Quote from: swbaseball3 on March 20, 2010, 08:20:40 AM
Before the year started, I was speaking to some friends about the West.  I pretty much said the same thing.  TLU certainly lost talent with  Harvey and Macklin but everyone else lost more.  UTT lost their entire pitching staff (for all intents), McM, HSU and UTD lost key players.  The point being is it's tough to replace that many key players across the division.

I agree with the Sul Ross comment.  It appears that they have enough offense to not get swept.  If they don't lose "winnable" games, they could go 2-1 against most teams in the west.

If TLU takes care of business, sweeps the series they should sweep, Sul Ross won't catch them.  But, I wouldn't want to go to Alpine for a series late in the year!  Ugh.

Not to take anything away from Harvey and Macklin but could it be that TLU has matured more than other teams year over year, hence there consistency year over year?  This to me, makes me think that Burnett and staff have a way of positioning and maturing the underclassmen in an effort to minimize the impact of lost talent of the likes of Harvey, Macklin, Farr, and others.

One example of what I'm thinking about is Sul Ross - although they seem to be putting up tall numbers, they seem to be inconsistent in the end. I think they did the same thing last year as well, which makes me consider the inconsistency of their squad overall.  It will be interesting to watch to see how consistent both squads are throughout the remainder of the season... Just some thoughts.

First Game of the doubleheader is complete in Seguin.

HPU 5 TLU 21... Just tuned in so don't know the details yet...

Ralph, I think you nailed it. Great perspective!

Quote from: dp643 on March 11, 2010, 02:35:01 PM
Finally some warmer weather. I might actually be able to get out and make some games now. TLU/McMurry and HSU/UMHB will both be dogfights. I expect both series to go 2-1.

Congrats to Joseph Villegas for being named NCBWA National Player of the Week.

http://www.cruathletics.com/news/2010/3/11/BB_0311103252.aspx

Right On dp643, when you look at the number of DIII programs and the number of players in the pool, you realize just how difficult this is to do, let alone, stay that focused at the plate. Congrats to Villegas!

Interesting that a player from Hays HS and Bowie HS (10 miles apart) have achieved this honor in back to back years!  Joseph has always been a great hitter and he very well could repeat again before the season is over - scary!!

I was really surprised to see the final between TLU and McM today! Will be in attendance tomorrow and hope that it's not as one sided as it appeared to be today.  Definitely am missing all the excitement of following the kid and teams around.  Due to a throwing arm injury (shoulder) we're having to take a season off. We hope to be back at it in time to find a new contract for the 2011 season...

On the bright side, I guess it might free me up to get some needed chores done around the old homestead...although, I'd rather be in the stands watching baseball!! I do plan to make the run down to Alpine and catch a weekend of baseball with Jeremy's old team. Great little town, Alpine is, and what a better way to spend a weekend... at the 'best little ball part in West Texas' or so ESPN says...

Hey ya'll, glad to see the chatter winding up! I'm missing the excitement already... Will try and catch some games this spring.  Keep up the good work and go Bulldogs!! They seem to be off to a good start...

http://www.tlubulldogs.com/news/2010/2/6/BB_0206103838.aspx

Quote from: Just_Some_Guy on July 14, 2009, 05:41:49 PM

Quote from: CUAfan on July 12, 2009, 05:53:27 PM

Jacob Kaase has played 52 games in Low-A and 12 for High-A Bakersfield.

I wonder how long Kaase sticks it out. I think he's a high caliber fielder and he's handy because he's essentially a util guy than could play anywhere, but I don't know if he'll ever swing it enough to get a chance.

He's got plenty of tools, but his command of the strike zone doesn't seem to improving that much. Where he could slap stuff through the hole and turn pitches off the plate into hits in D3, he's got to learn to lay off that stuff in the MiLB.

If he ever gets his BB/K ratio closer to 1:1 he might have a chance.

Thanks for keeping us all updated CUAfan.

JSG

JSG, I think Kaase will stick it out a bit longer as he seems to be maturing and it's really a matter of time and waiting his turn as he has some larger investment guys ahead of him from what we hear - unless he's traded, or the guys of head of him are dealt somewhere his sort of stuck where he's at.

Here is a recent article released by TLU on Kaase and Macklin...

http://www.d3baseball.com/pressreleases/Texas+Lutheran/2009/07/09/Former-TLU-Bulldogs-Kaase,-Macklin-continue-baseball-success-at-pro-levels/4422

Quote from: CUAfan on July 12, 2009, 05:53:27 PM
ASC pro's stat update:

Hitters
Steven Yurchick (Bay Area Toros) - .296/.345/.343, 2 3B, 16/20 SB, 108 AB
Tom Williams (Bay Area Toros) - .333/.400/.630, 2 2B, 2 HR, 27 AB
Jacob Kaase (Bakersfield Blaze*) - .256/.299/.411, 15 2B, 5 HR, 246 AB
Jeremy Macklin (Big Bend Cowboys) - .357/.404/.571, 3 2B, 2 HR, 42 AB
Paige Hodges (Coastal Kingfish) - .250/.280/.333, 2 2B, 6 K, 24 AB

Pitchers
Jonathan Miller (Florence Freedom) - 27.2 IP, 3.69 ERA, 21 K, 8 BB, 3 HR
Kyle Hudson (Bay Area Toros) - 23.2 IP, 1.14 ERA, 25 K, 8 BB, 0 HR
Curt Dixon (Big Bend Cowboys) - 31.2 IP, 3.69 ERA, 31 K, 13 BB, 1 HR
Stephen Szkotak (Big Bend Cowboys) - 15.2 IP, 4.02 ERA, 20 K, 4 BB, 1 HR
Brett Holland (AZL Padres*) - 8.0 IP, 1.13 ERA, 7 K, 4 BB, 1 HR
Matt Coburn (Bay Area Toros) - 9.2 IP, 3.72 ERA, 14 K, 4 BB, 1 HR
Tommy Rozell (Coastal Kingfish) - 13.2 IP, 10.54 ERA, 6 K, 5 BB, 4 HR
Michael Johnson (Brooklyn Cyclones*) - 5.0 IP, 5.40 ERA, 6 K, 2 BB, 1 HR

* - part of MLB organization

The Evansville Otters released Daleiden on 6/22/2009 and Ziegler on 7/9/2009, and Stephen Derrick was released by the St. Paul Saints on 6/30/2009.

Jacob Kaase has played 52 games in Low-A and 12 for High-A Bakersfield.

---

CUAfan,

While your adding to your list, you can add Cody Ross (Texarkna Gunslingers) and MC's Hinson (Alexanderia Aces) to you next update.

Macklin does have some pitching stats as he's pitched 2.1 innings so far for Big Bend.  For whatever reason he's listed as "other" on their pitching stats...

Quote from: CUAfan on June 27, 2009, 10:54:01 AM
ASC pro's stat update:

Hitters
Steven Yurchick (Bay Area Toros) - .289/.349/.341, 2 3B, 13 SB
Tom Williams (Bay Area Toros) - .200/.200/.200, 5 AB, 2 K
Jacob Kaase (Bakersfield Blaze*) - .249/.291/.394, 11 2B, 35 K
Jeremy Macklin (Big Bend Cowboys) - .333/.316/.389, 18 AB, 5 K
Stephen Derrick (St. Paul Saints) - .100/.182/.100, 10 AB, 2 K

Pitchers
Jonathan Miller (Florence Freedom) - 15.1 IP, 2.93 ERA, 9 K, 6 BB, 1 HR
Kyle Hudson (Bay Area Toros) - 21.0 IP, 0.86 ERA, 21 K, 7 BB, 0 HR
Curt Dixon (Big Bend Cowboys) - 20.1 IP, 3.10 ERA, 20 K, 10 BB, 1 HR
Stephen Szkotak (Big Bend Cowboys) - 9.2 IP, 7.45 ERA, 12 K, 1 BB, 1 HR
Brett Holland (AZL Padres*) - 4.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 K, 1 BB, 0 HR

Michael Johnson has yet to make an appearance, and I swear I saw Matt Coburn on either the Big Bend or the Bay Area roster but I cannot find him.

Matt Coburn is on the Bay Area Toros roster and has one start under his belt (no decision).

http://howesportsdata.com/howesportsdata/stats/baseball/cbl/382tm.txt

Additionally, Mississippi Colleges' Hinson is on the Alexanderia Aces roster and just joined the team I believe back on the 25th of June - actually saw action in a 14 inning Aces lost against Big Bend.

Quote from: CUAfan on June 20, 2009, 04:09:44 PM
So that's who that was. I saw "Macklin" on the Cowboys stats but never thought to check if it was the Macklin from TLU.

Yeah that's the same Macklin. When not drafted one has to start somewhere

If you're following these guys in general, don't be surprised to see pitching stats on top of his stats as a position player...for Macklin. He may likely get sent to the bump before the weekend is done...

Macklin signed with the Cowboys and have seen action the last two nights against the Bay Area Toros...

Macklin, Jeremy [TLU] (3B)  2 games, 3 for 9, 1 2B, 3 RBI, .333/.444/.333

Quote from: ATX on June 17, 2009, 02:16:44 PM
Tom should of got a shot for sure he can flat out hit. But on a good note for him he will be playing with the Bay Area Torros this weekend in the Continental League along with Coburn. So both of them will be getting a start at pro ball to show what they can do and show the scouts that they can play at this level and them maybe get a shot in the future in playing affiliated ball.

---

Heard that Williams and Coburn have signed with the Torros. It will be good to see four strong ASC players facing off tonight  and over the next four days down in Alpine.  Best of luck to all of them...

If Drew Headman with his numbers barely missed getting drafted (fouth from the last guy picked) then I can't see how Tom would get a shot. Perhaps in Indy ball, but there are a number of hitter that had better numbers than Williams, and they too are on the outside looking in...  Apparently offensive numbers alone doesn't cut it...

Quote from: CUAfan on June 15, 2009, 09:33:38 PM
I never got to see him play as much as I'd have liked. From what I saw, though, I find it hard to believe that his defense was bad enough to turn everyone off from his bat. But then, I'm not a pro baseball scout.

I don't want this to come across too critical of Tom, I've watched him play since Macklin and the local Austin guys were little. Tom is what they call a "groove" hitter - if it's in the right place at the right time - lookout, otherwise it's nothing to write home about.  Had it had a season like his Junior year, perhaps he'd get more looks. Honestly, he didn't look good at the National's workout ahead of the draft. Could not throw the ball to second base from right field. Struck out three times during the batting part of the workout.  Just didn't show well.

Macklin is headed to Alpine today to join the Big Bend Cowboys of the Continental league - joining CTX's Szkotak who is also out in Alpine with the Cowboys.

I'm surprised at how low (1.25%) D-III players make up the draft pool. Only two out of the ASC have gotten the opportunity to be apart of an affiliated team. Several have signed with indy teams and it remains possible that we will see some of these guys on affiliated rosters soon. Perhaps Tom will have an opportunity within Indy baseball, but I'm not sure if his desire to play beyond college is that strong... just don't know.

Infielddad,

Good information. Our son completed a bureau package this year and I am being told that to get one means a lot. if I look at last years activity and compare to this year, I see basically one change and this is the bureau's request to complete a package.  The Nationals were hot on him last year and seem still interested this year as we are told that the area scout as well as cross-checkers have seen him in several games both at 3rd and as a pitcher.  The Rangers are also interested in him and I was told by one Ranger scout that if he gets the opportunity to draft him, he will... What all this means - I have no idea until it happens.

As for today, only rounds 1-3 will occur today. Rounds 4 through 25 will occur tomorrow. I will be dumbfounded it we see a D-III player taken in the first 3 rounds mainly because of the amount of focus that teams put on the D-I and High School players.

I also am somewhat amazed that some notable players from UT Tyler has signed (I'm sure that his isn't unusal and other players have done similar), Independent league contacts ahead of the draft. Do these players know something we don't? Why would you sign to play for a nonaffiliated team before the draft?