BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[infielddad]

" In less than a month, the SCAC has interviewed R.J. Thomas twice, Wheeler Gnat once and Daniel Ward once. This sets a new record for number of baseball interview requests fielded by a Hendrix sports information director. The previous record was zero, held by the 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 teams."

Gus, that is hysterical.   
To be honest, Hendrix had some very, very good players in the 2001-2004 time frames.
Matt Blanton was a very,very good lefty pitcher who was drafted, by the Cardinals, I believe.  Brad Henry was a  hard throwing righty and, together,  they were very solid.  Certainly Andy Kucek could have played on most any SCAC team.
But, clearly, this is a very different Hendrix team. 

[Gus Sinski]

" In less than a month, the SCAC has interviewed R.J. Thomas twice, Wheeler Gnat once and Daniel Ward once. This sets a new record for number of baseball interview requests fielded by a Hendrix sports information director. The previous record was zero, held by the 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 teams."

Gus, that is hysterical.   
To be honest, Hendrix had some very, very good players in the 2001-2004 time frames.
Matt Blanton was a very,very good lefty pitcher who was drafted, by the Cardinals, I believe.  Brad Henry was a  hard throwing righty and, together,  they were very solid.  Certainly Andy Kucek could have played on most any SCAC team.
But, clearly, this is a very different Hendrix team. 

Believe me, I am very, very, very familiar with that era and the players from it, and to a certain extent you're exactly right. I would also throw in Mike Acosta and Justin Taylor as two prime examples of former Warriors who were good enough for a spot on any other conference team.

The problem, at the end of the day, was that Hendrix could never field a complete team. Every team in the conference had their studs, be it Walker Thrash, Forrest Martin, Jason Armstrong or roughly every Trinity starting pitcher from 2000 to 2003 (or so it seemed at the time.) But those teams were strong in every facet of the game and had competition at every position.

Meanwhile, until this season, Hendrix was unable to put together a travel roster. It wasn't that long ago that the season ended with ten players on the roster.

There's been an outpouring of congratulations for Hendrix baseball this year, not just from alumni but from some of the conference's veteran coaches and longtime observers of the conference such as yourself. I think it's because those who have been around for a while know this wasn't just a program that finished fourth or fifth every year...this was a program essentially on life support.

As for the reasons behind a decade of futility, I can only offer up something my mother told me when I was very young: "Son, if the nicest thing you can say is 'Hendrix baseball has been marred by coaches who did not fit the mold of what the college strives for academically and athletically, and those shortcomings were blatantly obvious on and off the field' then don't say anything at all." So I'm not going to say anything at all.

[spring bruce09]

richball, im not sure what your sources were but OU tried everything to play those games against Centre...they tried to get Centre to cancel their games against Lagrange and whoever else they played that week of spring break but Centre would not...from what I was told it was partialy because Centre didn't want to give up those games but also because Lagrange's coach wouldn't help OU or Centre out by moving games around...in the end it is not either Centre or OU's fault for not playing it is the way the schedule was built...oh and while you seem to be supremely confident that Centre would have won that series, OU was playing their best baseball then so while it is true that Centre has beaten OU the past few years I have no doubt that it would have been a very good series and I believe that at home OU would have played very well...the point in all of this is that all we get to do is speculate about it instead of actually seeing it settled on the field which is disappointing and downright wrong

[HeadingForHome]

I just thought I'd throw out my predictions for the entire weekend

Game 1: Hendrix over DePauw
Game 2: Trinity over Rhodes
Game 3: Millsaps over Centre

Game 4: Rhodes over DePauw - DePauw Eliminated
Game 5: Hendrix over Centre -  Centre Eliminated
Game 6: Millsaps over Trinity

Game 7: Millsaps over Hendrix
Game 8: Trinity over Rhodes - Rhodes Eliminated
Game 9: Trinity over Hendrix - Hendrix Eliminated

Game 10: Trinity over Millsaps
Game 11: Millsaps over Trinity - Trinity Eliminated -  Millsaps Champions

I've seen all the East teams except for Centre this year and frankly I think the East has gotten better but I think the better bet is that the West will dominated this tournament like it always has.

[richball]

I think all the teams are on the road to Jackson today, so I wish them all a safe trip and I'm ready for some good baseball. Goodluck to all the teams...

[BATR441]

I agree  springbruce09 that it would have been nice for Centre and OU to have played. I hear Centre wanted to play them the following weekend while on their spring break but OU wouldn't adjust. Centre needed  the wins for their conference standing, (14-2 against OU last 4 years),to take some pressure off later in the season. But in all reality in the end Centre stepped up and OU didn't.

wrong! OU coach was on the phone for over an hour trying to get the LaGrange coach to allow the team we were scheduled to play that weekend to go to La Grange and play them and let Centre come to OU and get the series in.

Belive me regardless of the 14-4 record Center had in the past 4 years this was not the same OU team they had faced and judging from there season record not the same Centre as well. OU would have gotten Centre at a poin in the season when they were not playing there best (Centre) so for you to assume they would have won the series is ridiculous if your that good at predicting things give me your phone # number I could use some insight on who to pick in next years Super Bowl. That being said I still wish them the best of luck this week.

[frank_ezelle]

Something I found interesting.  When Hendrix played their last game, they were in a situation of winning and becoming the #2 seed or losing and becoming the #3 seed.  They lost so they face DePauw and Brad Gerlach with his sub-2.00 ERA. 

That sounds like it would have been better to be the #2 seed and to avoid Gerlach, except:

Gerlach is 7-2 and his two losses were a 3-1 game with Wisconsin-Oshkosh and a 1-0 loss to Rhodes.  In the Rhodes game it was Gerlach vs. Holt with both pitching a complete game and Holt (6-1, 2.48 era) getting the win. 

It going to be interesting to see how Hendrix and Trinity do against these two pitchers who have been outstanding all year.  I don't think either of those games will finish with a 1-0 score.

[BBallFanHC]

New to the board but follow Hendrix. Looking forward to a great tournament and very disappointed I will not be able to attend. I will be watching all the games on my computer at work though.
My predictions....I have not seen the east but have done a little statistical research.

Game 1: Hendrix over DePauw
Game 2: Rhodes over Trinity
Game 3: Millsaps over Centre

Game 4: Trinity over DePauw - DePauw Eliminated
Game 5: Hendrix over Centre -  Centre Eliminated
Game 6: Millsaps over Rhodes

Game 7: Hendrix over Millsaps
Game 8: Trinity over Rhodes - Rhodes Eliminated
Game 9: Millsaps over Trinity - Trinity Eliminated

Game 10: Millsaps over Hendrix
Game 11: Hendrix over Millsaps in extra innings 
Hendrix College 2009 SCAC Champs!!
Good luck to all teams!

[frank_ezelle]

You follow Hendrix?  I couldn't tell by your predictions!!!

Welcome to the board and isn't it great that the option now exists to watch a tournament on the internet if you can't get there in person.  I know how much I've appreciated the radio broadcasts at DePauw in basketball and other sports, the webcast at Trinity, etc, and I've really taken advantage of the Millsaps webcasts this season. 

I remember reading a post last year where someone wrote that his former school once won a national championship in baseball and he didn't knew about it until 3 months later when the alumni magazine came out.  The internet has really been an amazing tool for sports fans at small colleges.

By the way, it hit 87 in Jackson today and it looks like the high for the next few days will be 85-87 degrees.  Those little black rubber pellets they use with this artificial turf apparently absorb a lot of heat and adds to the heat for the players on the field.  The heat will be a factor for a team that gets into the losers bracket and has to play 6 games to win the tournament.

[Gus Sinski]

New to the board but follow Hendrix. Looking forward to a great tournament and very disappointed I will not be able to attend. I will be watching all the games on my computer at work though.
My predictions....I have not seen the east but have done a little statistical research.

Game 1: Hendrix over DePauw
Game 2: Rhodes over Trinity
Game 3: Millsaps over Centre

Game 4: Trinity over DePauw - DePauw Eliminated
Game 5: Hendrix over Centre -  Centre Eliminated
Game 6: Millsaps over Rhodes

Game 7: Hendrix over Millsaps
Game 8: Trinity over Rhodes - Rhodes Eliminated
Game 9: Millsaps over Trinity - Trinity Eliminated

Game 10: Millsaps over Hendrix
Game 11: Hendrix over Millsaps in extra innings 
Hendrix College 2009 SCAC Champs!!
Good luck to all teams!

Welcome to the board. I suppose I should surrender my mantle as the resident Hendrix homer, since I haven't even displayed the necessary huevos to make any tournament predictions, much less one that involves the Warriors winning the whole omlette.

I too would like to extend my thanks to the folks who are going to make the Internet broadcast possible. Since I won't make it down to Jackson until Friday, the Interwebs option is a lifesaver. My co-workers, who will be wondering what the hell I'm talking about when I blurt things like "C'mon, Forgerson!" in the middle of the office will doubtfully be feeling the same thing, but they can deal.

Suppose the weather in Jackson will lead me to break out the shorts for the first time this year. Lord help you all.

[frank_ezelle]

Gus, will you be wearing your Hendrix Warriors Baseball Classic Thong under those shorts?

(for those who just thought "what the _____", click on the link at the bottom of his post)

[frank_ezelle]

First pitch of the 2009 SCAC Tournament is in 2 hours.  My first thought would be to expect a lot of close games with everyone going with their #1 starter.  I went back and looked at the crossover games from 2007 and 2008 and was surprised that blowouts were the norm in the first game (of course these games were 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 games):

2008--1st game of crossover series:

Rhodes 14, Millsaps 2 (Millsaps won this series)
Austin 7, DePauw 0 (DePauw came back to win)
Trinity 11, OU 1 (Trinity the winner)
Southwestern 6, Centre 4 (Southwestern won series)

2007:

Austin 12, Centre 2
Rhodes 15, Trinity 4
Southwestern 3, DePauw 2
Millsaps 12, OU 1
(I think it was Austin, Rhodes, Southwestern, and Millsaps all going on to win these series)


On another topic, I see that my karma went down a point recently--if it was because I asked Gus if he would be wearing a thong, then I probably deserved the deduction.

[Gus Sinski]

 Rest assured, my wardrobe for the weekend will be completely above board.

Just flipped on the first game. What a great job by the folks providing the live video and commentary. It really adds a lot to what should be a great weekend.

2-0 Hendrix in the top of the first so far. Gerlach got a clutch strikeout of Forgerson to stop the bleeding. Dave Keine on the bump for Hendrix.

[BBallFanHC]

Hendrix wins game #1 10-7 against Depauw.  Hendrix scores 4 in the top of the ninth to take the lead for good. Depauw loads the bases in the bottom half, but only gets one across and a 3rd to 1st double play ends the game. Gerlach got hit pretty hard in the first three innings but beared down and held Hendrix in check for the next three. Wasn't overpowering but seemed to really have command of three pitches.
One side note for Hendrix is that Gnat threw 5 1/3 probably over 80 pitches to pick up a win out of the bullpen. This should be a factor for the next few days as Gnat seemed to be the go to guy for Hendrix out of the bullpen.

Rhodes and Trinity both had runners on base in the first but couldn't get a run across.  This is looking to be a very good game.

[frank_ezelle]

Trinity has broken open this game with a 11-3 lead and Rhodes coming to bat in the bottom of the 8th.  Trinity has 20 hits in the game.