BB: NCAC: North Coast Athletic Conference

[TexasDad]

Mid-East Regional Preview is out.

http://d3baseball.com/notables/2014/01/2014-previews/2014-mideast-regional-preview

[Bishopleftiesdad]

This is pretty early for the mid-east. Thanks for posting. This is a pretty good write up for the region.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

It is not posted to the website yet, but I received OWU's roster in my Email.  Confirms a couple of transfers for me. I will not be posting it until it is released on their site.

Season is getting closer.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

This is old news, But here goes.

The following players have been named by Collegiate baseball as DIII players to watch
Wooster
RHP
Kyle Koski
Steve Hagen
Second base
Eddie Reese
OF
Zach Mathie

No other NCAC players made the list

No link because they do not post issue online.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

2014 Rosters
West
Denison http://www.denisonbigred.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/roster
33 on Roster
2 SR. 1 Pitcher and 1 position Player
9 JR. 4 Pitchers/pos 5 Position Players
7 SO. 2 Pitchers 5 Position Players
15 FR.  6 Pitchers/Pos 9 Position Players

Depauw http://www.depauw.edu/athletics/mens/baseball/roster/2014/
40 on Roster
11 SR. 5 Pitchers 6 Position Players
8 JR. 4 Pitchers/Pos 4 Position Players
6 SO. 2 Pitchers 4 Position Players

Witt http://www.wittenbergtigers.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/roster
35 Players on Roster
7 SR. 4 Pitchers/Pos 3 Position Players
5 JR. 3 Pitchers/Pos 2 Position Players
9 SO. 5 Pitcher/pos 4 Position Players
13 FR. 6 Pitcher/Pos 7 Position Players

OWU http://www.battlingbishops.com/roster.aspx?roster=80&path=baseball
34 Players
2 SR. 1 Pitcher/Position Player, 1 Position Player
6 JR. 5 Pitchers/Position Players 1 Position Player
16 SO. 6 Pitchers/Position players 10 Position players
10 FR.  2 Pitchers/Position Players  8 Position Players


Wabash http://sports.wabash.edu/roster.aspx?path=baseball
50 Players
6 SR. 3 pitchers and 3 position players
11 JR. 6 Pitchers and 5 Position players
9 SO. 3 Pitchers and 6 Position players
23 FR 7 Pitchers and 16 position players.

JT miller the senior pitcher will probably compete for pitcher of the year in the NCAC. He has good stuff. He would have to beat out Hagen from Wooster. JT played in the Northwoods last summer. He was 4-3 with a 4.76 Era in 12 starts and 62.1 innings pitched.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

2014 Rosters
East
Wooster: http://www.woosterathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/roster (not official yet, I had to cheat to get it) I will give anyone who guesses how 1 point in Karma.
16 Sr. 7 Pitcher/Pos 9 Position players
5 JR 1 Pitcher 4 Position players
9 SO. 5 Pitcher/pos 4 position players
10 Freshmen 6 Pitchers 4 Position players

Alleghenny: http://www.alleghenysports.com/roster.aspx?roster=166&path=baseball Incomplete, it does not list any freshmen
8 SR. 5 Pitchers/pos 3 position players
8 JR. 3 Pitcher 5 position players
3 So. 0 pitchers 3 Position players

Oberlin: http://www.goyeo.com/roster.aspx?path=baseball&
6 SR. 3 Pitcher/pos 3 Position players
9 JR. 5 Pitcher/pos 4 position players
15 SO. 8 Pitchers 7 position players
10 FR. 3 Pitchers 7 position players

Kenyon: http://athletics.kenyon.edu/roster.aspx?path=baseball&
2 SR. 1 pitcher 1 position player
6 JR. 4 Pitchers 2 position players
6 SO. 3 pitchers 3 position players
12 FR. 3 Pitchers 9 Position players

With few upper class-men position players, This looks to be a transition year for Kenyon. My guess is we will see quite a few freshmen in the field.

Hiram: http://www.hiramterriers.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/roster
5 SR. 0 pitchers 5 Position players
11 JR. 3 Pitchers 8 Position players
4 SO. 2 Pitchers 2 Position players
13 FR. 2 Pitchers 11 Position players

Unless some of those position players can pitch, the rotation and bull pen look pretty slim.

I will do the west another day.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

NCAC opens on 2-22 with Wabash playing Hendrix in Arkansas and Alleghenny playing John Carroll in Beckley WVA.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Masseys has the NCAC ranked as the 10th best conference as per their criteria.

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=cbase2014&sub=11620&c=1

Here are how the teams rank

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=cbase2014&sub=11620&c=1&c=0

Wooster: 20
Denison: 65
Depauw: 70
Allegheny: 108
Wittenberg: 112
Ohio Wesleyan: 139
Kenyon: 140
Oberlin: 158
Wabash: 189
Hriam: 298

Take these with a grain of salt. No games have been played yet. Some teams will rise and some will fall.

[Spence]

This is from the football FAQ, but I'm guessing it works the same.

"Preseason ratings are based on an extrapolation recent years' results, tuned to fit historical trends and regression to the mean. A team's future performance is expected to be consistent with the strength of the program, but sometimes there may be temporary spikes."

Now, where I start to get lost is when he started Marietta at #9 when they've been champions 2 of the last 3 years, and finished 2nd in the region replacing a whole pitching staff last year.

[Dr. Acula]

Thomas More and Adrian are ranked in the 80's.  That told me all I need to know.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Yeah I agree, Spence. I certainly hope OWU does better than 139, but they had a bad year last year, and have been trending down for a couple of years so I am not surprised.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Thomas More and Adrian are ranked in the 80's.  That told me all I need to know.

Funny thing about Thomas More, Last year they are playing at OWU, I forget what inning but I believe they were winning. Clearly they were low on pitching. I believe they may have had a kid in the bull pen shortly after the start of the game. No pitcher went more than 2 innings, and they went through 6 pitchers. Anyway one of our boys hits a long fly ball to left field. Left fielder is running toward the fence to field the ball. OWU had an old plywood wall. Kid kid of leans on it hard trying to catch the ball. The section of the wall comes down. Everybody is standing around trying to decide what to do. Thomas More Head coach is arguing clearly the game cannot be completed, because the field was missing an 8 foot section. Mott was arguing we could continue to play. (was not a heated argument). Kobe the pitching coach grabs a couple of players a hammer and some nails and they go out the boys hold the plywood up while Kobe pounds enough nails into the thing to sink a good sized boat. Coaches are still arguing and Kobe comes to the plate and lets the ump know that the wall has been repaired. The boys play on.

Owu wins 5-4

[ADL70]

Thomas More and Adrian are ranked in the 80's.  That told me all I need to know.

Funny thing about Thomas More, Last year they are playing at OWU, I forget what inning but I believe they were winning. Clearly they were low on pitching. I believe they may have had a kid in the bull pen shortly after the start of the game. No pitcher went more than 2 innings, and they went through 6 pitchers. Anyway one of our boys hits a long fly ball to left field. Left fielder is running toward the fence to field the ball. OWU had an old plywood wall. Kid kid of leans on it hard trying to catch the ball. The section of the wall comes down. Everybody is standing around trying to decide what to do. Thomas More Head coach is arguing clearly the game cannot be completed, because the field was missing an 8 foot section. Mott was arguing we could continue to play. (was not a heated argument). Kobe the pitching coach grabs a couple of players a hammer and some nails and they go out the boys hold the plywood up while Kobe pounds enough nails into the thing to sink a good sized boat. Coaches are still arguing and Kobe comes to the plate and lets the ump know that the wall has been repaired. The boys play on.

Owu wins 5-4

Does Kobe get credit for a save?

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Thomas More and Adrian are ranked in the 80's.  That told me all I need to know.

Funny thing about Thomas More, Last year they are playing at OWU, I forget what inning but I believe they were winning. Clearly they were low on pitching. I believe they may have had a kid in the bull pen shortly after the start of the game. No pitcher went more than 2 innings, and they went through 6 pitchers. Anyway one of our boys hits a long fly ball to left field. Left fielder is running toward the fence to field the ball. OWU had an old plywood wall. Kid kid of leans on it hard trying to catch the ball. The section of the wall comes down. Everybody is standing around trying to decide what to do. Thomas More Head coach is arguing clearly the game cannot be completed, because the field was missing an 8 foot section. Mott was arguing we could continue to play. (was not a heated argument). Kobe the pitching coach grabs a couple of players a hammer and some nails and they go out the boys hold the plywood up while Kobe pounds enough nails into the thing to sink a good sized boat. Coaches are still arguing and Kobe comes to the plate and lets the ump know that the wall has been repaired. The boys play on.

Owu wins 5-4

Does Kobe get credit for a save?

He should. Plus Now the field received a new fence with a hitters eye this year. I believe it was already scheduled to go in place. But that had been the case for several years and it kept getting delayed. I think this put some emphasis to get it completed.

[TexasDad]

Good luck to all the other schools that are starting today (or started earlier). Looking forward to seeing some baseball. Does it EVER warm up in the NCAC?

Question for the newbies: how far in advance will a school typically announce the cancellation of a game for weather? For example, Denison plays in 2 weeks in Chillicothe. (Appropriate name for a baseball venue this time of year). I'm assuming there is still 2 feet of snow on the ground. How far in advance will they typically pull the plug?