Sports Talk
It’s the postseason, and the Spartans have the formula to bring home the hardware – play with swagger.The baseball team rolled through the NEAC East tournament without losing a single game. The Spartans dethroned Husson and reclaimed the conference title. More impressively, though, Castleton was down by four runs in the bottom of the ninth before pushing the game into extra innings. Ted Mills’ game-winning RBI was the perfect cherry on top of the new baseball field. This team was dominant all season long, from the victory against RPI, to the blowout against Plattsburgh, all the way to the conference title.
One team named champs, two to go.
The men’s lacrosse team is on an eight-game winning streak and it looks to make it nine today. The Spartans should have no problem beating Husson again, earning its eighth consecutive bid to the NAC title game. There is nothing this team would like more than to travel back to Mount Ida and finally beat the Mustangs in the championship game. The Spartans lost 10-8 in the previous matchup on April 3, but held the momentum for the entire end of the fourth quarter. I can’t pick against the Spartans to win the NAC when Mike Martinez is playing hot, Korey Counos’s shot is on target and in the 90s, and especially when Jake Rick and Dan Luzzi are manning the midfield. This group of seniors has a swagger about them.
It’s a shame to see the men’s tennis team’s run end the way it did. I was so sure Castleton was going to take home its fifth-straight NAC title, but it just wasn’t in the stars this year. Regardless of whether the Spartans were dawned champs this season one thing still remains true – this team is filthy. The Spartans were 8-0 in the NAC heading into the title match before losing to Oneonta State. If there’s one thing about the tennis program, though, it’s that they don’t rebuild, they reload.
The women’s lacrosse team heads into the NEWLA semifinals today against Westfield State. The Spartans lost to Westfield 18-17 in overtime the last time these teams played. It’s hard to go against Castleton in this matchup because the upset against Bridgewater this season wasn’t for nothing. This team realizes its destiny and will finish out the season as NEWLA champs. The path to the championship won’t be an easy one as Castleton will have to beat the top two seeds, but I still like the Spartans chances.
The baseball team started it off, now the other Spartan teams need to follow suit. Both lacrosse teams will finally get the monkey off their backs this season and bring home some hardware.