I couldn't agree more Ralph.  They walked away from something special and although we did not get as far as we would have liked, i feel we overcame a lot.  I will always be proud of our team for the heart we showed this year.  It seemed like one injury after the other. 

Agman,

Haha i know exactly what your thinking.  It was a weird weird season.  I think a couple of the injuries you can blame players being out of shape.  Hellman had taken a year off and was returning to baseball and so i feel like he might have just pushed his arm to fast and it wasnt ready for that.  I dont remember any of our pitchers having any type of injuries last year, so i guess they were all saved for this year unfortunately.  haha.  Anyways look for McMurry to have arguably the deepest pitching staff in the conference next year.  All four of the starters will return in Curry, Smith, Johnson, and Toombs.  Gaiona is coming back and pitched very well in relief at the end of  the year and Wieck should make some noise.  Also they will have Martin and Mcbride as their two lefty specialists.  The only pitchers they will be losing is Wood and Lee.  Unfortunately they will be losing 7 starting position players, so i expect the offense to take a huge step back.  Sucks to see Chapman lose in the World Series.  I was rooting for them because I love the way they play the game and they are a class act.  Unlike some good teams, they know how to win the right way.   

Guess now that our season is over i can now post all the injuries and casualties we sustained through out the year.  Not that it matters but anyways here it is.

Pitcher Blaine Wieck - torn labrum
Pitcher Trey Hellman - torn labrum
Pitcher Jordan Lamb - transferred at break.  would have really helped us
Pitcher Jacob Ashcraft - problems with shoulder, probably going to have surgery this summer
Pitcher Arnold Toombs - The weirdest thing I have ever seen happen except for maybe Yurchick's injury.  While taking batting practice before the game against MHBU, in which he was scheduled to pitch he is hit with a line drive.  He was the bucket man and somehow the ball barely flew over the net and hit him in the head.  He sustained a concussion and was unable to pitch.  He never started again and was delegated to reliever
Pitche/1b Brent Voorhees - messed up shoulder in a game he pitched and won vs. Chapman first series of the year.  Later hurt it worse in freak accident against Howard Payne.  Was only able to swing with one arm the rest of the year.
Pitcher Dakota Smith - discovered he had a slight tear and extreme case of tendinitis in labrum after the Conference Championship.  Have to ask, if 100% healthy how many runs Chapman scores off him.  They only scored 3, but wonder if things would have been different.
Pitcher Aaron Redman - quit during the year because he was unhappy with playing time
Second Baseman Weston Franco - had tears in his hamstring and broke a finger in 2 spots
Second Baseman Steven Yurchick - was moved from the OF during the year.  Had a freak accident when he dove for a ball and his thigh hit the lip of the infield.  His thigh got 2 times bigger and was one of the weirdest injuries i have ever seen.
Second Baseman Greg Guse - while filling in for Nate Love at the first of the year against Chapman he tore his labrum
Catcher Thomas Beckham - pulled hamstring, re-aggravated it twice
Catcher Jeff Jackson - caught a ball wrong and his hand became swollen and missed a series or two
Outfielder Lance Jones - aggravated groin vs. SRU and had to wear a wrap the rest of the year to keep it from pulling
Outfielder Gerad Morris - extreme case of tendinitis in shoulder all year which limited him from throwing as hard as he could.  Whats weird is he still had the best arm on the team
First Baseman/ Catcher Ross Shores - quit after the TLU series because he was unhappy with playing time
Shortstop/ Second baseman Evan Reece - had nerve problems in his lower back.  This guy pushed Weston Franco in the fall to the point where coach told Weston that if he did not play well at the first of the season that Evan would be inserted.  This guy if healthy would have been great for us.  Would have put up huge numbers for us.  Lead the team in homers in the fall.

I think that about covers it.  Dont think i forgot anyone, but would be very easy to.  Didnt include the guys with arm fatigue cause every team has that late in the year. 

Driggers was smart by scheduling the teams he did.  We all knew Chapman would be here and after playing George Fox, we knew they would be as well.  Driggers scheduled the way he did because, "This is the best team, we have had since I've been here."  That is what he said and Josh Lee(Ass. Coach and also played on the 2001 and 2004 ASC Champ team) he has even stated that we were better than them.  Driggers has been preparing us for this all year.  Whats funny is after the series against Chapman the first week, we were walking through the line to shake their hand and this is what a couple of players said from each team, "We will see you at regionals."  They knew that they would be here just as we knew that we would make it.  Dont let our record fool you on what type of team we have.  We have had so many injuries all year that we havent ever been able to put it all together.  Were still not completely 100%, but we have started to play some pretty good ball as of late.  Dont know what will happen tomorrow or this tournament, but we will try and represent the ASC well.  Also i think it was bullcrap what happened to Concordia and UTT.  I knew UTT wasnt going to get in, even though they deserved it, but i was pretty sure Concordia would. 

Cosmic, 

Youchaks numbers are very good, but I think its a little unfair to say that if he had this number of at bats this is what his numbers would be.  Yeah its fun and everything to say he would be on pace to do this, but it still would have to be done.  We all know baseball is a funny game and can be very unfair.  Dont want to take anything away from the kid at all those are exceptional numbers, all im saying is that you never know what would happen in his next 55 at bats.  He could just as well continue on that pace as he could go in a slump.  I also appreciate the discussion as well and it is good to hear about other great players around the country.   

I agree with you Texas BB, that the body of work is a very important piece in the selection process.  I also feel that it is like march madness where there are always a couple of teams that will be left out that you can make a case for it not being fair.  There are so many factors that go into the process,  overall record, winning % in the region, one i feel that is very important is how you finished.  Just like in march madness they factor in how a team finished the season.  There are so many things that go into a season that dont always show up in the stats or the box score.  Does UTT deserve to keep playing??? probably, but so does Concordia and George Fox.  What sucks is there is going to be someone left out that you can make a case for continuing to play.  The thing that sucks for ya'll is that you lost at the end of the season.  If you flip your record around against Concordia and you would have lost 2 of the 3 earlier in the season, but beat them both times in the tourney then im sure there would be no question of you getting in.  Who knows who would win the series if ya'll stepped on a field today and played 3 games.  But if a outsider looks at the events that occured they would probably figure that Concordia became a better team as the year went on and the end of the day was better than UTT. 

All-AmericanFan,

McMurry schedule                                   UTT schedule

George Fox      3                                     0
Chapman         3                                     0
Mary HB           3                                     0
Concordia        5      4-1                          5          2-3
UT Tyler           1      1-0                          1          0-1
Le Tournea      0                                     3

Fun facts  These two teams both played Sul Ross, Concordia, Schreiner, Austin C., each other, Marietta, Hardin Simmons, ETBU, Lousiana, and UTD.(McMurry played them on a Tuesday game and faced Mark Cox and Mark Cox beat both McMurry and UTT.

McMurrys record vs those teams                             UTT
20-7                                                                        20-6

So after all that this is the difference in schedules
McMurry                                                           UTT

Chapman 3 games                                          Ozarks  3games
George Fox   3 games                                     Le Tourneau  3games
Southwestern 2games                                    Mississippi  4 games
Trinity 1 game                                                 Northwood 1game
Wayland Baptist 1 game                                 Jarvis Christian  1game
MHB  3 games                                                 Hendrix  3games
Texas Lutheran   3 games                              Dallas U  1game
Howard Payne   3 games

fouriscosmic,

I would love to see the numbers you expect the POTY award to have.  Regarding D. David if he doesnt win POTY then no one deserves it.  Your talking about someone who has hit 444 ave, 78 runs, 84 hits, 11 doubles, 26 home runs(which is 2nd or 3rd all time D3 history), 73 rbis, 173 tb, 915 slugging % and a 520 OB %.  Those numbers are ridiculous.  David has hit everyone whether it be the weaker teams or the tough teams.  Now about his 5 tools.  The first thing you questioned was his speed.  David actually leads his team in stolen bases with 7.  I know your thinking that isnt a lot, but if you have seen McMurry play then you would know that they are not the type of team that steals bases.  He actually leads the team in attempts with 8.  Also you said he didnt hit enough doubles for your liking.  Well last year he hit 24 doubles which is a school record.  David has managed to put together one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of D3 baseball.  That is all i've got to say. 

I'm not trying to be a jerk to anyone and if I have offended anyone then i am sorry.  I have stated all along that I feel like UT Tyler is a great team and has had a great year.  I also feel that if they would have played some tougher competition they would have been more prepared for the conference tourney.  I cannot stress how important it is to play a couple of tough teams a year.  Even if you lose them(and your record isnt as appealing)  it does a lot for a team.  Playing the tougher competition will allow you a glimpse of what playoff baseball is like and so therefore you wont be overwhelmed when you get there.  I recognize that UT Tyler had a very impressive season both offensively and pitching/defensively.  That is why I have stated in earlier posts that if they would have traded a couple of their series and played some tougher teams they would have played differently in the tourney.  I dont remember how many runners they left on against Concordia but i know it wasnt good.  If you look at their offensive numbers for the year, it will show you that they did not have any trouble scoring runs, but in the tourney they struggled.  Not saying they choked at all, but just that tougher competition prepares you down the road for the playoffs.  I know that it sucks for UT Tyler to have had such a great season and to most likely be on the outside looking in because they didnt win the tourney.  Is there a flaw in the system? Maybe, but I believe if UT Tyler would have played tougher competition then their record wouldnt be as good.  On the other hand I feel they would have been a better team in the end.

Fungoman,

Im not going to argue with you, but if you would like to go back and read my original post i stated in the 3rd sentence, "I guess maybe your counting the Hardin Simmons games as part of the conference championship."  It may technically be counted as part of the conference tournament, but the way i have always looked at it; is that you have to win the cross over to get to the conference tournament.  I could be wrong in looking at it that way, but I just feel as the conference tourney doesnt start until after the cross over series.  Just my opinion and i like i said it could be wrong.  If there is anything else in my post that is incorrect, would you please point it out to me.     

Texas BB,

Not trying to argue or anything but im pretty sure that UT Tyler lost to Concordia first game of the conference tourney, then beat Mississippi, and then lost again to Concordia.  So that means they couldnt have won 3 out of 5 games there.  I guess maybe your counting the Hardin Simmons games as part of the conference championship.  Also UT Tyler played two ranked teams all year.  Marietta early in the year at Abilene which they won 12-9 and the Ozarks which they took 2 of 3, but only won by 1 run each time.  They also played Hendrix  , the two weakest teams in the west for some reason Sul Ross and Schreiner, Jarvis Christian, and Austin College.  I know that McMurry and CTX both played Sul Ross and Schreiner but that is because they are on their side of the conference.  I just dont see the point in scheduling the weakest two teams from the other side of your conference.  How is that going to get you prepared to play the toughtest teams from that side???  Also keep in mind im not trying to be rude or fight with you, but playing a schedule that is keeping in your location doesnt help you if slip up in the tourney.  They should have traded in a Hendrix series for someone tough.  If they wanted to stay in their location they could have tried to play Trinity.  I believe they had a great year and have a great record.  But when you look at schedules McMurry had the toughest schedule followed by CTX, and then UT Tyler.  Then you throw in the fact that they were 2-3 against Concordia on the year and 0-1 against McMurry and Concordia was 1-4 against McMurry.  I honestly feel that if UT Tyler would have played some tougher teams then they would have been more prepared for the Conference Tourney, instead of being able to breeze through most of their competition all year. 

UT Tyler's season is over.  Maybe next year they can play a harder schedule and avoid being left out. 

I mean it sounds like there is no point in even having this regional,  Chapman's already won it and the tourney hasnt even started yet.  They should just call all the teams and tell them sorry, but there is no reason for showing up because there is no way you can beat Chapman.  Congrats Chapman!!!!!   

Texas BB,

UTT's offensive numbers may have more to do with the competition they played this year.  I dont know if i caught UTT on a bad weekend, but this is about the 6th time i've seen them play and I would have never thought they would have those numbers.  No disrespect to any patriot players but I just dont see how they put up those numbers.  They did not impress me at all with their sticks.  Concordia is the only team in the ASC that i believe can swing it with McMurry, but I still give a slight edge to McMurry.

I would be willing to bet that Concordia jumps UT Tyler in the rankings.  They are a very hot team right now and they beat UT Tyler twice.  They have played a harder schedule than Tyler and are at 30 wins.  I'll just say I have a gut feeling that Concordia jumps them 

Yeah Ralph we did lose to those teams.  Add in a loss to ETBU this year and a loss to Trinity(should have won), and southwestern.  We should have won a lot of games we didnt, for whatever reason.  There is one thing about this team though, through all the injuries and all the struggles we have found a way to put ourself in postion to win it.  We have battled through a lot this year.  It seems like one injury after the other and to key guys.(Brent Voorhees, Steven Yurchich, Weston Franco, Evan Reece who no one knows about but is a player, Thomas Beckham missed over half the season, and lost 4 pitchers all who could have helped us.  Yeah yeah i know this is part of the game, but never the less we have found a way.  I will tell you what those 2 weeks you referred to Ralph we were playing some bad ball.  In the words of Driggers himself, "You guys stink, i mean stinking suck right now,"  Which was totally true, we did and our record over that time shows it.  This whole time though we have said though that if we can just find a way to turn it on at the right time, then it will be hard for someone to beat us(we havent clicked in all cylinders yet this season, but seems like we might be at the right time.  Dont know what will happen tomorrow because Concordia is a great time and are very hot right now.  Just going to put our chips on the table and see where they fall.  Want to wish good luck to Concordia because they are a great team and a classy one.  Of all the teams in our conference and especially at this tournament this weekend they have shown nothing but class, and so if we arent going to win it then i would want them too.   

Derek David  3rd baseman        439ba,  62 runs, 61 hits, 9 doubles, 19 hr, 56 rbis, 914 slugging %, 509 OB %

Steven Yurchick  2nd basemen  430ba, 42 runs, 55 hits, 11 doubles, 3 triples, 6 hr, 26 rbis, 703 slugging %, 490 OB %, and only 7 strikeouts in 128 at bats.  He's done all of this while batting leadoff all year.  Pretty impressive. 

Brent Voorhees 1b     379ba, 37 runs, 53 hits, 13 doubles, 10 hr, 49 rbis, 686 slugging %, 454 OB %

Cody Curry P  2.68 era, 7-0, 4 CG, 50.1 innings, 57 SOs,