappellano ’19 at second base leads the team in runs batted in, and Brandon Lopez ’19 has stood out as a pitcher and hitter.

First year catchers, Ejaaz Jiu ’19 and Colby Joncas ’19, have risen to the challenge after senior captain Chris Nadeau ’16 was injured in the beginning of the season.

“[Nadeau] was probably our most valuable player going into the year just because he is such a presence on the field,” said Ridge.

After injuring his elbow, Nadeau has shifted to a role of designated hitter, but this has been a huge loss to the team’s defense.

“[Nadeau] is a phenomenal defensive catcher and a fantastic leader,” said Connolly. “He’s been a four-year performer for us. [He] really is the true backbone of our defense. It’s a shame he hasn’t had the opportunity to play more behind the disk.”

Ridge said the most satisfying wins recently have been the last game against Trinity on April 2 and the comeback victory against Colby this past weekend. According to Connolly, during conference series, the Polar Bears face a level of competition very similar to theirs. It can be frustrating at times because there is such a fine line between winning and losing these series as the games can easily go either way. 

Looking forward, Bowdoin will play a series against Williams this weekend followed up with a game against St. Joseph’s College on Tuesday. This long stretch of home games will hopefully be advantageous to the Polar Bears, who are looking to win all of these challenging matchups. If the Polar Bears are able to get good momentum going this weekend, Connolly believes they will land themselves in a good place for the crucial series against Tufts beginning April 29 at home.

“Our biggest concern at this point is playing defense, throwing strikes and making plays and putting ourselves in a good position so that we can put together good at-bats without being behind in a game,” said Ridge. “Everyone is working hard enough. It’s just a matter of everything coming together at once.”