BB: SCIAC: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[ludawg6]

Yep, its me, same guy, and while I still don't fit into the old game worn uni's, I still can snugly fit into the "alumni" version of our old uniform... but really didn't need it since I was covered up in layer upon layer of gore-tex...

Rough weekend for the graple to say the least... rain, sun, rain, delay, sun, rain, thunder, delay, sun, rain, hail, delay, etc etc etc... not making any excuses, just not the most memorable trip for the boys. As a native of the PNW, I grew up playing in this crap and reason #1 why I went south to find a better baseball environment at the Lu... but baseball is about adjusting to what your opponent (or Mother Nature) gives you and we just didn't get the job done... give PLU props for stringing together hits when needed and getting that timely hit to plunge the dagger into us... for some reason, I feel we are gonna see these guys again in May... and should be a different result...

It was fun, however, meeting and getting to know some of the parents that traveled up to our soggy corner of the country. I have noticed at the football games, and now with baseball this weekend - CLU travels well... met some nice people, hung out with my old college roommate (emphasis on OLD), and was able to watch a little baseball in the meantime... but on the better side of things, a friend of mine has a daughter who is a senior in H.S. and her decision between PLU and CLU was in the balance - we made a deal that the winner of the series got her... whoops, that didnt go as planned... but - after sitting in the rain Friday afternoon, she made the right choice - she is on her way to T.O.!!!

Finally - great to have dinner with Slim and the coaching staff Wednesday evening... Refreshing to know that Slim is, and always will be Slim. he is a one of a kind guy, and I will forever value his friendship, guidance, and above his ability to just be Slim... and yes, he did throw BP back in the day (not very well,I might add but better than Hill)... it was fun to share with his staff stories from yesteryear - van wars, The Mighty Quinn, and the Kingsmen Surprise were all discussed in detail... but, it did make me feel a little old....  Cal-Lu, Cal-Lu...

[SoCalSoxFan]

Fantastic update LuDawg6!!

[Colorado]

Don't know about how the other CU dads might see it, but my son played at Chapman for both Laverty and Coach T, and one difference between the 2 was accountability. Laverty knows how to coach and took Redlands to the Western Regionals one year with an overachieving team. But with T, you needed to consistently perform in order to play. If you messed up, missed a sign, had a mediocre effort, walked too many guys in a game, kept making the same mistakes, you might sit for awhile or the rest of your time there. Don't get me wrong, T knew how to give strokes out for good effect and was mostly calm (especially to the older players) but every now and then, he was known to put out some biting sarcasm (or explode with a brief but effective rant) that kept a guy and maybe the team on their toes. Laverty is a good man. He's done a good job of handling his pitchers especially the ones coming back from injury. People like him but good or bad, there's no consequences about failing or losing. 

On those last few nationally ranked panther teams (which I saw), there were a number of guys who were above-average focused and mentally tough. Gamers expecting to win.  Everybody wants to win but there's just a few guys on a given team that have that hard nosed attitude about winning. T's approach maybe encouraged those kind of guys to rise up, be recognized and make good things consistently happen. I can name a half dozen guys like that who led the 2011 team, rode herd on the others and kept the team together, chemistry-wise, on and off the field (especially that last World Series team in 2011).

Just an observation from an old poster on this board-there's no right answer: Fact is --- Chapman is having a good year. The lineup is as good on paper as any lineup put out there in past years. The pitching has lacked some consistency it seems but it's a young staff with some good arms and who knows, they could get hot over these last few games. Hope so.

[Jack Parkman]

The last week of the SCIAC season is going to be a good one as there are currently 6 teams battling it out for the top 4 spots.

Cal Lu 16-5 with Claremont left.  Winning 2/3 wraps up the top seed and hosting for the SCIAC Tournament.
La Verne 14-7 with Whittier left.  Has the tiebreaker with Cal Lu but will need some help from Claremont to get the #1 seed.
Chapman 13-8 with a huge series against Oxy. 
Oxy 13-8 with a huge series against Chapman.
Redlands 13-8 with Pomona left.  They cannot afford a sweep and losing 2/3 would be very dangerous.
Pomona 10-11 with Redlands this weekend.  Anything less than a sweep means no SCIAC Tournament.

Tiebreakers could easily come into play after this weekend and I have no clea how all of them work.  The Chapman/Oxy/Redlands deal is going to be a good one.  Chapman has the tiebreaker over Redlands, and Redlands has it over Oxy...which means Oxy cannot afford to lose more than 1 game.  I'm glad to see there are still so many teams in the running for the top 4 and am looking forward to the weekend.

[Purple Heys]

While it sucks to be a bystander as far as the 4 team entry pass, Whittier has an opportunity to deny La Verne a shot at 1st place.  I look to that bringing out some competitive juice in the series.

[SoCalBaseballfan]

Don't know about how the other CU dads might see it, but my son played at Chapman for both Laverty and Coach T, and one difference between the 2 was accountability. Laverty knows how to coach and took Redlands to the Western Regionals one year with an overachieving team. But with T, you needed to consistently perform in order to play. If you messed up, missed a sign, had a mediocre effort, walked too many guys in a game, kept making the same mistakes, you might sit for awhile or the rest of your time there. Don't get me wrong, T knew how to give strokes out for good effect and was mostly calm (especially to the older players) but every now and then, he was known to put out some biting sarcasm (or explode with a brief but effective rant) that kept a guy and maybe the team on their toes. Laverty is a good man. He's done a good job of handling his pitchers especially the ones coming back from injury. People like him but good or bad, there's no consequences about failing or losing. 

On those last few nationally ranked panther teams (which I saw), there were a number of guys who were above-average focused and mentally tough. Gamers expecting to win.  Everybody wants to win but there's just a few guys on a given team that have that hard nosed attitude about winning. T's approach maybe encouraged those kind of guys to rise up, be recognized and make good things consistently happen. I can name a half dozen guys like that who led the 2011 team, rode herd on the others and kept the team together, chemistry-wise, on and off the field (especially that last World Series team in 2011).

Just an observation from an old poster on this board-there's no right answer: Fact is --- Chapman is having a good year. The lineup is as good on paper as any lineup put out there in past years. The pitching has lacked some consistency it seems but it's a young staff with some good arms and who knows, they could get hot over these last few games. Hope so.

Thanks for your insight.
I watched every game from 2007 thru 2011. I went to 4 trips to Appleton. A good year was a trip to the Regionals in my opinion and expectation. Team expected every year to get to the DIII Championship Series. T was tough and was not for every player. But he got the most out his players and most but not all loved playing for him. He raised the bar high.

[SoCalBaseballfan]

5 teams 4 spots for conference tourney for the POOL A bid for NCAA Regional playoff spot. Last weekend of conference games.
http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2016-17/standings

[Teddy_Ballgame]

5 teams 4 spots for conference tourney for the POOL A bid for NCAA Regional playoff spot. Last weekend of conference games.
http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2016-17/standings

Hey now, my Hens aren't (technically) out of it yet. A sweep of Redlands, along with a Chapman sweep of Oxy puts PP tied for fourth at 13-11 with both U of R and Oxy. They would hold the tiebreaker over both teams.

Hoping for some quality ball as Sagehen alums will be descending en mass to alumni field for Saturday's doubleheader, shouting juvenile taunts and boasting hyperbolically of their former glories.

[SoCalBaseballfan]

Chapman leads the SCIAC in hitting and fielding but not pitching or standings

[Jack Parkman]

Cal Lu takes an absolute dump today and drops the series opener to CMS.  I thought Whittier was going to help them out but they couldn't put La Verne away.  Cal Lu has no choice but to win both games tomorrow or they are putting themselves in a very bad position.

[D O.C.]

Hot.
Windy.
I wouldn't go to those solute games Saturday if I was invited to sit in an air-conditioned press box.
Weather will be a factor.

[SoCalBaseballfan]

Looks like SCIAC has it 4 teams for the SCIAC tournament. Congrats to all teams

Cal Lutheran
La Verne
Chapman
Redlands

Still seems that Cal Lu is the favorite but Chapman with its big bats has a shot at its first regional in many years. It be nice to see the Panthers return to the Regional playoffs

[Jack Parkman]

My recap (that nobody asked for) of the 2017 SCIAC season...

Player of the year is no doubt Nishioka from Pomona.  He is a no doubt AA this year.
Pitcher of the year should be Minjarez from Redlands.  He is as solid of a Friday guy as it gets.
Coach of the Year should be Matt Mark from Caltech.  Anyone who says "but Caltech went 2-22" doesn't fully understand what he has done in Pasadena.  Caltech got their first SCIAC win since 1988 and first 2-win SCIAC season since 1973!  Just 2 years ago, the Beavers were routinely getting beat by 10+ runs but they have become so much more competitive and I think that will continue.

I am not surprised by the 4 teams in the SCIAC Tourney and think it should be a pretty competitive tournament.  I'm not going to make any predictions on who is going to win it but Cal Lu is definitely rooting for Centenary right now in the SCAC title game as they do not want anyone else to fall into Pool C (in case they fail to win the SCIAC bid), especially a team that is as close to Tyler as Centenary is.

My biggest disappointment is definitely Oxy, a team that was left at home after 30+ wins last season.  I'm not really sure what happened to them but they fell apart down the stretch.  It seems like they had some injuries to some key guys as DeRaad missed a few games late and Martel(who was very good as a Freshman) didn't have a good year at all while starting 7 games and carrying a 6 ERA.  I think Oxy loses a lot of their core team but they seem to have some solid talent.

Cal Lu winning it's 5th title in a row is pretty impressive after losing what they lost from 2016.  It looks like they have some pretty solid Freshman pitchers and a lot of talent getting innings this year.

I am excited to see how the Tourney goes and look forward to seeing whoever represents the SCIAC in Tyler.

[SoCalSoxFan]

JP,

Good recap and award predictions.
I can't disagree with any of your thoughts!!

[Purple Heys]

Nice to see Whittier show some pride, go toe to toe with ULV and not make it easy on them.  It's not like La Verne saved their pitching and conceded the series.