Prayers for Steve Snyder

It has come to our attention that the student injured in a fall from Leverett Towers was in fact Steve Snyder '04-'08, a former Harvard baseball player who was on the roster for at least one season (2003, the righty pitcher's sophomore year).

Snyder has reportedly been improving since his fall Thursday, but is still hospitalized in serious condition. We wish Steve and his family the very best.

More: The Chronicle-Telegram (Ohio).

Frank Herrmann on pine tar

The Crimson's series of articles by the former Harvard hurler continues with another interesting entry.

Who's on first?

And now, another couple of drips from the steady IV that was my brief e-mail exchange with Coach Walsh from a few weeks ago...

* Farewell, Josh Klimkiewicz '06. First base is "up for grabs," with freshman Andrew Prince and Dan Zailskas as possibilities. We've already talked about Zailskas some. Here's a little taste of Andrew Prince, the hitter. In addition to being a clutch hitter, he also seems pretty willing to take one for the team even when he's not playing.

* This year's pre-Ivy schedule looks to be among the Crimson's deepest ever, with games against Notre Dame, Dayton, Ohio State, Illinois, UCF, Tampa, Northwestern, FAU and FIU. March of 2008 will bring Wichita State, Long Beach San Diego, San Diego State, Cal-Irvine and the College of Charleston.

A looong delayed update...

Hey, Harvard baseball fans. It's been an offseason of very few posts, but I'm hoping this one packs a punch that'll make up for some of that.

I recently checked in with Coach Walsh about four practices into the fall, and he reports the following:

* Matt Vance is swinging and lifting after his offseason surgery, and just beginning to throw. Best of luck to him as he recovers.

* Matt Rogers--whom Walsh was very high on going into his freshman season--has "had the best fall so far." Imagine a scenario in which Vance and Rogers are able to do on the basepaths what Vance and Salsgiver did for most of last season...

Also, as I don't think it was ever reported on GoCrimson.com, capable and clutch senior infielder Brendan Byrne is your 2007 team captain.

Regarding the rotation, Walsh pegged freshmen Max Perlman and Eric "Boomer" Eadington (if he's already got a nickname, he must be something...) as potential weekend starters. We know Shawn Haviland is your ace (Walsh reports that he's "improved," which is frightening) and Adam Cole is presumably your No. 2 guy and other lock. One would imagine that Brad Unger would be in contention for another spot, perhaps in a little battle with Eadington, Perlman and maybe Ian Bollinger, a freshman RHP whom Walsh describes as "the best surprise of the fall." But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Who are these guys?

We'll start with Perlman. Here's what some of we've got on Max Perlman, courtesy of an e-mailer from earlier in the summer (and if you've got profile-caliber info on any of the other freshmen, hit that e-mail link on the side):

Max is a 6’6”, 220 lb., right handed pitcher. He posted a 1.14 era in 55.1 innings with 59 strikeouts, allowing just 11 walks, 33 hits and 9 earned runs in his senior season at Lake Brantley (Fla.). His 7-3 record included 2 shut-out losses. As team captain, Max led Lake Brantley to the conference and regular season district championships. Max was a three time varsity letter winner, two time all conference selection and had a 4 year record of 26-6 at Brantley.

Max plays summer and fall baseball for Chet Lemon’s Juice, last fall’s World Wood Bat Association 18U World Champions. In 2005, Max was a Florida Diamond Club all-star and two-time Top Prospect Showcase all-star and recently pitched in the Central Florida All-Star Showcase for graduating seniors.

Stay tuned in the next few days for more on the freshmen and a peek at the unreleased schedule...