Quote from: HITandRUN463 on April 30, 2010, 07:10:38 PM

Quote from: thunder38illini on April 30, 2010, 11:56:01 AM
Dominican also uses Alexian Field for its home field so they may have a home game or something planned.  I think the doubleheader sweep by North Park probably just locked in the field for the CCIW tourney.  Wheaton has fallen apart since their ninth inning collapse at Concordia and it's going to be too little too late before they can pick on Elmhurst next weekend.  Wheaton just can't put it together on both sides of the ball.  The offense has been on lately but the pitching has been poor and even when they get a good outing like Dennison had on Monday they offense can't string hits together.

I don't know how you can say North Park will get the field for the tournament.  There are still 2 important weekends of CCIW baseball left.  You are getting too far ahead of yourself

Yes hit and run he means getting in the tournament. Don't get all jumpy! We know you're rooting for the Cardinal bandwagon you have been aboard all season...

All of this umpire business is getting a tad out of hand. What respectable individual who is called to work is going to intentionally sway the outcome of games? Umpires have no incentives to favor particular teams and to accuse coaches at any level of hiring "buddies" on the premise of winning a ballgame is a disgrace. Let's focus a bit more on the positives this season has exhibited. There are two teams at the top of the conference in NCC and NPU who were picked to finish among the bottom of the conference this year and are having fantastic seasons. Lets commend the young men on those programs for their success thus far!!

Quote from: HITandRUN463 on April 24, 2010, 08:36:09 PM

Quote from: droppinbombs47 on April 24, 2010, 08:18:30 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 24, 2010, 01:28:27 PM
As I said earlier this week, don't be fooled by Giovenco's W-L record. He is not struggling this season. Nice game, Mike!

Gregory this is getting borderline ridiculous with the Giovenco posts here.  He isn't even the best pitcher in our conference, just because he has a below average major league fastball doesn't mean every post needs to be about him and how he is God's gift to earth.  No your right he is not struggling guys are hitting under .200 against him that is just wonderful. I am not bashing him, but there is a lot more storylines this year in the CCIW than Giovenco's 5 - 4 record because his team can't give him any run support.  I need to see him throw against Wheaton and Carthage to jump on the Giovenco bandwagon.

In another news North Central beat Wheaton 23 - 14 and continue to put runs on the board.

I agree with Droppinbombs47 on this one...Giovenco needs to prove to me that he can beat Carthage and Wheaton.  Once he does that, then I'll tip my cap to him.  I agree he has the tools to be a great pitcher, but can he produce against the top teams?  We've seen him struggle against the playoff-bound North Central team already.  So I am excited to see him perform against the others.

Anyways...

I just saw that North Central scored in every inning in the contest vs. Wheaton.  I haven't seen that in a long time, and I mean a long time. 

If the Cards can get a sweep on Monday, then that would be huge news in the CCIW. 

North Central is just mashing right now, watch out they are hot 

NC's been hot all year long HitandRun.... It looks like at this point the conference tournament is destined to be in Naperville this year  . The baseball team is contributing to a very respectable athletic program and it will be great if they were able to host and put the school on the stage it deserves to be on 

Droppinbombs great idea on the fantasy league. This in the midst of watching the origins of rotisserie baseball on espn's 30 for 30. It would be tough to get a solid read on some of the players in the CCIW. We don't know a lot about these players like we do in the pros.

Quote from: DirtyJersey on April 19, 2010, 10:22:01 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on April 19, 2010, 07:21:08 PM
Anyone got any first-hand insight on IWU this season?  I've been studying the stats, but would like something more to interpret them.

Kraig Ladd was touted by some as a possible CCIW MVP - he is currently hitting .182, with a .250 slugging percentage.  Nagging injuries or just a horrible final season?

Brent Kulavic is currently 0-2 with an era of 6.03 (but he IS striking out >1 batter per inning, so I assume it is not physical, per se).  Was his sophomore season simply magic in action, or is he the ultimate 'hard-luck' story this year?

The team appears to be carried (to the extent that a 12-13 record for a perennial contender is being carried at all) by Jason Pankau (6-0, 2.15 era - the ONLY Titan pitcher with a winning record, and 2.80 era better than 2nd place) and Casey McIntosh (slugging % of .606 - he leads in RBIs with 31 [2nd is 19], and total bases with 60 [2nd is 35] - he has nearly as many HRs as the rest of the team combined).

Two other anomalies I'm intrigued by.  There are FIVE Titan regulars with on base % over .400, yet they can't score regularly.  And, after 25 games, the staff total for saves is ONE.

Any insights to go beyond the stats will be appreciated.

Mr. Ypsi,

IWU is an interesting topic. Brett Moore, their best ballplayer is out for the season, which has pushed another freshman into their lineup. IWUs young bats 9have been fairly weak besides the first baseman. Kraig Ladd is healthy, however, looking like a different hitter than the past 2 seasons. Kulavic is coming off Tommy John and just isn't the same pitcher.
If not for McIntosh and some timely hitting (considering they dont hit it very well), the Titans could be in worse shape. I am inclined to say their upperclassmen pitching staff and hitters will turn it up down the stretch. As for the saves, Martel is a guy who won't depend on a closer unless he succeeds every outing.

Also, Gregory Sager, Giovenco does not have a 96mph fastball. Last season Ubaldo Jimenez was the hardest throwing pitcher in MLB averaging a fastball at 95.5 mph. If Giovenco and Jimenez sit at the same velocity then I would have to say CCIW hitters are much more talented than I ever would have thought.  I have never heard of a flamethrower like that not going in the top 3 rounds!! Of course, he may have touched 96 a handful of times in his lifetime on hot summer days but it is safe to say he has a 91 mph fastball. And YES I have seen his throw several times since last season started. As Mr. B has shown he could very easily be 7-1. He is a great pitcher on a solid baseball team, nonetheless.

Kudos to DirtyJersey for highlighting that point about Giovenco's fastball. Yes, he throws hard but he does not bolster a 96 MPH fastball in his CCIW outings.

Quote from: ChiSoxMan on April 19, 2010, 01:27:54 PM
Has anyone found out what the big "incident" was at Saturday's game 1 of Carthage @ North Central? I'm not referring to the umpires being late, but one of my friends who went to the game and himself arrived late said there was some big "mess" that occurred.

The big mess was the fact that North Central rallied to put up a 6 spot on the Red Men in the 9th inning in route to victory.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 18, 2010, 08:26:24 AM
The second game of the Carthage @ NCC doubleheader was suspended on account of darkness in the middle of the seventh inning with Carthage leading, 10-7. It will be continued up in Kenosha today prior to the start of the scheduled third game of the series.

After yesterday's wild occurrence in Naperville, there are going to be a lot of eyes on what's happening in Kenosha today

Quote from: BigPoppa on April 15, 2010, 08:41:14 AM

Quote from: cardsalum on April 15, 2010, 08:33:00 AM
North Central really let an opportunity slip away to the Big Blue yesterday in Naperville. Looks like they made it a staff day throwing a number of pitchers in the game. Not sure why they would do that in a conference game.

That one loss to Millikin could come back to haunt them in the end. They now start a tough run in the CCIW with teams that are right on their heels.

It is nice to NCC back in the mix. We had many, many tough battles with them when I played and we were both nationally ranked almost every time we met. We (carthage) lost to NCC 5 of 7 times in '94... they really had our number that season and both teams made it to the NCAA regional.

I've been watching this team for the past few years now and this is as balanced a lineup as I've seen on the field. Robinson has been great in the lead off and the middle of the order can really hit the ball. This weekend should make for a very exciting series. Good Luck Big Poppa

North Central really let an opportunity slip away to the Big Blue yesterday in Naperville. Looks like they made it a staff day throwing a number of pitchers in the game. Not sure why they would do that in a conference game.