BB: SCIAC: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Gray Fox]

The question is, will winless CalTech go all out to beat La Sierra, or will they hold something back to try for a SCIAC win over Oxy in the last week?  Can they do both?

[baseballroxmysox]

Big weekend for PP and Cal Lu. 

Words of advise for Cal Lu when they play @ PP's field:  PP has several lefties and they take FULL advantage of the SHORT Rt field fence.  Cal Lu needs to pitch outside to these guys and help hold Hedman to a minimum.

PP's pitchers stay inside on Rt handed batters, & outside on lefties so they can't take advantage of the SHORT fence.  They even have the first baseman playing way over towards second since they don't give the left side of the plate up.

Good Luck Guys!!

[P-P Fan]

Big weekend for PP and Cal Lu. 

Words of advise for Cal Lu when they play @ PP's field:  PP has several lefties and they take FULL advantage of the SHORT Rt field fence.  Cal Lu needs to pitch outside to these guys and help hold Hedman to a minimum.

PP's pitchers stay inside on Rt handed batters, & outside on lefties so they can’t take advantage of the SHORT fence.  They even have the first baseman playing way over towards second since they don’t give the left side of the plate up.

Good Luck Guys!!

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that Cal Lu's coaching staff and players have probably figured that out already, as they play there every year- including twice last year. Is this a disgruntled/bitter player?

In any case, you are definitely right about the magnitude of the series. I was extremely surprised to see Cal Lu left out of the first regional rankings, given their impressive resume thus far (not too mention a 2-1 record against ranked redlands...). Cal Lu also seems like a team better suited for the playoffs with 3 strong starting pitchers, something redlands lacks.
However, it'll be tough to crack those rankings without an impressive showing this weekend (even assuming they sweep whittier). Im sure both teams will be quite fired up as they fight for the SCIAC crown. And while it seems Cal Lu has more to lose having been left out of the regional rankings, PP is certainly out to avenge last years sweep at the hands of the kingsmen. Should be a fun series, with some quality baseball!

[royhobbs]

Hey P-P Fan, CLU's strong starting pitching still have to prove it. Don't they each have 2 wins versus Caltech and LaSierra, and almost dropped two to Oxy. They should be concerned about the 280' short porch at the Homer Dome! PP's got a solid lineup and looks like they play well defensively. Could be another Chapman type series.

[Jack Parkman]

Hey P-P Fan, CLU's strong starting pitching still have to prove it. Don't they each have 2 wins versus Caltech and LaSierra, and almost dropped two to Oxy. They should be concerned about the 280' short porch at the Homer Dome! PP's got a solid lineup and looks like they play well defensively. Could be another Chapman type series.

Yeah, and they are also the guys who beat Chapman, shut out Redlands twice, swept East Bay on the road, beat Hendrix, swept La Verne.....
Comparing games against common opponents is useless in my opinion.  I don't care who they have played, all 3 guys have been good.  Lets see HOW good they are this weekend.

[IkeepScore]

Someone keep me posted on the PP CLU game, I am not going to be able to make it , my wife went into labor tonight

Its a girl

[Ralph Turner]

Someone keep me posted on the PP CLU game, I am not going to be able to make it , my wife went into labor tonight

Its a girl

Congratulations Dad!

When will you let her start dating?   

[P-P Fan]

Hey P-P Fan, CLU's strong starting pitching still have to prove it. Don't they each have 2 wins versus Caltech and LaSierra, and almost dropped two to Oxy. They should be concerned about the 280' short porch at the Homer Dome! PP's got a solid lineup and looks like they play well defensively. Could be another Chapman type series.

Yeah, and they are also the guys who beat Chapman, shut out Redlands twice, swept East Bay on the road, beat Hendrix, swept La Verne.....
Comparing games against common opponents is useless in my opinion.  I don't care who they have played, all 3 guys have been good.  Lets see HOW good they are this weekend.

Exactly... Cal Lu has played some decent teams and their starting pitchers' ERA's are all pretty good. Always fun to see good hitting against good pitching. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of faith in my Hens but I think they have more respect for CLU than they did going in to the series last year (we know how that turned out). I'm just looking forward to some quality baseball!

Also...

Someone keep me posted on the PP CLU game, I am not going to be able to make it , my wife went into labor tonight

Its a girl

Congratulations!!! That's a heck of a reason to miss a game! I hope you're posting this on a blackberry from the hospital though!

[nvnorthpaw]

I think it is also important to note that CLU's Alex Casillas made his long awaited season debut this past weekend...this gives CLU 4 top-notch starters to go along with Minich and Seldon in the pen...Casillas no-hit Menlo last yr and was the ace of the squad..

[sagehenalum47]

Someone keep me posted on the PP CLU game, I am not going to be able to make it , my wife went into labor tonight

Its a girl

Congrats ikeepscore! what are you going to name her?? if i can get out of work early and get down to claremont, I'll update you! Though I suspect you have better things to be doing with you time than read my posts!! 

[BigPoppa]

Someone keep me posted on the PP CLU game, I am not going to be able to make it , my wife went into labor tonight

Its a girl

Priorities!!!! Baseball always comes first. Actually, the day my wife had our daughter is the day that baseball no longer matter on the same level to me. Congrats... your life is about to change for the better. Every day is better than the one before.

[OxyBob]

Article about Pomona's Drew Hedman from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

Hedman leading charge for Sagehens
Senior first baseman also has eye for draft

Pomona-Pitzer senior Drew Hedman sprints to third base, where Frank Pericolosi is watching from the third-base coach's box. The Sagehens are about to score another run and they're already comfortably ahead.

"When you're done, there's a scout here to see you," the coach says to the player, then turns his attention back to the matter at hand.

It might not have been the best time to mention such a thing, but Pericolosi knows that his player can handle it. He's been doing so all season and it hasn't provided the least bit of distraction.

The Sagehens (31-3, 15-0), winners of 12 straight games, are nearing their second SCIAC title in three years but face a formidable challenge today against Cal Lutheran (27-7, 13-2).

The Sagehens are ranked No. 1 in one national poll and No. 3 in another.

The contribution of Hedman has been a huge factor. The Redding native is hitting a whopping .533, but his other numbers are equally impressive.

He leads the SCIAC in runs scored (53), hits (72), home runs (21), RBIs (70) and total bases (152). His slugging percentage is a robust 1.126 and his on-base percentage is .605. He has more than twice as many walks (23) as strikeouts (9). The 21 home runs are a school single-season record.

Hedman knows he is being watched, but he doesn't let that get in his head.

"It's always been a dream of mine to get drafted, but it doesn't change how I approach the game," he said during a break in a recent practice.
...

Hedman's numbers warrant the attention, but getting drafted isn't a given when you play for a Division III school.

Pericolosi, in his seventh year, has had two players drafted during his tenure - catcher Jose Cortes by the Phillies in 2003 and Jase Turner, Hedman's predecessor at first base, by the Cubs in 2005.

The University of Redlands and University of La Verne have been among the top of the heap in the SCIAC in recent years, but they haven't had much luck in the draft department.

Redlands hasn't had a player drafted in coach Scott Laverty's 10 years, and the last player drafted out of La Verne was pitcher Scott Lindeen, the SCIAC Player of the Year in 2005. He played just one year in the minor leagues and never made it out of rookie ball.

The most prominent player to come out of the SCIAC in the last decade is pitcher Jason Hirsh, who was drafted out of Cal Lutheran in the second round by the Houston Astros in 2003 and made his major- league debut in August of 2006.
...

Pericolosi added that the Diamondbacks have shown the most interest, although that is hardly an indication of what might happen on draft day.

Other teams have turned out too, and they say the evaluation process isn't different than it is for a Division I player.

"You're looking at a lot of things," said one scout who took in the Sagehens against Chapman last weekend.

"Bat speed, mechanics, how frequently the batter is making solid contact - those things don't change.

"About the only thing that is different is that these guys aren't facing as good a pitching game-in, game-out."

Hedman set the stage for his senior season by competing for the Green Bay entry of the prestigious Northwoods League, a summer wood-bat college league that starts in early May and runs through August.

That gave him the chance to play with the top players throughout the country in all divisions and show that he can play without the aid of the aluminum bat. He responded by hitting a respectable .305 in 59 games.

"That was a great opportunity," Hedman said.

"I was happy with how I played there, and it gave me a lot of confidence to hold my own against those guys."

While the draft is a definite goal, Hedman's priority right now is helping the Sagehens to the postseason. Pitzer won the SCIAC and advanced to the West Region in 2007, his sophomore year, but they went just 1-2 in that tournament. They're a more seasoned team this time around, though.

"Most of us have been there before and we know what it takes," he said.

"We're more experienced and we have more depth. Hopefully that will pay off."

OxyBob

[Jack Parkman]

Pomona Pitzer 8
Cal Lutheran 7

[pomonaalum]

Looks like a nice win today for P-P.  Look forward to hearing reports from anyone in attendance...win provides a little breathing room, especially after what happened last year.

At 13-3, CLU can't afford to lose either game tomorrow, and even if they win both, would still need help from LaVerne.  Believe that one P-P win tomorrow would give them the league title by virtue of the tiebreaker...

[P-P Fan]

Well I got my wish and got to see some good baseball today! CLU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first after stringing some hits together off colvin. PP bounced right back though, with 5 in the their half of the first. Then both offenses went quiet until CLU hit a solo bomb in the 6th and Hartmann hit a three run homer in the seventh to make it 7-5 CLU. PP bounced back with a single, a double, an rbi groundout, and then a two run homer by Brandon Huerta to take an 8-7 lead in the eighth. Freshman Leo Rosetti got the kingsmen down 1, 2, 3 in the ninth to seal the deal.

Today's game was a hard fought battle by both teams, full of intensity. Hopefully this is an indication of how tomorrow's games will go- especially with the PP win part... 

*Key for the Hens was Colvin going eight innings and keeping the bullpen fresh for tomorrow. Minnich had to throw 3 1/3 for CLU, but they didn't have to bring anyone else in.

La Verne's website shows a 5-4 win... any more info on that game?