This message board is great! I enjoy reading all the posts and appreciate the fact that the SCAC seems to be one of the conferences full of devoted fans that follow their teams day-in and day-out. It is incredible to see how busy this board is compared to many others.

I would like to make a few points if I may. First and foremost I wish to echo what I have read here in many other posts, this has been quite a season in the SCAC thus far. The predicted leaders are both in places other than atop their side of the SCAC. I think it speaks to the fact that the level of competition in the SCAC has increased.  That is a good thing for everyone in the conference.

I would also like to touch on something Frank has posted about. The spirit of a team is important and a coach's major role is to keep his team up and ready to play! That means keeping every member of the team inspired and not all coaches know how that is done but it is one of the greatest skills they can develop for it will pay off tremendously in the end. I would like to give one small example of this if I may. My son played in a travel football program in his pre-teens and before middle school. This team dominated their conference and always won in end of season trips to tournaments in Florida. The team had an end of year banquet and one of the coaches said something to the starters that stuck with me to this day. He said, "You gentlemen who started for us should thank those who were your backups. Those young men pushed you to be better and when you scrimmaged you played the second best team in the division for our second string was better than any other team you played on Saturdays!"  Coaches need to develop every player, starters and bench because you never know when someone will be hurt and your backup may have to play.

The next two weeks will be huge for everyone and it will be interesting to see who makes it to the crossover and from there to the championship. I have enjoyed following this season with all its ups and downs. My son has friends from his former high school team playing throughout Division III baseball and boards like this make it possible to keep track off all those teams!!

Oglethorpe took to the field against Maryville today in a double header. The Petrels were looking to get in the win column and trying to put the loss to LaGrange behind them.

In the first game they jumped out to an early lead but could not hold it long before they let the Scotsmen tie it up. Errors once again plagued the young team. They held things together and managed to plate another run to win the game 3 to 2.

The second game saw the Scotsmen take an early lead but the Petrels did not give up. They battled back and took the lead and never looked back. The kept the errors to a minimum in this game and posted 4 runs in the sixth to go ahead 6 to 2. That was the final.

The Petrels had solid pitching today and the defense managed to back up the pitching with some clutch plays. The pitching staff also held it together and mananged to get some key strike outs when they were needed. All in all it was a good day and something to build on.

Quote from: frank_ezelle on May 22, 2007, 08:12:19 AM
I say congratulations to Coach Iwasaki of Austin and I see the SCAC becoming one of the premier baseball leagues in the country--now we just need to find a way to get some at-large teams in the tournament.  I hate that Millsaps and Rhodes both seemed to be the equal of World Series participant Emory this year and yet neither team was picked to participate in an NCAA regional.

Frank, I can tell you that I have heard that the coaches and A.D.'s of the SCAC  share your concern. They are talking about ways to improve the conferences chances of putting more teams into the NCAA tourney. I think they will be looking at things from scheduling of non-conference games to possibly doing away with four game weekends for conference games.

We shall just have to wait and see what happens in the future to help with this problem.

Frank, I love that fact that you are such a great advocate for your team! I have to say that I would have loved to see Rhodes and Millsap both in the tourney!! I think it would have been great for the SCAC to have three teams there.

The idea that perhaps some of the other schools should have played an easier schedule is an interesting one. I for one thought that having an easy game here or there for a young team like OU would have kept their spirits high. It is tough on teams like that to lose constantly and be told, "You will be great next year! This hard schedule is great for building character and ability!".

It is tough for a coach and an AD to work out a schedule that will please everyone and I think most coaches want to play a highly competitive schedule to help their team develope. A hard non-conference schedule gets you set for tough conference games. I am not sure if I believe that or not but I hear it said a great deal.

I think in the end the AD's and coaches of the SCAC are going to have to get together and work on a few things to help this conference gain a bit more respect out there! I can also assure you that there are many more teams out there just as deserving of a playoff birth who, like Rhodes and Millsap, did not make it. No matter what not everyone is going to be happy!

I now have summer ball to look forward to and can't wait for next season to arrive! Lets all hope that the SCAC has a better year next year and good luck to Austin in your playoff bid!!!

Quote from: frank_ezelle on April 19, 2007, 08:49:20 AM
Tim Ernst pitched 3 shutout innings and JJ Rizzo only gave up 2 earned runs in his 2 innings--that's pretty good against a team like LaGrange.  Maybe they should have been saving these two for the weekend.

I would bet that if needed you will see one of them put in.

It is great to learn that the games will be broadcast live by Trinity. That is very nice of them to arrange, I am sure a great many of the parents that can not make it to Memphis will enjoy being able to listen on the web!

Lets hope for a great weekend of baseball and that all the games prove to be exciting to watch!

Well now I must say that it is interesting to look over these predictions and see what you all have to say. I am new to this conference and have not seen any of the teams in the west except Hendrix. I have gathered from the history of the conference that the west has dominated things over the years.
I want to state something right up front. I have had the privilege of meeting some very well mannered young men from most of the teams in the east and the parents that have raised them should be proud. I am sure it is the same of the players in the west as well (I can say it with certainty about Hendrix).

I think looking over things that I agree with some of the predictions I have read but I will interject the following:

Milsap vs. OU: I don't think OU will roll over as bad as the rest of you seem to think. They have played a tougher schedule then you might realize. They play teams like Emory, Lagrange, Huntington, Reinhardt, Maryville and others. They will put up a fight that I can assure you.

Rhodes vs. Trinity:  I think Rhodes will take this one. Not sure how many games or how tough a contest but I see Rhodes out on top.

Austin vs. Centre: I think Austin takes it. Once again not going out on a limb and saying how many games, just giving the nod to Austin.

DePauw vs. Southwestern: I am a bit torn on this but I think I have to give this one to Southwestern.

Okay so there I have put it down on paper and so it goes.

Now on to real life................ I just want to say I hope you will all include the victims and family of those slain at VT in your prayers in the days that follow. I could not imagine losing my son to something like this, it would be devastating! Reflect on what is important, be thankful for your loved ones and cherish the time you have with your kids!!!

Looking forward to Memphis and the great baseball to happen this weekend!!

Oglethorpe played a doubleheader against Depauw today. The Tigers took the first game 10 to 6. Solid hitting for the Tigers helped them defeat the Petrels in the first game of the day.

The second game was carried on Depauw's student radio station and those of us here in Atlanta are thankful it was. It was very exciting to hear the game broadcast live.

Oglethorpe got a solid outting from Sophmore Sean Tuttle who looked more like the pitcher he was last year. Combine that with Oglethorpe pounding out 15 hits and they took the second game 8 to 3.

The magic number for the Petrel's now drops to 1. They need one more win or they need Sewanee to drop tonights game to Centre.

Thanks again to Depauw for the live broadcast and way to go OU!!!!

Well it has been a while for me since my first post. I must say this is a wonderfully active board. The SCAC is a fun conference to watch.

Quote from: Baseball_FanAs for Sewanee, it looks like our big win over DePauw is what will win Rhodes the East, it will be nice to see a team from the East make some noise in the SCAC tournament and hopefully regionals.  Looking at the way Rhodes really turned it around makes me hope that we here at Sewanee can do the same and that good things are in store for the baseball program here.

The way I look at it the Sewanee team holds its fate in it's hands. They are a solid enough team to beat Centre in 3 games. They are not out of it yet. Now if they have a defeated attitude then you are right they are done. It is easy to say that Centre beat OU and OU beat Sewanee but things just are not that simple. It never is as far as baseball goes.

Quote from: frank_ezelle-The Rhodes vs. OU series is the mystery series to me.  OU opened the season with wins over LaGrange, Maryville (twice), and Piedmont and then they had a 10-game losing streak going into the Rhodes series and that was extended to 14 games with 4 close losses to Rhodes.  Was it just an odd series, is OU better than their record indicates, does it indicate anything about Rhodes, or was it all too long ago to be relevant at this point in time?

Frank, you are right to ask that. I have a thought on that series and it was a major turning point for OU. The Petrels had started a losing streak but stayed up beat because in most cases they were losing to very good teams. Rhodes rolled in and the boys hung tough with them the first game. They were excited and started to believe they could truly beat Rhodes. They played them tough and I truly believe they would have beaten Rhodes in one game had it not been for a truly bad call the umpire never should have made.

I know, I know those happen everyday but they should not change the out come of a game and this one did that without a doubt. The umpire even said after the game, he perhaps should not have made the call but felt he had to, to let a young team like OU know they have to slide into second the right way on a double play. I almost fell out when I over heard him saying this to his fellow umpire as they walked to their cars.

The team lost heart after that series and that is the problem with having such a young team. The entire attitude of the team changed and they started to doubt themselves. It has taken time for them to start to believe again and we shall see if they can keep up the positive attitude and play Depauw tough.

I have a question for the board though. The last game of the OU/Sewanee series was not played due to the weather. If Sewanee takes 3 games from Centre( and OU is swept by Depauw) do OU and Sewanee have to go ahead and play their last game to determine who gets the fourth slot or is OU just out of luck?

Frank I think in the end if you compare the numbers you will find that Rhodes record is on par with Milsaps. I am not a fan of either team but I respect good programs. Here is what I see looking at the records.

Milsap has 6 wins against teams that are .500 and above.
Milsap has 3 loses to teams that are .500 and above.
Milsap has 7 wins against sub .500 teams.

Rhodes has 6 wins against teams that are .500 and above
Rhodes has 2 loses to teams that are .500 and above.
Rhodes has 11 wins against sub .500 teams.

Those records are very similar to me. The fact of the matter is that both teams are very solid and if things work out we will be treated to a showdown between the two of them in championships!

I wish my son's team was doing half as good as these two programs but they are not. In the end some very exciting baseball is taking place and I for one feel very lucky to have a child that is a part of such a great conference.