Bobby

You have covinced me through excellent statistical analysis that Ryan Walsh should be neck and neck with Melvin Castillo for POY.  Good work!!!

Oh, by the way, would you be kind enough to do the exact same statistical comparison for last year between MCormack and Callahan and see if you can honestly think that Cody Callahan did not deserve the ROY award?

Word

They were appealing that Patenode did not tag second base.  He was the runner on first who was stealing second when the throw went into center field.  The three of us watching the game thought he might have missed the bag as well, but when PSC finally retrieved the ball and tagged second, the appeal was denied and we let out a collective sigh of relief.  He must have gotten it with his tippy toe.  The pitcher should have walked the ball to second, keeping his eye on Patenode at third base the whole time.  Instead, he just turned and threw the ball.  Very poor execution of the appeal.

Keene did indeed dodge a bullet today.  I was at the game and PSC really did outplay the Owls except for two throwing errors by the catcher,one in the the 7th and one in the 8th that essentially gave KSC the 4 runs they  needed.
Diprato's single was not a walk-off- it occured in the 8th inning to give KSC the lead.  PSU made it interesting in the ninth.  Lead-off walk, sac bunt (good baseball).  Next batter hit a slow ground ball up the middle that second baseman Jesse Cahill got in front of behind the bag, but was not going to have a play.  But the ball hit the bag and got out into short center field.  The runner had slowed into 3rd and then headed for home when the ball got through.   I still don't know if it was Cahill or SS Morrill who chased the ball down and through home where Cippy caught the ball up the first line a couple of steps and literally dove into the baserunner, glove first, for the second out of the inning.
PSU had 5 hits and four runs in the second inning off Pelkey, but did nothing else offensively.  PSU pitcher (Lefty #7) baffled KSC batters through 7.

My predictions:

UMB sweeps WCSU

RIC sweeps PSU

UMD sweeps USM  (is this the year of the Corsair?)

ECSU sweeps KSC (It pains me to say this, but KSC has been giving up 10 plus runs to teams that have nowhere near the offensive fire-power that ECSU has.  I hope I am wrong here, and I will be rooting hard for the Owls, but,......

ECSU over WCSU

Word, you took the words right out of my mouth!!

LECFAN- Thanks for asking,  Jamie is doing well.  He lives and works in Seoul, South Korea, teaching English.  He is a little more than 1/2 way through a one year commitment.  He misses baseball at Keene State, but he doesn't dwell on it.  He realizes that lives moves on.  He did love every minute of his 4 years at Keene.

I am looking forward to watching the Owls play.  Pitching is a concern for all teans, and KSC is no exception.  I do think this years staff will be better than last year's once they settle down to their northern schedule.  I am most concerned about the KSC defense.

Kyle Morrill is a nice story.  The way I heard it last year from pretty good sources is that he was one of the last guys to make the team.  He was not expected to play much and was taken in some part because of very good athleticism and the fact that he was an extremely hard worker and a great kid.  As things turned out in the middle infield he was given a chance and responded pretty well.  He struggled defensively at SS when Chevy was injured, but seemed quite a bit more comfortable at second.  He showed surprising pop in his bat with, I think 3 homers and several extra base hits.  Also, he showed a tremendous attitude, never sulking when he made errors or struck out, etc, which he did quite a bit at the beginning.  He improved steadily and I know he earned the respect of all of us in the stands.  I could not be happier for the young man and I wish him continued success.

Hobbsey,

The blog looks great.  You can be sure I will be checking in regularly.

ECSUalum

Thanks, and thanks for asking about Jamie.  Yes, he is living and working in Seoul So Korea and will be there through the end of August.  He is doing well and having a great time, though he does admit to being a bit homesick.  It does seem strange to me (and I am sure to him) that he is not preparing for an upcoming baseball season.  It has been many years since that has happened.  I'd give almost anything to go back in time 4 years and start his KSC career over.  Oh well, life does go on.

ECSUalum, you do win the prize,  hypothetically speaking of course.

And Hobbesy, you are right about the development of the great rivalry between ECSU and KSC.  And, about the respect that the players have for each other.    I can't wait to watch these two great teams play against each other this year.

Hello everyone.  Just spent the last hour reading the message board as I haven't visited in quite some time.  Great stuff.   

I am looking forward to the season.  I expect it to be really exciting, as it always is.  I am particularly interested to see the new players that KSC has brought in. 

Quick quiz question.  Which is the only LEC team that has been in the LEC Tournament finals the past four years?  To be fair, I should ask another quiz question.  Which team has actually won the LEC tournament 3 of the past four years?

Good luck to all the LEC teams.  Should be a great year!!!

Dgilblair

What Shawn said to you after that final game is one of the nicest, classiest things that I have ever heard.  I know you are super proud of him and you should be.  It will probably be a long time before the LEC sees a player like him again.  My son has told me many times that he has enormous respect for Shawn.  The very best of luck to him as he pursues his dream.

Congratulations to Bobby Doyan and Shawn Gilblair for being named first team D3baseball ALL-AMERICANS!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT A GAME!!!!!!!!

Congrats ECSU.  BIg, big hits for Schult, Gilblair, and especially Hobbs.

My whole family watched on the internet.   Could not believe it!!!!

Tons of admiration for Connor Fahey- what a stud!!!

2 more games and then off to Wisconsin.  Good luck tomorrow.

Good start for WNEC in NY.  Go get em Word!!!

If any team in the NE Regional can come back from an opening round loss, I think it would be ECSU.

Nice to see Mark Scmidt (Sp?) come back from injury to pitch in the regional for USM.

Overall, games much closer than I would have expected.