BB: SLIAC: St Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[theoneandonly]

i agree 47 players is pretty rediculous!

[theoneandonly]

does anyone else ever realize there are a lot of guests that view this? why dont they just become members so they can post too. haha! IF YOU ARE READING THIS AS A GUEST JOIN THE FUN!

[SLIAC Observer]

Perhaps McKendree is following the lead of Major League Baseball -

Each Major League Baseball team maintains both a 25-man roster and a 40-man roster of players. Players on the 25-man roster are eligible to play in official major league games throughout the season. The 40-man roster includes the players on the 25-man roster plus as many as 15 players who are either on the team's 15-day disabled list (see below) or who are in the team's minor league system. From September 1 through the end of the regular season, any player on the 40-man roster (also referred to as the "expanded roster") is eligible to play in an official regular season game. Many young players make their Major League debuts in this way, as "September call-ups". Players must be on a team's 25-man roster as of August 31 to be eligible for post-season play. The only exception is that a player on the 60-day disabled list may be replaced by another player from the team's 40-man roster (as of August 31) who plays the same position.

Is that as clear as mud? 

[BigToughGuy]

Now I'm an idiot fan?  What about the 3 teams you accused me of playing for?

[#1PantherFan]

Looking at their stats from last year, they used only 30 players all season.

[theoneandonly]

this is over. im done with it.



22 more

[theoneandonly]

i know there is a rule about how many players can participate in the playoffs..  but as for the regular season i have no idea.

[BigToughGuy]

That's par for the course.....you make several contradictory assumptions and retreat when asked to back them up.

FYI....here is how the standings will look at the end of the regular season:

Webster
Westminster
Maryville
Eureka
Fontbonne
Blackburn
Greenville
Principia
MacMurray

[theoneandonly]

ok now i have a legit question for you.

Do you really think maryville will take 3rd? they have 8 returning starters and some pretty good recruits. AND do you think eureka has really taken the strides to take 4th in the conference? i know they have a great coaching staff but have they brought in this year what they didnt have last year?

i guess that was a couple of questions ha.

[BigToughGuy]

ok now i have a legit question for you.

Do you really think maryville will take 3rd? they have 8 returning starters and some pretty good recruits. AND do you think eureka has really taken the strides to take 4th in the conference? i know they have a great coaching staff but have they brought in this year what they didnt have last year?

i guess that was a couple of questions ha.

I think the race for 2nd between Westminster & Maryville could go either way in all honesty.  In regard to Eureka, they finished 1/2 game out of 4th last year and the 4th place team (Greenville) has suffered a huge loss with Neece's injury.  Blackburn and Fontbonne finished 2 1/2 games & 3 games behind Eureka. Could they have improved that much? Yes.  Do I know enough about this year's recruits for Eureka, Fontbonne, & Blackburn to make that prediction at this point?  No.  With the exception of a rare high profile transfer, recruits are often wild cards. 

In your poll, what justifies bumping Fontbonne up to 3rd place from their 7th place finish last year?

[depew24]

theoneandonly,

You think Maryville will win because they return 8 right? (Not a bad way to look at it) But you also are all over how people will learn how to play against returning players right? Or does that just go for Webster?

[SaintsBall]

Greenville will definitely be hurting badly with the injury to Neece, but supposedly Atkins transfered back?

Eureka WOULD of been in the run to make a tourney appearance but an shoulder injury to McConkey and the catcher being ineligible, it is going to be tough for them to make a run. Cashdollar is a stud who needs to play the season of his life to give Eureka a shot.

Maryville did return 8 of their starters, plus their top 2 pitchers and whole bullpen. They only lost 2?? to graduation? Bill Allerdisen was the toughest to strike out in the nation by far last season, not K'd once, and hit almost .380. He should spark the Saints offense, and with the 1-2 punch of Murfin (righty) and Kollack (Lefty) on the mound, should help them win some games...They should be in the running for the top spot, BUT...

Webster seems to find a way to win the title every year. However, they did lose their top 2 pitchers. With Raetzloff moving to the outfield, they MUST have a stud 2nd basemen coming in. I believe its easier to find a stud outfielder than it is to find a stud 2nd basemen, and Raetzloff was a helluva 2 bagger. Mueller was their key loss, the lefty dominated teams with his nasty curve and helped Webster's offense when they were having an off game (only scoring a run or two.) It helps when the fence is 260 to right field and your home run hitter (Fuiten) is a lefty. He hits bombs, hits for average, but does strike out a lot.

Fontbonne returns the best catcher in the conference in Dan Horn. He was a wall behind the plate, decent arm, BUT could hit for average, and power. Not to mention he could steal a lot of bases. Outfielder Jason Nikolaisen is going to be someone no one would expect to dominate this year. He dominated last season but only played in half the games due to grades. In 21 games, he hit .456 with 12 RBI in 56 at bats. He did have a fielding percentage below .900 with his 3 errors, but look for him to really help Fontbonne make a run this year.

Westminster returns another top hitter in the conference in Mike Silver. The lefty dropped 10 bombs last year and hit .361 with 15 2B and 42 RBI. He has power to all fields and can really make game changing at-bats for the Blue Jays. They picked up a huge pitcher in Mark Davidson. I believe he was a 1st team allstate pitcher for Lafayette with his upper 80's fastball and decent slider.

[sliacguy]

Didn't Eureka sweep Maryville last year?

[VideoDawg]

This is my list of pitchers to keep an eye on this year. Alphabetically this is the second half. If you want to see the first half just page up. Again, this is my opinion. Feel free to comment.

Maryville -  Scott Murfin is a real "Player to Watch" he has great movement and upper 80's and maybe lower 90's velocity if he has worked out in the off season. He led a very good team in total innings pitched, showing consistency. His strikeout to walk ratio needs some work and he needs good fielding behind him as he is not a traditional strikeout pitcher (only 34 last year). Also he gave up a lot of hits, more than 1 per inning.

Chris Gebert would be a dark horse for Maryville. He had limited innings in the past as it was tough to get any time with last year's rotation. But he should slide into number two slot nicely. He has a big frame and if he has worked on his arm slot he should be able to hustle the ball up there pretty quick. Dark horse because the 2.61 era may not be totally representative of his ability based on the teams he started against. Webster killed him, he beat MacMurray twice and Lincoln Christian once.     

Dark Horse - Scott Reese – while at Meramec he only pitched 12 innings giving up 9 earned runs for an era of 6.750. He did have an astounding 25 strikeouts to 6 walks but with limited innings it is hard to pick him as a star in the sliac.   

Lastly you should not be able to list 18 players as pitchers it makes research too hard. 

Principia  - John Raffles – He seems to be the only for sure starter on the team with everyone else fighting for a spot. He is also the team "Ace" and leader.  His 5.59 era led the team in 56.1 innings pitched. He is the only returning pitcher from last year that had a sub 8 era. He is a good overall player and uses his head on the mound.

Dark Horse Greg Ball - Based on the stats of the team Principia better hope that Ball is good enough to start. He is tall but needs to bulk up over the next couple of years. I have not seen him pitch so I really can't make further analysis.

Webster - Bryce Law  had an era of 2.75 and a win loss record of  7-3 while at Vincennes. He is a true "Player to Watch" in the sliac. He has been subject to very poor outings like a game described while playing at VU. "The game became a laugher early when Lakeland teed off on VU for 10 runs in the first inning. Starter Bryce Law failed to record an out and was charged with six runs before he was relieved." However, overall he is a very good pitcher with control and command of a very good fastball and good breaking stuff. Also he has the mental makeup to be really consistent in the sliac.   

Dark Horse Webster - Pat Amrhein - A respectable freshman with a high school record of 5-1 last year and an era of 1.95. Could end up being just another freshman righty. A 1.95 era sounds impressive but it really is the standard for a starter in a successful high school program.

Dark Horse Webster - Bryan Stanley Last pitched in 2007.  Has been working as a groundskeeper and as an Assistant Coach for Elgin CC. Claims he signed a letter of intent for Purdue – North Central but not on any roster or stats. A real question mark. While at Elgin Community College, Stanley led Elgin in innings pitched with 70.1 and posted a 2.43 ERA and a 9-1 record, which helped lead Elgin to the Division II World Series. He also had a perfect 1.00 fielding percentage, recording 15 assists, three putouts and two double plays. Sounds like a real solid player and is very likely going to work out just fine but he will have to shake off some rust.


Westminster – Cody Blount the Junior lefty had a team leading era of 3.29 last year with 41 innings pitched. He had very impressive outings against Webster, Maryville and Blackburn, He gave up only 3 earned run against Webster. 0 against Maryville and 1 against Blackburn.  This makes him a "Player to Watch" especially if he has worked out in the off-season.

Curt Byrd another good pitcher for Westminster.  4.54 era in 39.2 innings. Could have a great year if he has worked out learns to stay more on the edges of the plate and to pitch inside.   

Pogue has some possibilities especially if you think that the naia is vastly superior to DIII. However looking exclusively at his stats while at Central Methodists reveals a player that only pitched 28.1 innings and had an era of 11.12. Also teams batted .371 against him.

Bronenkamp has potential but with only 4.2 innings pitched last year, it is difficult to make a good assessment. Also 1 full inning and two outings were against MacMurray

[VideoDawg]

Sorry to double post but some of the names above were in response to theoneandonlys pitcher picks.