BB: ASC: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

Let's see how Byington does at McMurry.

He seems to have developed this year's team well.

I like McMurry's chances if they can win the last 6 games.  If HSU beats TLU 2-1, then a 16-5 McMurry would win the West outright.

I am not trying to count chickens before they hatch, because the HPU and SRSU series will be tough!

[tloc14]

Looks like the west is starting to take shape finally.  It seems that the top 4 teams have separated from the rest.  Things can still happen, but it looks like the only positions changes of relevence will be between the top 4.

CTX looks like they had  really disappointing season.  I dont know what happened there.  They played UTT tough at the beginning of the season and won, but have been in steady decline (it seems) since.

I did not know the full extent of what happened at ETBU.  All I knew was that they had a coach leave and Blackmon was hired from UD.  From an outsider's point of view it looked like the program fell apart when the new coach came in.  That did not suprise me because I remembered how UD fell apart when Vilade left (actually Blackmon was the successor there too).  If I had to guess, ETBU an UD shared the same opinions as schools towards athletics.  Many private schools see sports as simply something extracurricular and not as something to invest in.  If I were a betting man, I would guess that the decline of ETBU was much more internal than just the locker room or the coach.

The reason I said ETBU won the East was because Tyler was in a probationary period, and thus their record counted for nothing when the post season started.  If I remember correctly, ETBU was ranked in the top 10 at points that year....drastic change.

[yuckmonkey]

Looks like the west is starting to take shape finally.  It seems that the top 4 teams have separated from the rest.  Things can still happen, but it looks like the only positions changes of relevence will be between the top 4.

CTX looks like they had  really disappointing season.  I dont know what happened there. 

tloc I agree with you and don't know what happened to ctx.  I thought starting the season they were the top of the west.  And when ASC West started I thought they would be standing atop the list when it was all done.

[Just_Some_Guy]

CTX looks like they had  really disappointing season.  I dont know what happened there. 

tloc I agree with you and don't know what happened to ctx.  I thought starting the season they were the top of the west.  And when ASC West started I thought they would be standing atop the list when it was all done.

They're one of the worst offensive teams in the ASC, and while their defense on paper isn't that bad it hasn't been very good when it counts up the middle. Kinart has been pretty awful at SS, and they've been virtually incapable of turning double plays. Maybe their staff is doing a poor job throwing ground balls in those situations, but the starting rotation is definitely one of the best in the ASC and Riggles and Szkotak have been pretty solid out of the pen.

JSG

[TexasBB]

Ralph,

I suspect Byington will do well if he can recruit. McMurry in my mind is primarily known as a baseball school and appears to have the support of the school Administration. That is the key. The team he has this year is primarily hold overs from Diggers recruiting. That is why I said time will tell. Blackmon had success the first year after Vilade left because he was working with Vilade's recruits. When he had to go out and recruit and the school had dropped out of the ASC the recruiting got harder and he was either not up to it or did not receive the support of the university. I suspect based on what has happened at ETBU that is was a little of both. Can Byington recruit the same level of talent at Diggers did? We won't know the answer to that for a couple of years. It will also be interesting to see what Diggers is able to do at his new school. I am not sure why he left McMurry he had a great set up from what I can tell - great facilities, an administration that supported the program and a rich tradition that he largely made. 

[baseballfan24]

Ralph,

I suspect Byington will do well if he can recruit. McMurry in my mind is primarily known as a baseball school and appears to have the support of the school Administration. That is the key. The team he has this year is primarily hold overs from Diggers recruiting. That is why I said time will tell. Blackmon had success the first year after Vilade left because he was working with Vilade's recruits. When he had to go out and recruit and the school had dropped out of the ASC the recruiting got harder and he was either not up to it or did not receive the support of the university. I suspect based on what has happened at ETBU that is was a little of both. Can Byington recruit the same level of talent at Diggers did? We won't know the answer to that for a couple of years. It will also be interesting to see what Diggers is able to do at his new school. I am not sure why he left McMurry he had a great set up from what I can tell - great facilities, an administration that supported the program and a rich tradition that he largely made. 

How do you know that Byington wasn't already doing the recruiting?  My guess is he did the bulk of it.  McMurry has mostly gone after JuCo talent.  I don't think they will change that plan.

[TexasBB]

I am not as familiar with McMurry's past and do not know how heavily involved Diggers got his assistants involved. Irrespective of their involvement the player has to be sold on the head coach. The head coach has to be the one that really sits down and talks to the kids and their parents. The head coach ultimately has the final say on who he wants and does not want to go after. There is a big differnce between scouting talent and making recomendations than to actually get the players to commit. Only the head coach can do that. Vilade does that himself he uses Stan and others to help spot talent but he is the one that verifies it himself and then does the hard sell or not. Again maybee Diggers approach was different and maybee he did not get himself involved that much with the process but that would really surprise me.  It is usually a very hands on personal thing - recruiting.

[Ralph Turner]

...

How do you know that Byington wasn't already doing the recruiting?  My guess is he did the bulk of it.  McMurry has mostly gone after JuCo talent.  I don't think they will change that plan.

IMHOP, here are four freshmen that McMurry has recruited that have shown good performances this season (in alphabetical order):  Brian Durst OF L/R from Rockwall; Zack Hewitt  RHP, Abilene Cooper; Chris Semchenko P; and Matt Thompson 1B L/R Southlake Carroll.

As for JUCO's in Texas, there are 39 36 JUCO'S playing baseball!  That is a great place to find 3-4 quality players every year. 

[Warren Thompson]

...

How do you know that Byington wasn't already doing the recruiting?  My guess is he did the bulk of it.  McMurry has mostly gone after JuCo talent.  I don't think they will change that plan.

IMHOP, here are four freshmen that McMurry has recruited that have shown good performances this season (in alphabetical order):  Brian Durst OF L/R from Rockwall; Zack Hewitt  RHP, Abilene Cooper; Chris Semchenko P; and Matt Thompson 1B L/R Southlake Carroll.

As for JUCO's in Texas, there are 39 JUCO'S playing baseball!  That is a great place to find 3-4 quality players every year. 

Ralph, just out of curiosity, do all of the 39 JUCO venues in Texas offer athletic scholarships for baseball?

[Ralph Turner]

...

How do you know that Byington wasn't already doing the recruiting?  My guess is he did the bulk of it.  McMurry has mostly gone after JuCo talent.  I don't think they will change that plan.

IMHOP, here are four freshmen that McMurry has recruited that have shown good performances this season (in alphabetical order):  Brian Durst OF L/R from Rockwall; Zack Hewitt  RHP, Abilene Cooper; Chris Semchenko P; and Matt Thompson 1B L/R Southlake Carroll.

As for JUCO's in Texas, there are 39 36 JUCO'S playing baseball!  That is a great place to find 3-4 quality players every year. 

Ralph, just out of curiosity, do all of the 39 JUCO venues in Texas offer athletic scholarships for baseball?

Hello, Warren.  Here is the link to the website that gives the data on the JUCO's.

http://www.njcaa.org/colleges.cfm

My bad!  There are only 36 JUCO's playing baseball in Texas (in regions 5 and 14).  Five Seven (the 6 Dallas County Community College District campuses and Tyler JC) compete as NJCAA III which I think may not offer athletics-related financial aid.

That leaves 31 29 in NJCAA I. 

[Just_Some_Guy]

ASC East Playoff Teams -

UT Tyler:

Offense:  A
Every single starter is currently hitting over .300 – I don't know what other team can say that. Most teams pitchers can relax a bit near the end of the order, but that's not the case with this Tyler team. Kendall Fox started slow, but both he and Newell are hitting over .400 in conference play, which sets the tone nicely and puts runners on the base for Lemire, Hardin and Daleiden.

Pitching: A
Tempted to give them an A+ because they've been so much better than the rest of the conference, but with Booher's limited innings, and the fact that aside from Zeigler, nobody in the pen has really established they can consistently get out the big bats in the West.  Sparks has been good in limited action the last couple of weeks and could be a key factor in a playoff push.

Defense: A+
Daleiden hasn't been great at SS, but Towns, Hodges, and Lemire have been nails.

Other:
They'll love home field advantage throughout. They get knocked a bit just because Vilade has to prove he can do it in the playoffs.

Project ASC record: 15-3


Mississippi College:

Offense: B
They won't produce the runs that a team like UTD does, but they do hit for good average, and find ways to get on base. They have more BB/HBP than strikeouts (an impressive stat that only the Ozarks shares in the ASC.) Bo Bell (.435 avg, 7 HR, 43 RBI) leads the way, and Brannon Walls has been very good as well. Chase Herrin and Andy Smith do a solid job of getting on base (and swiping bags) in front of them. Like most teams in the East, there's a drop off after the top few hitters, and only Bell is going to beat you with the long ball. Not likely to have a big inning.

Pitching: C+
They're the 3rd best pitching team in the East, but that's not saying much. Hinson has been pretty good (6-2, 3.28 ERA) and they've gotten quite a bit of mileage out of Craven, but only Tyler has the depth built for a winning the ASC tournament. They can't feel comfortable giving the ball to anyone in the bullpen.

Defense: B+
Not a great defensive team, but not awful either. If Warren's in the line-up, you want him at DH though. Tough to trust a guy with a .757 Fielding %.

Other: D
It's been a few years since they've had a team get out of the first round. They usually struggle away from home where they're 5-9 (or so) this year. They really need to strive to snag second in the east so they can host a team or I don't envision them having a chance to get to the double elimination tournament.
Projected ASC Record: 12-6 (tiebreaker over UTD)


UT Dallas:

Offense: B+
The first four to five guys have really swung the bat well and Randy Lorber is an on-base machine (.525 BP) at the top of their order. I believe he's near the top in the nation in BB/game. Ross (.402 avg, 14 2B, 43 RBIs) and Smith  (.336 avg, 13 HR, 46 RBIs) are both having huge seasons. All 3 are a threat to swipe some bags. Shewmake is tinkering with the bottom of the order, but those guys shouldn't beat you.

Pitching:  C
Team ERA is 6.54, and Chelakis (4-1, 4.54 ERA) has been relatively solid, but they don't have a guy they can run out there and say win this game for us. They have to rely on these guys to keep it close and try to win with explosive offense. All three starters have pitched some solid games, but in a tournament, they ALL have to, and it's very unlikely. Only Spinn has been able to get people out consistently out of the pen.

Defense: A-/B+
I think they're the best both offensively and defensively with Starnes/Biguenet up the middle, but we'll see how Norton continues to factor into the mix.

Other:
Shewmake has been there before, and they have some guys left over from the '07 team, who made a solid push including leaders like Waggoner and Chelakis.
Projected ASC Record: 12-6


Ozarks:

Offense:  C
Only Hardin Simmons will have a potentially weaker offense than the Ozarks in the ASC playoffs (I think HSU is a better offense.) Teaster has been solid (.323  avg – but doesn't get on base at a great clip), and really only Hogan has proved that he's going to hit .346 avg, 10 HR, 46 RBIs) hit the good stuff.  Smith, Cook, and Cameron all have to step up their offensive in a hurry.

Pitching:  C-/D+
7.62 ERA speaks volumes. They don't have a starter under 5.60, and there's nobody in the pen they can rely on save for maybe Scheuring. Koch and Cameron were both much better last year. Maybe they're trying to carry too much weight on their shoulders?

Defense: A
They play really good defense, and that's probably why they're a playoff team despite being one of the weaker offensive and pitching teams in the conference this year. Briggs, Kizer and Cordell have been really, really good – to the point that the majority of their teams' errors don't come from the left side of the infield (like most teams in the ASC.)

Projected ASC Record: 10-8


JSG

[ballme]

ASC East Playoff Teams -

UT Tyler:

Offense:  A
Every single starter is currently hitting over .300 – I don't know what other team can say that. Most teams pitchers can relax a bit near the end of the order, but that's not the case with this Tyler team. Kendall Fox started slow, but both he and Newell are hitting over .400 in conference play, which sets the tone nicely and puts runners on the base for Lemire, Hardin and Daleiden.

Pitching: A
Tempted to give them an A+ because they've been so much better than the rest of the conference, but with Booher's limited innings, and the fact that aside from Zeigler, nobody in the pen has really established they can consistently get out the big bats in the West.  Sparks has been good in limited action the last couple of weeks and could be a key factor in a playoff push.

Defense: A+
Daleiden hasn't been great at SS, but Towns, Hodges, and Lemire have been nails.

Other:
They'll love home field advantage throughout. They get knocked a bit just because Vilade has to prove he can do it in the playoffs.

Project ASC record: 15-3

You forgot to add an over-ratedness category for a weak Ease....A+ for UTT

[ballme]

I could also make an educated arguement that anyone in the top 15 nationally ranked could put a beating on UTT.  No strength of schedule.  Play someone other than Phoenix Online and DeVry.  Plus homefield advantage for UTT, I hear, is like putting Game Genie into your Sega, because it becomes lopsided.  Ziegler can perform balks anytime everytime, that's Game Genie itself.  Let's crown them after the Conference Tourny, if they can come out of it. 

[infielddad]

I could also make an educated arguement that anyone in the top 15 nationally ranked could put a beating on UTT.  No strength of schedule.  Play someone other than Phoenix Online and DeVry.  Plus homefield advantage for UTT, I hear, is like putting Game Genie into your Sega, because it becomes lopsided.  Ziegler can perform balks anytime everytime, that's Game Genie itself.  Let's crown them after the Conference Tourny, if they can come out of it. 

If you want to make an educated "argument," you might spell the word correctly and then make one.
Why even take the time to post something like this?  In the process of trying to demean UTT, the only thing you did, that I can understand, is to demean yourself.

[dp643]

McMurry has won 9 in a row, so it appears as if a current player can now get on here and talk some trash. It adds some flavor to this board!