Hello, Brandeis sports fans! Another season of Judges baseball is right around the corner, so brace yourselves for a team that is poised to challenge for the Division III title. Last season, the team had a phenomenal record of 25-12, and came within a game of the College World Series. This year, with another year of experience under its belt and an infusion of new talent, this team could better the successes of last year's team.This year, the team is led by two fairly different pitchers who achieve similar levels of success: Mike Parissi '03 and Tom McShane '03.

Parissi is a crafty righty who throws a curveball, a split-fingered fastball and a fastball thattops off in the mid-80s. Last season, Parissi started nine games and completed three of them. One of those complete games was a shutout against divisional rival Washington University. In that gem of a game, Parissi notched seven of the 57 strikeouts he had on the year. Parissi can be characterized as a control pitcher; He only walked 19 batters in his 74 and two-thirds innings of work in 2002.

McShane could best be characterized as a fireballer, who mows down opposing Division III hitters. McShane paced the Judges with an outstanding 79 strikeouts and placed himself among the leading pitchers in the division. Other categories in which he led the Judges include games started, wins and opponent batting average. Perhaps McShane's finest performance of 2002 was in the season opener versus Case Western Reserve, in which he allowed a miserly two hits and one unearned run in eight innings pitched.

The Judges were led offensively by center fielder Jim Freethey '02. "He was the best player I ever played with," McShane said. "He had all the tools you needed."

Last year Freethy batted a Ruthian .385 with a team-leading five homers, a .602 slugging average, a .444 on-base percentage and 16 stolen bases. For his outstanding performance, Freethy was named first team All-New England. Starters Freethy and Mike Dowdy '02 graduated last year, leaving Brandeis without their services.

Last season was marked by many thrilling victories in the regular season. On March 27, Brandeis defeated Babson by a score of 5-1, thanks to the pitching of Mike Parissi (who retired 23 of the first 26 batters he faced) and the offensive contributions of shortstop Lars Borssen '04 and designated hitter David Graham '04. The victory was especially important, as Babson was one of the team's key rivals, and also one of the top Division III teams in the nation.

Another, similar victory was the Judges' 14-1 defeat of Wheaton College on April 9. Prior to the game, Wheaton was ranked 17th among all D-III teams and second in the New England Division. In the game, Parissi went the distance and Freethy and catcher Sean Ewers '03 combined for four hits and six runs batted in.

Despite all of the regular season highlights, the consensus among the players as to the highlight of the 2002 season was the team's advancing to the postseason and coming within a win of the College World Series. Originally, it looked uncertain that the team would make the postseason.

"It was the end of the year . we didn't really think we were gonna get in, and we had to wait a week to find out," Parissi said.

Once in the tournament, Brandeis suffered losses to both Tufts, and Wheaton, ending their season before their ultimate goal of making the World Series.

This year, the Judges have six freshmen on their roster: Three pitchers and three position players. The three pitchers are Mac Darrell '06, Tim Dunphy '06 and Bruce Stead '06. All three look to play a part in the Judges' forecasted success this season and an even bigger part of successes further down the line.

On the offensive side, the Judges have Zach Golden '06 and Scott Cooen '06, both of whom play the infield, and an outfielder.

The team seems to have no glaring weaknesses. The Judges possess tremendous pitching, with four talented starters filling the rotation. In addition, the Judges sport several other pitchers good enough to start for almost any other team.

The defense looks to stand out, as most of the players have strong arms, sure hands and outstanding range. In terms of depth, the Judges are not lacking, as there is an excellent backup at every position. The one area in which there is potential room for improvement is plate discipline, as the Judges were out-walked by their opponents 96-121.

At the helm is Coach Pete Varney. This season marks his 22nd year with the Brandeis team; his has been an era of great success for the Judges. He has earned great respect from his players, his peers and the local populace. The typical attitude towards Varney is embodied by the words of Mike Parissi.

"He is a great coach," Parissi said. "His winning percentage is outstanding. He is a good evaluator of talent and he is good at getting kids to play here, which is not the easiest thing to do. Also, he is well-known and well-respected. Even around Boston people know him, because he went to Harvard and made 'the Catch'."

This "Catch" which Parissi alluded to was the grab Varney made in his college days which tied an important football game between Harvard and Yale. Varney also had a successful college baseball career, and was the number one draft pick in the amateur draft on several occasions, which led to a short Major League career. He brings the Judges many things, the most important being his excellent leadership ability. With him at the reigns, the team is in good hands.

Those "in the know" are very pumped up about the upcoming season. This team looks to be superior in almost every way to last year's, which itself was a team that came within a hair of remarkable success.

However, the players on this year's team are trying not to get ahead of themselves. "We don't want to get too cocky," Parissi said. "We just want to get to the NCAAs. If we do that, then we want to get to the World Series, and then we would like to win that. We are taking it one step at a time though."

"One step at a time" is a great way to look towards the upcoming season. Hopefully, many Brandeis students will come out to the games, and be there for every "step" that the Judges take one their road to success.