BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

Yeah, baby--we're #2!!!!  This actually means that Millsaps will be the top team from the South when it comes to the Pool C at-large bids since #1 Salisbury is going to get a Pool B bid that is reserved for teams that aren't in a conference that gets an automatic qualifier.

This doesn't guarantee Millsaps a bid, but it makes them a very good bet to get one.  Here's how I understand the situation and the process:

---There are 13 Pool C bids, at-large bids available to schools in conferences that have an automatic qualifier or Pool B teams that didn't get one of those bids.
---There are 8 NCAA Regions.
---The selection committee creates a list of 8 teams, the top ranked team in each region that is in the running for a bid.
---Using their various criteria, the best of those 8 teams gets a bid.  Then the committee fills the spot on the list with the second highest team from the region that got the first bid.  Now they pick the best team from the new group of 8.  It could be the team that was just added to the list if the committee thinks that team ranks higher than the #1's from the other 7 regions.  This process continues until the 13 bids are awarded.

It is not automatically the 8 teams that are the highest in each region and then 5 of the second highest teams.  It has happened in the past that a region doesn't get an at-large berth and that may happen again this year.  It is unlikely that it will happen with Millsaps and the South this year, but you can see that there aren't really many at-large bids to go around when they are being split among 8 regions.  That's why it is important to be on that first list of 8 instead of having to wait to be added to the list later in the selection process.

I believe that's the gist of the process.  If anyone has corrections or additions to add to this, please do so.

[Ralph Turner]

I think that Millsaps goes to Salisbury as the #2 seed and Hendrix goes to the Central or Midwest bracket as a lower seed.

I hope that they fly them to separate locations.

[Ralph Turner]

Courtesy of our good friend cush (from the Future of D-III board)

THis seems like an easy decision in my book with this school+ these d1 athletes don't get the d3 concept:

http://arklatexhomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=62172


plan to see a lot of cuts in sports...when stanford and MIT cut sports, you know school's are feeling the $ crunch...

[d3baseballnut]

I think that Millsaps goes to Salisbury as the #2 seed and Hendrix goes to the Central or Midwest bracket as a lower seed.

I hope that they fly them to separate locations.

I agree. That makes sense since Cal lutheran will get a bid in the West to fill that region up: this explains hendrix's move.

THere is also no other legitimate #2 seed for the south regional besides Millsaps. It works out perfectly bc they are an ideal #2 seed

[frank_ezelle]

Last night found me in baseball paradise.  The Atlanta Braves have their AA team in the Jackson area (Pearl, MS), they play in a fantastic minor league park, and one of my friends gets to reserve his company's skybox every so often.  It was a great night at the ballpark and it was finally nice to watch a baseball game this year.  Being a fan is fun, being a photographer is productive, but there's not a lot of crossover.  While I don't regret coming out of "retirement" after taking off the first 5 weeks of the 2008-09 school year, it was definitely nice to be a fan once again.

While walking around, I saw Millsaps first baseman Will Hawkins.  It game me a chance to congratulate Will on his recent recognition for his academics (ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior pitcher Tait Hendrix and sophomore infielder Will Hawkins of Millsaps College have been named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI Team as voted upon by more than 2,300 members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)......  Here's the link to the story:  http://www.gomajors.com/news/2009/5/7/BB_0507094137.aspx ).

Here's a sophomore who played linebacker this year on a team that reached #3 in the nation (57 tackles, 5th best on the team), you know what he does for a Millsaps baseball team that reached #1 in the nation, and he is winning academic awards.  You absolutely have to love the student-athlete aspect of D3 sports. 

We talked about the prospects of getting into the NCAA Tournament and what would happen after that.  Like just about everyone else, the team feels like they are getting a bid and the team feels like they can go a long way.  While Will didn't say this, it just seems like the minor tailspin at the end of the year deflated the pressure that had built up on the team while not deflating the confidence in their abilities as a team.

It reminds me of something Coach Page said Monday in the radio interview I heard.  He was asked, "What did you say to the players after the loss to Hendrix in the SCAC Tournament?".  Coach Page said the team met and naturally they were extremely disappointed, so he told them to meet him the next day and they would talk about the game then.  When they met and talked 24 hours after the loss, it was easier to put the season in perspective and to reflect on what went right and what went wrong at the end. 

Personally, while I certainly wanted Millsaps to at least reach the SCAC Conference finals, this small fall back to earth might be the best thing that could have happened for the big picture.  They hit the ball well, pitched well, and just ended up on the wrong side of a 2-run and 1-run ball game.  It wasn't like the ASC Tournament held last weekend at MS College where three of the top 4 ASC teams lost by the mercy rule in the tournament (the 4th team was the one that went 0-2 so go figure).  One more hit at the right time in the Centre and Hendrix games and Millsaps would have been a 2-0 team instead of 0-2, so it's not like Millsaps wasn't right there on the edge of victory. 

While there no way for me to know how Millsaps will stack up against teams that I've never seen at regionals, I feel confident that Millsaps will be a more relaxed team in the regionals than they were in the SCAC Tournament.  Talking with Will last night reinforced that feeling.  It's that more relaxed team that was the one ranked #1 in the nation, and I think they'll be a handful for anyone they meet next week. When this group of guys go out and have fun at the ballpark, they are a hard team to beat.

[d3baseballnut]

That's cool.

Winning your conference should never be your final goal if you are a team of that caliber. Your goal should always be to do well in regionals. Therefore, their coach should tell them that this why they play. THey should forget about everything else before this....it doesnt matter.

They need to understand, and I am sure they do, that this is the most important tournament of their lives, and the SCAC tournament importance pales in comparison to this. This is why you play.....regionals

[frank_ezelle]

From the SCAC website:

ITHACA, N.Y. - Led by first-team selections Tait Hendrix of Millsaps College, Andy Holt of Rhodes College and Jeff Claydon of Trinity University, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference placed seven student-athletes on the 2009 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District baseball team.

Brantley Freeman of Southwestern University, Brad Gerlach of DePauw University, Will Hawkins of Millsaps College and Jeffrey Williams of Centre College also were named as second-team selections in their respective districts.

Congratulations to these 7 players.  They exhibit quite a combination of success in the classroom and success on the field of play.  Here's a link to the full list:

http://cosida.com/documents/2009/5/7/09baseball.pdf

[Gus Sinski]

 The Hendrix players and coaches will get together very, very late tonight (or, probably, very early in the morning) to await the phone call on their destination.

Talking to people far more knowledgable than myself, the latest rumor is that Oregon is less or a sure thing than it was thought to be two weeks ago. But after talking to so many people about the selection process, the only certainty seems to be that no one is certain.

If I can, I'll post the news as soon as we get it, providing I still have the ability to type by then. It's been that kind of week.

[frank_ezelle]

Gus, last year it was at about 2 in the morning when the brackets came out.  I don't think I'll stay up that late to check on the fate of Millsaps.  But then again, I rarely sleep straight through the night so I'll probably be up at 12, 2, 3:30, etc.  Old age combined with an addition to diet sodas can make sleep difficult.

I have a feeling that Millsaps will be the #2 seed in the South which is about an 1,100 mile trip to Maryland.  If that's the case and Millsaps isn't going to the Central region, then it makes Hendrix going to Rock Island, IL a definite possibility.  At 600 miles, it's still air travel, but it would be something nice for the folks who are in and around the Conway area. 

Good luck to Hendrix.  I believe they have the potential to surprise some people at regionals.  The lack of good weather for recent practices is a concern, and the possibility of just being satisfied at getting a trip to regionals is a pitfall to avoid, but Hendrix proved their ability all season, not just over one weekend.  I can see them winning a couple of games and if things go just the right way....well, it's baseball so you never know what will happen.

[Gus Sinski]

 Oregon, baby.

All my best wishes to the coaches, players and parents that have made this season one to remember. Have fun up there.

[svbbcoach]

Oregon, baby.

All my best wishes to the coaches, players and parents that have made this season one to remember. Have fun up there.

In an earlier post, the question of how much it helped Hendrix to do the California run is now clear. Chapman, Cal Lutheran, Pomona Pitzer, and Tyler are all in the same regional as Hendrix. The only unknown is George Fox.

[Ralph Turner]

Oregon, baby.

All my best wishes to the coaches, players and parents that have made this season one to remember. Have fun up there.

In an earlier post, the question of how much it helped Hendrix to do the California run is now clear. Chapman, Cal Lutheran, Pomona Pitzer, and Tyler are all in the same regional as Hendrix. The only unknown is George Fox.

Coach Thomas won this one in the off-season!

[frank_ezelle]

Assuming that 2 plays 5 in a 6-team regional, Millsaps would play Wartburg (27-18).  Wartburg has an obvious #1 pitcher in Jerrold Martijn who is 10-1 on the season. 

Martijn pitched a complete game victory on Thursday (http://www.go-knights.net/baseball/2009stats/iiact091.htm) and another complete game victory on Saturday (http://www.go-knights.net/baseball/2009stats/iiac10.htm).  I'm sure he'll be good to go a complete game on Wednesday.

Here's a link to the Wartburg season stats:  http://www.go-knights.net/baseball/2009stats/teamcume.htm

[infielddad]

Hendrix will have its work cut out with a noon start on Wednesday.
Hopefully, the NCAA has travel arranged for them today and they have Tuesday to acclimate, get on the field and not be traveling. Traveling on Tuesday would be unfair to those kids.
If not, well, they have overcome everything else this year, why not one more???
That CA trip has to help them immensely in terms of confidence.  There isn't anyone here they have not seen and everyone starts 0-0 on Wednesday.
Gus, isn't Daniel Ward from Washington??
What a nice reward for a senior.
How is the hand?? Any word on it...that you care to share?

[frank_ezelle]

I went to the SCAC site to look up some stats on the Hendrix trip out West.  My search got sidetracked by the article on the SCAC post-season honors.  The big four awards:

Player-of-the-year:  Will Hawkins of Millsaps
Pitcher-of-the-year:  Noah Solomon of Trinity
Freshman-of-the-year:  Taylor Barrett of Sewanee
Coach-of-the-year:  R.J. Thomas of Hendrix

While Coach Page certainly did a lot with a team that no one ever projected as a potential top-rated team in the nation, I'm sure he would be the first in line to congratulate Coach Thomas (well, maybe not the first in line since Coach Page is rather busy right now, but you know what I mean).

Here's a link to the full article and the rest of the post-season selections:
http://scacsports.com/sports/bsb/2008-09/news/allscac.pdf?dec=