BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

PetrelBaseball · December 30, 2007, 10:16:02 PM

Pauper thanks for the update on Flanagan, glad to hear hes alright. On the other hand, I was at the game when OU got the bad end of a call by the umpire. Not sure if you had a better seat in the house than me, but I'd put my money and say it was a stretch of a call. It did not need to be made as the runner already beat the throw to first. But that's over with, and we shouldn't dwell in the past. This season should bring great insight into what SCAC East team(s) can make a run at the West in the cross over divisional playoffs. Any predictions on the East side this year? Season begins in a little over a month now, and it's the best time of year! Good luck everybody!

THE petrel

frank_ezelle · December 31, 2007, 10:33:00 PM

Pauperboy, I thought I was asking a question, not starting "rumors". It sounds like I unintentionally hit a nerve of some sort which was not my intention. As for Flanagan in the 2007 season, you state the obvious since he was the SCAC pitcher of the year, and in regards to Rhodes in the 2008 season, I think everyone will have them as the preseason favorite.

PetrelBaseball · January 01, 2008, 03:28:30 PM

Well Frank, do you have any predictions for 2-6 in the East?
Should be a dogfight for the 2nd seed in the conference and it will likely go to the team who can scrap a win or two off the Rhodes squad. OU,Depauw,Centre all have quality swingers back who can exploit the pitching staff of any team. Should be interesting to see which team comes out fired up.

Petey the Petrel

Ralph Turner · January 01, 2008, 08:44:21 PM

Quote from: PetrelBaseball on January 01, 2008, 03:28:30 PM
Well Frank, do you have any predictions for 2-6 in the East?
Should be a dogfight for the 2nd seed in the conference and it will likely go to the team who can scrap a win or two off the Rhodes squad. OU,Depauw,Centre all have quality swingers back who can exploit the pitching staff of any team. Should be interesting to see which team comes out fired up.

Petey the Petrel

I don't think that BSC games will count in the conference standings this season.

Am I correct?

frank_ezelle · January 02, 2008, 12:03:47 AM

Ralph, I'm sure that's correct since none of their other sports count. As far as predicting standings, I think everything is up in the air outside of Rhodes being the favorite in the East. Unless something has dramatically changed, it is probably a safe guess to say that Sewanee is the most likely to miss the tournament in the East.

In the West, I think Millsaps, Trinity, Southwestern, and Austin will all be strong contenders to make it to the crossover tournament and I don't know how anyone could accurately predict an order of finish between those four. Colorado doesn't have a team and Hendrix has a lot of ground to make up in order to get out of the cellar.

SO, with all that being said and with no effort being made at all to check out returning players, etc, here's my prediction of the final standings in the SCAC this year:

East:
1--Rhodes
2--Oglethorpe, since that will make the current posters happy
3--DePauw
4--Centre

West:
1--Millsaps
2--Austin
3--Trinity
4--Southwestern

Crossover winners: Rhodes, Trinity, DePauw is an upset, and Millsaps

SCAC Tournament winner: Millsaps with Rhodes getting an at-large bid.

PetrelBaseball · January 02, 2008, 03:29:36 PM

Ralph, I have heard that BSC games will count for baseball this year. For example, if they do not count, then OU will have 12 counted conf games instead of 16 if they did count, since they do not play Depauw this year because of the addition of BSC. But Sewanne will have 16 counted conference games since BSC is not on their schedule. Therefore, it is an unfair advantage to one of these teams, so the BSC games will count this year. This is only the rumor that I heard in the fall.
Nce predictions Frank, hopefully OU will prove you wrong and winning the cross over divisional!

Any specific players to look for to have a huge impact on a teams success, like an X Factor?

ffb · January 03, 2008, 03:33:56 PM

I don't know if the BSC games will count or not. Would like to see them count since they just have freshmen and not anyone from the former team , it would make sense to me that they could count. It will give the players more of a chance to feel more apart of the conference. I think it is going to be an exciting year for those guys, don't count them out, looks like the roster has guys from everywhere from Kentucky. NC, GA, to FL. Some of the bios. look pretty good. They will be ready with the coaching staff. Heard great things about those guys down there.

frank_ezelle · January 04, 2008, 08:29:30 AM

Link to BSC baseball page: http://www.bscsports.net/index.asp?path=baseball

On their schedule, the games against SCAC opponents are marked as conference games but I'm still not sure if those will count in the official standings since the games in basketball are marked as conference games and we know they don't count in the standing.

While looking on their webpage, I clicked on the link for facilities and it looks like they have a great field with fences that the SCAC power hitters will love: http://www.bscsports.net/Sports/baseball/2005/scrushy-striplin-field.asp

Leadoff Man · January 04, 2008, 09:46:48 AM

Hello all!
I have followed this board for a while now and have enjoyed the great discussions that all of you have shared, and I would love to throw in my two cents.

I agree with all the remarks about last season being a dog fight, and I believe that on any day, any team in the SCAC has a chance to win, especially in the west. I think this year will be no different, and I love the way that the teams in the east are getting better every year, making the conference as a whole that much stronger. Hopefully this year each team will fare better in nonconference games and we can get two teams from the SCAC into regional play.

As far as standings go, I predict that once again Rhodes, Millsaps, and Austin will have solid years, but I especially look for a great bounce back year from Trinity. They have a great mix of youth and experience and will be playing to prove that they are once again a top tier team in the nation after a disappointing season a year ago. The pitching staff returns a solid three man rotation in Oates, Bronson, and Bignall, as well as proven arms in Horn, Poffenroth, Hunter, and Bukowski. More importantly, I look for Stosh Hoover to have a tremendous season as the everyday shortstop after recovering from his season ending spleen injury a year ago. I have seen several practises and his defense looks smoother than ever. Hoover will defintely be a spark to a team that is also returning proven leaders such as first basemen Jordan Pennington, and catcher Zack Fregosi.

historymajor · January 05, 2008, 09:59:57 PM

Didn't seem to go thru. Leadoff, what about Oatsie? He could be the X-factor!

Ralph Turner · January 05, 2008, 10:20:41 PM

Welcome to the boards, Leadoff man!

The SCAC board is a really good one.

frank_ezelle · January 11, 2008, 08:40:24 AM

Millsaps plays their first game 4 weeks from today, a matchup with LaGrange that is part of a 3-day tournament which also includes the Rhodes team and the University of the Ozarks. The students aren't back from the Christmas break so I'm fairly certain that spring baseball practice hasn't started. They don't even have a roster posted at the moment, but I think they don't post the roster till right before the start of the season.

Here's a Millsaps story on Coach Page speaking at the ABCA National Convention:

http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/baseball/011008story.shtml

infielddad · January 11, 2008, 01:23:49 PM

Frank,
Having watched for 4 years how dominating and intimidating Coach Page tries be on a baseball field, it was fun to learn/read there might be a circumstance he was "overwhelmed."
Thanks for the link. He is a very good coach. That is a nice honor and well deserved recognition.

frank_ezelle · January 12, 2008, 12:28:29 AM

infielddad--He may have been nervous at the start but once Coach Page is behind a podium and he gets up a head of steam, he can be hard to stop--I imagine that it was both an informative and entertaining 40 minutes by Coach.

Millsaps will be an interesting team to watch this season after having lost so many field players. Having Hunter Owen and Hunter Abrams in the center of the lineup is a nice starting point, but there will be some really untested bats ahead of and behind that pair. The starting pitching should be the strength of the team with 3 seniors returning after being weekend starters last season.

It sure seems like there is a lot of strong starting pitching around the league this season and we don't have to wait long for a potential pitching duel since Rhodes and Millsaps are scheduled to play on February 10th in Jackson. It seems awfully early for such a big game, and while it isn't an SCAC game, both Rhodes and Millsaps found out last year that a loss in early February might be what keeps you out of the NCAA Tournament.

Lou_Brown · January 17, 2008, 09:39:15 AM

Birmingham Southern's SCAC games WILL count in the standings in 2008. But they are not eligible for the SCAC Tournament.

The East plays a very crazy or even ridiculous schedule this year. East teams will not play the entire East!?!?!?? Rhodes and Centre, DePauw and Oglethorpe, Sewanee and BSC do not play each other in SCAC games this year???

Also, starting in 2009 (pending final approval from the Presidents or an easier way of an act of Congress) the EAST will go to three game SCAC weekends against everyone in the EAST, while the WEST goes back to the 3 away and 2 home series against all WEST teams.