BB: NACC: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[BigPoppa]

AU has been quite strong in baseball for the past several years. Has there been a drop off in talent? Has the lack of an on campus diamond hurt recruiting also? I hope they can climb back into the mix and challenge for the title. Any thoughts?

Aurora has been down since Walsh left the program. I am going to guess it has to do with recruiting. They were solid a few years after he left, but one could argue that they won with his players.

[Cheez-it]

I do not think recruiting is the problem with Aurora, although after Walsh left it has gone down, but I do not think that the players are getting developed well enough there. Walsh was great at developing his recruits and was able to get them at least one run a game....and it does not seem the manager is getting them that 1 run they need a game to win.

It also looks to me that the players at Aurora are under-sized compared to most teams..I do not know if it is because the lack of off-season preparation or what?? But it does seem to me that the team is not carrying on the tradition of winning that it once had.

[WLCALUM83]

A couple of 4/2/08 NAthCon Finals just in:

Concordia-Chicago 17, U of Chicago 7  (Cougars scored 15 runs in the last 4 innings, W - Meyer, L -Garbier  --all per CUC box score).

Wheaton, IL 7, Aurora 5  (Thunder site press release indicates Wheaton's McCaskey pitched a strong game, and a late Aurora rally was thwarted in the 8th when Thunder's Dennison got Damore to ground out with the tying runs on base.)

[WLCALUM83]

Another couple of 4/02 NAthCon Finals:

Concordia-WI sweeps Lakeland, 16-5 and 7-3  (Lakeland press release reveals that the Muskies led early in both games, but Muskies committed 4 errors each contest. G1-- W -Duckett, L -VanCamp.  G2-- W -Meyer, L --Chepil

[WLCALUM83]

4-03-08 NAthCon Finals:

Lakeland splits with WLC, 10-17, 9-5  (G1  W - Thorsteins  L -Ackermann.  WLC scored 6 runs in the last 2 innings to put the opener out of reach. G2  W -Brusewitz, L- Backhaus.  This game it was the Muskies' turn to pull away, with a 3-spot in the bottom of the 7th. All info as per Lakeland box scores.)

Marian sweeps Maranatha, 11-1 and 15-5  (G1  W -Parent  L -Schubert.  Sabers start out this day in their new stadium by putting up a 7-spot in the 1st inning.  G2  W -Raddant  L -Oliver  The nightcap got tight late, but another 7 runs for the Sabers in the 6th sealed this one.  Source is Marian web site.) 

 

[WLCALUM83]

4-05-08 NAthCon Finals:

Aurora sweeps MSOE  18-8 and 9-8  (1st game 8 innings)  (G1  W - Mueller, L -Curtin.  Aurora put up a 5-spot in the bottom of the 6th to thwart an MSOE comeback attempt.  G2  W -Deckman, L -Lee  Save  Koudelke  Aurora put 6 runs up in the 7th to come from behind in the nightcap.  Brauer and Williamson go yard. Source, Spartan box scores.)

Marian sweeps WLC  16-7 and 13-3  (G1 W -Powers  L -Lynch  Marian scored 10 runs in last 3 at-bats to break this game wide open. Wilson goes yard. G2  W -Dayton  L -Backhaus  Sabers jump out to a 6-1 lead after 2 innings and were never threatened after that. All info off WLC box scores.)

Benedictine sweeps Concordia-Chicago (both 9-8 finals)  (G1 W -Callahan  L -Meyers  Save  Vicenti.  Cougars had potenitial tying run on 1st base when Vicenti got Tropp to fly to center to end the opener. G2 W - Grear  L -Hantel  IL Eagles score 9 runs in the 6th and then Vincenti comes on with 2 Cougars on base in the 9th and gets Giorango to foul out to 2nd to give the Eagles the sweep. Info off CUC play-by-play account.)

Lakeland sweeps Maranatha 14-4 and 24-10.  (G1  W -Chepil  L -Merson  Muskies put up 9 runs over last 2 at-bats to seal the win in the opener.  G2 W- Katzman  L -Yanzito  This time, Lakeland puts 19 runs accross in last 2 at bats to get the sweep. Source is Muskie box scores.)

[WLCALUM83]

4-06-08 NAthCon Finals:

Aurora sweeps Benedictine, 6-4 and 10-4. (G1 W  Kapusta  L  -Vicenti.  Save -Koudelka  Spartans put a 5-sport up in the top of the 9th and held on. G2  W  Deckman  L -Thompson Save  Blasczak. A 6 run 4th was the difference in the nightcap.)

Rockford splits with Concordia-Chicago, 11-6 and 2-8 (G1 W -Findlay  L - Kudlak. Save -Jacobsen. Regents put up 7 runs over 5th & 6th innings and a Cougar rally fell short.  G2 W -Petersen  L -Durlak  CUC took a 6-0 lead after 3 and were not seriously threatened after that.)

Marian splits with Lakeland, 8-5 and 4-6. (G1 W -Raddant, L -VanCamp  A 2-run 7th by Marian provided all the cushion the Sabers needed to take the opener.  G 2 W -Saiberlich  L -Wolter A 2-spot by Lakeland in the 6th clinched the split.)

Concordia-WI sweeps WLC 19-3 and 17-8. (G1 W -Cattau  L -Lemke  G2 W -Tomter  L -Essig) (Both games the Falcons jumped out of the gate fast.)

All info per NAthCon box scores.

Dominican sweeps MSOE  11-3 and 6-2.  (G1 W -Eifel  L -Hansen  6 of the Stars' runs were un-earned. MSOE committed 6 errors in the opener. G2 W-Davey  L-Gruenke  Stars' Sullivan's 2-run single in 7th clinched the night-cap.)
Sources were box scores off MSOE's site.

[WLCALUM83]

4-07-08 NAthCon Finals:

Edgewood sweeps Maranatha  17-0 and 11-0. (G1 W -Krueger  L -Lavricka. G2  W -Lode  L -Schubert   Lode held the Crusaders to 1 hit for entire game in night-cap.)

Rockford sweeps Dominican  11-6 and 13-6. (G1 W -Krull  L -Batchelor 4-run 3rd gave Regents a lead they wouldn't relinquish in opener.  G2  W  -Jones  L  -Hunoway  Regents build a lead to 13-1 before a Dominican rally falls short. Hargrove hit a grand slam.)

Sources:  NAthCon box scores.

[WLCALUM83]

4-08 NAthCon Final:

Lawrence 7, Lakeland 3  W -Frelich  L -Miller  Lawrence scored all their runs in the 4th inning. (Was supposed to be a twin bill originally, but rain prevented a 2nd game.  Source is NAthCon box score/PBP account).

[WLCALUM83]

4-9-08 NAthCon finals:

IL-Chicago 10, Rockford 3  (A 5-run 8th broke this one open for the Flames.  W -Riegler  L -Patterson) Source is NAthCon box score.

Edgewood splits with Concordia-WI 16-6 and 4-7 

Benedictine splits with U of Chicago  3-4 and 6-3  (G1 W -Pankov  L -Simmerman  Pankov got Rice to pop to short with the potential tying run at 1st to end the opener.  G2 W-Ready  L -Gallan  Save- Vicenti  A Maroon 7th inning rally falls short. Info off Ben's web site.,)

Ripon at Marian--not played--due to field conditions (Marian's press release)

Concordia-WI at St. Norbert--cancelled.

[Cheez-it]

What will it take for a NAC team to make a regional this year? I know that they do not have an automatic bid until next season, but is there any chance any of em make the post-season.

What kind of record would they need?

[WLCALUM83]

At first glance, it'd be a help if either Concordia-Chicago, Marian or Concordia-WI won out (none of those teams has more than 6 overall losses.)  Should Edgewood and/or Rockford (both with 8 overall losses each) get hot enough to take over 1st in conference, and then get some separation from the other teams, it would help their cause some. Don't know how much non-conference strength of schedule would factor in. Still early yet.

Just my .04 of speculation.

[goldengear]

What will it take for a NAC team to make a regional this year? I know that they do not have an automatic bid until next season, but is there any chance any of em make the post-season.

What kind of record would they need?

Not a real good chance for anyone from this conference getting in but there is a slim chance, there are a few decent teams as mentioned by wlcalum but the bottom 1/2 or even 3/4s of the conference is so pittifully weak that while it might make for some decent records every conference team strength of schedule is going to be so weak it will be a hard sell. It also doesn't help the unfortunate decision to play 36 innings of baseball each typical conference weekend (I believe the CCIW plays 25 per typical weekend for comparison) , and now with all the rain every ones conference schedule will be even more compact and most teams will probably end up having the bat boy pitch against any non-conference games they have left as they will need every arm just to make it through conference. In order for anyone to get in they will not only have to win the conference regular season and tourney impressively they will also have to win some key non conference regional games and end up with a huge regional record.

Keep in mind that overall record means nothing , or next to nothing, it is just regional record that counts, by quick look at their results it looks like Conc Wi 8-3 , Marian 6-2, Rockford 7-3,  Conc Chi 9-6. These records might not be totally on, but they are close, as it is sometimes hard to figure if a game is regional or not without spending some time on it.

[WLCALUM83]

4-11 NAthCon Finals:

Benedictine splits with Marian  13-9  and 0-4  (2 run 8th gave IL Eagles all the cushion they needed to take the opener. Sabers' Raddant hurls a 6-hit shutout in the nightcap, all per Ben box score.)

4-12:  Concordia-Chicago 11, WLC 4  (W  Leyhane  L  Lynch)  This one turned into a rout early. (WLC box score).

[goldengear]

Well I know Aurora is on a 4 game winning streak right now (sweeping MSOE and BU)  and sits 12-10 overall....with a tough loss at Augie in extra innings, a victory against wartburg, a win at concordia-chicago and a key match-up vs. Carthage in the next few weeks. (assuming they some how pull out a victory here)

Assuming they win out and win their conference convincingly, do they have a chance at post-season??

Quick look at the Aurora schedule I think they are 7-5 in regional games, if they win out  they could get to 26-5 which would put them firmly on the bubble but probably have the bubble burst on them due to poor strength of schedule. Only way to find out for sure is to make your 4 game winning streak a 23 game winning streak and see if you get a call.