BB: NWC: Northwest Conference

[NWBaseballFan10]

How in the world does Fox lose to L&C?

Last time I checked they played baseball...Stranger things have happened and will happen in this game (especially for those played in the NWC).

Going into the postseason tournament it's difficult to assign 1 team as the favorite. PLU has been the most consistent team in the NWC all season, but Linfield is the hottest team in the league right now (although I'm not sure how long their #2 starter will be out after having an emergency appendectomy on Saturday...hopefully he is able to make a speedy return). I also would be careful putting so much stock in PLU's conference series win over Linfield considering it will have occurred over 2 months ago by the time the tournament rolls around...2 months is a lot of time for a team with Linfield's track history and a large sum of seniors to get things figured out...Just my thoughts.

Whitworth is dangerous in the sense that Scheibe has the talent to shutout whoever their 1st round game is against (likely Linfield). And Fox has been battle tested all year thanks to their non-conference schedule and their pitching is more than capable of keeping the Lutes' bats at bay (assuming that would be the 1st round matchup).

I never thought I would say this, but I am actually looking forward to the postseason tournament.  Should make for a great and exciting weekend. 

[Westside]

Just because Linfield has a strong tradition doesn't make it the team to beat. Tradition does not make a team a favorite - the players and coaches in each particular season do.

I didn't say anything about tradition. I was basing it more off the fact they have a core number of players that have won playoff games, they are the hottest team in the conference, they have the reigning NWC pitcher of the year, and they have the top pitcher in the conference this year.

And this year, Linfield is not the best team in the conference. Granted, no team has been a run-away train, but only one team has won every series - PLU.

In the same vein, PLU has only swept one series this year. So does that mean they can't finish the job? Or that they aren't consistent? The entire conference is muddled, it is a new season starting next week.

That's a pretty solid body of work. And, to say that despite that strong effort, Linfield is still the team to beat, is disrespectful to the players and coaches at PLU who have gotten the job done when no other team in the conference can say the same thing.

No disrespect at all. PLU is a great program and I think they are having a great season. And I know if you ask Coach Loomis, he would still say Linfield is the team to beat. If Mahlum isn't hurt, they run away with the conference title. Yet, having a one game conference lead is a very slim margin to say they are the only team getting the job done.

So, no, Linfield is not the team to beat.

It takes a lot to replace six starters off a back-to-back World Series team. It is expected that Linfield would take a while to get their team rolling. I wasn't surprised at all that they lost to PLU, as PLU has improved a lot since last year. I just think that Linfield's pitching and defense is still better and their playoff experience will pay dividends.

We just have to agree to disagree then, I guess 

With that being said, I think that PLU and Linfield can both make the Regional if they keep winning. They should both reach 30 wins.

[WestisBest]

3 spots settled, one to go.

PLU will host the post-season tourney next week, Linfield will be the No. 2 seed and Whitworth, the No. 3 seed.  The fourth seed? As the old TV Guide schedule used to show: TBD

If George Fox can pull out a win today, they get the No. 4 spot. If they lose, the 4 seed goes to Puget Sound. In a very interesting strategic move, the Bruins did not throw their ace, Ian Buckles, yesterday; presumably to save him for today's make-or-break game.

[WestisBest]

Fox came ready to play and earned the no. 4 seed.  Next week's tournament should be a lot of fun. 

[wildcat11]

Next week's tournament should be a lot of fun.

100% agree!  Congrats to those four that playing for that AQ next weekend.

[WestisBest]

Pitcher of the Year.

The postseason tournament will likely be a showcase for the pitcher of the year candidates because I think all of the real contenders are on the four teams playing this weekend. I saw all of them in person this year, except Scheibe of Whitworth, and here are my picks, based on the first-hand eye-ball test and the conference stats.

1. Bishop (PLU).
2. Scheibe (Whitworth)
3. Buckles (Fox)
4. Haddeland (Linfield)
5. Rossman (PLU)

Like I said, these are based on my in-person observations.  Looking at the conference stats, these 5 pitchers have very similar numbers.  Scheibe is the runaway leader in strikeouts and Haddeland has 4 complete games, but other than those two stats, it's pretty even. Haddeland is coming on strong at the end of the season, and may have momentum with the coaches who actually choose this award.  But, I would have no qualms if any of these 5 wins the honor.

And, it would be fitting if one of these pitchers had a lights out performance this weekend to snatch the award.

[WestisBest]

Player of the Year

Unlike the pitcher of the year candidates, there aren't a bunch of closely-matched candidates for the player of the year honor.  The viable candidates, in my eyes, are Koon (Willamette), Rapacz (Fox), Packard (PLU) and VanDomelen (Linfield), with Savage (UPS) a long-shot.

If you look at the conference numbers alone, Koon seems to have the strongest case: top 10 in HR(1st), RBI(1), OBP(1), SLG(1) and BA(5).  Plus he's only struck out 10 times and boasts a fielding percentage of .983.  Those are outstanding numbers.

Rapacz has had a good year, but his 22 strikeouts is too many for my taste. He is top 10 in most of the major categories, including HR, RBI, BA, OBP and SLG.  A very good year.

Packard has been consistent and a bit under the radar.  He hits in the heart of the PLU lineup and has very good numbers as well. They're just not quite as good as Koon and Rapacz.

VanDomelen has come on strong the last half of the season, but aside from hits and RBI, isn't in the top 10 in any of the major categories. Again, a good year.

It seems like the award is Koon's.  He won't be playing in the postseason tournament, so the door is open for one of the others to have a stellar weekend and make the vote interesting. But, given the body of work of all the players, it seems like Koon is a good bet for this year's player of the year.

[Whatagame]

WestisBest:

I'm certain the All Conference and POY/PiOY awards will be determined from only the pre-conference tournament stats, in other words, only from the 24 conference games.  That way, players who had outstanding seasons for teams who did not make the tournament are not penalized.

Haddeland will be Pitcher of the Year, probably unanimously, most IP, most CG and lowest ERA by .2 points.  Maislin from Whitman actually had one of the best performances this season.  Take away one freak 2/3 of a 9th inning against George Fox and he pitched to a 1.2 ERA.  Scheibe, Maislin, Rossman and Haddeland had the best stuff that I saw this season.

I think Tiras Koon is runaway POY winner.

[WestisBest]

Whatagame, good point: postseason tourney shouldn't effect postseason honors.

[Westside]

http://golutes.com/sports/bsb/2015nwcbaseballtournament

There is the link if you want to follow the NWC Tournament. PLU does a great job covering. Should be a fun weekend, I am planning to head there for the Saturday games.

[SoCalSoxFan]

http://golutes.com/sports/bsb/2015nwcbaseballtournament

There is the link if you want to follow the NWC Tournament. PLU does a great job covering. Should be a fun weekend, I am planning to head there for the Saturday games.

Westside,

Enjoy your weekend.  I'm looking forward to reading updates and see who does well for NWC.

[Westside]

Thanks SoCalSox.

Regional rankings are released and the NWC is sitting pretty. PLU is #1 and Linfield is #2. I assume as long as they don't get blown out, they should both be locks for the regional... It will be very interesting to see what happens if George Fox of Whitworth wins the NWC though...

Best of luck to PLU, Linfield, Whitworth, and George Fox this weekend. I am going out on a limb here  ( ) and saying PLU wins the inaugural NWC tournament.


Rank   Institution   In-Division win-loss pct   Overall WL Pct                           
1   Pacific Lutheran   23-7-0 ( 0.767)   26-9-0 ( 0.743)                           
2   Linfield   25-9-0 ( 0.735)   27-10-0 ( 0.730)                           
3   Texas-Tyler   25-9-0 ( 0.735)   26-10-0 ( 0.722)                           
4   Concordia (TX)   25-8-0 ( 0.758)   25-8-0 ( 0.758)                           
5   Cal Lutheran   25-10-0 ( 0.714)   25-10-0 ( 0.714)                           
6   Pomona-Pitzer   25-10-0 ( 0.714)   25-10-0 ( 0.714)   

[wildcat11]

That's is great news for the NWC and PLU/Linfield. Both are very deserving.

[WestisBest]

The rankings of PLU and Linfield are a positive reflection of the overall strength of the NWC this season and that's good to see.  It also significantly improves the odds of two NWC teams receiving bids.

It seems to me that if both PLU and Linfield are playing on Sunday, they'll both receive bids - the winner getting the automatic bid, with the loser getting a Pool C bid.  Where it gets really murky is if you consider the scenarios in which either Whitworth or George Fox win the postseason tournament.  Then it will become a question of how much Pool C bid consideration is given to PLU (the regular-season champ) or Linfield (the last-season hot streak). Of course, a second bid might not even happen. But, looking at the regional rankings, you'd have to think the chances are good for two bids this year.  Interesting to ponder.

I'm also predicting PLU wins the tournament.  Strong pitching and home-field advantage are two big factors.

In any event, the first day's games should be very competitive given all 4 teams should throw very good pitchers.

[Whatagame]

Scheibe = Beast