BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Lynx Tracker]

Has anyone noticed that every left-handed compliment that the Rhodes Baseball team receives has a "but" attached?

...but they have an easy schedule.
...but they are untested.
...but their depth is questionable.
...but their mother's dress them funny.

For many years Rhodes and Hendrix were considered the whipping boys in the SCAC West. Everyone knew that if the Lynx did not finish in the top 3 in the West Division last year, the cry would go up, "Yeah, but they couldn't make the playoffs until they moved east".  Many, if not most Lynx fans did not want to be moved into the East Division. We wanted the tougher competition—but the choice was not ours.

As my father-in-law is fond of saying, "If ifs and buts were fruit and nuts, we would all have a merry Christmas."

[Spence]

Rhodes is already a great story this season...but most of the discussion here tends to center around the conference races and the regionals. On that front, Rhodes is still somewhat unproven.

My personal opinion is that Rhodes' top two are good enough for them to be a legitimate threat to win the SCAC, and to do quite well if they end up in the Central regional.

[consultant]

Rhodes' success is great for the school and for the conference.  Now here comes the "but."  But, over the last 12 years only one East team has claimed the SCAC title (DePauw 2001).  No left handed comments are being made.  The observation that Rhodes is a good up and coming team with no history of significant success that is making its first run for a conference championship is very obvious to most objective posters on this board. 

Everyone in the conference recognized last year that Rhodes was improving.  At this point, the Lynx strong start only furthers the argument that they are improving.  Advancing deep into the tournament or winning it will substantiate the argument.  Until then, the West has the upper hand. 

   

[Lynx Fan]

As long as we are limited to discussing conference races, let's look at Rhodes in Conference record..... 14 wins and 2 losses....sounds pretty darn good to me....No speculation needed here....Whoever the SCAC East put in front of Rhodes they managed to take care of business....And it was more than Holt or Flanagan being dominant....Last time I looked hitting and defense play a part in winning baseball games....these are 2 aspects of the game Rhodes does quite well....even for an "East" team...

If I may break blog protocal and discuss the overall record for Rhodes....29 wins and 4 losses is none to shabby either....congratulations to a fine group of young men who have set (and will shatter) a school record of 28 wins....

Their next biggest challenge lies in front of them and they are well focused on the job that is yet to be done....GO LYNX

[Ralph Turner]

Lynx fan, the Rhodes schedule has not been overly strong to date, but I will acknowledge these games:

the win over Millsaps, the split with Maryville and the win over Methodist.

I want to see the outcome of the Wash U game and Emory DH.

[Baseball_fan]

I think that Rhodes will win the SCAC this year.  I predict that it will come down to Millsaps and Rhodes, and that Rhodes, behind Flanagan and Holt, and their very tough lineup will be able to overcome Millsaps in this series.  (As they did before earlier this year)

In response to the big games that Rhodes has won on their schedule, all of those games were games that Flanagan pitched in, which gives Rhodes a big advantage in my opinion, but I would like to point out that in the conference they swept 3 of the 4 weekends and split the other.  Winning 4 games a weekend 3 times is tough to do regardless of who you are playing, and they should get some credit for that. (I think).

This week will be big for Rhodes playing Wash U and Emory in 3 games as both of these are ranked highly, if Rhodes wins 2 of these, then they should get a ranking. 

[Spence]

Lynx fan, the Rhodes schedule has not been overly strong to date, but I will acknowledge these games:

the win over Millsaps, the split with Maryville and the win over Methodist.

I want to see the outcome of the Wash U game and Emory DH.

Same here, though I would put the win over Illinois Wesleyan in that category more so than Maryville.

[Ralph Turner]

Lynx fan, the Rhodes schedule has not been overly strong to date, but I will acknowledge these games:

the win over Millsaps, the split with Maryville and the win over Methodist.

I want to see the outcome of the Wash U game and Emory DH.

Same here, though I would put the win over Illinois Wesleyan in that category more so than Maryville.

I did not count IWU because Rhodes victory over IWU was in their 23rd game.  IWU was playing its 6th of the season.

[frank_ezelle]

Starting with the obvious, Rhodes is a very good team even if their mother's do dress them funny.  The question that no one can get a handle on is just how good a team are they?

My impression is that they are very good in a short series and that's all they will have until they get into an NCAA Regional which I think they will do this year.  Up until then they will be able to go with their ace pitchers against LaGrange, then come back with the same two against Emory, then use the same two in the first two games of the crossover, and then use the same two to open up the SCAC Tournament.  If Holt and Flanagan continue to pitch well then Rhodes will continue to be a very good team.  If one of them gets hurt or goes off form, then I'm not sure if the schedule has told us much about how the other pitchers will do against top-notch competition.

But for the moment, all Rhodes fans should be glad that Rhodes isn't getting votes in the poll.  There's nothing better to get a team motivated than to have them determined to prove their critics wrong.  Lack of respect or a preceived lack of respect is exactly what I would want if I was a Rhodes supporter.

[frank_ezelle]

A quick note for those wanting to listen to the Millsaps vs. MS College game tonight.  The Millsaps broadcasts are over until the SCAC Tournament but MC is webcasting tonight's game start with a 5:45 pregame for the 6:00 scheduled start.  That link is:

http://www.gochoctaws.com/Sports/admin/2006/Broadcast.asp

I could hear bits of their broadcast in the background of the last Millsaps-MC ESPN radio broadcast and it sounds like they do a really good job.

[Spence]

Lynx fan, the Rhodes schedule has not been overly strong to date, but I will acknowledge these games:

the win over Millsaps, the split with Maryville and the win over Methodist.

I want to see the outcome of the Wash U game and Emory DH.

Same here, though I would put the win over Illinois Wesleyan in that category more so than Maryville.

I did not count IWU because Rhodes victory over IWU was in their 23rd game.  IWU was playing its 6th of the season.

I was more inclined to discount it because IWU was throwing down the line pitching. But Rhodes threw Catalanotto.

I think it's a quality win and will look increasingly like one.

[etg]

(El Tea Gray---re: the "Lost" side in the SCAC)

With two weekends remaining in the SCAC Regular Season the "Lost" side looks like this:

                                            SCAC Games "Lost"
Rhodes (E)                                              2                 (Conf. Regular Season Over---East and Overall Winner)
DePauw (E)                                             3
Trinity (W)                                              3
Centre (E)                                              4
Millsaps (W)                                            4
Southwestern (W)                                    4
Austin (W)                                              6
Hendrix (W)                                            7
Sewanee (E)                                           7
Oglethorpe (E)                                        8

                                                              

[Spence]

Do you know what determines which divisional champion gets top seed in the tournament (assuming they make it)?

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps lost 6-5 in 10 innings at MS College yesterday (http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/baseball/040407story.shtml).  This was the last game in a difficult stretch of the schedule for Millsaps with the 4 games at Southwestern, two mid-week games including a trip to Birmingham, the 4 games with Trinity and then the Tuesday night game with MC.  They get a little chance to catch their breath this weekend with just a DH with Rust College on the schedule.

By the way, Hunter Owen was named co-offensive player of the week in the SCAC following his 4 home run outburst in the Trinity series.  He had a bases loaded double last night so I think his RBI total is up to 50+ or at about 1.65 per game.  The first D3 stats come out today and it will be interesting to see where that ranks.  It should be near the top since Garner Wetzel won that category by a wide margin last year with about 1.9 per game.

Link for stats (not updated at 7am but they say it will start on 4/4 for D3):
http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/rankings?sportCode=MBA&rpt=wkly

[infielddad]

Frank,
I saw that Garner Wetzel was released by the Padres.  Any word on other teams that might pick him up or if he will try and sign with an Independent League team?
He sure did not seem to get much of a look in the Padres organization.