Striking Back

Pitcher Greg Montalbano returns to boost baseball team's prospects.

 

Pitcher Greg Montalbano is warming up at Cabot Gym during a preseason workout in March under the tutelage of baseball coach Neil McPhee. The tall left-hander works off the mound, throwing a variety of pitches before McPhee sends him to the track for some conditioning runs. Nothing unusual in that-except that it's his first authentic workout in more than a year. After a bout with cancer, Montalbano is back to boost the Huskies' chances for a successful season.

While preparing for his freshman season in early 1996, Montalbano noticed a lump in his groin. A doctor's checkup bore out his worst fears: he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. "I went to the doctor on Tuesday and had the surgery on Thursday," says Montalbano, a native of Westborough, Massachusetts. "It might not sound like it, but they say it's the cancer of choice. They told me there's a ninety percent chance of recovery and we caught it early. I figured I would be out for a little while, but not a whole year."

Even after the successful surgery, however, Montalbano's ordeal was not over. While he was recovering, doctors discovered suspicious-looking spots on his lungs which required chemotherapy. Montalbano lost twenty pounds from his six-foot-two-inch, 185-pound frame in the ensuing weeks, ending any chances of his participating in the 1996 baseball season. "When the doctors were looking at the CAT scan, they found two spots and told me what that meant. I immediately thought about baseball and that I wouldn't be able to play," he says. "I never took the attitude that the world was against me or anything. I figured that I was sick and I needed to get better. Once I got that through my mind, I concentrated on making myself better and hoped to get back into baseball eventually."

Montalbano stayed close to the Northeastern team, attending every home game and even finding the strength for an occasional workout. Because he was still eighteen at the time, he was able to join the Westborough American Legion baseball team during the summer, thus making his comeback sooner than anticipated. The biggest difference he noticed after his illness was his desire just to play, and to encourage others to do the same.

"I always loved to play baseball," says Montalbano, who played his high school ball at St. John's of Shrewsbury. "It was frustrating, though, to see some kids act like they didn't really want to be out there. I remember one day talking to some of the younger players in the outfield before a game. I told them, 'You might not always want to be out here, but you'd better take advantage of the fact that you can be. Someday, you might not be able to be out here, and you'll really miss it.' "

McPhee, now in his twelfth year as the Huskies' coach, is hoping Montalbano will be a major part of his pitching staff this season. "Greg has looked very good throughout our winter workouts," McPhee says. "He, Tim Bonehill, and John Burns definitely have the potential to be professional prospects. All they need is experience." The trio will join established starters Chris Zack and Matt McManus in the pitching rotation. That pair combined for seven wins last year, a disappointing season that saw the Huskies finish with eighteen wins and twenty-six losses.

While the pitching looks solid, offense will be the key to N.U.'s success this year. If the Huskies are to vie for the America East title, the bats will have to become more productive than they were last year. "Our biggest question mark is our ability to score runs," says McPhee, who led the Huskies to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament in 1994. "This lineup has the potential to be very dangerous. We have a lot of power, but we need to be more consistent. This should be an area that we're much improved in." Outfielder Jason Lewis, a junior who doubles as a cornerback for the football team, is slated to be the leadoff hitter. Senior shortstop Scott Bouchie and sophomore second baseman Kevin Kim occupy the next two spots, while senior first baseman Mike O'Donnell will hit cleanup. Catcher Patrick Mason, a senior and cocaptain, also will be counted on offensively.

N.U.'s bats warmed up during the team's spring-break trip to Fort Myers, Florida, in mid-March. The team went seven and one against a slate of northern teams that were also vacationing in Florida. McPhee's strategy differed from previous spring-break trips, when his team battled the southern powers like the University of Miami that perennially preside over the NCAA's top twenty-five. "When you play against [the southern] programs, you're at a tremendous disadvantage," McPhee explains. Those teams "have already played twenty-five to thirty games. They have great weather to play in-that's a fact of life. The experience you get playing against those teams can sometimes be outweighed by the discouragement of losing by lopsided scores. Playing northern teams should give us the opportunity to win some games as well as prepare for our season."

Despite the good start, the Huskies stumbled on their return home, getting off to a two and six start in conference play. With eight starters returning, though, N.U. has the material to contend for the title.

-Paul Perillo

MEN'S CREW

Rolling on the river: Rowers set sights on national title

With six of eight crew members returning from last year's promising but aborted season, men's varsity crew coach Walter "Buzz" Congram thinks 1997 could be the year for Northeastern to win a national title. Adding to the team's incentive is the disappointing end to last season. As they approached the culmination of an extremely successful campaign, the Huskies were forced to withdraw from the International Rowing Association (IRA) meet, the U.S. national championships, and the Henley Royal Regatta in England when it was found that one rower was academically ineligible.

"We're still disappointed about last year," says Congram, who enters his twentieth season on Huntington Avenue. "But that's all behind us now. We have a lot of talent returning and we want to get back to where we were last year."

The optimism begins with the roster, which one might understandably confuse with the Associated Press All-America football team. Tim Wooge, a six-foot-seven-inch, 210-pound German, occupies the important stroke seat, accompanied by Ehren Frank (6­5, 210), Andrew Laurie (6­5, 210), Scott Fentress (6­3, 195), Grant Earl (6­8, 215), Chad Hardin (6­3, 195), Ian Coveny (6­4, 195), and, at the bow, Bill Plifka (5­11, 165).

"We're very big for a collegiate crew," says Congram. Beyond size, however, "the secret to our success is that we have a good feel for the boat. They row in a very relaxed manner-very efficient. There's no question we can be as fast or faster than we were last year."

Hardin, a junior in his last year of athletic eligibility, is unusual in that he arrived at Northeastern with no rowing experience and made the squad as a walk-on. "We are always looking for a kid like Chad. When a rower doesn't have any experience, he doesn't have any bad habits to break," Congram says. "Chad played hockey in high school and rode freshman novice when he got here. He's been part of our varsity ever since, and is our spark plug. Chad is a very quiet guy; he leads more by example. He learned his technique very quickly and has been an inspiration to all of us."

Hardin and his teammates enjoyed a winter trip to Hawaii, where the Huskies captured ten races at the five-day Royal Hawaiian Challenge. N.U. defeated crews from Stanford University, Washington State University, and from Japan. The competition back east figures to be tougher, however. Defending national champion Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Navy, and Yale all pose a threat, Congram says. He is gearing his squad toward the Eastern Sprints at Lake Quinsigamond in central Massachusetts and to the IRA in Camden, New Jersey, which serves as the national championship this year.

- Paul Perillo