Birtwell Leads Ivy Baseball Honorees

The All Ivy League baseball team was announced on Friday afternoon, and the Crimson had only one representative on the First Team.

Fittingly, it was senior John Birtwell.

Birtwell made the most of an unorthodox sidearm delivery. He went 2-3 with a 3.31 ERA in conference play and 4-5 with a 2.72 ERA overall. He was selected to his second First Team.

In 1999, he was voted the Ivy League's pitcher of the year.

With their sub-2.00 Ivy ERAs, Princeton's Ryan Quillian, this year's Pitcher of the Year, and Brown's Jim Johnson were awarded the starting spots.

Birtwell's numerous appearances out of the dugout this season made him eligible for the relief award.

"I'm guessing it was one of those situations where there was just an open spot to fill," Birtwell said of his relief role. "I don't know. I thought it was amusing.

Birtwell, one of the team's most vocal clubhouse leaders, was the victim of several hard-luck losses over the course of the season.

He lost a 1-0 duel to national power Ohio State on Mar. 25 before the Ivy League schedule began. And, in his final appearance, Birtwell went a gutsy ten innings in a 3-2 loss to eventual Red Rolfe Division champion Dartmouth.

"He's one of those guys who you hope gets a shot at the next level," Harvard Coach Joe Walsh said after the team's final game.

While Birtwell's selection was not shocking, the absence of other Crimson players on the First and Second Teams was a surprise.

Several juniors, including pitcher Ben Crockett, shortstop Mark Mager and third baseman Nick Carter received honorable mention. Senior right fielder Scott Carmack and freshman Trey Hendricks also received the honorable mention distinction.

"I was a little disappointed that there weren't more players named to the First Team," Birtwell said. "I thought several of my teammates were more deserving than I was, guys like Nick Carter and Mark Mager."

Carter led the Crimson with a .380 batting average and eight home runs overall, but had the misfortune of playing at the same time as Dartmouth's Brian Nickerson. The senior, widely recognized as one of the great cornermen in Ivy League history, graduates as a three-year First Team selection.

Similarly, Mager led the Crimson with 33 RBI, but Brown shortstop Dan Kantrovitz batted .417 and was fourth in the Ivy League in RBI.

Although Crockett displayed superb control on the mound and capped the season with a no-hitter against the Big Green, he had several rocky Ivy League appearances that turned his stats against him. Yale's Jon Steitz, the other junior hurler major league scouts have eyed all year, also received an honorable mention.

Hendricks batted .307 in his rookie campaign, and Carmack batted .311 in his final year with the Crimson.