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Teams: Baseball: Team
Overview
The Tufts University Baseball program is one of the most
competitive in New England each spring. Under the guidance of Coach
John Casey, the Jumbos annually compete for the New England Small
College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title and are ranked among the
best in the region. The 2008 team looks to continue this tradition
of success.
The Tufts baseball program aims to develop players into future
leaders on and off the field. Located right outside of Boston, Tufts
offers a well-rounded collegiate experience to student-athletes.
Within its picturesque small-college campus, Tufts is a major
university with "an unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional
faculty and staff, and bright and talented students," according to
President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a
varsity program of 28 sports that is among the most competitive in
the NCAA's Division III. Tufts finished sixth in the 2006 U.S.
Sports Academy Directors' Cup, the award presented annually to the
best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country. The
University's proximity to a world-class city renowned for its
academic institutions is also a major draw.
On the baseball team, the drive and guidance of senior players is
crucial to success each year. This approach builds a team that cares
about baseball and being competitive, but more importantly one that
cares about each other. The annual Grimshaw/Baseball Alumni Golf
Tournament run by the team welcomes back more than 130 former
players every May. Many former players have donated enhancements to
Huskins Field.
Casey's teams have featured five players who signed
professionally. Randy Newsom, a 2004 Tufts graduate, signed with the
Boston Red Sox in June 2004. Traded to the Indians as part of a deal
for Coco Crisp, he was a 2007 All-Star at Double A as a relief
pitcher. Newsom is joined by outfielders Dan Callahan and Dan Morse,
infielder John Flack and pitcher Jeff Taglienti as Jumbos coached by
Casey to play professionally.
A 1980 Tufts graduate, Casey enters his 25th season as the coach
at his alma mater. He has amassed a 431-283-3 record, a victory
total that places him among the top 50 on the NCAA Division III
active coaches list. As an undergraduate, he helped pitch the Jumbos
to consecutive ECAC Division II-III Tournament appearances. Also a
tight end on 1979's undefeated football team, he returned to Tufts a
year later as a baseball and football assistant. He replaced Lee
Sargent as baseball coach in 1984.
A native of nearby Jamaica Plain, Casey is a respected leader in
the Division III baseball ranks. He recently ended a term as chair
of the NCAA Division III National and New England baseball
committees. As secretary-treasurer of the New England
Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA), he plays a leading
role organizing the New England College Baseball All-Star Game at
Fenway Park. Casey and his staff run RBI Baseball Academy's Summer
Clinic on campus, and Casey also tours the northeast with the Bank
of America baseball clinics each summer.
In November 1999, Coach Casey was inducted into the Hall of Fame
of the Boston Park League, the oldest amateur baseball league in the
country. In 2000, the NEIBA presented him the Jack Butterfield
Award, its most prestigious honor. Casey was promoted to Assistant
Athletic Director at Tufts in 2001, with responsibilities in the
department's daily operations.
As members of the NESCAC, Tufts plays in one of the most
competitive conferences athletically and academically. The NESCAC is
a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities
that share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate
athletics. Recent graduates Greg Chertok and Zak Smotherman were
selected to the Northeast Region All-Academic team. The 2007 Jumbos
recorded the program's 15th consecutive winning season with a 25-12
finish. Led by all-stars Bryan McDavitt, Brian Casey, Adam Telian,
Steve Ragonese and Kevin Casey, Tufts finished 10-2 in the NESCAC
East Division and advanced to the conference championship game.
Bob Clarke, Bill Samko and Bob Kenny will assist Casey in 2008.
Clarke, Casey's longtime assistant, was a standout in the outfield
at Curry College. Samko, the head baseball coach at Tufts from
1979-82, returned in 1994 as head football coach. Kenny is a 2005
Tufts graduate who caught for four years and was the team's captain.
Several former assistant coaches under Casey are now head coaches
at the college or high school level. Jamie Pinzino, a 1997 graduate,
coached Bryant College to an NCAA Div. II Tournament berth last
spring. Paul Svagdis, a 1993 graduate, guided Azusa Pacific
University to the NAIA College World Series last spring.
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