BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[BigPoppa]

Don't have any information on Fall Ball or anything like that.
I did see, though, that BSC is traveling to open the season at Trinity on 2/4, 2/5 and 2/6.
Based on 2010, that projects to be one of the very best opening weekends in all of DIII baseball.

Nothing like finding out who you are right out of the gate! Birm-Southern could be a massive cog in the machine this year.

Are they post-season eligible in 2011?

[infielddad]

I believe BSC has one more year based on this NCAA statement:

"Meeting June 22-23 in Indianapolis, the Division III Membership Committee also agreed to move the following four institutions to the final year of provisional membership:

   * Franciscan University Steubenville (Steubenville, Ohio)
   * Geneva College (Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania)
   * St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn, New York)
   * Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, Alabama)

If those institutions successfully complete year four of the provisional/reclassifying process, they could be accepted as active Division III members for the 2011-12 academic year."

Trinity should be very good again and a challenge for anyone.  They lost a big bat in the middle of the order but are expecting Kyle Felix to be fully healthy again.
While I don't know who actually ended up on campus, the last information was they were expecting some really good new talent in the Fall. Of course, every freshman recruit needs to adjust and perform but they usually get some very good ones at Trinity who do both.

[El Hombre]

Just a comment on the travel discussions relative to the NCAA tournament . . . it was just a shame that the NCAA would need to force a team like Trinity or Mississippi College to travel all the way to Oregon to play in a regional that was stacked with 6 of the best teams in the entire country!  I think all these West Region teams were nationally ranked.  Trinity or Mississippi College probably would have won any other regional last year had they been allowed to play in a region close to home or at least their same time zone!  The NCAA needs to balance this out, not only for logistical reasons, but for competitive balance.  They do it for basketball - why not baseball?  If they claim it is for travel or expense reasons, just read the trip details outlined in the post by ILVBB.  How did that travel make any sense when there are regionals that are so much closer?

[Ralph Turner]

Just a comment on the travel discussions relative to the NCAA tournament . . . it was just a shame that the NCAA would need to force a team like Trinity or Mississippi College to travel all the way to Oregon to play in a regional that was stacked with 6 of the best teams in the entire country!  I think all these West Region teams were nationally ranked.  Trinity or Mississippi College probably would have won any other regional last year had they been allowed to play in a region close to home or at least their same time zone!  The NCAA needs to balance this out, not only for logistical reasons, but for competitive balance.  They do it for basketball - why not baseball?  If they claim it is for travel or expense reasons, just read the trip details outlined in the post by ILVBB.  How did that travel make any sense when there are regionals that are so much closer?

Division III is philosophically aligned in the regions. Competition is regionally based.

Baseball is strong in this part of the country.  The same arguments are held on the Men's Basketball boards where the Top 8 in the last regular season D3hoops.com Poll were all in one of four 15-team  brackets for the 2009 tourney.

Unfortunately for Trinity, they will have to fly to any venue other than San Antonio, Georgetown or Abilene.  There are no other fields in this part of Texas that can host a Regional to my knowledge.

The NCAA tries to eliminate anything over 500 miles in getting teams into regional berths.  For us in the West Bracket, of which we have about 40 teams of the 360 that play baseball, we will always have teams that will need to fly.  Almost everyone else in the country can be bussed to a regional.

[etg]

(El Tea Gray--re: BBCOR bats, "wood-equivalent" at Trinity Tiger's  Fall World Series.)


With the new 2011 NCAA rule (all divisions) requiring the use of BBCOR bats (wood-equivalent), there will no longer be the familiar "ping" sound around college baseball fields; instead the new sound will be "thwack" with shorter fly balls and slower rollers. Defensively both outfielders and infielders will have a learning curve. The net effect IMHO will be that the college game will shift to be more of a Pitcher's Game. The teams with the larger and more accomplished pitching staffs will in time dominate (even more than they are able to now). Comments?

                                                               GO TIGERS     

[Ralph Turner]

Agreed.

The old saying goes,

you can't be too blonde, too rich, or have too much pitching.

[CrashDavisD3]

Two comments on prior posts..

Could Concordia-Texas with the new turf field with lights host a Regional ?
ASC, SCAC teams would be closer than going to CA, or OR.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsgQMrndWU8

BBCOR bats will mean faster games, weak ground balls, and flyballs not homeruns, triples, doubles. Expect team batting averages to drop about 40 to 50 points and combined total runs scored in games to drop in half. Games will be done in 2 to 2 1/2 hours max.

[infielddad]

Crash,
I love your posting on the BBCOR issue.
Having a son who was a pretty good D3 hitter, who also did well in Milb and Summer leagues and is now the hitting coach for a DI program, we have talked about this issue at some length.
I also watched his team's last 2 Fall ball games.
Knowing that hitting is as much mental, the approach of the hitter and coaching staff is important.
As I learned from our son, adjusting from aluminum to wood for Summer ball took some time.
Adjusting from D3 to 90 to 93 in Milb took some time.
What I also realized watching Fall games is the sound varied depending on where I sat.
Our son's view is that teams that truly relied on power will be impacted.
Hitters that drive the ball and square the ball with wood will adjust and be fine.  Gap hitters/doubles hitters who adjust will also be just fine.
Clearly the games will be impacted because the exit speeds will be so different.
If you go to the Cape, NECBL, CPL, Northwoods, etc., what you see is players who struggle with wood when the season begins.  Pitchers can dominate.
By the middle of the season, good hitters adjust and their averages can sky rocket.
Hitters with long swings or who don't adjust still struggle.
Will BBCOR make great pitchers out of good ones?  I just don't believe that.
Will BBCOR make poor to mediocre hitters out of good/great ones? I don't buy that either.
What some coaches reported is that hitters got better and better as Fall ball progressed.  They were much better and more aggressive on day 45 of Fall ball than on day 1. By February, they should be that much better.
Are the days of the thin wall rebound off the fist HR's over. For sure.
Will the game be different? Yes.
Personally, I don't think it will be the game you saw in the Fall just like I don't believe it will be the game we all watched last Spring.
I, for one, am looking forward to it. I am not one buying all the stuff I read from some of the DI coaches who have contracts paying them from the bat companies.

[etg]

(El Tea Gray-- re: Trinity Tiger pitching for 2011 season.)


Ralph, I totally agree with your comment on college pitching (can't have too much; I would not be a good judge about the blonde or money issues).  The Tigers have 20 pitchers returning from the 2010 team; with the 9 or 10 they should pick up this fall, Trinity could suit-up almost 30 pitchers (they probably won't)  for the 2011 season. IMHO with a staff like that the Tigers should be ok even with the presence of BBCOR bats; maybe even much better than expected.


                                                                             

[CrashDavisD3]

I agree the great hitters will adjust but most teams have 1/2 great hitters and then the rest. So power numbers will go down dramatically. Singles/line drive hitters will do well. Others will struggle and become better as they adjust but don't expect the double digit scores like the DIII Championship series produce. Look at the batter averages in the Cape Cod and other wood bat leagues to give a good indications of batting averages

BUT remember most of these players were the top players in their programs playing in wood bat summer leagues. How will the 6,7,8,9 slot guys hit in 2011 ?
http://paws.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats-new/NCAA-stats.html

[frank_ezelle]

CrashDavisD3, that's an interesting article about metal vs wood bats.  Not really mentioned in the article is how the growth in popularity of college baseball might have changed the numbers as well.  Think of what a minor sport college baseball was in the 1970's and compare it to the big time programs of today.  Plus, we have bigger, stronger players in baseball today because of an increased emphasis on weight training.  Also, one has to consider the rise of year round select youth teams, the changes in bonus money being giving to the top high school pitchers, and a lot of other factors when considering the fluctuation of batting averages and home runs over the last few decades.

All that being said, there's no doubt that the metal bats have changed the game tremendously and the change to BBCOR bats will also change the game quite a bit.  When it comes to the question about pitching staffs, I actually think this change will be far more helpful to the teams with limited pitching staffs, not larger pitching staffs.  It should mean that starters last more innings before hitting a high pitch count, maybe one or two less pitchers needed per game.  And it also seems like this change will benefit the control pitchers far more than the power pitchers.

Personally, I think I'm glad they are making this change.  Millsaps scored 15 or more runs in 11 games last year, including two 19-18 games.  That's just too out of whack from what baseball should be.  It's time to get back to a better balance between pitching and hitting.

[frank_ezelle]

With the season opening up in 10 days, does anyone have any scouting reports on SCAC teams or any feedback on how teams are adjusting to the new bats?  Millsaps opens up play on the weekend of February 4-6 with a 4-team round robin including Rhodes, Berry College, and the U. of the Ozarks.  League play gets started for the Majors the following weekend when they host Hendrix for 2 games.

Millsaps returns almost everyone in the field and the hitting should be very solid.  They will have some big shoes to fill behind the plate after the graduation of Tyler Berry.  My guess is that the key to the team will be the strength of the sophomore pitchers.  A lot of freshmen pitchers showed great promise last year, now the question is how much of that promise will be converted into performance. 

[frank_ezelle]

Don't look now, but the 2011 SCAC Baseball season has snuck up on us.  Hendrix is scheduled to play the U. of the Ozarks tomorrow at 1:00. 

I know it doesn't feel like baseball season and it is hard for those who write about the sports to get to baseball while in the heart of the basketball season.  Those preseason writeups and rosters are probably coming this week for most teams.  Hendrix already has their 2011 preview posted and here's a link:

http://www.hendrix.edu/athletics/news.aspx?id=50948&sid=22030

[frank_ezelle]

Hendrix falls to U. of the Ozarks 4-2 this afternoon.  While one game doesn't mean much in the discussion about the new bats, this was definitely a game lacking in power.

Hendrix had 7 singles and a double.  Their 27 outs broke down as 15 grounders, 5 K's, 1 caught stealing, and 6 flies to the outfield. 

Despite the win, the U. of the Ozarks offense was more anemic:  4 singles and a double, 12 grounders, 8 K's, 2 fly outs, 1 caught stealing, and one other out that I couldn't find in the box score.

[frank_ezelle]

Trinity is the overwhelming pick to win the SCAC title this season:

http://scacsports.com/sports/bsb/2010-11/releases/2011baseballpoof.pdf