BB: SLIAC: St Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Gregory Sager]

Dont take this the wrong way guys.. I may get knocked down on +K anyway but when did this become an all hail CCIW board and not a SLIAC board.

Not our fault. Blame that on your boy Hound Dog:

Granted they may be middle to bottom of the pack for most sports in a conference like the CCIW, but surely wouldn't be as overmatched as some of their opponents in the SLIAC are today.

Moving on ...

I would assume that if you would put them in the CCIW with the same resources and prestige, they could be just as successful as the IWU's and Carthages eventually.

That's a dangerous assumption. For all its resources (it's the wealthiest school in the CCIW) and all its athletic prowess across the board, Wheaton has struggled mightily in baseball for decades. Wheaton hasn't won a CCIW baseball title since 1951, and it didn't qualify for the conference tourney (in which only the top half of the league participates) from the tourney's inception in 1985 until 2008. If Wheaton, for all its muscle within the CCIW, couldn't make any headway in the league, there's certainly no great odds that Webster would be able to do so.

The purpose of my original thread was intended to address the lack of competitive balance in the SLIAC and see if anyone had any theories on how this could eventually change.  10 years is a long time to be as dominant as Webster's athletics have been and it would be refreshing to see several different quality schools battle it out annually "like" the CCIW has.

Why is Webster so dominant and how can the SLIAC change???

SLIAC schools need to make their coaches full time, period! Now I could be totally off on this because I only talked to one coach in the SLIAC but she explained that many schools have part time coaches. Teams cannot compete recruiting wise with part time coaches.

Any schools in the CCIW with primary part time coaches?

No. There may be CCIW baseball coaches who have other responsibilities (e.g., assistant AD, golf coach, etc.), but they are all primarily on campus to coach the baseball team, and that is the task that consumes the vast majority of their work hours, if not all of them. And they're all full-time employees of their respective schools.

I didn't realize that there were SLIAC schools who didn't have full-time baseball coaches. Yeah, that is a humongous hurdle to overcome in terms of building a regionally-respectable program.

[metaljacket]

That's a dangerous assumption. For all its resources (it's the wealthiest school in the CCIW) and all its athletic prowess across the board, Wheaton has struggled mightily in baseball for decades. Wheaton hasn't won a CCIW baseball title since 1951, and it didn't qualify for the conference tourney (in which only the top half of the league participates) from the tourney's inception in 1985 until 2008. If Wheaton, for all its muscle within the CCIW, couldn't make any headway in the league, there's certainly no great odds that Webster would be able to do so.

The purpose of my original thread was intended to address the lack of competitive balance in the SLIAC and see if anyone had any theories on how this could eventually change.  10 years is a long time to be as dominant as Webster's athletics have been and it would be refreshing to see several different quality schools battle it out annually "like" the CCIW has.

I didn't realize that there were SLIAC schools who didn't have full-time baseball coaches. Yeah, that is a humongous hurdle to overcome in terms of building a regionally-respectable program.

All my credibility is about to go out the window here....

Again I have only talked to one coach in the SLIAC about their coaches and she didnt specify by sport but did mention she thought many schools were employing part time coaches. I have no idea about baseball specifically.

Here is where my credibility will be tarnished...I have never seen Webster play, ever, I have seen just about every other team at some point, but after reading these boards, looking at their history (the past 6 years), and seeing their record vs. CCIW teams over that time, is it fair to assume that they would make the CCIW tournament this year? Would that be a possibility? If so, then I have to respectively disagree with comparing Webster with Wheaton. If they could make the tournament (Im saying could, not would) then they dont have to "work their way into winning in the league" they are already there. And they would be doing it by recruiting to the SLIAC. If they could recruit to the CCIW, wouldnt they be even better?

Again, I havent even seen this team play just seems after reading what you all have to say about them that they would be competitive.

[theoneandonly]

Well gentlemen, the weekend is here... We will see exactly how Spalding and Webster match up and if Spalding is preying on the weak OR can play with the big dog in the conference. Spalding goes into this weekend with a 13-0 SLIAC record and Webster with a 14-2 record.

[Yatzee]

Final Spalding vs Webster scores:
game 1: Spalding 3 Webster 2
game 2: Webster 4 Spalding 1
game 3: Webster 6 Spalding 2

Spalding 14-2 (Conference) 22-9 (Overall)
Webster 16-3 (Conference) 23-11 (Overall)

[metaljacket]

Apparently all the games were well played and very close. Box scores show that the games were within one run for almost the whole series until the final inning(s). Looks like a great series amongst two very good and competitive teams. Wish they could face off again in the tournament. I think either of these two would be a great representative of the SLIAC in the regional tournament.

The standings show Spalding is leading the conference by one game. They have 8 more games to play, if they go 7-1 in those games they are guaranteed a share of the conference title. If they win all 8 they win the title all by themselves. (This is assuming that Webster doesnt lose again)

Should be interesting to see if they can overtake the SLIAC giant in Webster.

Congrats to both teams

[Yatzee]

Eureka won both games vs. Spalding today 3-2 and 9-8. If Webster can win both games vs. MacMurray on Thursday and sweep the 3 game series this weekend vs. Fontbonne then Webster will be SLIAC regular season champions.

Webster 16-3 (Conference)
Spalding 14-4 (Conference)

[theoneandonly]

wow, didnt see that one coming, but a couple of huge games for eureka.

[Hound Dog]

Very surprising.  You can't help but think that Spalding relaxed mentally after taking 1 of 3 from Webster...thinking the conference title was theirs.  Should be an exciting final weekend.  Not sure what MacMurry can do to stop Webster, but I'd expect Fontbonne to give them a good fight this weekend.

[BigPoppa]

Just reviewing my preview of the SLIAC from earlier this year. I nailed Spalding as a potential rival for Webster, but after that, it was a hard conference to predict.

St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC): Can they keep up this pace? The Webster Gorloks have destroyed the rest of the conference by amassing an 80-9 conference record since 2007 and gaining four of the past five NCAA bids. The 2011 season will force them to replace one of the most decorated SLIAC pitchers in recent history as all-American Will Savage graduated and moved on to professional baseball. If the Gorloks are to continue their success, they need to find some arms to fill the massive hole left by Savage... but they may have to look no further than junior pitcher David Mueller (8-1, 2.08 ERA) who served at Webster's #2 last year. How he handles the role of staff ace will determine their season. Sophomore Cody Stephenson(.360, 27 SB) returns to lead the offense. One potential rival is second- year member Spalding, led by the all-conference arm of Jake Wardrip (5-4, 55K). They return two sophomores in P Frank Carter and DH Zane Wheatley who were both given second-team accolades in 2010. Greenville made quite a run in 2010, but gone are both conference Player of the Year, Stefan Neece and Pitcher of the Year, Matt Leefers. Greenville will lean heavily on sophomore utility man Kyle Winter (.310, 29 R) to spark an offense that may have lost more than it can handle this year. The SLIAC will most likely be a one bid conference when they NCAA comes calling in May so just getting into the post-season conference tournament gives anyone a fighting chance (see Greenville in 2009 who knocked off a 24-0 Webster squad). Where a team finishes in this conference is not nearly as important as how they finish, provided they can make it into the top four.

[Yatzee]

Webster ended to regular season strong with 3 wins (9-7, 9-2, 8-7) vs. Fontbonne to clinch the regular season championship all to themselves.  Which makes the 5th straight SLIAC championship.

[Hound Dog]

Just reviewing my preview of the SLIAC from earlier this year. I nailed Spalding as a potential rival for Webster, but after that, it was a hard conference to predict.

St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC): Can they keep up this pace? The Webster Gorloks have destroyed the rest of the conference by amassing an 80-9 conference record since 2007 and gaining four of the past five NCAA bids. The 2011 season will force them to replace one of the most decorated SLIAC pitchers in recent history as all-American Will Savage graduated and moved on to professional baseball. If the Gorloks are to continue their success, they need to find some arms to fill the massive hole left by Savage... but they may have to look no further than junior pitcher David Mueller (8-1, 2.08 ERA) who served at Webster's #2 last year. How he handles the role of staff ace will determine their season. Sophomore Cody Stephenson(.360, 27 SB) returns to lead the offense. One potential rival is second- year member Spalding, led by the all-conference arm of Jake Wardrip (5-4, 55K). They return two sophomores in P Frank Carter and DH Zane Wheatley who were both given second-team accolades in 2010. Greenville made quite a run in 2010, but gone are both conference Player of the Year, Stefan Neece and Pitcher of the Year, Matt Leefers. Greenville will lean heavily on sophomore utility man Kyle Winter (.310, 29 R) to spark an offense that may have lost more than it can handle this year. The SLIAC will most likely be a one bid conference when they NCAA comes calling in May so just getting into the post-season conference tournament gives anyone a fighting chance (see Greenville in 2009 who knocked off a 24-0 Webster squad). Where a team finishes in this conference is not nearly as important as how they finish, provided they can make it into the top four.

FYI...in 2009 Webster never lost to Greenville.  In fact, Greenville is the only win that Webster had in the conference tourney. They lost to Fontbonne(eventual winner) and Maryville.

[Hound Dog]

Very little interest in the SLIAC this year, huh?  Looks like the SLIAC tournament finished up last night with no suprises.  Webster took home the pool A bid.

[Yatzee]

Webster will take on top seeded Christopher Newport May 18th at noon. Christopher Newport will be a challenge at 39-5 and ranked #1in the ABCA Coaches Poll and #2 in the D3.Com Poll.

[BigPoppa]

http://www.d3baseball.com/notables/2011/05/spalding-perfection

Spalding rolling in the NSCAA World Series.

[Hound Dog]

http://www.d3baseball.com/notables/2011/05/spalding-perfection

Spalding rolling in the NSCAA World Series.

I don't know about "rolling".  I believe they are in the losers bracket.  However, the perfect game is pretty impressive stuff. 

Also, it's the USCAA World Series.