BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

[mideastfan2]

I am sad to see Palm go.  He's good for the conference in that he elevated a bad program to, at its peak, a top 5 program.  Not a lot of people can say that.  The other important impact he has had at Berg?  Hiring Mike Hallett to coach the football team and getting the on campus stadium project done.  Those are catalysts to improve the entire athletic dept.  Congrats to Palm on a great run as a coach and good luck to Matt Palm the AD and dad.

agree....his energetic personality will thrive in his new role, especially getting people excited about the athletic program, which leads to great fundraising efforts.  Best of luck to him.

[Dr. Acula]

Nice article on the front page of D3football.com about Derek Hug balancing baseball, football and a pre-med major.  Sounds like he's the very definition of an exceptional student athlete. 

Speaking of which, I was happy to see Mount had a team GPA over 3.0 for the 4th straight semester this spring.     

[mideastfan2]

B-W wins again!!!  They stay undefeated and advance to regional championship where they await an opponent (who must beat them twice). Great job Yellow Jackets!!

[Spence]

Well that ends a really strange season for Marietta, in a really strange tournament. Not sure I've ever seen a situation before where I'd rather they'd been on the road and not had to worry about all the weather stuff, and they lost a lot of home games anyway even in the regular season.

Bunch of young guys, most of them coming back. Better days ahead next year, but unfortunate for the guys whose college careers ended today.

Great job by coach Brewer coaxing an OAC regular season championship out of such a young group.

[motorman]

All I'm saying is "I'll take my chances" with those two guys and then see what happens from there. I'd much rather have two very formidable aces than to not have them.

HA HA!

[d3baseball411]

All I'm saying is "I'll take my chances" with those two guys and then see what happens from there. I'd much rather have two very formidable aces than to not have them.

HA HA!

You're pathetic. Win something ever.

[d3baseball411]

Marietta's won three of the last eight national championships. BW is a win from Appleton. JCU just won their first oac tourney and 2nd regional bid in program history.  ONU on the up and up.  So many good things for the oac lately and all you can be is antagonistic because berg fell off the tracks and their lack of pitching caught up with them. Embarrassing.

[motorman]

Marietta's won three of the last eight national championships. BW is a win from Appleton. JCU just won their first oac tourney and 2nd regional bid in program history.  ONU on the up and up.  So many good things for the oac lately and all you can be is antagonistic because berg fell off the tracks and their lack of pitching caught up with them. Embarrassing.

All I can be antagonistic about is being ridiculed all year by a of front runner from Marietta who refused to see that they weren't as good as he thought they were. Berg will be back next year with a bunch of Junior pitchers who got a lot of experience the last two years. He got a good look at what it's like to lose pitchers to injury. Berg didn't have a lack of pitching, they just got worn out. Berg finished ahead of JCU who they swept in the regular season and BW who they split with. That sounds like being on the same level with them. I was just trying to show he didn't know nearly as much as he thinks he does. Marietta had an ace and an inconsistent #2 and NOTHING else on the mound this year.

I can't stand a bully or a know it all, and Spence was both this year. He chased more people away from participating on this thread with his attacks that started while the teams were still in Florida. He started ridiculing Berg's accomplishments from not seeing other team's best pitchers, to their schedule, to their propensity for being hit by a pitch (LEGALLY).

And I really can't stand people who can't let somebody enjoy what is happening this year so they fall back on the "so what, talk to me when you've won X # of championships" argument. That is ancient history and has absolutely nothing to do with this season. I am very happy for BW and wish them all the luck in the world at Appleton. I think it is great for the OAC when the 4th place team in the regular season makes it to the World Series. It bodes well for multiple at large bids in the future.

[mideastfan2]

Well done Yellow Jackets!!!!  Heading to the Wod Series for the first time...what a season! Enjoy every minute and make your parents, alumni, and fans proud!

We're all cheering for you to bring home the walnut & bronze!!

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Congratulations BW. Harrison is doing good things up there.

[Spence]

All I'm saying is "I'll take my chances" with those two guys and then see what happens from there. I'd much rather have two very formidable aces than to not have them.

HA HA!

I stand by that statement. I'd take those two guys to head the staff. Widener threw a very good pitcher, took a chance in the first game and got away with it when LaRoche stupidly took the same chance. Weiss threw a good game. Neither one is going to end up winning the tournament so I'd question how well the gamble worked out long term but the prisoner's dilemma of the whole thing worked out for them and not for us. That's baseball.

Both Herstine and Byers are sophomores...short list of guys that have been better as soph pitchers at MC. Zero senior pitchers on this year's team. Doesn't necessarily mean everyone will be back but it does mean there should be a lot of experienced options next year. You can ask ettafan, I always thought 2015 was really our year, but of course we expect to compete for honors every year.

At least they didn't go 0 for May and wind up having their senior so-called ace passed over twice for starts in the regional. That's embarrassing.

[Spence]

Marietta's won three of the last eight national championships. BW is a win from Appleton. JCU just won their first oac tourney and 2nd regional bid in program history.  ONU on the up and up.  So many good things for the oac lately and all you can be is antagonistic because berg fell off the tracks and their lack of pitching caught up with them. Embarrassing.

All I can be antagonistic about is being ridiculed all year by a of front runner from Marietta who refused to see that they weren't as good as he thought they were. Berg will be back next year with a bunch of Junior pitchers who got a lot of experience the last two years.

LOL really? This is the card you're gonna play? Weren't you just complaining about a lack of mechanical development and coaching from the guys that are there now? All of Marietta's guys are back next year too, on the mound and almost all in the field.

He got a good look at what it's like to lose pitchers to injury.

You are a dope. MC lost more batters than pitchers. Hanahan, Winpigler, Johnston and a couple of FR that were expected to make an impact but never really got the chance. But that's never going to be used as an excuse at MC.

Berg didn't have a lack of pitching, they just got worn out.

No, they pretty much had a lack of pitching. Their ace gave up the second most hits in the OAC in conference play. Their #2 couldn't throw strikes. Their best pitcher was a FR that threw in pretty much every important game, sometimes 3 and 4 innings, now I'll believe he got worn down because Palm overused him.

Berg finished ahead of JCU who they swept in the regular season and BW who they split with. That sounds like being on the same level with them. I was just trying to show he didn't know nearly as much as he thinks he does. Marietta had an ace and an inconsistent #2 and NOTHING else on the mound this year.

10-2 is inconsistent. d3baseball.com's first-team all region. You're a funny guy.

I totally called this crash by Berg, only it started in the regular season rather than the postseason like I expected. Just not enough pitching to go in a tournament setting and they were living on getting favorable matchups and a lot of home games. When Berg swept JCU they didn't face any top pitching.

[motorman]

Called it? You prayed for it every day. You threw enough crap against the wall all year something had to stick eventually. Maybe I should remind you of your opinion of Mount and who would win the Mideast regional. Had to laugh at those. I never predicted anything, especially about teams and players I had never seen.

[Spence]

The person I told know knows what I said. And I know. And you...well, I really don't care. I was sad to see Heidelberg shipped because I knew they were easy pickings.

I had Marietta beating Salisbury in the regional. Salisbury won. If I was just "throwing crap against the wall" then I'd only have had a 25% chance of the regional winner being in those top 2. So I'd say I wasn't that far off the plot. A 1-run ballgame was pretty much the difference. Fair play to Widener, they got it done. But it's not like I was out to lunch by any stretch.

I don't care nearly enough about Heidelberg to pray for anything re: them.

[EttaFan1]

Congrats to the BW Yellow Jackets for getting to Appleton.  They have had an impressive run at the end of the season for certain.  They are the first OAC school not named Heidelberg, Otterbein, or Marietta to make it to the CWS.  It will be interesting to see how far they can go.

The OAC looks to be a very strong conference again next year.  There are a lot of quality returning players and very good coaches in this league.

For Marietta, it was not a year where the expectations were particularly high.  It turned out far better than I expected given how the season evolved.  (If you wish to go back through this thread, you will see where I expected Marietta to be in the top 4, but I didn't feel confidently enough to predict them winning the regular season title and hosting the OAC tourney).  There were some behind the scenes rumblings that Herstine was going to be very good this year, and he was just that.  Byers was a somewhat known entity.  After that the Marietta Pitching staff was a major unknown.  Injuries  and inexperience plauged the pitching staff down the stretch.  The offense was somewhat disappointing.  They struggled to hit the ball all year long and at times were overly aggressive running themselves out of innings and potential runs.  This was a young team, and things should be better for them next year. 

JCU has a lot of talented guys returning next season as does BW.  Berg has some players on the roster, but will have to deal with the change in coaching staff.  ONU had a young team and will be in the mix next year as well.