United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Baseball - Plenty of Records and Streaks in 2006 Season

While one streak came to an end during the 2006 season, a new one developed and will still be active when the 2007 season begins.

The Bears streak of six straight appearances in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinals came to an end as Coast Guard’s season came to a close with an 8-6 loss at MIT in the first round. Coast Guard finished 15-17 overall and 4-8 in the conference.

Junior center fielder Chuck Arena had a sensational season as he hit safely in all 31 games that he played. Arena also had three hits in the final game of the 2005 season, so he now carries a school-record 32 game hitting streak into next season. The previous school record was 16 set by Mike Butsch in the 1992 season. The Division III and NCAA all divisions record is 60 games.

Arena set a single-season school record with 54 hits breaking the mark of 49 set by Ryan Eldredge in 2002. He hit .429, the second best single season batting average in school history and led the team with 27 RBI’s. He as named first-team All-conference after earning second-team honors last season and NEWMAC Rookie of the Year honors in 2004. Arena has 131 hits in his three seasons, just 23 shy of the school record of 154 hits held by Rob Trevino (1999-2002).

Another first team All-conference selection was senior Mike Jarbeau, who a enjoyed a solid season both on the mound and at the plate as he posted a 6-3 record with a 2.77 ERA and hit .282 and tied for the team lead with four homers and was second with 26 RBI’s. Jarbeau was named the NEWMAC Pitcher of the Year. He set a Coast Guard single-game record when he struck out 17 batters in 4-1 win over Fisher. The previous record was 16 set by Ben Keffer in a nine inning game, Jarbeau’s record is more impressive as he did it in a seven inning game. Jarbeau also tied Keffer for the single-season mark of 84 strikeouts, which Keffer set in the 2002 season. Mike set the single-game record with three homers and nine RBI’s in a 15-11 win over Bluffton as the game ended with a walk off grandslam for Jarbeau. He is also third all time with 53 appearances and fourth with 173 strikeouts.

Sophomore second baseman Brian Lisko, playing his first season of collegiate baseball, was great for the Bears. He was second on the team in batting average (.342), doubles (11), RBI’s (26) and slugging percentage (.550). Lisko tied the single-game record set earlier in the season by Jarbeau when he hit three homers in a win over Clark. He was named to the All-conference second team.

Other top hitters for the Bears this season were junior Bret Nichols, who hit .329, while sophomore Christian George hit .309 and led the team with 13 doubles, which is the second most in a single-season at Coast Guard to go with his team-best 16 stolen bases. Senior Aaron Renschler hit .267 with five doubles and 12 RBI’s. Sophomore Adam Reckley hit .323 in limited at bats and will look to see more playing time next season.

Junior pitcher Tony Guido did a great job seeing the first real action of his career as he was 2-2 with a team-best 2.45 ERA in 33 innings. His 2.45 season ERA is tenth best in Academy history. Sophomore Will Becker accounted for four of the Bears wins as he had a 4-5 record with a 5.05 ERA. Senior Cory Anderson posted three wins, going 3-6 with a 4.35 ERA. Anderson finishes his solid career second all-time at Coast Guard in starts (37), innings (267.3) and strikeouts (214).

The Bears started the season sweeping rival Kings Point a three-game set and the team returned from Florida with a 5-2 record and after winning three of the first four up north, the Bears were 8-3 and a season-high five games over .500. The team would drop six straight and go 7-14 the rest of the way.

Jarbeau pitched a brillant two-hit shutout to beat Babson and end the six-game slide and his next start he shutout MIT on five hits. He also shutout Kings Point 9-0 holding them to just one hit in Florida as he finished the season with six complete games and three shutouts.

Following the season, head coach Pete Barry, who led the Bears to six straight NEWMAC Tournament semifinals appearances and the NEWMAC Championship Game in 2000, 2001 and 2003 stepped down after seven seasons as the Bears skipper. Barry, who was the 2001 NEWMAC Coach of the Year, posted a 115-117-1 record in his seven seasons. C.C. Grant, an assistant under Barry for seven season was named the head coach.