Yet another Hendrix baseball article. They've moved from the sports page and onto the editorial page.

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Editorial/259715/

 Not much to say, except that I don't think you could find a prouder alum than I am today.

I know it's been very eloquently alluded to on this board, but it bears emphasis one final time: Unless you've followed Hendrix baseball on a game-to-game basis throughout the decade, you really can't grasp what a quantum leap this program has made. I've literally lost count of the number of times I've heard some variant of the phrase "Dude, I can't believe this is happening" within the past month.

The coaches, players and parents will have memories they can carry with themselves for a lifetime, and I couldn't be happier for a better group of folks. This season is for every player who ever stuck it out and played all four years in a Hendrix uniform — one in particular.

Congrats all around once again. For the returning players, I offer a phrase one of my former coaches was fond of: If what you did yesterday still looks big today, then you haven't done much today. The fight for a spot in the 2010 SCAC tournament starts now.

 Ignore the aforementioned. Today's games at Linfield have been officially washed out.

Ditto for Hendrix in McMinneville. We'll be pushed back about an hour, or so I'm being told.

Perhaps I already missed this, but is there a LiveStats link or something for Millsaps? I'd like to be able to keep up with them as well.

Quote from: frank_ezelle on May 13, 2009, 12:26:11 PM
From the Tournament website at Moline, IL:

The first-round NCAA Division III baseball regional games scheduled for Wednesday, May 13 have been delayed by rain. The noon game between Carthage and Fontbonne will not start on time. No start time has been determined. Check back later for more details.   (as of 11:25 Wed. morning)

Quote from: infielddad on May 11, 2009, 08:22:46 PM
Hendrix will have its work cut out with a noon start on Wednesday.
Hopefully, the NCAA has travel arranged for them today and they have Tuesday to acclimate, get on the field and not be traveling. Traveling on Tuesday would be unfair to those kids.
If not, well, they have overcome everything else this year, why not one more???
That CA trip has to help them immensely in terms of confidence.  There isn't anyone here they have not seen and everyone starts 0-0 on Wednesday.
Gus, isn't Daniel Ward from Washington??
What a nice reward for a senior.
How is the hand?? Any word on it...that you care to share?

The hand: Danny of late has been wearing a cast over his hand that's big enough to hunt with. You could easily club a wilderbeast to death with this thing. That said, the general thought at the moment is that he's going to play Wednesday. Though I don't know the exact details, Danny's injury is one that typically takes weeks to heal, but can also be played through given the proper precautions.

It certainly helps that Ward had a tough go of things in Hendrix's do-or-die series at Southwestern, and showed only flashes in Jackson. This shows that Hendrix has so far been able to score runs as a lineup, rather than waiting for Danny to do his usual magic. The whopping six players on the SCAC All-Tournament team support this.

The outlook: When I was in Jackson, someone told me that Hendrix reminded them of last year's Fresno State team...not overly talented, but hard-nosed, united and catching fire at the perfect time. I found this to be a pretty apt description. The only issue is that that the Warriors have hardly had anything even remotely resembling a routine since then. The players, of course, have long since stopped worrying about what factors may be working against them, and the coaches seem to think that the hay is in the proverbial barn by this point.

But yet and still, the fact remains it's been a while since this team has been in a competitve setting. The bats will have to get back in the groove very quickly, because pitching depth will be the same issue it was in Jackson.

Odds and ends: The state newspaper ran a front-page story on the Hendrix team in today's paper. While I most certainly cannot vouch for the character of the gentleman who penned the article, it's the first time any Hendrix College team has been featured in the state publication since 1995.

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/259457/

Aforesaid newspaper also ran a Web feature with extended player and coach interviews. I think you can access it here, but then, I never know how this stuff works.

http://www2.arkansasonline.com/videos/2009/may/11/3553/

And finally, at the risk of incurring the Internet version of a roomful of people staring blankly at me and blinking: Hendrix's first opponent, Pomona-Pitzer, was the former teaching home of the late writer David Foster Wallace, who died this past September. Not sure how many readers are on this board, but as a certified book nut, I'd be remiss in not dropping an endorsement. If you've never read Wallace, pick up his classic essay collection A Supposedly Fun Thing Ill Never Do Again or the posthumous publication This Is Water and thank me later.

That's it for now, folks. To those who managed to make it to Oregon, wish I could drink a post-game pitcher of beer with ya. GO WARRIORS!

 Oregon, baby.

All my best wishes to the coaches, players and parents that have made this season one to remember. Have fun up there.

 The Hendrix players and coaches will get together very, very late tonight (or, probably, very early in the morning) to await the phone call on their destination.

Talking to people far more knowledgable than myself, the latest rumor is that Oregon is less or a sure thing than it was thought to be two weeks ago. But after talking to so many people about the selection process, the only certainty seems to be that no one is certain.

If I can, I'll post the news as soon as we get it, providing I still have the ability to type by then. It's been that kind of week.

 Since we're talking about practicing for the regionals, here's a quick dispatch from Conway:

The week began with R.J. Thomas arriving at the ballpark, only to find the field missing. However, several witnesses from the area would later claim they witnessed the field floating down Interstate 40 towards Little Rock.

Plans were initially hatched to practice on other area fields. However, the field at Central Arkansas was completely submerged, and the UCA athletic administration opted to turn lemons into lemonade by re-naming Bear Field the Bear Natatorium and re-naming the baseball team the water polo team.

Meanwhile, a practice at Conway High School was cut short after Daniel Ward found himself having to wrestle an alligator in order to get to the dugout. Meanwhile, we found that Kyle Raskin's exceptional range at third base was rather hampered by the fact that he had to wear waders.

Even an attempt at just some casual long toss in the backyard of assistant coach Neil Groat had to be aborted when a massive amount of frogs that had been washed ashore by the flood waters refused to leave after being asked nicely.

So to sum things up: Hendrix may not have had much time on the field by the time the post-season begins, but if an impromptu backstroke contest breaks out, I like our chances.

 To borrow a phrase from that great philosopher Butt-Head, I don't like numbers because there's too many of them. But regardless of where Hendrix truly ranks when it comes to strength of schedule, there's no doubt it's among the tops in the nation.

It's also an unprecedented step for a program that often differed from the rest of the SCAC's approach to scheduling.

One of the many oddities about Hendrix's rise to the top is that the program only broke the school record for victories after beating Trinity last Saturday. The previous record holder, which was either the 2001 or 2002 team, went a robust 20-20 but managed only four conference victories.

When the likes of Trinity and Millsaps loaded up on opponents that would mirror what the SCAC had to offer, Hendrix typically played numerous series with the likes of Rust, Central Baptist and then-struggling University of the Ozarks. It got victories, it built confidence, but when it came time to play the likes of Trinity, Hendrix was (wait for it) a paper tiger.

I'll admit, I thought R.J. Thomas' decision to schedule practically a who's who of Division III was borderline suicidal. But (in between bites of crow) I'll now say that there's no way this team would have probably even made the SCAC turnament if not for facing the likes of UT-Tyler and Cal-Lutheran.

Unfortunately, I doubt the economy will let Hendrix make a schedule like that again. And the competition within the immediate area is pretty bland unless Thomas opts to schedule a slew of Division II teams or a few low Division I's.

But Thomas did prove what Millsaps and Trinity have known for years: You usually only play to the level of your competition.

 Ooops...forgot to include another column, and this one was the best of the bunch.

http://www.thecabin.net/stories/042809/spo_0428090024.shtml

The news just keeps getting better...thanks no doubt to the baseball team's championship, Hendrix finished an unprecedented sixth in the SCAC President's Trophy race. While I understand a sixth-place finish would trigger some conference ADs to employ a samurai sword on themselves, it represents a huge step forward for a formerly downtrodden athletic program.

Quote from: nvnorthpaw on April 28, 2009, 10:02:57 AM
Congratulations to Hendrix for being recognized in todays D3baseball.com poll!  I am pretty confident in saying this is the first time HC has ever received any votes whatsoever!

You know, any other week, that might seem strange.

Incidentally, we here in Conway make do with reading possibly the most godawful local paper in the state of Arkansas. We do it because, ironically enough, it's home to one of the best sports columnists in the south.

He penned a good column the Wednesday prior to the DePauw game (obvious flub on a pretty important name notwithstanding) and had one today about the team's reception back on campus.

http://www.thecabin.net/stories/042209/spo_0422090026.shtml

http://www.thecabin.net/stories/042809/spo_0428090020.shtml

 This probably won't win me any love letters from either the board or my friends in the Hendrix baseball family, but here goes.

As memorable and fun as this past weekend was for all of us who follow the Hendrix program, and knowing full well such a moment would never have happened under the new format, I for one support the conference's proposed changes.

Not because I think they will help, but because I think they're necessary.

The effects of the economic crisis have been worse than anyone initially imagined, and it's hard to find anyone who hasn't been affected directly or indirectly. Even areas that used to be considered sturdy shelters in the midst of unpredictable fiscal winds - like higher education - have been hit and hit hard. Just recently, a private Division II school here in Arkansas that only a year ago was playing for the baseball national championship laid off three athletic department staffers, including their SID. Meanwhile, all assistant coaches in every sport except football were told their contracts would not be renewed.

And of course we have heard of the hard decisions that recently had to be made at Colorado College.

I say this to say that many private universities are presently experiencing near-harrowing drops in endowment. Much as advertising fuels newspapers and consumer confidence fuels car manufacturers, endowment fuels small private colleges.

The choices many of these schools must make to create a sustainable budget often involve reducing costs that do not directly impact a student's academic experience. This forces these schools to make hard decisions on what truly is necessary and what is not.

I understand the argument here is that athletics are part and parcel of the liberal arts college experience. Believe me, you are pontificating to the choir. But the central driving force of these schools is academics. At the end of the day, that's what we love about the colleges we support and discuss here on this board. We're all proud to represent schools that do things the right way.

But right now, the SCAC is a monster covering three time zones. That would create a heavy travel budget for a well-heeled mid-major Division I university, to say nothing of Oglethorpe and Hendrix. In the best of times, traveling in the SCAC was a pricy process. Now it may be untenable.

I would love to see the conference eventually go back to its old baseball tournament format if these rough seas ever calm down. But I am also mindful that these changes are made by the college presidents, and many of these presidents are operating in crisis mode.

Does it break my heart to know another team and another group of fans won't get to experience the unforgettable ride we folks with Hendrix baseball have been on? You bet. But I would gladly give the wonderful weekend I just had away if it means even one student could continue to get the same quality education he expected to receive at a SCAC institution.

There are colleges that are quite literally having to make that choice right now, and to their credit, they consider the academic experience to be sacred when it comes time to make cuts. Unfortunately, that makes for painful cuts in other areas. But like it or not, there's a central mission that unites the colleges of the SCAC, and I believe that mission should remain a top priority no matter the cost.

 Before the energy of the past 72 hours drains from my pretty much sleep-starved and sunburned body, here are a few thoughts from the action in Jackson.

* I'll leave the number crunching to those better educated, but my $0.02 is that the NCAA will not regret handing an at-large berth to Millsaps. It would also, I think, be damned illogical to shut the door on a team that was very recently ranked No. 1 nationally. Regardless, the Majors are a team fully capable of making a push, and I for one hope they'll get the chance to prove it.

* On that end, maybe someone can enlighten me: Does it at least help their cause that they lost to the eventual tournament champion, one that only, gee, let's see, run ruled the runner-up?

* Speaking of Trinity...the best moments in sports are often the ones people don't see. So I felt privilaged to witness Tim Scannell descreetly taking Danny Ward aside after today's game, shaking his hand and telling him what an honor it's been to compete against him. He didn't do it out of obligation, and he didn't do it to get attention. He did it because that's the kind of person Tim Scannell is.

* Caleb Schallawitz.

* If you've watched sports even a bit, you have probably heard announcers talk about how hot artificial surfaces get in warm weather. You may even think you know how this would feel. I submit that you do not. Walking onto the field after the final out of the championship game, I was gripped by two thoughts. The first was My God, what an absolutely amazing feat for a program that's been buried in mediocrity for a decade. This is why I still love sports. The other was Wow, my shoes are melting.

* Hendrix alums from across the lower 48 followed the action this weekend, and all agreed: Whoever does the play-by-play on the Millsaps broadcasts is a consummate pro.

* Caleb Schallawitz.

* When dining in Jackson, dine at The Pizza Shack. Good pizza, $5 pitchers and some of the friendliest stray cats around.

* This is by no means an attempt at rubbing salt on the wound, but it appears Trinity has some issues to address as far as pitching goes for next season. Noah Solomon looks to be the next great Tigers pitcher, but with Bronson graduating there seems to be a drop-off. That said, there will be enough returning pop in the lineup to make Trinity formidable next season, but if and only if some weekend help is found.

* All glibness aside, and on a personal note: Folks, it's always fun to accomplish something major and have your back patted. But it's ultimately more enriching to be the one doing the back patting. I've been lucky enough to succeed at a few things in my life, but few of those moments made me feel as good as watching one of my dearest friends celebrate like a little kid after the final out of the 2009 SCAC baseball championship. Congratulations, Neil. I won't forget it anytime soon.

* Caleb Schallawitz

 Oh. My. God.

Plenty of credit will go to Jake Jones, and for good reason. That may be one of the gutsiest outings by a SCAC pitcher I have seen in a long time.

But give some credit to Centre's lineup, which was infuriatingly disciplined against one of (if not the) best pitchers in the SCAC.

Now here are the questions:

• Is this the Centre that took two from Birmingham Southern then went back to losing, or is this the legitimate start of something?

• What of the rest of Centre's pitching, and the precipitous statistical drop-off that we see after Jones?

• Will Millsaps be shell-shocked tomorrow? Mentally detached because they're in the dance regardless? Or hopping mad and ready to take it out on Hendrix?

• Does the fact that Hendrix took two, and very nearly three, from Millsaps this year matter at this point? And how do the Warriors handle the shift from expecting a walkover to facing the class of the conference in a desperate state?

Man, I cannot wait to get to Jackson.

 Rest assured, my wardrobe for the weekend will be completely above board.

Just flipped on the first game. What a great job by the folks providing the live video and commentary. It really adds a lot to what should be a great weekend.

2-0 Hendrix in the top of the first so far. Gerlach got a clutch strikeout of Forgerson to stop the bleeding. Dave Keine on the bump for Hendrix.