Hope everyone had a merry Christmas. Baseball season is quickly approaching, and I know everyone is as excited as I am! Any predictions for this upcoming season for the East side of the SCAC? Does anyone have a team to look out for? I was thinking about key players for this years east side of the conference, would anybody like to share there key players?

Have a safe new year..the year of the Petrel is upon us 

10 Weeks until SCAC Baseball, the best time of year is yet to come. Coming off a strong fall, the Petrels look to build from their eight returning offensive starters and a starting staff that can be at the top of the conference. Another strong defensive unit will be put on the field for the Petrels as they are looking to put much more emphasis on the defensive side..Defense WINS championships.  On the mound, the Petrels are above average with depth, and if some freshman can step up, they will have a staff that throws strikes and will force the defense to make plays, which plays to the strength of the Petrels in their infield defense.  The Petrels are hoping to overcome a couple injuries and get their boys back by early February before the games start. How's everybody else looking?? GO PETRELS

How about we start with the Petrels? Lose two guys to graduation, their # 4 pitcher and their 8 hitter. They will return their whole offense and pitching staff with two guys coming back from injuries. The rest of the East loses some key parts, including Rhodes' holt, bizzel, and mosby. Centre loses their ace also in Jones and their 3 hitter Williams. I am finally predicting the now experienced and motivated Petrels will come to shine in 2010. Their 1-5 hitters all hit above .330, and their infield is one of the best with a talented shortstop in Cornwell and South region gold glove winner Rizzo anchoring down the hot corner.  It's all going to depend on the arms that the Petrels will put out on the mound. Briend, Hoban, and even Cornwell looked like 3 very promising starters last year and Kennedy in the bullpen was lights out. The departure of Sarisky to the MLB is going to have a severe impact on the arms in the pen and also to the mental side of the boys on the squad. If they can get past this, and bring in some quality freshman and maybe an arm or two from a transfer, the Petrels may possibly be the team to beat in 2010.

Here are the South Region Gold Glovers:

http://www.d3baseball.com/pressreleases/Millsaps/2009/05/23/Millsaps-Murphy-Tabbed-South-Region-Gold-Glove-Winner/4397

The SCAC put 2 on the South list.

Less than 1 month until baseball season officially gets underway in the SCAC! Less than 2 months until non-conference opening games start for the SCAC! I know I'm excited, how about everyone else? Haven't heard a lot of talk about the year yet, so I figured I would maybe get us going. 

I believe OU has the talent to finally make some noise this year. I know this has been a recurring theme the past two or three years, but I can honestly tell all of you that this is it. The Petrels finally have a tremendous 1/2 punch on the bump, and a quality 3rd starter. The bullpen is the X factor in my eyes as it will be consisted of mostly all underclassmen, however they have the talent to succeed. The offense is the peak of the Petrels this season as they return all players on offense, and have added 3 or 4 bats that any team would die for.  And last but not least, the part of the  petrels that has caused them the most problems the last couple of years- defense.  This may be the smoothest fielding infield the Stormy Petrels have had...EVER. It looks to be a very exciting year in the SCAC and hopefully OU will live up to my usual preseason talk.  How's everyone else look?

Hope everybody is doing well since last year.  Any early predictions/analysis on the East side of the SCAC? I know Depauw and Rhodes lost plenty of talent due to graduation. How does everybody think the East will shape up? Any early favorites?
Petey

Ralph, I have heard that BSC games will count for baseball this year.  For example, if they do not count, then OU will have 12 counted conf games instead of 16 if they did count, since they do not play Depauw this year because of the addition of BSC. But Sewanne will have 16 counted conference games since BSC is not on their schedule. Therefore, it is an unfair advantage to one of these teams, so the BSC games will count this year.  This is only the rumor that I heard in the fall. 
Nce predictions Frank, hopefully OU will prove you wrong and winning the cross over divisional! 
Any specific players to look for to have a huge impact on a teams success, like an X Factor?

Well Frank, do you have any predictions for 2-6 in the East?
Should be a dogfight for the 2nd seed in the conference and it will likely go to the team who can scrap a win or two off the Rhodes squad. OU,Depauw,Centre all have quality swingers back who can exploit the pitching staff of any team.  Should be interesting to see which team comes out fired up.

Petey the Petrel

Pauper thanks for the update on Flanagan, glad to hear hes alright.  On the other hand, I was at the game when OU got the bad end of a call by the umpire.  Not sure if you had a better seat in the house than me, but I'd put my money and say it was a stretch of a call.  It did not need to be made as the runner already beat the throw to first.  But that's over with, and we shouldn't dwell in the past. This season should bring great insight into what SCAC East team(s) can make a run at the West in the cross over divisional playoffs.  Any predictions on the East side this year? Season begins in a little over a month now, and it's the best time of year! Good luck everybody!

THE petrel

Frank, you are 100% correct about the Rhodes-OU series from last year. What a tremendous series it was indeed! The Petrels bang around Flanagan,the future 3rd team All American, and end up getting screwed on a horrible runners interference call.  But thats baseball, and there's always this year.  As Frank showed you guys, OU has 1 senior and 1 junior, and then 24-26 freshman/sophmores. Looks like the Petrels are loading up for the next 3 to 4 years and are looking to start making a run this coming year.  The Petrels will need to bring their "nitty-gritty" wont quit attitude to the field day in and day out to compete for a shot at a SCAC Championship, as they now have the pitching depth(with 8-11 quality arms from the pen) and an offensive massacre from all sophmores and the newly acquired freshman.  It will be another tough schedule for OU as they have to face Southern Region powerhouses Emory 4 times, LaGrange 3 times, Maryville, and Huntingdon plenty of different times.  Any other news on the SCAC?

Heart of the Petrels 

I am new to the board this year and am willing to bring detail and accuracy to the SCAC Baseball Conference. Can't wait for a great and exciting season to begin in the Spring, as we all know it will be a roller coaster ride through the SCAC regular season and playoffs. This is a tremendously talented conference and it should only get better. I am coming in looking to post on the news of Oglethorpe University's young yet "experienced" baseball team. They will look to improve vastly on their 10-32 overall record, and increase there 4-0 start from last year. I have heard many quality freshman have come in to the picture in the 2008 campaign along with some transfers who will look to help the majority sophmores.  They have the talent to make some noise this year, and hopefully will look to avenge some tough losses from last year incuding Emory,Rhodes,and Millsapps.  I will personally be looking forward to watching this young, high tempered team as they go on yet another journey throughout the year. Look out for the "youngins" as the teenagers call them these days. I will look forward to hearing from all of teams this year. Good Luck!

Spirit of the Petrel