Lentz Provides Boost At the Plate and Behind It

Entering its four game series with the Harvard this past weekend, Yale's baseball team had 37 stolen bases.

At the end of the weekend, Yale still had 37 stolen bases.

In other words, after averaging close to one and a half stolen bags per game, Yale didn't muster a single one in its four games against Harvard.

In fact, they hardly even tried. Usually a running team, the Elis attempted just three steals against Harvard, and failed on all three tries.

That is the power of Harvard catcher Brian Lentz.

In the Crimson's 9-8 win over Holy Cross last Wednesday, Lentz stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, two outs and Harvard trailing 8-6. Cool as ever, Lentz-who had already hit a homer in the game-calmly stroked a two-run single to tie the game.

That, too, is the power of Harvard catcher Brian Lentz.

In baseball, there are usually two breeds of catcher. The first is a formidable offensive presence, but gives up too much in the field. The second kind-only slightly more desirable-is solid defensively but is hard-pressed to hit his weight on the offensive side of the ball.

Rare indeed is the backstop who excels at both offense and defense. For that reason, Harvard has a truly special player in Lentz, who combines both sets of skills perfectly.

Defensively, the Crimson's catcher's importance cannot be understated. In that 9-8 win over the Crusaders last Wednesday, Lentz saved the day with his glove as well as his bat. In the inning before he singled home the game-tying, Holy Cross was threatening to expand its lead with the bases loaded and just one out. Lentz, however, took the wind out of the Crusaders' sails when he picked a runner off third base for the second out of the inning.

But Lentz's influence extends beyond the big play. When Cornell came to O'Donnell Field two weeks ago, the Big Red's coach called every pitch from his seat in the first-base dugout. That sort of micromanaging has had no place at Harvard this year with Lentz behind the plate. His intelligence in calling a ball game is the perfect complement to the raw talent of Harvard's pitchers on the mound.

In that sense, the Crimson pitching staff's phenomenal showing against Yale this weekend reflects just as positively on Lentz as it does the pitchers themselves.

As skilled as he is defensively, Lentz would be a very good player even if his talents were confined to just that phase of the game. But having both sets of skills-offense as well as defense-is what makes him great.

After getting off to an uncharacteristically slow start at the plate, Lentz's bat has come alive over the past week. His 4-for-5 performance against Holy Cross last Wednesday was only the start. In this weekend's four-game set with the Elis, he went 5-for-10 with four RBI and four runs scored.

His hot hitting of late has sent his batting average soaring 70 points from .203 to his current mark of .273. In addition, he continues to be one of the Crimson's top run producers, boasting 15 RBI.

A top college prospect, Lentz will one day make a major league team very happy. For now, though, it is the Crimson who gets to ride Lentz's talents as far as they can go-perhaps all the way back to an Ivy League title.