BB: NESCAC: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[speedy]

Amazing performance by the Bantams - 45 straight wins, topped off by 4 consecutive 1-run wins in the NCAAs. This season will not be topped for a very long time to come .  .

[Ralph Turner]

Congrats on Trinity and the NESCAC for thier first d3 baseball championship.  NESCAC on a roll lately with Amherst basketball last year and Trinity baseball this year, Congrats again

We football fans look forward to a successful run to the Stagg Bowl in the near future.

 

[fen1der]

anyone out there know of any type of internet broadcast of NESCAC baseball games?

[ECSUalum]

Many of the NESCAC schools will have audio broadcasts streamed over the internet from thier local radio stations.  Go to the individual school baseball websites to determine if/when the games are webcast

[Old Spartan]

NESCAC Fans:

We are getting close to the official start of practice and soon thereafter we should have access to the updated rosters and "outlook" summaries.  I hope that will get this Board going with some substantive discussion.  I think the relocation of the NCAA Regionals will be a good thing:  more accessible to fans and perhaps warmer too.  Cape Cod has more hotels and is a sexier place to be, but it was cold and hard to get to.

Any thoughts or info?

[ecfaninri]

Old Spartan..
I think that the Harwich site was meant to be good site with regards to local groups getting ready for the Cape Cod League. Most players come from D1 programs however, there may be a diamond in the rough from one or two schools to supplement a roster while the D1 players are still in the College World Series tournament.  EConn will be a better site, somewhat warmer, but not a heat wave. Easier travel for eastern schools.

[Rick Vaughn]

The NESCAC start date was February 15...How the teams looking any impact freshman around?  Is Trinity still the dominate force, or does anyone else have a chance?

Normally Williams has a great advantage with their two week Spring Break, but this year it's backfiring.  Nobody else is on break that late, so they are stuck playing Thomas College three times their second week before heading home.  This also forces them to pack in their schedule in the first week and play four DH's in five days.

Hope we can hear some team breakdowns.

[darkhorse]

Anyone have any early season predictions on how the east and west will end up in 2009?

[fen1der]

by my estimation, it looks like a few teams start up OOC games this week in the South...

[Rick Vaughn]

Pretty quiet on the NESCAC baseball board - Very competitive year across the board in NE.  Trin appears to still be the class of the league, but I would be surprised if they don't drop a game to Bowdoin or Tufts.  Amherst looked as if they would be the class of the West, but a bad loss to Westfield St. makes me skeptical.  Williams started 0-5 against tough competition, but has won three straight heading into this weekend vs Midd in AZ. 

League Weekends start up tomorrow!!

My Predictions:
East
1) Trin 11-1
2) Bowdoin 8-4
3) Tufts 7-5
4) Bates 3-9
5) Colby 1-11

West
1) Williams 9-3
2) Amherst 8-4
3) Midd 6-6
4) Hamilton 4-8
5) Wes Tech 3-9

Hamilton hung in there with Trinity down FL, and I think might avoid the cellar (Suprise!).

To further the convo:

All Conference Picks
C - Killeen 1B - Graham, 2B - Piancentini, SS - Allemand, 3B - Powers, OF - Wood, Rose, Heller (Amh), P - Bayer, Benz, Foster (Ham)

POY - Killeen, PitchOY - Bayer, FOY - Heller 

[ECSUalum]

Pretty quiet on the NESCAC baseball board - Very competitive year across the board in NE.  Trin appears to still be the class of the league, but I would be surprised if they don't drop a game to Bowdoin or Tufts.  Amherst looked as if they would be the class of the West, but a bad loss to Westfield St. makes me skeptical.  Williams started 0-5 against tough competition, but has won three straight heading into this weekend vs Midd in AZ. 

League Weekends start up tomorrow!!

My Predictions:
East
1) Trin 11-1
2) Bowdoin 8-4
3) Tufts 7-5
4) Bates 3-9
5) Colby 1-11

West
1) Williams 9-3
2) Amherst 8-4
3) Midd 6-6
4) Hamilton 4-8
5) Wes Tech 3-9

Hamilton hung in there with Trinity down FL, and I think might avoid the cellar (Suprise!).

To further the convo:

All Conference Picks
C - Killeen 1B - Graham, 2B - Piancentini, SS - Allemand, 3B - Powers, OF - Wood, Rose, Heller (Amh), P - Bayer, Benz, Foster (Ham)

POY - Killeen, PitchOY - Bayer, FOY - Heller 

Rick,

Good to have some insight into the NESCAC teams.

Thanks for the update

[Rick Vaughn]

Some surprises in the NESCAC this weekend.  The biggest surprise was definitely Wes taking two of three from the Herst.  I think this was a combination of Amherst not being as good as most thought and Wes being much better than predicted.  The spanking Tufts took from Bates in game 3 of their series was just as unexpected.  The Jumbos are really struggling record-wise and that loss could hurt them down the road in the battle for the 2 seed in the East.  Williams and Trin with sweeps.

Biggest story is Trin's Kent Graham. This is only speculation, but he appeared to have injured himself during game 2 of their series with Bowdoin.  That lineup is still very potent, but Graham has been swinging it the best of their big three.  While Trin's pitching is still strong, they will definitely have to slug their way to victories this year more than last.

[JustAFan]

Graham was back in the lineup for Trinity today in its loss to WPI.

I wouldn't count out Amherst.  Wesleyan got career pitching starts from its seniors, Mones and Dominguez, but the question is whether the Cardinals can get similar performances from them over the next 4 weekends to offset their lack of pitching depth.  Amherst's pitching depth may ultimately prove to be the difference over the course of the season.

The key for Trinity will be who emerges as its #3 starter and how its freshman #2 starter holds up over the course of the season. Both of these weekend starters should expect a lot of run support, however, and that should allow them to pitch relaxed even if they fall behind on the scoreboard.

Watch out for Bates the next couple of years--they're young and they have a strong sophomore class that is getting lots of playing time.  Same for Amherst as its sophomore class of pitchers (Healy, McKenna and Keenan plus Cetkovski and Harris) continues to develop .

Tufts is in for a long season unless it starts hitting soon (the Jumbos are dead last in team batting average, only one of 2 NESCAC teams batting under .300) and finds some pitching depth. The Jumbos are really feeling the loss of graduated offensive star Steve Ragonese.

Looks like there are several promising freshmen pitchers in the league this year.  Trinity used a first year (James Ramsey) as its #2 this weekend against Bowdoin and another Bantam frosh (Ed Donovan) threw well today against WPI. Wesleyan started a freshman (Brett Yarussi) in its weekend series with Amherst and Bates did so as well vs. Tufts (Karl Alexander).

Williams may have the strongest set of weekend starters in the league and they showed it this past weekend against a good hitting (and league leader in team batting average) Middlebury squad.  It's also a seasoned bunch of pitchers, led by seniors Dan Benz and Ben Horwitz along with juniors Paul Burgdorf and Tom Coleman.

Despite being swept by Trinity, Bowdoin gave Jeremiah Bayer, the Bantams #1, a run for his money in a 5-3 loss in the series opener.  Bowdoin senior Pat Driscoll pitched very well for the Polar Bears in what was a back and forth one-run game until the final inning.  Bowdoin also got strong pitching from junior Carter Butland in game 2 (5.1 innings, 3 runs, 7 K's).  The open question is who will emerge as Bowdoin's #3 starter.  Right now Bowdoin's bats and the strength of its first 2 starters give it the edge over Tufts for second place in the East division.

Eric McGrath, Trinity's quarterback and a talented pitcher, is not listed on the 09 roster.  Is he injured or not playing this spring?

[JustAFan]

Great win by Bowdoin this afternoon over #23 ranked USouthern Maine, 7-4.  Junior Joe Pace bounced back from a tough outing Saturday vs. Trinity to pitch 7 strong innings and stake the Polar Bears to a 7-1 lead over what might be the most potent offense in New England.  In Saturday's start vs. Trinity Pace couldn't get out of the first inning, giving up 2 runs on 4 walks and a hit before he was relieved with 2 outs in the inning.  Today he showed his real stuff, and together with Pat Driscoll (who came on in relief in the 9th today to save the victory) and Carter Butland he gives Bowdoin a strong and veteran weekend rotation.

[NESCAC FAN]

Weekend predictions...
Tufts manages to take 1 from Trinity
Hamilton takes 2 of 3 from Amherst
Bates takes 2 of 3 from Colby
Wesleyan takes 2 of 3 from Middlebury