Coach Stech always recruits arms. Two big wins for ONU.  How about BW 7-7?  Gotta get hot at some point.

Muskingum with 2 big errors in the 7th which led to 4 unearned runs and drop game one 5-4.  Chappie gets his 4th win.  He kept hitters off balance all game but Muskies gave it away.

JC certainly improved but OTT not as good as last year.

Same with Marietta.  Pitching is decent but so many young players. Loss of most of their production from last year will lead to lower scoring games. They should improve though.

Quote from: BobcatQB on March 23, 2025, 08:58:09 AMCoach Stech always recruits arms. Two big wins for ONU.  How about BW 7-7?  Gotta get hot at some point.

I watched a couple ONU games earlier and was pretty impressed.  I keep telling myself BW will lock in, but they're 7-7 and, let's be honest, it's not like they've played Etta's schedule.  Their best win is probably Adrian who is under .500 at the moment.  And their losses are all too solid teams, but the best team that's beat BW OOC is CWRU.  I still think they have the talent to figure it out, but I'm less confident today than yesterday.  They've got Bluffton, Allegheny, then DH at Wilm so they should be able to build some momentum here.

Quote from: BobcatQB on March 23, 2025, 08:58:09 AMMuskingum with 2 big errors in the 7th which led to 4 unearned runs and drop game one 5-4.  Chappie gets his 4th win.  He kept hitters off balance all game but Muskies gave it away.

I saw Chappie was 4-1 now.  Looking at the stats he at least keeps them in games.  That being said, as you said if not for miscues in the field that's a sweep.  Not ideal to drop one you think you should win early on, but better now than a month from now.

Quote from: BobcatQB on March 23, 2025, 08:58:09 AMJC certainly improved but OTT not as good as last year.

Agreed on both counts.  Anyone that has followed the OAC for a while knows Ott tends to live and die with the bats.  When they're good it's nearly always driven largely by raking and taking advantage of playing in the launching pad that is Fishbaugh.  But when they're really good they also have 2-3 really good arms.  I just don't know that the bats are there and it seems like the arms definitely might not be.  JCU I just never have a good feel for year to year.  They're kind of like ONU for me.  They can always be good, but I just don't know because it isn't like Ott where I know most of the kids they bring in each year.  I rarely know the players from ONU or JCU mainly due to geography.

Quote from: BobcatQB on March 23, 2025, 08:58:09 AMSame with Marietta.  Pitching is decent but so many young players. Loss of most of their production from last year will lead to lower scoring games. They should improve though.

Decent is a good descriptor.  When Etta is Etta they always have some dudes.  They'd have multiple arms and bats that are All-Region/AA caliber guys.  Unfortunately those guys are at Ball State.  They're going to take their lumps at times this year, but those young guys getting ABs will be good.  I would be more concerned with the pitching.  They have some solid guys, but no one dominant and with a young lineup they could really use a dominant, veteran SP to count on every weekend.  I didn't see anyone that flashed.

Ziance and Rocky give the Pios a good 1-2 that will keep them in and be able to win games.  Ziance is  power pitcher in low 90's and will continue to improve, only a soph.   Rocky is lefty with good movement and always around the zone. 

I'll get to see JC next weekend as Muskies visit.

Quote from: BobcatQB on March 23, 2025, 07:25:03 PMZiance and Rocky give the Pios a good 1-2 that will keep them in and be able to win games.  Ziance is  power pitcher in low 90's and will continue to improve, only a soph.   Rocky is lefty with good movement and always around the zone. 

I'll get to see JC next weekend as Muskies visit.

I know Ziance personally, kid is legit, puts in incredible amounts of work in the offseason and should have an amazing season. Won't be surprised if he continues to put up good numbers, only question is if Brewer will be able to keep him at etta after he does.

Sorry I'm late to the party on the Streaks but how bout a sweep on the road at otterbein to open up 2-0 in conf. When you score 32 runs in a series that's just good hitting even if Ott is a total boom box (Side note: I wonder if they've done any renovations to the worst away bullpen in the OAC. I know they received lots of complaints around the league a few years ago, but if they still have kids warming up from 55 feet in the bullpen we've got issues) Then the streaks split with 23 Case on Sunday, thats a win in my book.

I also can't be the only one that is surprised that Musky is receiving 20 votes still after dropping a game to Wilmington?! Maybe the voters are just looking at records but at some point we have to factor in SOS. We'll see how they perform against JCU this weekend. I'm just putting musky on fraud watch for the time being and if they lose both I'm fully out on their season. Should be a good series, really excited to see who ends up on top.

Quote from: OACPitcheroftheyear2023 on March 25, 2025, 10:25:18 PM

Quote from: BobcatQB on March 23, 2025, 07:25:03 PMZiance and Rocky give the Pios a good 1-2 that will keep them in and be able to win games.  Ziance is  power pitcher in low 90's and will continue to improve, only a soph.   Rocky is lefty with good movement and always around the zone. 

I'll get to see JC next weekend as Muskies visit.

I know Ziance personally, kid is legit, puts in incredible amounts of work in the offseason and should have an amazing season. Won't be surprised if he continues to put up good numbers, only question is if Brewer will be able to keep him at etta after he does.

Sorry I'm late to the party on the Streaks but how bout a sweep on the road at otterbein to open up 2-0 in conf. When you score 32 runs in a series that's just good hitting even if Ott is a total boom box (Side note: I wonder if they've done any renovations to the worst away bullpen in the OAC. I know they received lots of complaints around the league a few years ago, but if they still have kids warming up from 55 feet in the bullpen we've got issues) Then the streaks split with 23 Case on Sunday, thats a win in my book.

I also can't be the only one that is surprised that Musky is receiving 20 votes still after dropping a game to Wilmington?! Maybe the voters are just looking at records but at some point we have to factor in SOS. We'll see how they perform against JCU this weekend. I'm just putting musky on fraud watch for the time being and if they lose both I'm fully out on their season. Should be a good series, really excited to see who ends up on top.

And the visitors dugout at OTT fit like 1/2 a team.

I was surprised they rec'd 20 votes..not surprised for a few but 20 was way more than I thought.  SOS is 341..not good.  #1 went down in that loss to Wilmington with a lat/side strain.  No update yet on his status but I'm sure he won't pitch against JC.  That hurts bad for this weekend and especially if it lingers.  #1 and #2 both off to a good start. #3 and #4 are both freshman with good upside but this staff can't afford injuries.

I think Ziance is staying put.  Dad bought a condo in Marietta and they love it there.  Such a great baseball community, facility and history.  But things could change.  They will also be losing alot after this year, at least most of what they have.  4 seniors in the lineup and 3 seniors on the hill.  Those young guys will need to grow up quick if they want to get this turned around this year and next.

As a HS travel coach in Columbus I can assure you the bullpen is still a mess.  And by summer time so is the mound/infield if I'm being honest.  And yes, the visitor dugout is small too.  That's why when you go watch an OAC game half the pitching staff is sitting in the bleachers with the kid with the radar gun. 

I noticed the top 25 voting also.  I just wrote it off to record voting.  You see the record and it's an OAC team and you give them one of your last spots on the ballot.  No big deal for a team in ORV.

Not good news about the SP for Muskingum though.  Hopefully a weekend of rest will heal him up.  The way it looks so far I don't think Muskingum is alone this season in not being able to afford injuries to even one key arm.

JCU scoring 32 runs was not because Fishbaugh is hitter-friendly.  I was making that comment before in terms of why Otterbein always has guys with some gaudy homer run numbers because they get to play half their games there.

The Top 25 begins to make sense when ALL of D3 has played about 25 games. By then, most of the Spring trips are completed, the south & west wannabe's have migrated back to mediocrity and the cream is rising.

The best of the OAC are always in the minds of the voters. I think they are waiting for the best 2-3 to assert themselves.

Highlight win of today was BW beating D2 Tiffin 9-2.  ONU surprisingly lost to sub .500 Albion.  Mount beat Adrian on the road 6-3.  Not quite as impressive this year with Adrian being down for their standards, but still a solid road win.

Couple good games and a couple blowouts in the openers today.  Ott survived 4 errors to beat Cap 6-4.  Cap had 3 errors of their own.

Muskingum and JCU had to have the most entertaining opener.  Back and forth with each team landing big blows with crooked numbers.  Fish win 15-10 thanks to their huge 7 run 7th answering JCU's 5 run 6th.

In the less interesting ones BW pummeled Wilm 18-2 and Berg didn't even threaten to score in a 10-0 loss to Mount.

I'll post more tomorrow but guys this is gonna be a crazy year.  I don't know if there's a single dominant arm in the conference.  And unless BW morphs there isn't a dominant team in sight. 

Marietta/ONU cancelling doesn't help Muskies cause for Tues. They will see Ziance and Rocky now.  Still don't have a definitive answer yet as to why they cancelled but that will have an impact for sure on the final standings.

Quote from the assistant ONU coach:

"Game was cancelled due to umpire saying he was not doing the game anymore last second. Wander Field and a turf field with lights was ready to be played on today for the scheduled DH."


They pushed the games to 4/7 but one of the umpires didn't approve?  Game times change all the time in OH because of weather and umpires are usually pretty flexible..I guess this dude had a date.

Looking at Marietta's schedule that cancelation is an advantage on a couple levels.  One, they avoid likely being 0-4 after yesterday.  Two, it aligns their #1-2 SP into better matchups the rest of the way.  Now they will likely have their #3-4 against BW and Wilm neither of which is a bad thing IMO.

Yesterday went pretty much as expected.  BW boat raced Wilm.  No surprise there.  Ott swept Cap in a couple games that were tied late.  Cap just doesn't have the pitching depth to hang on.  Muskingum and JCU split.  Nice bounce back from the Streaks after the Fish put up 15 runs in game 1.  Mount outscored Berg 23-1.  Berg has problems.  They lack a big bat or a dominant arm.  It's going to be tough for them to score much against any decent staff.  And Matusak was chased after 3 giving up 9 runs.

My feel as of now:

Tier 1: ONU, BW
Tier 2: Mount, JCU
Tier 3: Muskingum, Marietta
Tier 4: Otterbein
Tier 5: Berg, Cap, Wilm

Quote from: Dr. Acula on March 30, 2025, 08:02:37 PMYesterday went pretty much as expected.  BW boat raced Wilm.  No surprise there.  Ott swept Cap in a couple games that were tied late.  Cap just doesn't have the pitching depth to hang on.  Muskingum and JCU split.  Nice bounce back from the Streaks after the Fish put up 15 runs in game 1.  Mount outscored Berg 23-1.  Berg has problems.  They lack a big bat or a dominant arm.  It's going to be tough for them to score much against any decent staff.  And Matusak was chased after 3 giving up 9 runs.

My feel as of now:

Tier 1: ONU, BW
Tier 2: Mount, JCU
Tier 3: Muskingum, Marietta
Tier 4: Otterbein
Tier 5: Berg, Cap, Wilm

I think you're spot on.  Muskingum & JCU to me could be reversed but I would keep it this way.  JCU's pitching has been slightly better and that's most important.  Muskingum's offense is definitely better but their defense has already lost them a few games to inferior teams so I'm giving the edge to JCU.