BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

svbbcoach--Just to clairfy, the comment about Millsaps with three 1-run losses to Hendrix came from Tojo Buttafuoco, but your point is well taken.  Those of us who have followed SCAC baseball for a while never really thought the time would come when Hendrix had 3 wins over Millsaps in a season.

Your post did remind me of something that will not mean squat to the NCAA but it is something that needs to be pointed out.  The 7 losses Millsaps had in D3 this season came by a total of 12 runs.  There were 4 losses by a single run, 2 losses by 2 runs, and a 4 run loss to Trinity in the final weekend. 

As I've pointed out on several occasions, the majority of the Millsaps wins are against teams with winning records.  All of their losses came to SCAC teams, a league that doesn't have teams with super great records because they play very tough schedules (at least that seems to be the opinion of the Boyd ratings).  Take Hendrix for example.  They had 6 games with Millsaps, 7 with Trinity, 2 with Texas-Tyler, a very long road trip to play Chapman, Cal-Lutheran, and Pomona-Pitzer.  That's 18 tough games and DePauw, University of Dallas, Southwestern, and others weren't exactly cakewalks either.  With a schedule like that, you can see why they can be a very good team but still have a record near the .500 mark.

Okay, I said this year I wasn't going to write much about the Millsaps playoff chances but I seem to still be writing a lot.  Now I'm going to cut back--I really mean it this time--so let me end by mentioning the number that scares me the most about Millsaps getting an NCAA bid.  That number is 500 or whatever the cutoff is between a team travelling by bus or by plane.  Money is a factor in these selections--it may not be in the NCAA handbook but history has convinced me that it is a major consideration--and Millsaps is a team that is outside of driving range of a regional.  I fear that in the end, that might be the biggest thing working against them.  I would love for the NCAA to prove me wrong.

[nvnorthpaw]

Congratulations to Hendrix for being recognized in todays D3baseball.com poll!  I am pretty confident in saying this is the first time HC has ever received any votes whatsoever!

[Gus Sinski]

Congratulations to Hendrix for being recognized in todays D3baseball.com poll!  I am pretty confident in saying this is the first time HC has ever received any votes whatsoever!

You know, any other week, that might seem strange.

Incidentally, we here in Conway make do with reading possibly the most godawful local paper in the state of Arkansas. We do it because, ironically enough, it's home to one of the best sports columnists in the south.

He penned a good column the Wednesday prior to the DePauw game (obvious flub on a pretty important name notwithstanding) and had one today about the team's reception back on campus.

http://www.thecabin.net/stories/042209/spo_0422090026.shtml

http://www.thecabin.net/stories/042809/spo_0428090020.shtml

[frank_ezelle]

I enjoyed both of those columns. 

To expand on something from one of those columns:  The D3 rankings at the Boyd's Worlds site (http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/isr/d3_isr.html) are a little quirky because they depend on the accuracy that they know to be less than perfect.  For example, they show Millsaps with a 36-6 overall record and I believe it is closer to 32-8.  But in general, it seems to be fairly close and this is what they have for Strength of Schedule for teams in the SCAC West as of today:

Hendrix schedule is rated #1
Austin College is #4
Millsaps is #6
Trinity is #7
Southwestern is not on the list and hasn't been all year.  I imagine they are in or near the top-10.

Now what do you think the Hendrix record would be if their SOS was #100 instead of #1?  Do you think any school in the SCAC West would even be below .500 if they had a SOS of #100 instead of one of the 10 toughest schedules in America?  I think a lot of people make the mistake of simply looking at win-loss records to gauge the strength of a conference.  They don't look at the strength of competition faced.  It says a lot that Millsaps went 15-7 against SCAC foes and 15-0 against non-conference D3 teams.

[historymajor]

Well, as chess games go... it didn't turn out to be a thriller.  Hendix found a way to "check" when they hit Bronson at will, and found the "check-mate" when Schallawitz was able to tame the Trinity bats...  They earned the crown!  Good luck at Linfield, and here's to hoping for two SCAC teams in Appleton!

[Gus Sinski]

 Ooops...forgot to include another column, and this one was the best of the bunch.

http://www.thecabin.net/stories/042809/spo_0428090024.shtml

The news just keeps getting better...thanks no doubt to the baseball team's championship, Hendrix finished an unprecedented sixth in the SCAC President's Trophy race. While I understand a sixth-place finish would trigger some conference ADs to employ a samurai sword on themselves, it represents a huge step forward for a formerly downtrodden athletic program.

[nvnorthpaw]

I enjoyed both of those columns. 

To expand on something from one of those columns:  The D3 rankings at the Boyd's Worlds site (http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/isr/d3_isr.html) are a little quirky because they depend on the accuracy that they know to be less than perfect.  For example, they show Millsaps with a 36-6 overall record and I believe it is closer to 32-8.  But in general, it seems to be fairly close and this is what they have for Strength of Schedule for teams in the SCAC West as of today:

Hendrix schedule is rated #1
Austin College is #4
Millsaps is #6
Trinity is #7
Southwestern is not on the list and hasn't been all year.  I imagine they are in or near the top-10.

Now what do you think the Hendrix record would be if their SOS was #100 instead of #1?  Do you think any school in the SCAC West would even be below .500 if they had a SOS of #100 instead of one of the 10 toughest schedules in America?  I think a lot of people make the mistake of simply looking at win-loss records to gauge the strength of a conference.  They don't look at the strength of competition faced.  It says a lot that Millsaps went 15-7 against SCAC foes and 15-0 against non-conference D3 teams.

frank_ezelle
It looks like the numbers are updated daily and it looks as if Austin is now ranked at #2!  This means the SCAC west boasts teams with SOS' of 1, 2, 6, 7, and I cannot seem to find where Southwestern is listed.  Regardless, WOW!  Four of the five teams have top-ten SOS..

[Gus Sinski]

 To borrow a phrase from that great philosopher Butt-Head, I don't like numbers because there's too many of them. But regardless of where Hendrix truly ranks when it comes to strength of schedule, there's no doubt it's among the tops in the nation.

It's also an unprecedented step for a program that often differed from the rest of the SCAC's approach to scheduling.

One of the many oddities about Hendrix's rise to the top is that the program only broke the school record for victories after beating Trinity last Saturday. The previous record holder, which was either the 2001 or 2002 team, went a robust 20-20 but managed only four conference victories.

When the likes of Trinity and Millsaps loaded up on opponents that would mirror what the SCAC had to offer, Hendrix typically played numerous series with the likes of Rust, Central Baptist and then-struggling University of the Ozarks. It got victories, it built confidence, but when it came time to play the likes of Trinity, Hendrix was (wait for it) a paper tiger.

I'll admit, I thought R.J. Thomas' decision to schedule practically a who's who of Division III was borderline suicidal. But (in between bites of crow) I'll now say that there's no way this team would have probably even made the SCAC turnament if not for facing the likes of UT-Tyler and Cal-Lutheran.

Unfortunately, I doubt the economy will let Hendrix make a schedule like that again. And the competition within the immediate area is pretty bland unless Thomas opts to schedule a slew of Division II teams or a few low Division I's.

But Thomas did prove what Millsaps and Trinity have known for years: You usually only play to the level of your competition.

[Ralph Turner]

To borrow a phrase from that great philosopher Butt-Head, I don't like numbers because there's too many of them. But regardless of where Hendrix truly ranks when it comes to strength of schedule, there's no doubt it's among the tops in the nation.

It's also an unprecedented step for a program that often differed from the rest of the SCAC's approach to scheduling.

One of the many oddities about Hendrix's rise to the top is that the program only broke the school record for victories after beating Trinity last Saturday. The previous record holder, which was either the 2001 or 2002 team, went a robust 20-20 but managed only four conference victories.

When the likes of Trinity and Millsaps loaded up on opponents that would mirror what the SCAC had to offer, Hendrix typically played numerous series with the likes of Rust, Central Baptist and then-struggling University of the Ozarks. It got victories, it built confidence, but when it came time to play the likes of Trinity, Hendrix was (wait for it) a paper tiger.

I'll admit, I thought R.J. Thomas' decision to schedule practically a who's who of Division III was borderline suicidal. But (in between bites of crow) I'll now say that there's no way this team would have probably even made the SCAC turnament if not for facing the likes of UT-Tyler and Cal-Lutheran.

Unfortunately, I doubt the economy will let Hendrix make a schedule like that again. And the competition within the immediate area is pretty bland unless Thomas opts to schedule a slew of Division II teams or a few low Division I's.

But Thomas did prove what Millsaps and Trinity have known for years: You usually only play to the level of your competition.

Every SCAC-West team has made the NCAA Playoffs at least once since 2002.

Congratulations!

[casual_observer]

From Log Cabin Democrat:

Now, we return to Daniel Ward. He entered the title game needing two hits to reach 200 for his career, something very few players have done in SCAC history. The coaches were initially worried about longterm damage to the hand, but he decided to play.

On his first two at-bats, he laid down sacrifice bunts, both of which led to runs and Hendrix building an early lead. On his final at-bat, he crushed a home run with the a cast on his finger and hand. Thus, he finished his SCAC career one hit shy of 200.

He sacrificed some individual glory to help his team win a trophy.


Stuff like this transcends sports...

[Ralph Turner]

From Log Cabin Democrat:

Now, we return to Daniel Ward. He entered the title game needing two hits to reach 200 for his career, something very few players have done in SCAC history. The coaches were initially worried about longterm damage to the hand, but he decided to play.

On his first two at-bats, he laid down sacrifice bunts, both of which led to runs and Hendrix building an early lead. On his final at-bat, he crushed a home run with the a cast on his finger and hand. Thus, he finished his SCAC career one hit shy of 200.

He sacrificed some individual glory to help his team win a trophy.


Stuff like this transcends sports...

Maybe his hand will heal sufficiently over the next three weeks for him to get his 200th hit on the playoffs.

The fun thing to do will be to give him the ball from the NCAA Regionals if he does it!

[infielddad]

To borrow a phrase from that great philosopher Butt-Head, I don't like numbers because there's too many of them. But regardless of where Hendrix truly ranks when it comes to strength of schedule, there's no doubt it's among the tops in the nation.

It's also an unprecedented step for a program that often differed from the rest of the SCAC's approach to scheduling.

One of the many oddities about Hendrix's rise to the top is that the program only broke the school record for victories after beating Trinity last Saturday. The previous record holder, which was either the 2001 or 2002 team, went a robust 20-20 but managed only four conference victories.

When the likes of Trinity and Millsaps loaded up on opponents that would mirror what the SCAC had to offer, Hendrix typically played numerous series with the likes of Rust, Central Baptist and then-struggling University of the Ozarks. It got victories, it built confidence, but when it came time to play the likes of Trinity, Hendrix was (wait for it) a paper tiger.

I'll admit, I thought R.J. Thomas' decision to schedule practically a who's who of Division III was borderline suicidal. But (in between bites of crow) I'll now say that there's no way this team would have probably even made the SCAC turnament if not for facing the likes of UT-Tyler and Cal-Lutheran.

Unfortunately, I doubt the economy will let Hendrix make a schedule like that again. And the competition within the immediate area is pretty bland unless Thomas opts to schedule a slew of Division II teams or a few low Division I's.

But Thomas did prove what Millsaps and Trinity have known for years: You usually only play to the level of your competition.

Gus, I received an email from someone pretty knowledgeable and close to the Hendrix program.  What it conveyed was not a real surprise to me.  It probably isn't to you either.
Through the rebuilding process, the Hendrix staff received support, cooperation, some guidance, and more support and cooperation from two main sources outside of Hendrix U:  Jim Page and Cody McCain of Millsaps and Tim Scannell and Dave Smith of Trinity.
DIII baseball at its very, very best.

P.S.  You guessed it: I have emailed and called Coach Scannell to  voice my complaints and try and put an end to this stuff.  Bring back 2004!

[casual_observer]

From Log Cabin Democrat:

Now, we return to Daniel Ward. He entered the title game needing two hits to reach 200 for his career, something very few players have done in SCAC history. The coaches were initially worried about longterm damage to the hand, but he decided to play.

On his first two at-bats, he laid down sacrifice bunts, both of which led to runs and Hendrix building an early lead. On his final at-bat, he crushed a home run with the a cast on his finger and hand. Thus, he finished his SCAC career one hit shy of 200.

He sacrificed some individual glory to help his team win a trophy.


Stuff like this transcends sports...

Maybe his hand will heal sufficiently over the next three weeks for him to get his 200th hit on the playoffs.

The fun thing to do will be to give him the ball from the NCAA Regionals if he does it!

Apparently, it wouldn't count towards entering the 200 hit club. Maybe someone can clear this up about Regionals not counting towards a career but thats what I heard.

[infielddad]

Based on what is listed in the SCAC record books, all post season stats are included in the career numbers.

[Ralph Turner]

Millsaps looks good...

http://www.d3sports.com/dailydose/2009/04/30/ncaa-regional-rankings-week-2/#comments