BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Dr. Acula]

A look at the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets:

Key Losses:
Brendan Toughey - .410, 161 AB, .490 OBP, .615 SLG, 4HRm 4 3B, 28 RBI, 20 SB.
Nolan Neuschafer - .315, 108 AB, .444 OBP, .556 SLG, 3HR, 6 3B, 13 SB.
Pat Havens, 12 APP, 11 Starts, 67 IP (1), 7.12 K/9, 4.43 ERA
David Redovian, 10 APP, 4 Starts, 37.1 IP (3), 6.03 K/9, 4.3 ERA

Key Returners:
Brad Gugliotta, .383, 133 AB, .481 OBP, .451 SLG,
Kyle Chontos, .298, 131 AB, .466 OBP, .405 SLG, 1 HR, 11 SB
Eric Murphy, .278, 144 AB, .350 OBP, .354 SLG, 9 SB.

BW was 27-13 last year, and 11-7 in the OAC (tied for third) and would have been in the OAC tournament last year. 

They lost their #1, and #3 pitchers (in terms of innings pitched), and their top overall hitter. 

Those are some big losses.  Toughey was a stud.  The most impressive stat to me was the 66 runs scored in 40 games.  If you're scoring more than 1.5 runs per game that's pretty darn good.  I was very impressed when I saw him at Ott last year.  Looked the part for sure.  Just one of those kids that LOOKS like a good athlete.

Havens is a big loss because he was a workhorse.  I'm sure he was not happy with his senior year stats, but make no mistake that kid is a good D3 pitcher.  He really struggled at Ott (as did Redovian), but you could tell he had good stuff just poor location that day.

I don't know enough about their gas tanks, but Alioto and Capadona looked like they had starter's stuff to me.

The other thing to keep in mind is Yost might be back too after missing last year due to injury.  He is an All-OAC caliber bat too.  And my opinion of soph Mark Zimmerman is well documented on here.  I think he's going to have a very good year.  I think BW might have the best lineup in the conference top to bottom.  Pitching is a big question mark though.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Palm steps down after the season. Fitzgerald to take over.

http://athletics.heidelberg.edu/sports/bsb/2013-14/releases/palm

Palm will now be AD full time.

[Dr. Acula]

Not surprising. It's tough to be AD and HC without an Asst AD to carry the load. His Asst AD is Hallett. No way Mike has time to do much administrative work.  Football is 365 when you're trying to play at a national level like Berg.  But Hallett probably needs the title to pay him what they need to.

[Dr. Acula]

Also, I hope Berg gives Palm one last run this year. He deserves it. He literally built that program from nothing.  Truly the blueprint for how to do it right.

[Spence]

Truly not sure how to feel about this or what to say. Bears quite a similarity to when Roger Ingles made the same move at Ohio Wesleyan. Makes me wonder what Heidelberg has coming up.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

I agree with both your comments Dr. Son was recruited by Palm. He really knows what he is doing. I am sure Fitzgerald will do fine.

[Dr. Acula]

Spence, from the sounds of that release he's going to focus quite a bit on fundraising to improve things there. That football stadium on campus has been a big push for them. I'm sure that continuing that momentum to upgrade across the board is a major reason for this move. Berg has always been one of the "have nots" in terms of financial backing for athletics.  Maybe they see this as their window to try to change that.

[motorman]

I think another factor in this move is that his oldest son is in high school now and he would like to actually see him play. I do hope they make his last season memorable.

[Spence]

After 4 straight conference titles, Heidelberg has lost 10 of their last 12 to Marietta. Had to be deflating to have that success, feel like maybe you've surpassed the Etta Express, then have Marietta win back to back national titles.

Until last year, the last 3 times that Heidelberg hadn't won the OAC, Marietta won a national title.

Like I say, reminds me of when Roger Ingles had his heart ripped out in 2002 in the best chance they were ever gonna have. Their program hasn't been the same since then.

[Dr. Acula]

I think another factor in this move is that his oldest son is in high school now and he would like to actually see him play. I do hope they make his last season memorable.

Palm must be living right because he looks like his oldest kid should be in about 3rd grade. Haha.

[Dr. Acula]

I remember playing OWU back in the 99-01 range in FL and they were ranked in the top 5.  Problem is Drew Caravella isn't walking through that door.  Kid like that doesn't end up OWU more than once.

[Spence]

I remember playing OWU back in the 99-01 range in FL and they were ranked in the top 5.  Problem is Drew Caravella isn't walking through that door.  Kid like that doesn't end up OWU more than once.

They had a lot more than him though. Rice and Loudenslager were both very good players...Rice I think was a transfer from BG. Tyler Mott was an excellent two-way player. They could hit all up and down the lineup. They had pretty solid pitching when they weren't playing Marietta with Moenter, Farmwald, Busch, Mott. They just couldn't figure out a freshman named Justin Papania that specialized in beating them. His first win came against them in a game in Marietta when OWU scored 7 in the first and threw all 4 of their top 4 pitchers, yet improbably lost 13-10. Thing about that was that there were only 3 pitchers on the dugout card that night and the other two didn't get through the first inning. Papania, and all 2 career innings, was it -- it was him or bust. Then Paps got two wins against OWU in the regional.

That 2002 team didn't win the championship but they were a special, special bunch. Their goals never changed, even without the most accomplished pitcher in D-III history. They're one that you look back and say "how *did* they do it? Just a really mentally tough group I think, great reflection of their coach.

3 years later, Ingles moved to AD after OWU failed to make the NCAC tournament. 3 years after Berg's trip to Appleton, Palm announces he's moving to AD after they failed to make the OAC tournament.

As far as a guy like Caravella only coming through once, you might say the same for Ricky Lizcano or Andy Lowe.

[Dr. Acula]

That's a good point about the similarities between that OWU group and the Berg group. Right down to being able to hit 1-9 (or at least 8) and having the guys around Lizcano (Brechun, Lash, etc.) that were also very good.  I saw that Berg group play numerous times and that's going to be hard to duplicate. Just a special group. 

OWU is odd in that you could argue that with Allegheny and Wooster being as good as they were then that the Bishops should have an easier time being an NCAC power today.  Those Gheny teams back then were no joke.  You had three powers at once. Now they have one. The difference is the conference is better top to bottom now.  DePauw is a good addition. Deegan will have Denison good in no time.  That conference is a solid baseball league.

[Spence]

That's a good point about the similarities between that OWU group and the Berg group. Right down to being able to hit 1-9 (or at least 8) and having the guys around Lizcano (Brechun, Lash, etc.) that were also very good.  I saw that Berg group play numerous times and that's going to be hard to duplicate. Just a special group. 

OWU is odd in that you could argue that with Allegheny and Wooster being as good as they were then that the Bishops should have an easier time being an NCAC power today.  Those Gheny teams back then were no joke.  You had three powers at once. Now they have one. The difference is the conference is better top to bottom now.  DePauw is a good addition. Deegan will have Denison good in no time.  That conference is a solid baseball league.

I think the OAC is better than the NCAC right now, and really for the most part has been for quite a while. Back in those days once you got past the top NCAC programs, it was bad, and you played them 4 times a weekend rather than just twice, so their lack of depth would really show up.

2011 was a really interesting year. Berg was coming off their 2010 breakthrough and I remember telling Jim Dixon and probably others something like "I'm not saying Heidelberg isn't the favorite, but I *really* like how things are looking for Marietta this year." I just felt like Marietta had the higher-ceiling guys, and that the BBCOR wouldn't affect them as much since they didn't depend on the HR for offense and played in a big ballpark already. That was supposed to be Heidelberg's best team ever, and instead Marietta won a championship. Then you lose a ton of guys and struggle for two years...has to be tough to take for a guy as competitive and emotionally driven as Palm.

[Dr. Acula]

Oh I definitely agree the OAC is and has been better.  I think the middle of both conferences has improved though.  To me the difference though is that while the chances of Etta and Wooster just steamrolling the entire conference like they used to nearly every year are rare today it's for different reasons.  I think Wooster has slipped a little recently and thus drifted back to the pack.  Etta hasn't slipped so I think the OAC has improved with now probably 2-3 pretty good programs every year outside of Etta. Those 2-3 change, but someone will be good besides Etta every year these days.