Zailskas Solves Crimson Woes

Dan Zailskas deserves an apology.

In the 2008 Harvard Baseball Preview, the sophomore was not a major point of focus. In fact, his name wasn’t mentioned once in the supplement’s five stories. But The versatile player showed over spring break that he will be a vital factor for Crimson baseball this season.

To start the year, Harvard had two major questions to answer: “who is going to be the fourth starter?” and “who is going to produce runs in the middle of the lineup?”

Zailskas may be the answer to both problems.

Last week in California the Crimson played the toughest schedule in the nation. In seven days the team played six games against ranked teams and two more against squads right outside the top 25. Naturally, the club struggled and dropped contests in routs at the beginning of break.

“It’s tough,” captain Matt Vance told me last Tuesday. “We’re really just trying to keep our heads up.”

Luckily for Harvard, Zailskas emerged as a big-time player, and by the end of the week, the Crimson battled for wins.

Being a San Diego native, I was able to watch Harvard baseball live in action against the San Diego State Aztecs last Wednesday and the No. 14 San Diego Toreros last Thursday. In both games, Zailskas was the Crimson’s MVP, hands down.

Walking into San Diego State’s Tony Gwynn Stadium, I was a little bit pessimistic. Harvard had struggled badly earlier in the week and it didn’t look like the slide would stop.

The Aztecs seemed more like a minor league team than a college squad. SDSU’s stadium had a video scoreboard in center field, a massive Wall of Fame in right, and several radio broadcasters and television reporters in the press box. The team’s coach was no joke either. Tony Gwynn, recently elected into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, directed from the opposite bench.

When Zailskas was announced as the starting pitcher, I thought Head Coach Joe Walsh was just throwing players out on the mound to rest his starters. Little did I know, that the hurler, who only pitched 10.2 innings last season, was about to dominate and confuse the Aztec mashers all night.

Zailskas, with his brim down to his eyes like Jonathan Papelbon, stayed ahead in counts and mixed his fastball and changeup effortlessly. He retired the first eight batters of the game and struck out three in the first three innings. Though SDSU’s Nick Romero took one deep in the fourth, Zailskas recovered quickly. In the sixth, the starter still looked unstoppable as he retired the first two batters of the inning.

Zailskas single-handedly kept the Crimson in the game. He threw seven innings and gave up seven hits in the 4-0 loss.

The next day, I went to Harvard’s second game against San Diego. I expected to see Zailskas iced up and lounging on the bench, but sure enough he was up and in the starting lineup again—this time as the designated hitter.

“Zailskas has swung the bat real good at [batting practice],” Walsh told me after the USD game. “We said, ‘Let’s give him a shot at DH today.’”

The sophomore didn’t disappoint. Batting seventh, he had three knocks in four at bats and drove in junior Harry Douglas in the third to increase the Crimson’s lead to 3-0. Though Harvard lost the game 14-4, Zailskas impressed Walsh, who moved the sophomore up to fifth in the order against Princeton last weekend.

In the upcoming weeks, Zailskas will most likely to be called on to start again, especially considering the elbow injury to sophomore pitcher Eric Eadington. He may also remain a permanent fixture in the middle of the order with the injury to senior star Tom Stack-Babich.

So I apologize, Dan Zailskas, because you may be the biggest key to your team’s success this season. And I hope, for the sake of Crimson baseball, that not putting you in the baseball preview turns out to have been a big mistake.

—Staff writer Jake I. Fisher can be jifihser@fas.harvard.edu.