WNE walks off on Trinity!! Bring on the Wheaties! It's gonna be tough to beat Wheaton twice based on the way they are playing, but it will also be tough for Wheaton to beat WNE four times in one year. Let's hope for an entertaining game(s) at least.

Go Bears!!!

Did Lawlor come in to shut the door for WNE?

WNE came into today's opening round match-up against Keene St with a 1-6 record against NCAA tournament teams, with that one win ironically being over the same Keene St club (add another one against the owls!!). WNE will play the winner of Wheaton-Bridgewater St, teams they combined to go 0-3 against in the regular season. Whoever comes out victorious in the Wheaton-Bridgewater St game will be a tough match-up for WNE. However, their bats are hot and with Nugent throwing that gem today, the Golden Bears look to be in good shape because they did not have to use Lawlor and company at the back end of the bullpen. It should be a fun regional to watch. Go Bears!!! 

I believe that WNEC definitely has a pretty decent shot to win it all. Anything can happen at this point, and all 8 teams are here for a reason. ECSUAlum like you said, Illinois Wesylean was the case in point last year. Whoever gets hot is the team that will bring home the hardware. If WNEC can continue their pitching dominance, they can beat anyone. WNEC's first round draw in Keystone seems to be a good matchup and should be a very competitive game. Both teams are making their first trip to the World Series and will be looking to make a statement. On paper Marietta is no doubt the favorite, sporting a .344 team BA and a ridiculous 1.71 team ERA. But like you guys said, you just never know. The field looks solid this year even with 3 newcomers. Go WNEC, bring the Walnut and Bronze back to New England!

WNEC headed to Appleton!!! Congrats to Coach LaBranche and the GBear Express! Couldn't be more proud to be a Golden Bear. All of the work put in for so long has finally payed off. The pitching was phenomenal all week, along with very solid defense and timely hitting. Carry the momentum to Appleton and make New England proud!

One win away from having the chance to chase the Walnut and Bronze. Go Golden Bears!!!

The question is will they go back to game 1 starter Rogers or start DiTommaso or Jefferis? In my mind, it is a no-brainer that Rogers is going to start on short rest and get the job done! Coach LaBranche will find a way to get it done and show why he was selected as the Coach of the Year in New England.

Wheaton over RIC
Tufts over St. Joe's
WNEC over Bridgewater St.

My picks have been pretty solid so far, so I hope to keep that up today. I see Wheaton being Wheaton by taking care of business and finally being able to hit their stride against RIC. Tufts should be able to handle St. Joe's, but you never know. And I can see Bridgewater St. giving WNEC some problems. WNEC beat Bridgewater St. 10-8 during the regular season, but I see this one as a lower scoring game. Gotta go with my Golden Bears though!

3 out of 4 for predictions for yesterday's games, not too shabby.

Today's predictions:

Tufts over MIT
Wheaton over Husson
RIC over Bridgewater St.
WNEC over St. Joe's

Tufts vs. Bridgewater St - Tufts
WNEC vs. Husson - WNEC
Wheaton vs. St. Joe's - St. Joe's in a close one
MIT vs. RIC - RIC in a close one

Looking at the seedings and matchups, who does everyone think is the early favorite to come out of this NE regional? What lower seed has the potential to make some noise and surprise people?

I like all of the higher seeds in the opening round games, with the exception of RIC over MIT.

7express,

To be honest with you, I think that Eastern is still in good shape to get an at-large bid. A 32-11 record and making it to the championship round of the LEC tourney should be enough. It looks like New England is weaker this year than it has been in the past, so having Eastern in the field would definitely strengthen the NE regional. It is nice seeing some new faces in the regionals, but teams like RIC, Bridgewater State, and Mitchell are not considered among the stronger teams in NE. If you look past Tufts, WNEC, Wheaton, and St. Joe's, what other auto-qualifiers can be considered high-quality teams? Teams like Eastern, Endicott, and Amherst should get serious looks for an at-large bid.

You can't go wrong giving the MVP to Rogers or Lawlor. Both of them deserve it and were two of the most important pieces to WNEC's tournament run. How about co-MVPs?

Yeah Matt Rogers really came in and pitched with some kahones (in both games!). That does not surprise me at all. When it comes conference tournament time, you give it all you got because if they win the CCC tournament, they have plenty of time to rest. That makes it back to back 10-win seasons for Rogers, something that I doubt has ever been accomplished in WNEC's history, so kudos to him. As for the WNEC team, they sure do always make it interesting in the CCC tourney. Big win earlier against Endicott 5-4 to send it to a winner take all game for the title. This is a much more important game for Endicott because if they don't win it will be tough to get an at-large with a 30-15 record. On the other hand, I believe WNEC would still be in great shape for an at-large with 37 wins. Let's see what happens in game 2. GO WNEC!!!

Today marked opening day for a few teams, it's good to be back. The Farmingdale tournament started today with two of the stronger teams in New England, WNEC and Keene St in action. WNEC took care of business in the first game of the day, taking down host Farmingdale St. 9-2 behind a solid pitching performance from Matt Rogers. Fatse, Rubino, and Taylor led the way offensively in an otherwise quiet day for the bats because of walks and errors. As for Keene St, they are about to close out St. Joseph's (LI), as they are up 6-0 in the 9th. Crutcher and Pelkey are putting together a dominant pitching performance, along with the usual offensive firepower from Doyon and Co. Is this kid Crutcher a transfer? (I'm sure you KSC fans can tell me) If Keene St can have consistent pitching then they can be a very dangerous team all year. These two teams meet on Sunday to finish up the weekend tournament. It should be a solid game and a great opportunity for one of these two teams to get an early quality regional win. What are everyone's thoughts about WNEC and Keene St and what do you think will happen on Sunday?

This regional is up for grabs! Obviously UMB has the upper hand at this point, but I think anything can happen. I don't think anyone gave St. Joe's enough credit coming into the tournament. Being a former golden bear and member of the GNAC, I like seeing St. Joe's doing well and playing for a chance to get to the regional final! Today's matchup with Tufts will be a low scoring game in my opinion and whoever wins will give UMB a tough game.