BB: ASC: American Southwest Conference

[TexasBB]

Even though I am a hard and fast UTT fan, I am also an ASC fan. Good luck to McMurrey they have a chance to win the regional. They have the best power hitting team in the tournament and if their pitching can stay competitive they can do it!! Good Luck and play hard!!!

[tloc14]

Ill be pulling for McM this week too.  Represent the ASC well!  With any luck McM will pull off some big wins and our conference will get some much needed recognition.

[bbnag101]

Extremely disappointed with McM lose today - I thought that they were a much better team.  It seemed that CSEB ran all over them. 

Also with Chapman's outing today- I wonder how the West will perform in the World Series??   The 2 strongest teams in the West did not play up to there ability.  I hope it was just first day jitters.

[Just_Some_Guy]

Extremely disappointed with McM lose today - I thought that they were a much better team.  It seemed that CSEB ran all over them. 

Also with Chapman's outing today- I wonder how the West will perform in the World Series??   The 2 strongest teams in the West did not play up to there ability.  I hope it was just first day jitters.

They're a senior laden team and Vieira is a really solid LHP. McM really needed Curry atop his game because that rotation doesn't get a lot better. Johnston's probably more battle tested though, and like I mentioned elsewhere, this McM team has overcome adversity all year long so let's hope they come out guns blazin tomorrow and see if they can get to Luzar/Clear/Sigman...

JSG

[tloc14]

Bummer, the lone ASC representative went 2 and done.  The regional setup was strange to me, Chapman (#1 seed) won their game and played the loser of the McM CSUE game.  Thought that was really odd, ive never seen a double elim tourney set up like that.  Anyhow its unfortunate that McM had to play Chapman after their tough first game loss.  It turned out to be a great game, hard fought for 12 innings until Chapman hit the walkoff homer.

Theres always next year.  Heres to hoping for an 8 team regional next season   

[chakote]

Bummer, the lone ASC representative went 2 and done.  The regional setup was strange to me, Chapman (#1 seed) won their game and played the loser of the McM CSUE game.  Thought that was really odd, ive never seen a double elim tourney set up like that.  Anyhow its unfortunate that McM had to play Chapman after their tough first game loss.  It turned out to be a great game, hard fought for 12 innings until Chapman hit the walkoff homer.

Theres always next year.  Heres to hoping for an 8 team regional next season   

Trinity is still there and will play hard I am sure;  I personally think that CSEB was a little lucky last night and Trinity should have an easy game tonight.  just my 2 cents.   But it is the play offs and nothing is for sure, still have to play the games

[TexasBB]

This will not help the ASC to get more representatives in the future. It will only reinforce the skeptics that think our conference is not that strong.  I still think of UTT with their pitching would have likely faired better but that is meaningless at this point.  Once again the ASC we have to look to next year.

[Just_Some_Guy]

This will not help the ASC to get more representatives in the future. It will only reinforce the skeptics that think our conference is not that strong.  I still think of UTT with their pitching would have likely faired better but that is meaningless at this point.  Once again the ASC we have to look to next year.

I think the ASC is okay in that respect. This was the first year, aside from TLU & UTT of late that the the ASC had other representatives in the rankings w/ Ozarks and UMHB both getting a bit of love throughout the year.

In '04 TLU was the runner up in the West region to Chapman
In '05 TLU was the runner up in the West region to Chapman
In '06 UT Dallas was 3rd and TLU was 4th.

In each of these years the ASC has proven that they are a very solid conference. This year there was a lot more parity, but even with the 2 and Q I don't know that they really did all the much to diminish their credibility.

What the voters in the East know is that every year Chapman represents the West region, that's the primary reason the other conferences aren't getting much love, including the NWC sending their champion to another region where they were the #5 seed.

Anyway, just my $.02  ...

JSG

[Ralph Turner]

Respectfully, UTT's pitching was not sufficiently strong to get out of the conference.

Some of the people on the West think that UTT's pitching loaded up on the weaker ASC-East.

I think that McMurry faced 2 all-Americans in Yacko and CSU-EB'S Viera in the tournament.

The West Region has had 2 national champions in this decade, as has the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic Regions

Vieira's stats...

Player   ERA  W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV   IP  H  R  ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg  WP HBP BK SFA SHA
VIEIRA 3.90  10-2  15  15  0       0/1      0  90.0 92 51 39 27  59  15   5   2 348  .264     5    2    0    3     7

Vieira's 2 losses are to Chapman, and to Linfield (the #5 seed which just knocked out the #1 seed in the Central Region, Illinois Wesleyan).

Trinity is still going, and they were only 3-4 versus the ASC-West.

I agree that the ASC needs better pitching.  Maybe we can get better arms.

[Just_Some_Guy]

Respectfully, UTT's pitching was not sufficiently strong to get out of the conference.

Some of the people on the West think that UTT's pitching loaded up on the weaker ASC-East.

I think that McMurry faced 2 all-Americans in Yacko and CSU-EB'S Viera in the tournament.

The West Region has had 2 national champions in this decade, as has the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic Regions

Vieira's stats...

Player   ERA  W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV   IP  H  R  ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg  WP HBP BK SFA SHA
VIEIRA 3.90  10-2  15  15  0       0/1      0  90.0 92 51 39 27  59  15   5   2 348  .264     5    2    0    3     7

Vieira's 2 losses are to Chapman, and to Linfield (the #5 seed which just knocked out the #1 seed in the Central Region, Illinois Wesleyan).

Trinity is still going, and they were only 3-4 versus the ASC-West.

I agree that the ASC needs better pitching.  Maybe we can get better arms.

Ralph,

While I agree in theory with respect to the UTT pitching staff - I do think they had the best pitching staff in the ASC throughout the course of the season, regardless of the teams in the East.

I didn't get to follow as closely as I would've liked down the stretch, but they did have a team ERA (3.02) significantly lower than the next best team, the Ozarks (4.81). Is it a relatively thin, top heavy staff? Yes, but so are most of the teams in the West region as far as I can tell.

Did Vilade mis-handle his staff down the stretch? I don't know. What I do know, and you're going to be hard pressed to convince me there are very many guys in the ASC period that are down right dirty, is that Booher, Holland, and even Campbell who had an off year can pitch... and so can Zeigler provided he's not facing Concorida, who owned him.

Are they getting out of the West regional with that staff ? Probably not, not without the ridiculous bullpen they had in '07, BUT do they stand a better chance to win that first game or two like Trinity seems poised to do (hope I don't jinx them), then I'd have to say, yeah.

All that said, you're right. I don't know if Vieira is an all-American, but he's certainly probably on the table when the team is chosen. I was surprised Curry wasn't better on the bump, I really was, but that East Bay team can swing it, which is a testament to what Oates is doing to them right now through 6.

JSG

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks for the comment, JSG.

I was pleased with the games that Smith and Gaona pitched today.  Smith can be the ace that we haven't had in a while, (Nick Shaffer or Josh Lee).

If Gaona can build on this then that might be 4 extra wins per year.

Coach Driggers has some openings for talent to move in next season.  (6 seniors starting at the positions.)

[TexasBB]

Looking to next year Vilade will return Booher, Holland and Ziegler. So UTT will have a strong pitching nucleus returning. They will undoubtedly be picked again to win the east. It has become readily apparent however based upon the Regional selection this year that the ASC cannot count on any team other than its conference tournament champion to get a bid. This became abundantly clear when this years UTT team was the only team in the top 19 in the country to get passed by. So everything rides on the conference tournament. Thus it doesn't matter where you finish durring the regular season as long as you qualify and win the tournament. I don't see the west going to 8 teams which is too bad, but until they do we cannot count on the conference placing more than one team even if they win 35 games.

[Ralph Turner]

Bases loaded, 2 outs, top of the 9th, TU 8-3. 

CSU-EB Tuttle lined out to pitcher to end the game.

[Just_Some_Guy]

we cannot count on the conference placing more than one team even if they win 35 games.

There are VERY few conferences that can count on it... The ASC did do it last year with TLU and UTD, and though I have set idle and understand that UTT didn't have much flexibility with their schedule. A little bit stronger schedule OR a second place finish in the conference tournament and I suspect they have a REALLY good chance.

JSG

[tloc14]

If you do not win your conf tourny or atleast finish runner up you dont stand much of a chance of getting into the regionals...unless you played an incredible schedule and did very well in it.  UTT did not do either of those things.  In my opinion they had things set up for them to take it.  They started off with Concordia (who they beat 2/3 this year already) and stumbled...then dropped the ball again vs the same team later on.  Im a UTT supporter, but even I dont think they earned a spot this year.  Next year may be different...just depends how people come out and play.

Grats to Trinity, hope they keep it going....TX pride.