BB: WIAC: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[cubs]

Also, UWO RF Travis Helland left the second game after colliding with Mickey Fadness on a flair.

Unfortunately, Helland suffered a broken arm on the play.....  It just seems the guy has had a hard time staying healthy while at UWO.  He missed over half of the season last year with an injury as well.

[pickleshiner]

I hate to do this because I love Point but here are my predictions:
1.  Whitewater-  May only lose 1-2 times in conference.  Best Offense I have ever seen on paper in D3.
2.  Oshkosh-  Being underlooked and should be a lot better than last year.  Kanneberg may win every game he pitches in.
3.  Point-  Could finish 1rst but history tells me they won't and will win the WIAC tourney and get the automatic berth.  Couldn't have more talent but just seem to play to their level of competition until the end of the season.

[Dagger]

I hate to do this because I love Point but here are my predictions:
1.  Whitewater-  May only lose 1-2 times in conference.  Best Offense I have ever seen on paper in D3.
2.  Oshkosh-  Being underlooked and should be a lot better than last year.  Kanneberg may win every game he pitches in.
3.  Point-  Could finish 1rst but history tells me they won't and will win the WIAC tourney and get the automatic berth.  Couldn't have more talent but just seem to play to their level of competition until the end of the season.

I'm not sure I agree with the best lineup on paper assertion.  I can think of at least two teams from the wiac in the past 6 years that I would consider stronger on paper, and I'm sure there were several others before my time.  2003/2004 was a pretty stacked offensive unit for WW, as was the 2004 point team.  I think WW has a great team again this year, but I would take either of the other two before I would this one.

[cubs]

I hate to do this because I love Point but here are my predictions:
1.  Whitewater-  May only lose 1-2 times in conference.  Best Offense I have ever seen on paper in D3.
2.  Oshkosh-  Being underlooked and should be a lot better than last year.  Kanneberg may win every game he pitches in.
3.  Point-  Could finish 1rst but history tells me they won't and will win the WIAC tourney and get the automatic berth.  Couldn't have more talent but just seem to play to their level of competition until the end of the season.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but how can you say that "Oshkosh should be a lot better than last year" this year?  They lost three of their top five hitters, and two of their top three pitchers.  Do you really think the freshmen they brought in are better than the likes of Rubens, Brad Demmin, Ryan Demmin, Jason Fosler, Ben Sebesta and Brock Wetenkamp?  Combined, they had six 1st Team All WIAC selections and four Honorable Mention All WIAC selctions.  You typically don't replace that talent with freshmen and improve the following year.....

[cubs]

I hate to do this because I love Point but here are my predictions:
1.  Whitewater-  May only lose 1-2 times in conference.  Best Offense I have ever seen on paper in D3.
2.  Oshkosh-  Being underlooked and should be a lot better than last year.  Kanneberg may win every game he pitches in.
3.  Point-  Could finish 1rst but history tells me they won't and will win the WIAC tourney and get the automatic berth.  Couldn't have more talent but just seem to play to their level of competition until the end of the season.

I'm sure Big Poppa can back me on this one, but I will take the 1994 Oshkosh line-up.....
Jorgenson, Lieder, Richartz, Zappa, and Bott were all 1st Team All WIAC selections, while Ulwellig and Stoltz were HM selections.  That means that seven of Oshkosh's nine everyday players that season earned some type of All Conference recognition. 

As far as pure numbers go, UWO's 1995 squad actually put up better numbers than the 1994 squad headlined by Jorgenson's 39 HR's and 121 RBI's and Lieder's 23 HR's and 73 RBI's.

[badgerwarhawk]

Can anyone remember the last year in which the games were played on paper?  I can't seem to find it in the archives. 

[OshDude]

Can anyone remember the last year in which the games were played on paper?  I can't seem to find it in the archives. 

You'd have to go back even further to find games played on surfaces "made out of whole cloth." I can't prove a negative, but I find it hard to believe pickle saw his first WIAC paper-baseball game a year or two ago.

I don't think you need any backup on the UWO juggernauts, cubs. You're working in nonfiction territory there. Many of us saw and remember those teams vividly, but only one of us writes fiction based on two games against Hamline in March. And in no way is that a slam on UWW in 2010.

[BigPoppa]

Remember??? I do my best every night to forget that line-up. Nothing worse that watching Leider get out on his front foot and miss a ball only to still have it clear the 60 foot net in right field for a dinger.

The 1994 AND 1995 UW-Oshkosh line-ups might have been the best of all-time. Oshkosh had the #1 and #2 homerun hitters in the nation that year and Jorgy had over 100 RBIs. Combine that with the fact that you Jeff Zappa hitting close to .500 in left-field and Jarrod Washburn on the mound!  They beat my Carthage teams three straight seasons at the World Series, sending us home twice and beating us in the opener the other.

That team had four first-team all-Americans on it. Unreal.

[cubs]

Remember??? I do my best every night to forget that line-up. Nothing worse that watching Leider get out on his front foot and miss a ball only to still have it clear the 60 foot net in right field for a dinger.

The 1994 AND 1995 UW-Oshkosh line-ups might have been the best of all-time. Oshkosh had the #1 and #2 homerun hitters in the nation that year and Jorgy had over 100 RBIs. Combine that with the fact that you Jeff Zappa hitting close to .500 in left-field and Jarrod Washburn on the mound!  They beat my Carthage teams three straight seasons at the World Series, sending us home twice and beating us in the opener the other.

That team had four first-team all-Americans on it. Unreal.

Actually it had five.....   

Jorgensen-1st
Lieder-1st
Zappa-2nd
Washburn-2nd
Mlodik-2nd

[BigPoppa]

Thanks for the correction... it only fuels my hatred for the Titans:) (and the Green Weenies of Illinois Wesleyan).

[pickleshiner]

How about Point's lineup the year Whitewater last won the title and Point beat them 5 or 6 times?  Frombach, Richter, Wiczek, Brehm, JC Reinke, Polomis, Zimmerman, Schiedler, Hojnaski, Rickert, and so on.  I still think that Point team was better than the world series years but unfortunately the 2 best teams that year were in the same regional.  I was being a bit sarcastic but am somewhat serious that Whitewater is scary and should be ranked in the top 5 in the nation right now not 26th.

[cubs]

How about Point's lineup the year Whitewater last won the title and Point beat them 5 or 6 times?  Frombach, Richter, Wiczek, Brehm, JC Reinke, Polomis, Zimmerman, Schiedler, Hojnaski, Rickert, and so on.  I still think that Point team was better than the world series years but unfortunately the 2 best teams that year were in the same regional.

First of all, Point beat that Whitewater team five times, but also lost to them four times, including the one that mattered the most, the Midwest Regional Final.

Second of all, a couple of those names you listed didn't even break the .300 mark as far as their season batting average.  Hojnacki hit a whopping .276, just a tad better than Richter's .275.  Now Schiedler on the other hand, didn't even break the "mendoza line" and finished at .175.  Three other names you listed, Reinke, Zimmerman, and Richter combined for TWO at-bats on the season.  When you said line-up, I assumed you meant the guys that actually bat.  Of all the guys you listed, the only ones that had good offensive seasons were Wiczek, Brehm, Frombach and Polomis, with all of them being 1st Team All WIAC selections except Polomis, who earned Honorable Mention.  Besides Wiczek, the guy that did the most damage was Ryan Jones who you somehow missed. 

Regardless, the 2005 Point numbers aren't even close to the 1994 or 1995 Oshkosh teams....

[cubs]

Also, UWO RF Travis Helland left the second game after colliding with Mickey Fadness on a flair.

Unfortunately, Helland suffered a broken arm on the play.....  It just seems the guy has had a hard time staying healthy while at UWO.  He missed over half of the season last year with an injury as well.

One thing I forgot to mention with the injury to Helland.....  It sounds as if Berger will be moving back out to RF now instead of playing 1B.  Any guesses as to who will be playing 1B?  I'm going to say Kannenberg, as it would get his bat in the line-up and be rather easy on his arm.

[cubs]

Oshkosh drops game #1 to Edgewood tonight/this morning 4-3. 

Westphal got the start, but struggled giving up four hits in the first inning alone, and then walking a pair in the 2nd inning.  He ended up giving up three runs (all earned) on five hits and two walks.  Mrkvicka pitched well in relief, allowing just one unearned run.  After UWO had cut Edgewood's lead to 3-2, Kannenberg came on in relief in the 6th inning with a runner on first and two out and proceeded to walk the bases loaded.  An error allowed a run to score, which ended up being the difference in the game, as Kannenberg hit a solo HR in the 7th to cut it to 4-3.  UWO was able to get two more guys on, but Berger grounded out to second to end the game.

[OshDude]

Oshkosh drops game #1 to Edgewood tonight/this morning 4-3. 

Westphal got the start, but struggled giving up four hits in the first inning alone, and then walking a pair in the 2nd inning.  He ended up giving up three runs (all earned) on five hits and two walks.  Mrkvicka pitched well in relief, allowing just one unearned run.  After UWO had cut Edgewood's lead to 3-2, Kannenberg came on in relief in the 6th inning with a runner on first and two out and proceeded to walk the bases loaded.  An error allowed a run to score, which ended up being the difference in the game, as Kannenberg hit a solo HR in the 7th to cut it to 4-3.  UWO was able to get two more guys on, but Berger grounded out to second to end the game.

Edgewood completed the sweep with a 2-1 win in Game 2. Another unearned run allowed by UWO in the sixth. UWO had runners at the corners with two outs in the 7th.

Four total runs and 11 total hits don't bode well. Nice feather in the EC/NAC cap.