BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[casual_observer]

Hey I've been watching these boards for a while now and thought I'd join the action. I have my ties to Hendrix so thats mostly who I will be chatting about but I'm definitely up for all the discussions that go on. Now that my introduction is over with.

Hendrix lost tonight 9-5 against #7 in the nation UT-Tyler (who just beat Austin 14-2) in a game that was much closer than the score entails. Hendrix batters were hitting the ball on the screws all game but it seemed to always be right at someone (I believe there were 3 line drive, bang bang double plays). The Warriors defense had one bad 5 run inning that was the difference in the game. The impressive thing was that down 9-1 going into the ninth, Hendrix fought back for 4 runs off of Tyler's number 2.

Hendrix finishes up Tyler with an afternoon game on Thursday and then heads to California for their spring break to face #9 Chapman, #18 Cal Lutheran, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and Pomona-Pitzer.

[frank_ezelle]

Welcome, casual_observer.  I actually set the alarm clock 30 minutes early this morning, figuring that there would be some long reply about my recent posts that I should respond to, and it nice that instead I'm welcoming you to the board.

I hope you'll keep posting with regularity to the board.  You would be amazed at how much your posts will be appreciated by the players and their parents, not to mention the rest of us who like to keep up with SCAC action.  I wish every SCAC team in every sport had at least one person reporting to this message board.  We all know that D3 athletes are woefully neglected by the press and usually by the majority of their fellow students.  This message board is the prime spot where every team can have a voice, every great game or worthy off the field accomplishment can be relayed to the public, and yet so few people step up and speak out for these young adults.

Since I have this extra 30 minutes, let me take the time to warn you about the feeling you'll have of working in a vacuum.  You'll type up all these posts and there will be very few if any items of feedback bouncing back your way.  You will start to wonder if anybody cares about what you are writing and couldn't you use the time it takes to post for something better in your life.  I've been posting under my real name for several years and often I've felt like it doesn't make a difference, and then out of the blue there will be an email from a parent who says they really appreciate the posts about the team.  Or a former player will come by one of the games and they'll thank me for both writing about the team when they were playing and keeping them more informed now.  Mostly though, you just have to trust that your efforts are being appreciated and keep posting.  It will be time well spent in the long run.

And for the rest of you who have been watching the boards for a while, why don't you join in the action.  You don't have to be a genius--I prove that every day--and you don't even have to attend the games.  Look at the box score, report the score and give us an idea of who had a good game.  Just write something so people will get a break from all of my long posts.

[Ralph Turner]

Welcome casual observer.

Your participation will make one of the best baseball boards on this site even better.

The SCAC board took off early as a quality board.  Another Hendirx follower will help provide some balance to it.

[tiger_fan2000]

scacbaseballfan---fair enough on the northern team comment.  Maybe ND shouldnt be held is such a high regard.  I would also like to see more teams do this.  However, I doubt it happens because of the "nothing to gain" aspect from it.  ND should be more talented at just about every position than any D3 team they play.  But, because this is baseball, TU has a chance to win.  Same with any team on any day.  Reminds me of watching the Auggie Guarrido documentary and his comments about why he loves baseball.  Because, the more talented team doesnt always win.  Football.....I highly doubt a D3 team could match up against a mid-level D1 team.  But, with baseball, absolutely it can happen.  Not the majority of the time, but it can happen.

I would still like to know what classless actions you witnessed up close and personal, however.  Feel free to send me a message if you dont want to post it here.

[frank_ezelle]

Here's part of a news release from Jacksonville State University yesterday and it has a Millsaps connection:

"Jacksonville State's Ben Tootle was named to the Baseball America preseason All-America team, which was released on Monday.

The Oxford High School product was the only player from the Ohio Valley Conference named to the preseason All-America squad. Tootle recently became the first player in OVC history to earn first-team preseason All-America honors by the National College Baseball Writers Association, is a second-team Louisville Slugger preseason All-America, third team by Ping!Baseball and is on the Brooks Wallace Award Watch list.

He helped Jacksonville State to the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season Championship with a Conference record 23-4 mark. Both ESPN and Baseball America both have named Tootle as one of the top prospects in the country and is projected as a first round draft pick in 2009."

Complete story:  http://www.jsugamecocksports.com/news/2009/2/16/BB_0216094323.aspx

The Millsaps connection is that Ben Tootle was hammered by Millsaps hitters last year, giving up 6 hits and 9 runs (6 earned) in just 1 inning of play as Millsaps beat the Ohio Valley Conference champs 17-3 to split a 2-game series.

I'm not sure if Millsaps brought in any recruits with that victory, but I do understand that it is nice to play a D1 school when it can be fitted within the schedule.

I'm bringing forward this post from the past because it fits with the current conversation.  I certainly believe Trinity can beat Notre Dame based on what happened in this one game last season.

[tiger_fan2000]

Nice article.......

Frank, are you going to make it to the games in San Antonio?

[frank_ezelle]

I don't travel much to photograph the teams and it's rare indeed when I ever get a chance to simply watch a game.  I'm always here in town taking photos of another Millsaps team or spending my weekends editing a backlog of photos.  Millsaps is hosting a big softball tournament that weekend and I'll spend a lot of time at those games.  I hope to catch the webcast of the Sunday game, but it's going to be hard to catch the Saturday game with Millsaps playing softball at 12 and 2.

[Ron Boerger]

I could have sworn Trinity did defeat Notre Dame once in the not-too-distant past, but according to the ND media guide the Irish are 10-0 all-time against Trinity with a couple of one-run wins in the series. 

[tiger_fan2000]

I don't travel much to photograph the teams and it's rare indeed when I ever get a chance to simply watch a game.  I'm always here in town taking photos of another Millsaps team or spending my weekends editing a backlog of photos.  Millsaps is hosting a big softball tournament that weekend and I'll spend a lot of time at those games.  I hope to catch the webcast of the Sunday game, but it's going to be hard to catch the Saturday game with Millsaps playing softball at 12 and 2.

Hope you can catch the games that weekend.

[Crash Davis]

I've read this board for quite some time, but have never felt inclined to chime in until now.  I'm not sure why that is (perhaps boredom), but here we go.
I personally find all this discussion/dissension surrounding the Notre Dame game to be rather silly, and I couldn't help but be reminded of the game infielddad mentioned between Millsaps and Montclair State played on a Saturday afternoon before a night cap against Trinity (it was actually 2003, but that's not important).  In that game, Millsaps was absolutely destroyed by a very good Montclair St. team.  That night, Millsaps came back and put together its best game of the year to that point, and beat Trinity (8-1, I think), and then went on a good second-half run for the SCAC title.  

People talk a lot about turning points or defining points in a season, and I suppose that weekend could have been regarded as such.  But was it the actual games being on the schedule, or was it what Coach Page made of those games and relayed to his players that caused the "turning point?"  I would suspect the latter.  Point being, its not the schedule thats going to define this year's Trinity team.  Its the players and coaches.  While it makes for good message board fodder, I don't see much sense in arguing what a single day, several weeks in the future, means for a team, much less what it means for other teams in the conference.  A good coach like Coach Scannell will take any type of win or loss against Notre Dame and use it to build toward the next day and the rest of the season.  
I think it goes without saying that the entire conference hopes that Trinity represents the SCAC and D3 admirably in that game, and should hope the Tigers come away with a win.  
As for the disrespect issue, I think that is just a matter of folks supporting/defending their team a little more adamantly than they commend others, and I personally don't see anything wrong with that.  Tis the nature of fanhood.  

[Leadoff Man]

very well spoken crash!

[infielddad]

Crash,
Welcome to the DIII message boards.
After reading your post, I hope you continue to provide your input and thoughts.
I think you captured things very cogently. Nice post.
Your insights as to how Coach Page/Coach Scannell might motivate their players/ team is quite accurate, in my view.
Was it really 2003?  Geez, I am a year older than I thought! 

[Crash Davis]

Any report on the Trinity game yesterday?  I'm not familiar with Desales.  DIII?  NAIA?  I imagine it was a pitch-by-committee type thing with the Southwestern games this weekend. 

[frank_ezelle]

Trinity lost 11-8.  It turned into a pitch by committee for both teams as a lot of scoring was done in the early innings and both starters didn't last very long.  I believe Desales is a D3 team from the northeast, and I think this now just about evens their record.  They did have an early season 3-0 loss to the #4 team in the polls--is that Kean or Kern--I should know that.

[Ralph Turner]

Welcome Crash!

Kean, pronounced "cane".

DeSales, Allentown PA,  is picked to win the MAC Freedom Conference.