BB: CC: Centennial Conference

[d3baseballnut]

My pre-season Guess for 2010 was:
1. F&M - Strong all around
2. Hopkins - Will score alot of runs
3. Haverford - Will contend to the end
4. Washington - Pitching may carry them
5. Swat - On the upswing
6. Gettysburg - Do not count out
7. Muhlenberg - Must recover from offensive losses
8. Ursinus - Huge loss at No. 1
9. Dickinson - Sweep of JHU in '09 cannot be forgotten
10. McDaniel - May be rebuilding

My pre-conference guess is :
1. Hopkins -  May win each conf game by avg 10+ runs.
2. F&M  - Will benefit from very tough pre-conference slate.  Solid 1 thru 9.
3. Muhlenberg - SS can rake
4. Washington - Pitching will keep then in most games
5. Haverford - If #1 P is out 5th may be a reach.  Butera's numbers insane
6. Gettysburg - Speedy CF and resurgent 3b make dangerous combo
7. Dickinson - Tough pre-conf sched.  Can't forget JHU sweep.
8. Swat - Top 2 P's tough and hitters gaining experience
9.   Ursinus - Big losses tough to overcome.
10. McDaniel - Someone has to be last.

I should have kept Swat in the top half where I had them originally.  Great start for the Garnet.

Its shaping up to be quite the DH tomorrow between Hopkins and Swarthmore.....

[RSSmith]

My pre-season Guess for 2010 was:
1. F&M - Strong all around
2. Hopkins - Will score alot of runs
3. Haverford - Will contend to the end
4. Washington - Pitching may carry them
5. Swat - On the upswing
6. Gettysburg - Do not count out
7. Muhlenberg - Must recover from offensive losses
8. Ursinus - Huge loss at No. 1
9. Dickinson - Sweep of JHU in '09 cannot be forgotten
10. McDaniel - May be rebuilding

My pre-conference guess is :
1. Hopkins -  May win each conf game by avg 10+ runs.
2. F&M  - Will benefit from very tough pre-conference slate.  Solid 1 thru 9.
3. Muhlenberg - SS can rake
4. Washington - Pitching will keep then in most games
5. Haverford - If #1 P is out 5th may be a reach.  Butera's numbers insane
6. Gettysburg - Speedy CF and resurgent 3b make dangerous combo
7. Dickinson - Tough pre-conf sched.  Can't forget JHU sweep.
8. Swat - Top 2 P's tough and hitters gaining experience
9.   Ursinus - Big losses tough to overcome.
10. McDaniel - Someone has to be last.

I should have kept Swat in the top half where I had them originally.  Great start for the Garnet.

Its shaping up to be quite the DH tomorrow between Hopkins and Swarthmore.....

Swat used Crawford and Jensen in the split with Washington.  Mejia pitched 1.2 on Thursday, so I'd expect to see him start the first game.  If it's Eagleson for the Jays, should be a good matchup.  Hope Hopkins saved some home runs after today.

[RSSmith]

On the fourth Friday of the season, here's how I see it:

It's hard to argue with the standings as they are today.

1.  Hopkins:  the Blue Jays are scoring 11.7 runs per game and the team ERA is down to 4.10.  22 home runs at the midpoint (opponents have hit only 5).  The Blue Jays are on a 9-game winning streak.

2. through 6.  Haverford/Swarthmore/Washington/Muhlenberg/F&M:  Take your pick.  They all split with one another.  Haverford and F&M both appear to be without their #1 pitchers—Pappius-Lefebvre has thrown only a few innings (9) and Markel only a few more (15.2).  Apparently, without their aces they fall randomly into the middle.  Here's the tie breaker—batting average divided by ERA times 100 (the higher number is better, for reference, Hopkins rates 9.4):

2.  Washington (6.6)
3.  Haverford (5.8)
4.  F&M (5.1)
5.  Muhlenberg (4.9)
6.  Swat (4.8)

7.  Gettysburg should get the nod since they've been beaten by higher tier teams (Hopkins, Muhlenberg) and have a BA/ERA rating of 5.6.

8. through 10.  Flip a coin.  If I have to choose,

8.  Ursinus (4.4)
9.  McDaniel (4.2)
10.  Dickinson (3.4)

[RSSmith]

Not a bad week for Johns Hopkins second baseman Brian Youchak.  10 for 16 (.625) with 7 runs scored, 9 RBIs and 5 home runs.  Youch also picked up his 200th career hit.

[RSSmith]

On the fourth Friday of the season, here's how I see it:

It's hard to argue with the standings as they are today.

1.  Hopkins:  the Blue Jays are scoring 11.7 runs per game and the team ERA is down to 4.10.  22 home runs at the midpoint (opponents have hit only 5).  The Blue Jays are on a 9-game winning streak.

2. through 6.  Haverford/Swarthmore/Washington/Muhlenberg/F&M:  Take your pick.  They all split with one another.  Haverford and F&M both appear to be without their #1 pitchers—Pappius-Lefebvre has thrown only a few innings (9) and Markel only a few more (15.2).  Apparently, without their aces they fall randomly into the middle.  Here's the tie breaker—batting average divided by ERA times 100 (the higher number is better, for reference, Hopkins rates 9.4):

2.  Washington (6.6)
3.  Haverford (5.8)
4.  F&M (5.1)
5.  Muhlenberg (4.9)
6.  Swat (4.8)

7.  Gettysburg should get the nod since they've been beaten by higher tier teams (Hopkins, Muhlenberg) and have a BA/ERA rating of 5.6.

8. through 10.  Flip a coin.  If I have to choose,

8.  Ursinus (4.4)
9.  McDaniel (4.2)
10.  Dickinson (3.4)

Again, today--Ursinus split with Dickinson, F&M split with Muhlenberg, Washington split with Gettysburg.

Hopkins swept Swarthmore and Haverford swept McDaniel.

[RSSmith]

Bombs away, indeed.  In the last 4 games, 10 Blue Jays combined for 16 home runs, led by Youchak with 5, Dave Kahn and Sikorski with 2 each, and followed neatly by Walsh, Wernick, Bernardi, Huisman, Swarr, Bejsiuk and Borelli with one apiece.  True, Homewood has a short right field fence, but 5 of the 16 dingers were hit at McDaniel (no small space there), 6 were to left field at Homewood, and Sikorski's blast to right landed in the westbound lane of University Ave.

[commish]

Johns Hopkins OF Brian Youchak and Haverford sophomore Jonny Williams have been named the Conference's Player and Pitcher of the Week. Youchak hit .625 in a 4-0 week with 10 hits in 16 at-bats. Five of those hits left the ballpark, as he drove in nine runs and scored seven times. Youchak had a 1.563 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .667 for the week. Williams scattered three hits, striking out five and allowing just one earned run in 9 2/3 innings last week. He registered a complete-game victory in the 6-1 win over McDaniel, fanning four.  http://www.centennial.org/baseball/2010/BASE_405.pdf

[RSSmith]

F&M just spanked Gettysburg.  McCreary gets the win in relief as F&M puts up 7 in the 8th.  Watch out Centennial--here they come.

[RollTide]

When comparing the scores of Hopkins and Haverford against the same teams, they are very similar. I know Haverford does not have their best pitcher, but they field the ball better than any other team in the conference and have been swinging the bats well. The battle between Hopkins, F&M and Haverford will be fun to watch down the stretch.

[Hammer Ball]

When your team (in conf) BA is about 100 points higher than the next team and you have scored 28 more runs in 1 less game than the next best (again in conf) - - fielding % just does not mean that much.  In other words you can kick the ball around a little (maybe even a lot) if you are up 10 runs.  Your pitchers may not be to happy with the extra pitches they have to throw but they know they will get a W.

[RSSmith]

When your team (in conf) BA is about 100 points higher than the next team and you have scored 28 more runs in 1 less game than the next best (again in conf) - - fielding % just does not mean that much.  In other words you can kick the ball around a little (maybe even a lot) if you are up 10 runs.  Your pitchers may not be to happy with the extra pitches they have to throw but they know they will get a W.

At tournament time, however, it can become a big deal real quick!!

[RSSmith]

Congratulations to Brian Youchak on being named ECAC-South Division III Player of the Week.
http://www.ecacsports.com/sports/spring/bsb/potw/DivisionI/2010/baseball_04062010.pdf

[Hammer Ball]

JHU's run differential in their 20 wins is 8.85. (In their 8 CC  wins it is 8.875.)  For all games team ERA just under 4 - opponents just under 11.  CC games look like pre-season for JHU NCAA run.

[d3baseballnut]

The JHU Train keeps on rolling tonight, with a 14-5 win over lebanon valley.

[RSSmith]

F&M saved Markel and Duranti to pitch against Hopkins this weekend.  Should be a great matchup with Eagleson and Harbeck pitching for the Blue Jays.  I'll be there!!