BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

a spectator · February 23, 2009, 10:41:33 AM

I look for Muskingum to make some noise this year with some new pitchers - Matt Fryer and Isaac Free. I know Wilmington has Iles returning, don't know anything about ONU or Mount. I am sure all will be competitive. But I see Heidelberg, Marietta and Otterbein being the leaders in the league, imo.

lhpdiggy · February 24, 2009, 07:49:57 PM

BW will also be in the mix. They did extremely will offensivly and defensivly last year, and they have veteran pitching returning w/ solid younger kids that will make an impact in the rotation. I do believe ETTA and BERG will obviously be the top TEAMS. Ott, Mount, BW and ONU will be fighting for the other spots. JC may surprise everyone though, even though they lost a lot of kids, it is a very solid program. Good luck to all!!!!!!!!

Dr. Acula · February 24, 2009, 09:08:45 PM

Capital is sitting at 2-3 after splitting w/ Alma and dropping one to Richard Stockton 29-28. I looked it up and Richard Stockton is an actual college in NJ. Maybe I'm the only one that had never heard of it.

Dr. Acula · February 24, 2009, 09:56:32 PM

Quote from: OAC baseball fan 3 on February 23, 2009, 12:56:33 AMHas anyone heard how the teams not talked about should do? (Mount, ONU, Wilmington)

I'll try to tackle MUC as best I can. I'm no help w/ the other 2 though.

They return a lot from a team that went 11-7 in the OAC last year. Here's my quick rundown on the key guys coming back:

Paul Mariotti (Jr, P): He was their ace in 08 going 6-2. All-OAC in 08. Mariotti is just solid. He gives them a chance to win every time out.
Greg Ferrell (So, CF): Hit .411 w/ 4 HR, 31 RBI and 10 SB as a freshmen. Earned All-OAC and All-Region honors. It will be hard to improve on that kind of start to your college career.
Cory Slaybaugh (Sr, 1B): Hit .372 w/ 23 RBI in 08. All-OAC in 08.
Craig Knott (So, SS): Hit .315 w/ 32 RBI and 23 extra base hits (5 HR). I think it had to be the most difficult on Knott last season being a freshmen SS. His production was very good for a freshmen. When I was in school we had 3 freshmen battling for starting SS and it was so hard for any of them to consistently play at a high enough level to keep the job. The lumps Knott took last year should start paying off in 09.
Connor Nell (Jr, C): Started just over half the season. Hit .324 w/ 16 RBI in that time though. Looks to take over full time in 09.
Grant Sevek (Sr, OF): Hit .331 w/ 4 HR, 25 RBI in 08.

MUC also returns their #2-4 starting pitchers and their starting 3B as well.

They have a good nucleus back and many of them are going to be around for a while. It's really a matter of whether they can finish strong. They started out fast last year at 7-1 in OAC play, then went 4-6 the rest of the way. The sweep by Musky was probably the low point of the 08 season. The sweep by Berg was up there not because they got swept, but because of the manner in which they were swept (blew a 4-1 lead in the 7th). But they played Etta and Berg tough, so there shouldn't be that mental aspect to deal with (as much as in the past anyway). It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

fundamentalswin · February 25, 2009, 08:48:47 AM

I think with Mount it will again come down to their pitching and how it is managed. They have alot of quality arms but IMO they dont really have a direction or plan to use those arms. If they figure something out past the starters and utilize the quality of arms they have then I think they can be more successful than last season. If they did what they did last and lose games due to poor management of pitching assets then they will be in the mix but could find themselves on the outside looking in come tournament time

Dr. Acula · February 25, 2009, 12:45:21 PM

MUC needs better pitching in general. Their team ERA was not good and it was downright bad after Mariotti. I think we'll see some of those young guys numbers come down this year with a year under their belt. If they can get consistent starts from Thomas and Irwin I think they'll be in good shape. With what they have back if they put up numbers similar to 08 that would be a major disappointment.

Dr. Acula · March 01, 2009, 02:46:35 PM

Capital swept Lyndon St. on Thursday to improve to 4-3 thus far. Scores were 10-1 and 13-8. Can't give you any other details as Cap's web site doesn't have anything on the last 5 games. No offense, but how hard is it to submit box scores? They're down south in a hotel...do hotels even have rooms WITHOUT internet at this point?

Dr. Acula · March 01, 2009, 03:08:43 PM

OK, it's the first day of March. Marietta's weekend trip to NC was cancelled. So I figured the best thing to do is post some links to season previews.

BW

JCU

Marietta

Musky

Gramps · March 03, 2009, 10:25:01 AM

The Berg is off to a good start, 2-0. But before I report on the sport of baseballl, I'd like to thank
the heart of baseball. All of the fans and followers of the Berg who came down to Florida, some
80 strong. My congrats to the fans.
Sun - vs John Jay - 22-0 - Dave Paddock, 8 innings, 11 Ks (career best) 9 hits - Fr. Eric Biggs - 1 inning -
2 Ks 1 Go. HITTERS: Grassley - 4-5, Decker, Wentworth, Keene with multiple hits. Alex Monroe - HR.
Mon - vs John Jay - 21-2 - Brian Koehl, 8 innings, 5 hits - Andy Lowe, 1 inning, 2 Ks Go.
HITTERS: A. Monroe - 3-4, J. Lash - 3-5, Wentworth, Buelow, Grassley, Brechun, and Decker with multiple hits. Jason Lash - HR.
Todays game, Tues, vs Eastern Mennonite U. will be at 12:30 PMl

GO BERG!!!!!

Gramps · March 03, 2009, 07:21:42 PM

Tues - vs Eastern Mennonite U - Berg jumps to 3-0, with a 9-0 victory. E. Thomas throws a shutout
for 7 innings allowing 5 hits with 5 Ks. E Biggs came in for the final 2 giving up 1 hit with 2 Ks to
complete the Shutout. HITTERS: J. Wentworth, 3-5, and 2 hits each for G. Keene, A. Monroe, and
T. McClarney.
The Berg was bumped up in the NCBWA top 25 poll from 8th to 5th.
Wed. vs Bluffton - 1:30 PM
Listen to the game on "www.heidelberg.edu/stacrew/mbb/xlive.htm"

Dr. Acula · March 03, 2009, 08:27:32 PM

Man that John Jay school is off to a rough start. Drubbed twice by the Berg and I believe Musky beat them by 20 some runs also.

Gramps · March 04, 2009, 10:06:25 PM

The Berg goes to 4-0 with 20-1 win over Bluffton. Jake Gossman went 5-2/3 innings allowing 3
hits with 10 Ks, followed by M Jones, 1-1/3 innings, 0 hits, B Hartman, 1 innings, 2 Ks, 1 hit, 1
earned run, and finishing in the 9th, E Williams, 1 K, 0 hits.
HITTERS: 2 hits by G Keene, J Bault, T McClarney. Willie Brechun had 3 RBIs and 1 HR.
Heidelberg has a team batting average of .404.

Thurs. 3-5 Winona State 1:30PM.

JK · March 04, 2009, 10:30:33 PM

Guys,

Not real knowledgeable on the Baseball team, but I am a Cap graduate (1998) and a regular on the football board. I try to keep up with the other sports (basketball and baseball) and have even caught a couple of games live the last few years.

I think that Cap has some talent. THey flashed a bit of it making the final game of the OAC tourney a couple of years ago and then collapsed last year because of a lack of pitching depth. If they can fix that, they might have a shot at the OAC tourney. Outside of Etta and Berg, your guess is as good as mine. I see no reasons to dispute anything in the previous posts about MUC, BW, JCU, ONU, and the hated Otters being contenders for the other OAC spots. But, Stevison and the St. John boys can hit, but we all know pitching and defense wins.

We'll see. For now, it's off to the Hoops boards to see what's up with the Cap men and women (both in NCAA's this weekend)...

lhpdiggy · March 04, 2009, 11:06:43 PM

Thanks for jumping in....it's nice to see the interest. Looks like a little sarcasm is coming our way from the Dr. I say the way teams set up there season season speaks volumes and we can all learn a lot from ETTA. It will be interesting to see how the OAC see teams come out of their spring schedules, and then how they do, in the OAC. My bet is those that take the tough road will be better off at the end of the season.

Dr. Acula · March 05, 2009, 08:45:47 PM

Good point on the scheduling, lhpdiggy. The hard part is trying to schedule a tough spring trip if you're not doing what Etta does. If you're just going to the Gene Cusic in Ft. Myers or the Snowbird in Port Charlotte you can only do so much with it. Look at JCU, Musky and Berg. Check out their schedules in FL. JCU has already played Bluffton twice and they play John Jay a second time tomorrow. Same w/ Berg. A lot of it is luck as far as who has spring break when you do and who decides to go to what place. But your point is dead on. Playing a weak schedule down south (or out of conference in general) does little to help you in the long run.