BB: ASC: American Southwest Conference

[mcm505]

Concordia people,

Was Coach Gardner coaching the team today because the Abilene paper said Myers was in his place today?

[Blackcat00]

Coach Gardner was in Houston for a family emergency.

[All-AmericanFan]

 Well I was proven wrong, I thought that the tides were turning and the East was stronger than the West, I was wrong. UT Tyler was twice beaten by Concordia, and Mississippi was easily handled by McMurry. The West is still stronger....
How quickly the coach is at fault for the losses. How can you blame a coach for throwing pitchers of record 11-0, 10-0, then a guy who was Pre-Season Pitcher of the Year? If he didn't throw those guys, I can't imagine the beating you would give the coach then. Here's the deal I was convinced of this weekend, UT Tyler is not the team they were made out to be by their numbers. I looked at their schedule, they went 10-7 against teams that were in the playoff mix with records better than .500. That's not good. They have impressive numbers, but they must have accumulated those numbers while going 26-2 against sub-par teams. They didn't have the raw power to get into a slugfest with Concordia, they didn't have the speed to put pressure on the pitchers when hits were hard to come by, and the two at the top of the line-up just never quite hit at their capabilities, which drastically changed the value of their offense. When two struggle, others must step up and make up the difference. If that is too much to ask, you are not a championship team. Period.
Wow Concordia is good. They played with enormous passion, and bless their coach. If they do not leap-frog UT Tyler, something is wrong. Hopefully they might get an at-large bid, they are a deserving team.
Hats off to McMurry. Overcame many injuries along the way to your conference championship. Good thing Sull Ross wasn't in the tournament.... I hear they wont be in the regional either so good luck boys

[indian4life]

  Good thing Sull Ross wasn't in the tournament.... I hear they wont be in the regional either so good luck boys

Its a GREAT thing that Sully wasnt there!!!

[TexasBB]

I certainly am not beating down Vilade for throwing his best pitchers. The point I was making is that he overused Booher last week - over 130 pitches in a game they had well in hand against HSU. I suspect that he wasn't as effecitve this weekend due to the number of pitches he threw and the accumulated wear from all of the pitches and innings he worked. The Booher that threw against CTX this past weekend was not the same pitcher he was a month ago that had a 1.28 ERA. I agree CTX deserves a bid they played well and I don't want to take anything away from their accomplishments. UTT had a great season as well but did not live up to expectations this past weekend. Keep in mind that last weekend they swept an HSU team that had got into the conference tournamnet by winning 12 games in a row. MC also swept a MHB team that at one time was ranked ahead of UTT in one poll. So I am not sure I would jump to the conclusion the the West is better than the east. In the first round the East won 6 games to the West 4.  I agree with Ralph the conference has increadible balance.

[hsusid]

Here are my thoughts after watching all season and most of this weekend's games.

You put the four winners from the West, Ozarks, UTT and MC in a double elimination tournament and played it seven different weeks and you could get seven different winners. I think that is the definition of parity.

McMurry clearly had the best combination of timely hitting, defense and pitching for the weekend and they got it from some of their "other" players.

I think one thing you saw that was clearly a factor from the HSU-UTT series and this weekend was the strike zone. At UTT last weekend both umpires had huge zones. Both teams were getting a good three to four balls on the outside corner. HSU did not take advantage of that as well as Booher and Holland did.

When UTT had to throw the ball in the strike zone this weekend at McMurry they were a lot more hittable. Their velocity was not a big difference from one week to the other both were 86-88 both weekends.   I think the strike zone was the bigger difference than arm fatigue. They both still had good velocity. They just weren't getting strikes that were six to eight inches off the plate.

I think McMurry can hit with anyone and if they get the efforts on the mound they got this weekend they can be super dangerous in a regional. They are a much better team defensively now than when I saw them the first week of the conference season. They are very good up the middle defensively and they can run down some balls in the outfield. 

I think Concordia is a scrappy team that does a lot of things right and they will battle you. They also have guys that can make you pay for mistakes.

UTT has the best top end of the rotation, I don't know how well they hit good pitching. They are not an imposing offensive team, but they take a lot of good at-bats and can single you to death and really make a pitcher throw a lot of pitches.

It is going to be interesting to see what the committee does with Concordia and Tyler. I don't think they both get in, but they could. They need to hope for no upsets in other tournaments this weekend.

UTT has a better overall record, but their record is mediocre against good teams. Concordia played a better schedule and also beat UTT 3-of-5 games this season, including two this last weekend on a neutral field.

It will be hard decision for Lee Driggers and the committee.  Maybe it will work that all three get into the tournament. Throw in Trinity and then it becomes a four flight regional, which has been done in the past. 

[Ralph Turner]

...
You put the four winners from the West, Ozarks, UTT and MC in a double elimination tournament and played it seven different weeks and you could get seven different winners. I think that is the definition of parity.
...

I agree!  +1
I just wish that Mississippi College (and LaCollege with that walk-off Majors' grand slam    ) could get the Millsaps monkey off their backs!!!

We have a good time in Texas mixing it with AC, Southwestern and Trinity and Ozarks versus

[mcm505]

I just hope this go around McM can prevent the two and out bug we had in Bloomington.  I remember we had terrible flights going out there, weather into Chicago was terrible, and then we went two and out, which put a damper on the trip.  Hopefully staying in the comforts of our own home can give our Indians the chance to be the second team in the ASC to make the trip to the CWS DIII.

[itsd3baseball]

If Vilade had any clue at all, he would not have shown contempt for his bullpen (besides ziegler) AND EVEN his 3rd starter!!  You cant blame anyone but himfor the choke in the tourney.  Getting through the East is difficult enough only throwing 4 guys, but getting through a tournament with that same number is NEVER going to happen- HOW do you not look ahead and see that?  Has he always done this?

[TexasBB]

The number one goal of any coach in the ASC is to win their division. Vilade was blessed with 3 very good starters and he did develop Ziegler as his go to guy in relief.  Those 3 plus Ziegler was enough to win every weekend matchup in a non-tournament setting and win the Division and win the first round against HSU. The problem he had was finding a reliable mid week starter for his number 4. In tournamet ball you need 4 starters and two good relievers. UTT has not shown they have the pitching depth to be a multi-game tournament team.

I still think that Booher was showing signs of fatigue. His last two outings were not sharp. Fatigue in pitchers does not necessarily mean a loss in velocity instead it shows itself as a fall off in command. The pitch that used to hit the outside corner misses slightly. The pitch that broke sharply doesn't break the same. The pitches start drifting over the plate that used to hug the corners. A real telling point is the pitcher misses high and doesn't seem to be able to keep the ball down by knees. I think that with a week to rest that Booher might be sharper next time he pitches if they get an at large bid.  They can win a couple of games in the Regional with Booher and Holland  but they will have to rely on an offense to advance far and have a shot at winning. Cambell is not the same pitcher he was last year and they don't have a reliable #4. They certainly cannot have 17 baserunners and only score 3 runs like they did against CTX and have any hope in succeeding.  The West regional will be loaded with good teams and Chapman not having to worry about winning a division championship has spread around the use of its pitchers. They do not rely on 3 main guys they have a bunch of pitchers who have 40 innnings of experience they can use.

[Ralph Turner]

The number one goal of any coach in the ASC is to win their division. Vilade was blessed with 3 very good starters and he did develop Ziegler as his go to guy in relief.  Those 3 plus Ziegler was enough to win every weekend matchup in a non-tournament setting and win the Division and win the first round against HSU. The problem he had was finding a reliable mid week starter for his number 4. In tournament ball you need 4 starters and two good relievers. UTT has not shown they have the pitching depth to be a multi-game tournament team.

I still think that Booher was showing signs of fatigue. His last two outings were not sharp. Fatigue in pitchers does not necessarily mean a loss in velocity instead it shows itself as a fall off in command. The pitch that used to hit the outside corner misses slightly. The pitch that broke sharply doesn't break the same. The pitches start drifting over the plate that used to hug the corners. A real telling point is the pitcher misses high and doesn't seem to be able to keep the ball down by knees. I think that with a week to rest that Booher might be sharper next time he pitches if they get an at large bid.  They can win a couple of games in the Regional with Booher and Holland  but they will have to rely on an offense to advance far and have a shot at winning. Cambell is not the same pitcher he was last year and they don't have a reliable #4. They certainly cannot have 17 baserunners and only score 3 runs like they did against CTX and have any hope in succeeding.  The West regional will be loaded with good teams and Chapman not having to worry about winning a division championship has spread around the use of its pitchers. They do not rely on 3 main guys they have a bunch of pitchers who have 40 innings of experience they can use.

Chapman stats

No, Chapman has three starters, and Wayde Kitchens (9 starts, 58.2 IP, 0.31 ERA) was injured early in the season.  Yacko is the go-to reliever (12 saves in 20 appearances).  Matt Luzar has three starts and John Semel has one start.

I think that Chapman is vulnerable in their 4th and 5th starters, from a World Series perspective.  If someone can put Chapman into the losers' bracket, then someone can beat them.

[Just_Some_Guy]

No, Chapman has three starters, and Wayde Kitchens (9 starts, 58.2 IP, 0.31 ERA) was injured early in the season.  Yacko is the go-to reliever (12 saves in 20 appearances).  Matt Luzar has three starts and John Semel has one start.

I think that Chapman is vulnerable in their 4th and 5th starters, from a World Series perspective.  If someone can put Chapman into the losers' bracket, then someone can beat them.

I've stopped betting against Chapman. It just doesn't pay dividends. Granted, away from Hart Park they may be a bit vulnerable, but it seems like the last two years I've been saying, get them in the losers bracket and they're done with their lack of pitching depth... and it just doesn't happen.

Sigman and Clear haven't been great, but they've been good enough to win, and if Luzar is indeed healthy now -- that's four decent starters. In '06 they brought back Klovstad and Drag after they both threw complete games only a few days before. Last year Drag threw a complete game on the 16th, then another on the 19th. UTD hit Kitchens fairly well in 7 innings on the 17th, so he decided to come back and throw a complete game shut out against Pac Lu on the 19th.

Are they putting those guys careers at risk ? Perhaps, provided they have one. But must be nice to have some horses that want the ball and can compete at that level.

JSG

[bbnag101]

Just - Some -Guy:  WELCOME BACK!!!! I've missed reading your postings.

How many days rest is the norm for pitchers?  If they had a low pitch count in the first game, would two days rest be enough? 

[Ralph Turner]

No, Chapman has three starters, and Wayde Kitchens (9 starts, 58.2 IP, 0.31 ERA) was injured early in the season.  Yacko is the go-to reliever (12 saves in 20 appearances).  Matt Luzar has three starts and John Semel has one start.

I think that Chapman is vulnerable in their 4th and 5th starters, from a World Series perspective.  If someone can put Chapman into the losers' bracket, then someone can beat them.

I've stopped betting against Chapman. It just doesn't pay dividends. Granted, away from Hart Park they may be a bit vulnerable, but it seems like the last two years I've been saying, get them in the losers bracket and they're done with their lack of pitching depth... and it just doesn't happen.

Sigman and Clear haven't been great, but they've been good enough to win, and if Luzar is indeed healthy now -- that's four decent starters. In '06 they brought back Klovstad and Drag after they both threw complete games only a few days before. Last year Drag threw a complete game on the 16th, then another on the 19th. UTD hit Kitchens fairly well in 7 innings on the 17th, so he decided to come back and throw a complete game shut out against Pac Lu on the 19th.

Are they putting those guys careers at risk ? Perhaps, provided they have one. But must be nice to have some horses that want the ball and can compete at that level.

JSG

I am not betting against Chapman. If they stay in the winners' bracket, they will win the regionals.  I don't think anyone has the pitching to beat them twice on the last day of the regionals.   Let's see.

[itsd3baseball]

BTW i havent seen Concordia or McMurry play this year but it would seem to me that if CTX beat #6 (at the time) UTT, and McMurry beat up CTX that atleast one of those would crack the top 25 AND/OR UTT would drop more than 2 spots to number 9.  Somebody fill me in.