BB: SCIAC: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Whatagame]

Looks like McGee is back on the Chapman roster, but no Osaki (the very talented #2 and #3 starters from 2012 behind Rauh trying to return from injury) also looks like Hanks, #2 in IP last season is gone. 

[NWBaseballFan10]

The roster I found online did include Osaki. His return along with Hanks, Riddle, McGee, Watson and Richards should provide the Panthers with a solid nucleus of pitching talent to compete for the SCIAC title this year. 2014 should be a promising year for this club and I would not be surprised to see them in the West Regional in May.

Here's that roster I looked at: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/roster

[Whatagame]

Wow, Osaki wasn't on that yesterday, great for him and Chapman!  It does look like Hanks is gone, but Chapman now has potentially three very solid starters.

[Colorado]

That would have been news to me. Riddle and Smith are throwing well. Watson threw very well on Sat in an intrasquad game. McGee threw an inning a couple weeks ago but they may hold him back for a bit. His surgery trailed Osaki's by 3 months. Richards is in the same boat. Dr. Yocum cautioned that it would take 12 months post surgery to get back but my "I don't know what I'm talking about" lay opinion thinks its closer to 17-18 months. Osaki's been throwing bullpens for the last few months without cutting loose but the last 2 weeks, he's been airing it out without any pain. The velocity is good, high 80's and touching 90. Eddie, the pitching coach, thinks he'll end up in the low 90's as he builds his arm back up. Breaking stuff has been good so far. Showing some rust but you can see its coming back to him. Laverty hasn't tipped his hand yet on who will start and who will relieve. He's talked about flip flopping guys.  Watson could start. Osaki might close. This might change week to week. Same thing with McGee so as to not overburden their arms.  Hanks? Last year was a tough year for him. He struggled during the fall. Today, he beaned Greg Dillon in practice. Dillon may be out a few days. There's probably a role for Hanks but it won't be clear til after he's pitched a few. There's a freshman in the mix and a couple sophs who saw a little action last year but the couple remaining spots remain open.

[CrashDavisD3]

Looks like Chapman Coach Edwards could have another outstanding group of pitchers if all are healthy and able to perform. Coach Edwards has a long history of producing great pitchers.
http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/coaches/edwards

Key to Panther season will be to stay healthy, pitchers pitch up to expectations, hit well enough to win the close games and good defense. Past 2 years Panthers have had problems in these areas.

[Colorado]

Chapman opens its 2014 season on the road at CS San Marcos (NAIA) with Hanks set to start. Since it's the regular day for bullpens, Riddle, Smith, Watson and Osaki may each get an inning of work as a tune up for this weekend trip to Texas Lutheran and Trinity. Don't know much about those teams other than what I read here but coming off a bad year with question marks re pitching,  it'd be nice if they could go 2-2.

[108 Stitches]

Both Trinity and TLU have lots of unanswered questions regarding their teams; what will be more interesting is the acutal performance of all of these teams rather than the actual result. Chapman (or either TLU/TU) could go 0-3 and still have a very successful weekend. Championship teams are build by playing tough competition and at least for TU and Chapman this series is about seeing what they have vs what it was, say two years ago when both had more mature teams.

Should be a great weekend of baseball. These is a slight possibility of rain on Friday but the rest of the weekend looks clear. A Friday night rain out will be picked up on Sat.

[Jack Parkman]

I would say my biggest question mark regarding Chapman is if Laverty will get the same out of the players that Tereshuck (no clue how to spell it) did.  It seems like most of his teams at Redlands were pretty average.  Maybe that is too harsh but we will see.

[Colorado]

That's a good observation. The veterans have noticed the difference. The fear that T put into the boys when they were freshman is missing. T had a way of making the boys feel like someone was always watching. Laverty has a different,  more relaxed vibe in the dugout. Most of the key roles are filled by upper class men this year (Watson, Saatzer, Battaglia, Dillon, Gandy, McGee) so maybe he relies on them to keep the team on track.

[CrashDavisD3]

That's a good observation. The veterans have noticed the difference. The fear that T put into the boys when they were freshman is missing. T had a way of making the boys feel like someone was always watching. Laverty has a different,  more relaxed vibe in the dugout. Most of the key roles are filled by upper class men this year (Watson, Saatzer, Battaglia, Dillon, Gandy, McGee) so maybe he relies on them to keep the team on track.

Time will tell if the different approach equals SCIAC championships, Regional Playoff spots and trips to Appleton...

2014 Roster
http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/releases/201402031iym1n

2013 Stats
http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2012-13/teams/chapman?view=lineup

[CrashDavisD3]

Chapman Scoreboard

Chapman 13 Cal State San Marcos 2 Final 
http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/boxscores/20140204_p6yf.xml

SCIAC Scoreboard
http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/schedule

[Whatagame]

Looks like they had a heck of a game, the 3 taters is especially impressive.  I remember the transfer from Michigan State, who had a pinch hit HR, was very solid in high school.  Nice start!  It looks like San Marcos might be a bit down this year, but no matter....

I saw that San Marcos beat up NAIA La Sierra in a DH a week or so ago, then, La Sierra went out and beat Oxy for their first win in I think 8 games, limiting them to two hits.

[CrashDavisD3]

Chapman Scoreboard

Chapman 13 Cal State San Marcos 2 Final 
http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/boxscores/20140204_p6yf.xml

SCIAC Scoreboard
http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/schedule

Chapman News
http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/releases/201402031iym1n

[Colorado]

A very good day for Panther fans.  There's 2 story lines from today's game: One, you can't gauge a season on 1 game but that line up looks like its got some boppers.  When Dillon comes back from his injury, there's about 5-7 tough outs in that lineup.  Two, though this is a hitters park (mid afternoon wind blows out to left and center like a jet stream) but Chapman's 6 pitchers were very good. 1st time I've seen Smith, Hahn and Molnar pitch. Smith was sharp. Freshman Hahn's brief outing was pretty effortless. Molnar was throwing gas. Don't know if its because San Marcos is not up to snuff, but Chapman may have a little depth this year. Hope so. Right out of the gate, this weekend will be a good test. On to Texas.

[RFB]

I would say my biggest question mark regarding Chapman is if Laverty will get the same out of the players that Tereshuck (no clue how to spell it) did.  It seems like most of his teams at Redlands were pretty average.  Maybe that is too harsh but we will see.

Coach Laverty took over a terrible baseball program at Redlands and made them very respectable over his 14 year tenure. He's a good recruiter and should do very well with all the talent surrounding him in OC. He's a very good baseball coach and will do well at Chapman in my opinion.