Princeton opens the Ivy League baseball season

Posted on by Dan

After its annual season-opening road trips to the South, the Princeton baseball team opened the Ivy League season at home over the weekend, splitting a series 2-1 with Cornell. The Tigers banged out hit after hit to sweep the Saturday doubleheader 13-7 and 12-0 but dropped the finale to the Big Red 6-3 on Sunday.

We had nice Spring weather both days. The bright sunshine on Saturday made for some tricky shadows as I pointed my Canon at the action on Clarke Field. Some cloud cover toned down the lighting Sunday, which made shooting a bit easier.

Princeton batter leans back as a high-and-tight pitch brushes him back. The ball has gone past the hitter and is inches away from the catcher's outstretched mitt.
A high-and-tight pitch forces the Princeton batter to lean back to get out of the way Saturday.
A Cornell batter turns away and winces after a pitch conked him on the shoulder. The ball ricochets away.
Another high-and-tight pitch Sunday. This time, the batter got plunked on the shoulder and the ball bounces away.

During the first two games I concentrated on getting back into the baseball rythm — following hunches on where the next plays might come to get into the best position to shoot. On Sunday, I switched lenses every couple of innings to look for fresh angles, something I’m aiming to do all season. I don’t want to fall into the trap of shooting the same images (sometimes of the same players) over and over again.

In any event, it was good to get back and watch some entertaining baseball. I’m hoping to sharpen my shooting as the season progresses. 🧢

Princeton pitcher watches as his pitch to a right-handed batter tails away to the outside.

Princeton’s Charlie Wolf delivers a pitch.

Princeton catcher stretches to apply tag to the Cornell runner arching his body to try to avoid the tag as heads toward home plate.

Princeton catcher Will Robbins stretches to put the tag on a Cornell running trying (and failing) to score.

The pickoff throw pops into the open glove of the first baseman as the runner dives into the bag and raises a cloud of dirt.
First baseman Tomas Cernias gets ready to glove a pickoff throw from the pitcher as the Cornell runner dives for the bag.

2 thoughts on “Princeton opens the Ivy League baseball season”

  1. Man oh man, those are some fantastic photos Dan, building on last year’s collection. and what you said, “following hunches on where the next plays might come to get into the best position to shoot” strikes me as such a key when photographing and i had never thought about it before you wrote that. what a talent to have those hunches. in all seriousness, you could work for a baseball card company as a photographer. my all time favorite set is 1988 SCORE, in part because of the photography, really capturing the essence of a player. it’s almost like i’m experiencing that player all over again. it’s like your shots in the post – the dive back to first, the tag at the plate – like i was there. looking forward to more.

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  2. Thanks, Steve. It’s funny, as I was standing along the third baseline Saturday I was thinking it would be fun to do baseball cards for members of the team. I’d include action shots but I’d also aim for classic portrait poses — guy in on deck circle, leaning on bat; coach with a wad of chaw applauding; that kind of stuff. Project for a (non) rainy day. 🙂

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Published by Dan

University media executive by day, blogger by night, I am a well-traveled resident of New Jersey