Standings so far are here:
http://www2.northcoast.org/baseball/standings/2012

I'm hoping Denison can find some way to claw back to respectability. A 5-18 start seems to take us back to the 1990s. It seems that nearly every team on the schedule is much stronger from here on out: Case, Wittenberg, OWU, Wabash, Kenyon.

Maybe the Big Red can rally. The key seems to be cutting down on the errors, right? The pitching isn't deep, and the run production has been poor. But 58 errors in 23 games (while your opponents make only 23) makes it hard to win.

It did seem that this was a down year, certainly in the NCAC.

My team, Denison, had its first losing record since 2000. Ouch. In non-conference games, it was 8-13.

The non-conference results for teams in the NCAC, using the standings now on the NCAC site:

Wooster, 11-12
Ohio Wesleyan, 12-10
Wittenberg, 11-13
Wabash, 12-15 (and Wabash won the NCAC tournament)
Denison, 8-13
Allegheny, 11-8
Kenyon, 8-8
Oberlin, 11-12
Hiram, 8-8

The only NCAC teams with winning non-conference records were OWU, 12-10, and Allegheny, 11-8.

In the OAC, using the standings on the OAC site:

Marietta, 16-2
Heidelberg, 18-4
Mount Union, 6-11
John Carroll, 7-11
Otterbein, 10-11
Capital, 4-12
Muskingum, 7-11
Baldwin-Wallace, 12-6
Wilmington, 5-8
Ohio Northern, 15-5

I guess that's it for Allegheny and Denison. Rain has ended the season.

The NCAC site says:

QuoteThe field is set for this weekend's 2011 NCAC Baseball Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. Due to extreme weather conditions throughout the region during the 2011 NCAC baseball season, not all teams were able to complete their regular season schedules.

Two-time defending NCAC champion Wooster (9-4, 19-12) has earned the No. 1 seed and will take on No. 4 seed Wittenberg (9-5, 20-16) on Thursday afternoon at 4:00 p.m., while No. 2 seed Ohio Wesleyan (11-5, 21-13) will play No. 3 seed Wabash (9-5, 18-20) at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday evening.

http://www2.northcoast.org/baseball/weeklyrelease/4-25-11

(By the way, have you noticed that if you Google NCAC baseball, it takes you to a site with only last year's stats: http://www.northcoast.org/ba/ba.html. Someone should be able to fix that.)

There is no joy in Granville.

Denison's year ends 16-20 (8-7), the first losing season and fewest wins for the Big Red since 2000 (way back in Craddock's first season).

April's record, 5-10.

This year's conference games followed this frustrating course: W-W-L-W-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-L. Mostly because of inconsistent pitching, perhaps.

The best hitter will return (Forgatch, now a junior). The seniors graduating include Krieger, who made big RBI contributions, and two of the better starting pitchers (Smith and McOsker).

Let's hope the young arms develop.

Yes, I neglected Allegheny. Looking at its schedule:

Allegheny, 5-6, .455, plays two with Wooster on Monday, has yet to play two against Hiram, one against Oberlin. Best finish would be 10-6, .625. And of course, it's another team with the potential to finish 9-7.

I don't see anything on Allegheny's schedule about the makeups with Hiram and Oberlin.

Here's how I have the standings, after Wittenberg and OWU split a doubleheader. (Big win in late innings for Wittenberg in the second game.)

Wooster, 9-4, .692, plays two with Allegheny on Monday. Could make up game with Denison. Worst finish would be 9-7 or .563.

OWU, 11-5, .688.

Wabash, 9-5, .643, plays two at Kenyon on Monday. Worst finish would be 9-7 or .563.

Wittenberg, 9-5, .643, plays two with Hiram on Monday. Worst finish would be 9-7 or .563.

Denison, 8-7, .533, could play makeup with Wooster. Worst finish would be 8-8. Best finish would be 9-7 or .563.

That looks like the potential for a tie for fourth spot.

Denison press release yesterday said it would try to schedule a makeup with Wooster early this week.

I'm not sure how the tiebreakers work, but I assume they start with head-to-head match-ups:
   Denison lost series to Wabash.
   Denison split series with Wittenberg.

Well said, ScotsFan!

The team was almost entirely freshmen and sophomores last season. Six players made all-conference, including two freshmen and a sophomore. And they beat the defending national champion twice. The year before, Dedman's first year, they were much improved and missed the regional by just one game.

Next year Denison may be better, and in a couple of years...

This sort of juvenile drive-by attack does a disservice to the university, the players and the coach.

I believe it was obvious that Coach Dedman could not have been more passionate about Denison, about baseball, and about his players.

At age 24 or 25 he stepped up to take on a lot of responsibility, coaching players he had played with, and he'll learn from the experience. It would have been easier for him, of course, if he'd had someone to mentor him, but it was a situation that didn't allow for that. Dedman filled in with hard work and character at a time when the program was desperate for both. He was recruiting well after some fallow years (I hope those good freshmen will give us time to find a new coach and will still come to Denison), raising money for a new stadium, all those parts of the job that are out of view even to the players.

The next coach will probably be more experienced, but can't love Denison and its players any more.

I've talked with players, parents and Denison coaches who understand this, who appreciate his effort, and who wish him successs.