BB: NWC: Northwest Conference

[Jack Parkman]

Congratulations to Had del and for being named to the golden spikes watch list.
https://www.linfield.edu/sports/release.php?id=5260

Wow, that is as solid as it gets.  Best of luck to the kid throughout the year.

[NWBaseballFan10]

Last season, they played in the shadows all year of Linfield, but this year things should (need) to be different.

I don't know if they need to be different from a Linfield point of view.

I meant in terms of the respect they should (deserve to) receive from the rest of the country. Not just us folks out here in the NW. Very few on the national scene had Fox on their radar last season (even before the sweep by Linfield)

[wildcat11]

Last season, they played in the shadows all year of Linfield, but this year things should (need) to be different.

I don't know if they need to be different from a Linfield point of view.

I meant in terms of the respect they should (deserve to) receive from the rest of the country. Not just us folks out here in the NW. Very few on the national scene had Fox on their radar last season (even before the sweep by Linfield)

I'll agree with that and don't see much resistance for Fox until late March.

[Westside]

This is a bit late, but here is my NWC Team of the Week #2: http://collegeballnw.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/northwest-conference-team-of-the-week-2-2/

This next weekend should really get things going in the Northwest. It looks like everyone will be getting in on the action, finally. Obviously, things are still shaking out, but I think there is a pretty clear line between the top and bottom of the conference. It is hard to see anyone challenging Linfield and George Fox for the league title. Whitman's start has been great but their pitching isn't holding up, and I worry how their offense will do against above-average pitching (PLU, Linfield, George Fox). Likewise, I don't think that PLU has the offense to compete with the top two teams.

With that being said, any team can win on any day. Lewis & Clark should've won their first game against Willamette and Linfield's offense got shut out (they were shut out once last year too). This really will be an exciting year in the NWC.

My random off-topic rant of the week: I don't understand how a defending NCAA Champion can fail to have stats or radio or any coverage for their home opener! For shame!

Go Cats!

[wildcat11]

This is a bit late, but here is my NWC Team of the Week #2: http://collegeballnw.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/northwest-conference-team-of-the-week-2-2/
Whitman's start has been great but their pitching isn't holding up, and I worry how their offense will do against above-average pitching (PLU, Linfield, George Fox). Likewise, I don't think that PLU has the offense to compete with the top two teams.

I think Whitworth is still going to be a wildcard this season with their bats on the top of the line-up.  I don't think they will be a title contender in the end but their bats could prove to be a problem of a lot of NWC teams....their pitching on the other hand.

[Jim Dixon]

Congratulations to Had del and for being named to the golden spikes watch list.
https://www.linfield.edu/sports/release.php?id=5260

Very cool deal for Haddeland in being on the only DIII player on the list.

It is rare indeed for any D-III player to be included on the Golden Spikes watch list, in any year.

[wildcat11]

Oxy's twitter account is giving updates and Fox is thumping the Tigers early.  7-0 in the 3rd.

https://twitter.com/OxyAthletics/status/436997594909143041

[Westside]

Fox won 7-0. Gartner dominated, 8 IP, 0 BB, 9 K, 3 H. They are going to be tough to beat.

[wildcat11]

'Cats lost 6-5 to a below average Corban today 6-5.  Gave up 15 hits today (Thomassen started). Not a great result.  St. Martin's tomorrow and then OIT on Sunday.

[NWBaseballFan10]

Something appears to be different with the water down in McMinnville this year.  Tonight marked the first time since the 2012 season that Linfield lost consecutive games (granted neither loss came against a D3 opponent). Corban is an improved club (primarily offensively), but their pitching tonight made Linfield's bats look silly. Lots of big hacks throughout the lineup and not much to show for them besides major league pop ups. Thomassen also doesn't look quite the same as he did last year. It is still early though and this was only his second start of the spring. I wouldn't be jumping to hit the panic button quite yet, but it would be nice to see Linfield bounce back with a pair of wins in the next couple days and get back on track.

Fox continues to look strong (I feel like we just keep beating a dead horse with these guys). Gartner tosses yet another gem and the Rapacz brothers continue to produce. Maybe we will see a slugfest between them and Pomona on Sunday after the one Pomona had today with Cal Lu (not a score I would expect when both teams are tossing their aces).

[108 Stitches]

Repeating is always difficult, but even the best teams will lose 8-12 games in a season, that is a solid team and it is early. GF however looks like they are going to be in the mix for the NW Conference, teams are always hungrier when they get left out of the tournament and feel they should have been there. Will be interesting to watch.

[Westside]

Linfield bounces back behind the arm of Haddeland to win 6-2 over Division II, St. Martins. Haddeland threw eight innings of no-run baseball to pick up the victory. He has now given up one run and only eight hits in 21 innings.

George Fox squeaked by Occidental 5-4. But Zarosinski went a complete game and struck out 12, giving up zero earned runs... He is now up to 24 innings on the year with one earned run.

The NWC has no shortage of dominant pitching 

[wildcat11]

Something appears to be different with the water down in McMinnville this year. 

I'm not worried about dropping back-to-back games.  A win tomorrow and that is just a minor bump in the road as Linfield gears up for NWC play.

[wildcat11]

'Cats get OIT with a 1-0 win today.  4 hit shutout tossed by Brandon (5.0 innings), Stevick (2.0), Manely (1.0), and Miller (1.0) closes.

[Whatagame]

This weekend's CCC-NWC Challenge seemed like an odd weekend of baseball.  Lots of very low scores.  Linfield loses to Corban, yet Willamette beats Corban.  OIT beats UPS 2-1, OIT loses to PLU 3-1, then Linfield squeeks by OIT 1-0.  St. Martins loses to everyone, but all the games are close......