Baseball Snags Beanpot

BOSTON—On baseball’s most hallowed ancient turf, the irony of last night’s Harvard Beanpot championship win—the team’s first in 14 years—was the outstanding play of its brightest young stars.

Starter Jason Brown made the most of his Fenway Park pitching debut, hurling five innings of four-hit ball. It was an auspicious first career collegiate start for the sophomore, who yielded just two earned runs and struck out five.

“It felt great to get back out there,” Brown said. “Just like the high school days.”

Save for a brief interruption—Northeastern catcher Dan Milano’s second-inning two-run homer that ricocheted off the giant coke bottles above Fenway’s Green Monster—Brown mixed a first-pitch curveball and fastball for strikes, baffling Northeastern hitters all afternoon. Occasionally, he dropped down to throw a deceptive side-arm slider.

“I got a couple of strikeouts on it,” he said. “I got a couple of guys to hit some ground balls. My curveball got me ahead in the count a lot, so that was my go-to pitch today.”

All told, it was an important five innings for a squad that saved its normal pitching rotation for a crucial weekend series at Brown. Harvard coach Joe Walsh remained mum on the championship game starter until shortly before game time.

“My heart was beating when Coach Walsh told me,” Brown said, “but once I got out there and settled back down, it was kind of like riding a bike.”

Brown saved his finest pitching for the game’s critical turning point. With a Northeastern runner on first and two outs in the fifth, Huskies leadoff man Chris Emanuele popped a lazy fly to centerfield.

With Crimson centerfielder Matt Vance and two middle infielders closing in, the ball dropped in safely. Emanuele reached second for a double.

“He hung in there pretty good,” Walsh said of Brown. “And that’s what you’ve gotta do. You can’t hang your head when things don’t go your way all the time.”

A walk to Arman Sidhu loaded the bases, bringing up Huskies slugger Jeff Heriot with a chance to erase a 5-2 Harvard lead. Just pitches later, Heriot clapped his bat in frustration after striking out against Brown’s high heat.

“That,” punned Walsh, “was a By-You Fastball, a Louisiana Special right there.”

“The adrenaline was definitely flowing a lot during the game,” Brown said.

AD-VANCING

Freshman Matt Vance continued to impress coaches and teammates with exceptional poise at the plate.

In the team’s first at-bat at Fenway Park in more than two years, the rookie lined a double down the left field line.

“[Northeastern starter Jim Madison] surprised me pretty early,” Vance said. “He threw a bunch of breaking balls. Then I just jumped on an inside change up.”

Vance scored on a Josh Klimkiewicz sacrifice fly, setting the tone early for a Harvard team that never trailed.

“The thing that’s happening is he’s getting better and better with his games,” Walsh said. “Sometimes you go back and forth all the time. He’s really improving. He’s getting a real good feel for things.”

Vance finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs and swiping a base. He was also hit by a pitch and walked, raising his on-base percentage above .400 after creating havoc at the top of the order.

“You know, nothing bothers him,” Walsh said. “A high pitch called for a strike makes it in. He steps out of the box, gets a breaking ball, goes the other way with it.”

HOMECOMING

Junior Zak Farkes returned to Fenway Park last night to pinch-hit for sophomore Brendan Byrne in the top of the ninth.

It was a meaningful moment for the 2004 Red Sox draft pick and Boston native, who has battled injuries in recent days. After flying out, Farkes stayed in the field for the bottom of the inning.

“I live about two blocks from here,” he said. “So it’s been a dream since I was young to come out on this field and run around.”

It was only one of many appearances at Fenway for the graduate of BB&N High School, who played in All-Star games during high school and in his freshman year Beanpot.

Last year, the tournament was held in Brockton, Mass., where the Crimson finished third.

“They really take care of this field,” Farkes said of the home of the Red Sox. “I know it’s a brand new surface. To let us come out here like really shows that they’re supporting local baseball teams.”

BROWN LOOMS

Other freshmen contributing to the team victory last night included slugger Steffan Wilson, who continued his torrid hitting with a leadoff triple in the third, and Shawn Haviland, who pitched two innings of relief without allowing an earned run.

Anticipating a rainy weekend at division rival Brown (17-15, 9-3 Ivy)—before The Crimson went to press, the Weather Channel predicted an 80 percent chance of showers the entire weekend—Walsh said he pitched Haviland and ace Frank Herrmann against Northeastern to get them regular work.

“We’re counting on that [rain] a little bit,” Walsh said.

If the weather cooperates, Herrmann and senior Mike Morgalis will start games one and two against the Bears, who lost last night at Cornell, falling a game back of the Crimson.

Walsh said he had not decided who to pitch in Sunday’s crucial doubleheader, though he hinted that hard-throwing junior Javier Castellanos would be an option in Game 3.

“I think he’d be a guy that may be used the first day if we need to win,” Walsh said, “which is why I don’t want to say if he’s going to go the second day.”

As for the Sunday finale, Walsh remained tight-lipped.

“We may have a surprise for you for the fourth starter,” he said.

—Staff writer Alex McPhillips can be reached at rmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.