BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Lou_Brown]

16-0 would be impressive....but the Northwestern site says he went 8-0 his senior HS season, still a pretty darn good season. He then went on to go 7-0 during his summer ball team, which is not his HS team. Especailly if they were ranked #5 in WWBA. Most of those teams have very high draft picks.

I like Coach Scannell's comment that his offense is young??? Ummm, its the same offense (minus the SS who posted the lowest numbers of all regulars) that took you to the regional last season and hit .330 and scored over 400 runs!

Trinity is going to be top 15 by the end of the season...

[ILVBB]

its the same offense (minus the SS who posted the lowest numbers of all regulars) that took you to the regional last season and hit .330 and scored over 400 runs!

Minor correction Lou -- it is the same offense minus a catcher that played a little more than 1/2 the games (the SS is back).

[Lou_Brown]

EXACTLY!! Thanks for the correction and sorry to Hoover, good player.

[donotknowscac]

Looks like this message board could use a voice for the Lynx in '09...its still early but this team looks very talented, and Coach C has more depth at each position than ever before. Having played at every field in the SCAC except Austin and Birm. Southern, I think the newly renovated field is now one of the top facilities in the conference.  Too bad for the freshly retired Lynx it came a year late... 

Spoke with Ass't coach S. late last year and asked what the schedule would be like for 2009.  He said the the Lynx would have the toughest schedule ever.  He was right!  With all the young guys trying to step up to fill the the positions left by the grads I think a season of a little over .500 would be respectable.  The out of conference schedule is really tough.  I agree with the depth of players, but Coach C will be challenged to keep them all happy.  The addition of Cat as pitching coach is a big plus. 
The new field additions are great and new prospects and visitors will be impressed.
Condolences to Coach C. as he goes through a very difficult time in his life.  Keep him in your prayers.

[frank_ezelle]

Last year Millsaps had a lot of holes to fill and a lot of talented players deserving of a chance to fill those holes.  It seemed like every game was a different lineup as older players who had waited for their chance were given opportunities and younger players eagerly looked to play right away. 

In my opinion, the Millsaps coaches did the right thing by giving everyone a fair chance to prove their case about deserving a starting role.  However, at one point in the season it seemed to me that team unity and spirit was lower than I've ever seen at Millsaps--I believe that was during a dismal home series against Southwestern and I remember writing a post with that observation.  Things improved immensely in the second half of the season as the lineup became a little more consistent and roles on the team became a little more defined. 

My hope is that Millsaps will start off this season with less ebb and flow in the daily lineup and that should be the case.  Of the guys who played almost every day, Millsaps lost Hunter Abrams at SS, Derrick Boland as the DH, and Quinn Salmon at 1B.  While those are big holes to fill, the key is that there aren't as many holes to fill as there were at the start of 2008 when they had lost 5 of the starting field players.

From what I can gather, this Millsaps team should be strong at the plate.  That's what I said at the beginning of last year and they were strong at the end of the year.  I believe the ever changing lineup hurt the run production during the middle of the 2008 season.  It will be interesting to see if Hunter Owen can improve on his 16 HRs and if he can match Juan Joseph with his 3rd straight SCAC Offensive POTY award.  I'll be interested to see what Will Hawkins can do if he is in the starting lineup for the entire season.  Throw in Tony Malaschak and you have 3 guys in the lineup who could easily hit double-digits in HR's--Tony hammered one over the 400 ft marker while I was watching a few minutes of a practice scrimmage Friday evening. 

As for the pitching, I know there is quality at the top with Tait Hendrix and Aaron Williams.  After that I just haven't heard much.  Maybe Drew Maddox will be switched over to a starting role this season.  One thing for sure is that Millsaps will be helped by the switch away from the 4-game weekend series at least during the regular season.  You still have to have depth if you want to win the SCAC Tournament and do well at Regionals.

One last thing on this post that is probably too long.  I thought teams like Millsaps were starting early with an opening game on Feb. 6th, but yesterday I saw that local teams Belhaven College and Tougaloo College are already playing.  College baseball in January--even for the deep South that sounds way too early.

[pitchdad]

Further to an earlier post, if Rhodes can survive its first 20-25 games, they will be battle hardened for the conference schedule.  They play something like 50% of their first 24 games against either ranked or "mentioned" top 30 teams, including: Piedmont,NC Weslayan, Marietta, Denison, Emory, Ripon and WI-Stevens Pointe and Millsaps, plus La Grange, Greensboro, etc. The team has some big shoes to fill, with Beasley, Flanigan, Vanaman, Hurd and Catalanotto having graduated.  But the defense has looked just outstanding this fall and this spring (when its not snowing or too cold), and the pitching, while young, has the best depth ever.  Bullpen is particularly deep, and if the new guys can step up early and gain confidence, the year could be a good one.  But, it is not an easy schedule.  Pitching and defense will determine the season for Rhodes.

[donotknowscac]

For once in my life I would love to come out of spring (winter) training saying"We're killing the ball, but our pitching is behind" .
You're always wondering if your pitching is that good or your hitting that bad?  If you look at last years stats Rhodes was near the top in most stats in the SCAC.  So, it will be tough to improve statistically.  But, it seemed they lacked the crucial hit in big games last year.
They have five good solid hitters, but the remaining guys in the lineup will make the difference if it is going to be a successful season.
In the era of aluminum bats you have to put up big run numbers to win, I don't care how good your pitching is. 
Thats why I love to watch Millsaps play, they always have guys that can rake.  Speaking of that, can't wait for this coming weekend.  LaGrange, Millsaps, and Ozarks will all know where they are after next weekend.
Good luck Lynx and have a good opener Tuesday!

[frank_ezelle]

Barring a rainout, Millsaps will have a game under their belt one week from now and hopefully Coach Page will have his 500th career victory.  I'm excited about the start of the season even though I dread what the start of sping sports will do to my life as I try to photograph many of the home events over the next few months.

Last Friday I was watching a few minutes of a Millsaps baseball scrimmage.  One of the veterans was on the mound, Coach Page was at the backstop behind the catcher so he could get a good look at the pitches, and Tony Malaschak totally crushed a ball over the 400-foot marker in straight away centerfield.  It was then surprising to hear Coach Page say something like, "That was a good pitch.  That's exactly where you need to be putting the pitch and in this case it was simply a great swing by the batter".  As donotknowscac said, in the era of the aluminum bats, the odds are tilted in favor of the hitters.  With a wood bat, it would have been a good pitch, a great swing, and a long out.

[Lou_Brown]

With SCAC teams beginning play this weekend I haven't seen a predicted order of finish or season preview?? SCAC office?

[donotknowscac]

Lou, d3baseball.com has a write up about the south.  They mention Rhodes and Depauw but nothing about the West.  It's a weak write up.  I think the east is up for grabs, with Oglethorpe improving the most.  The west always has to deal with Millsaps.
Rhodes plays CBU today (tuesday).  I predict it will be real, real cold.  I may out on a limb though.
Rhodes, Millsaps, The Ozarks and Lagrange play this weekend at Millsaps in their annual love fest.  Those teams will know where they stand early in the year after this weekend.  Millsaps came out swinging in this last year.  It was well attended also.

[pitchdad]

Rhodes just beat CBU 11 to 2 in 33 degree weather and the wind chill in the 20's.  I'm glad I watched it on Live Stats instead of in person.  Babich started and went 3 good IP, and the other starters and then the pen went an inning each.  Good offense for the Lynx, but it's hard to tell on Live Stats how hard they hit the ball.  But, as indicated earlier this team has good pitching and good defense and really outstanding speed.  Chemistry is really good at this point, too.  On to Jackson for a fun weekend series.

[Ralph Turner]

SCAC-West write-up!

[Krakatoa]

"The west always has to deal with Millsaps."

One could argue that the West always has to deal with Trinity.  But I think both arguments are valid!

[frank_ezelle]

Austin didn't do such a bad job back in 2007.  The West is never a cakewalk for anyone.

I can't believe I'm writing this now before most teams have thrown the first pitch, but it's going to be a great SCAC Tournament in Jackson this April.

[Ralph Turner]

Southwestern just split with UMHB (which only fell two votes shy of being the ASC-West pre-season favorite.)