BB: ASC: American Southwest Conference

[RSSmith]

Congrats to the All-American selections.  Can you imagine how difficult it is to select these players with all the great performances throughout the year?  One shocker is an old player of mine, Alex Eliopoulos.  He went 10-0 for Johns Hopkins, 2.17 ERA, was the Region MVP, and didn't even get a sniff.  Bummer for him but there were some crazy good performances this year.

Watch Shenandoah this year.  One thru six, they absolutely kill the baseball.  Brashears and Van Sickler are the bash brothers.  They might just out hit everyone and win it on offense.

Alex is a workhorse.  The top three starters for Hopkins, however, had a combined W-L of 29-0, a combined ERA of 2.45 (Alex's 2.78 was third best), a 3:1 K:BB ratio, a .216 OBA, and they allowed only 7 home runs in 791 innings despite playing in a small home park.  Alex led the team in innings (74.1) and strikeouts (83).  Any of the three could reasonably have shown up on the All-American team, and they'll be a force to be reckoned with in Appleton.  Alex will most certainly get his share of individual awards through the CWS and the next two years at Hopkins.

[Voorhees]

Congrats to Jake Mullin as well, earning Honorable Mention on the All-American team. He had a great year despite not having legitimate protection around him. He had a great season.

Does anybody know if Orosey led the nation in innings pitched? I saw he led the All-Americans, if he did, that is an outstanding accomplishment, and even greater accomplishment realizing he is only a Sophomore.

Those two will certainly be back at it next year.

[TexasBB]

DI vs. DIII
One wonders just what would happen if the Big12 Conference had to follow the same restrictive rules as the ASC does in getting a NCAA playoff bid. UT, the top team in the Big 12 and the #1 ranked team in the nation laid a huge egg in the conference tournament. They decided to rest one of their top starters and went 0-3 in the tournament.  However, UT has no fear whatsoever of being left out of the NCAA regional.  In fact they probably will be a top seed and host a regional. Thus they treated the Big 12 tournament as a practice session and an opportunity to rest their starters.  However, if the rules in D-I were the same as D-III, UT would be chewing its finger nails worrying that they might be left out.  (UTT had that happen to them a couple of years ago when they went 3-2 and were eliminated). The fact is that the Big-12 conference tournament  is basically an opportunity for the lesser teams in play into a bid that they would not otherwise get. Whereas the ASC tournament is one that could and has caused teams to play themselves out of bid they may otherwise have received. Not a level playing field at all. D-III in baseball and perhaps all sports is not treated the same as its bigger brother. The number of games is more restricted and the number of teams getting into the playoffs is more restricted. One can argue that D-III is merely tolerated by the NCAA. An afterthought if the funds will allow. In D-III there is a concern about the expense of flying teams to a tournament like the one at Linfield and thus a limited number of teams receive bids. There are no such concerns at the D-1 level.  You never even hear about costs of travel being raised.  So I ask, what are the so-called benefits of NCAA membership if treatment as a second class citizen (the leftover crumbs) is what we get?

Just my thoughts.

[Ralph Turner]

DI vs. DIII
One wonders just what would happen if the Big12 Conference had to follow the same restrictive rules as the ASC does in getting a NCAA playoff bid. UT, the top team in the Big 12 and the #1 ranked team in the nation laid a huge egg in the conference tournament. They decided to rest one of their top starters and went 0-3 in the tournament.  However, UT has no fear whatsoever of being left out of the NCAA regional.  In fact they probably will be a top seed and host a regional. Thus they treated the Big 12 tournament as a practice session and an opportunity to rest their starters.  However, if the rules in D-I were the same as D-III, UT would be chewing its finger nails worrying that they might be left out.  (UTT had that happen to them a couple of years ago when they went 3-2 and were eliminated). The fact is that the Big-12 conference tournament  is basically an opportunity for the lesser teams in play into a bid that they would not otherwise get. Whereas the ASC tournament is one that could and has caused teams to play themselves out of bid they may otherwise have received. Not a level playing field at all. D-III in baseball and perhaps all sports is not treated the same as its bigger brother. The number of games is more restricted and the number of teams getting into the playoffs is more restricted. One can argue that D-III is merely tolerated by the NCAA. An afterthought if the funds will allow. In D-III there is a concern about the expense of flying teams to a tournament like the one at Linfield and thus a limited number of teams receive bids. There are no such concerns at the D-1 level.  You never even hear about costs of travel being raised.  So I ask, what are the so-called benefits of NCAA membership if treatment as a second class citizen (the leftover crumbs) is what we get?

Just my thoughts.

In the back of miy mind is a concern that the big dogs of D-1 will pull their television contract money, and D-III will get nothing.

Without the NCAA March Madness money, we are back in the boat that we had when we were raising our own money to go to the NAIA playoffs.

We get one bid.  We fight for it. And, if most of the money goes away, we will first lose the money that expanded baseball Pool C bids from 3 to 15 bids.

[Ralph Turner]

Congrats to Jake Mullin as well, earning Honorable Mention on the All-American team. He had a great year despite not having legitimate protection around him. He had a great season.

Does anybody know if Orosey led the nation in innings pitched? I saw he led the All-Americans, if he did, that is an outstanding accomplishment, and even greater accomplishment realizing he is only a Sophomore.

Those two will certainly be back at it next year.

Thru the pre-NCAA season, yes.

[Patriot_Pride]

Official release on next head baseball coach at UT Tyler expected June 7.

[Ralph Turner]

UTT's Cody Jones has signed with the Big Bend Cowboys.

The home field is Kokernot, where Sul Ross State plays.

[Patriot_Pride]

A better writeup linked on the UT Tyler site from the Longview Journal.

http://www.uttyler.edu/athletics/baseball/news/2010/june1-10.html

[Patriot_Pride]

It's official, Paul Wyczawski named new head baseball coach at UT Tyler.

http://www.uttyler.edu/athletics/baseball/news/2010/june07-10.html

[TexasBB]

Although I had been pulling for Stan to get the job, the final outcome does not surprise me. As the article indicated there were over 150 applicants. The University went out and hired the best possible person they belive will continue the programs excellence. They hired a very experienced proven winner. Stan is young and could not compete with that type of resume. He will land on his feet. His time will come.

[TexasBB]

Logan Chitwood, UTT Closer was drafted in the 19th round by Oakland.

http://www.uttyler.edu/athletics/baseball/news/2010/june8-10.html

[dp643]

Head Coach at UMHB Micah Wells resigns. Derek Dunaway named interim Head Coach.

http://cruathletics.com/news/2010/7/27/BB_0727101929.aspx?path=baseball

[GridironChris]

With practice starting, I thought I'd go ahead and post some early info on Mississippi College before I forget. The Choctaws are loaded again, maybe better than last year. The lineup, particularly the first 6-7, will be about as good as anyone. They lost 3-4 big bats, but added 3-4 big transfers. On pure talent, this lineup could be better than last year, and should have more power.

The pitching staff returns most everyone, except one major loss in Tyler Seaman. Daniel Cowart, Terrell Prescott, Shane Bennett and Ian Underwood are the biggest returners, along with 2-3 more regulars.  The wildcard for them is Brandon Martin who had successful surgery in the offseason and is expected back. If he's 100%, this staff could match up with anybody. The new crop of arms is as good as last year's as well, so expect a couple new names to jump out this year with big seasons.

You never know how leadership and chemistry will develop, but they have an awful lot to work with. The coaching staff has been in place for four years now, and the program keeps building. Last year's season helped them bring in a group of transfers that look great on paper. They are a top 10 preseason team IMO.

[mcmguy19]

Well McMurry had it's first ever Alum game October 9th.  Well it wasn't a suprise for the Alums that we won 12-9.  But the current MCM players were suprised.  The 2011 team is young and has tons of talent, hope they have a great season and best of luck to them. 

This year and last was my first and second year to watch my cousin play in the ASC East side for the Comets.  It's great to get around baseball again and for the spring to come back and see more baseball.  I am looking forward to the 25th and 26th of Feb., to see MCM play UTD.  Can't wait for an awesome and exciting season for ASC baseball!!!

[indian4life]

http://www.mcmurrysports.com/news/2010/12/17/GEN_1217101446.aspx

McMurry making the jump to Division II any thoughts?