BB: CC: Centennial Conference

[Hammer Ball]

It's early, but it looks like JHU is once again the team to beat - no surprise there.

If rumor is true, too bad about the Haverford pitcher.  Never like to see injuries.

Is the F&M pitcher Markel injured?  No sign of him in the boxscores.

[RSSmith]

Another good win for Hopkins, 10-5 over Dickinson State (a NAIA team with and 8-3 record which includes a split with DII Minot State).  Great job by a bunch of rookie Blue Jay pitchers.

[d3baseballnut]

wow.....

How do you find this stuff out? lol

[RSSmith]

16 Blue Jays had at least 1 hit in the double header wins over Keene State.

[RSSmith]

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

Hopkins                  9-3 with double-header sweep of Keene State.  The Jays are scoring more than 10 runs
per game with an ERA under 5 and I'm still a homer.

F&M      4-3-1 (4-1-1 in their last 6) with all three losses being one-run games against quality
opponents in Kean, Rowan and Lynchburg.

Gettysburg   7-4 have won their last 5 including a good win against York.

Washington   5-3 have won their last 4 including a pair of nail-biters against Coppin State.

Haverford                   6-3 with kudos to Butera and Pappius-Lefebvre.  Except for a good win over NorthPark,
      the Fords have unimpressive opposition in the record to date.

McDaniel                4-3 on a 3-game winning streak have their first real challenge today against UMass-
                             Boston.

Ursinus      5-5 with a 1-run loss to TCNJ.

Muhlenberg   5-5 with a whomping from TCNJ.

Dickinson             2-7 after starting 2-0.  Quality losses to Brockport, Macalester, Augsburg and Springfield.

Swarthmore   3-6 after starting 3-0.  Not such hot opposition, either. 

[RSSmith]

Nice 9-1 win today by Hopkins against Southern Maine.  The biggest question early in the year was whether the sophomore pitchers would be able to step up against quality hitting.  Eliopoulos threw a great game against Keene State yesterday, and Sam Eagleson flat shut down Southern Maine today. 

[RSSmith]

A big "Congrats!" to JHU on a four-game run through the top three teams in a very good Little East Conference.  Have a safe trip home.

[bulldozer]

A big "Congrats!" to JHU on a four-game run through the top three teams in a very good Little East Conference.  Have a safe trip home.

Thanks,

-Soft Serve

[RSSmith]

The Hopkins Arizona trip ended in a three-day offensive orgy that none of the Blue Jays' players, coaches and parents will soon forget and unlike any I have seen in the several years I've been following DIII baseball.  They swept four games from the top three teams in arguably the toughest conference in the country.  In the Keene State double header, Keene started its number 1 and number 2 pitchers (Pelkey and Raymond); Southern Maine started its number 1 (Henry) and Eastern Connecticut started its number 1 (Musson).  Over that four-game stretch, the Blue Jays hit .428, and 16 of the 18 position players on the roster had at least one hit.  By position, the catchers (Swarr and Borelli) were 6 for 13; the first basemen (Huisman and Small) were 6 for 18; the second baseman (Youchak) was 6 for 16; the shortstops (Teta, Bejsiuk and Rappazzo) were 3 for 15; the third basemen (Bolyard and Borenstein) were 9 for 17; the left fielder (Sikorski) was 7 for 16;  the center fielders (Dave Kahn and Wernick) were 11 for 17; and the right fielders (Aspergren, Walsh and Bernardi) were 9 for 15.  In the 26 innings in which they hit, the Blue Jays had 10 doubles, 5 triples and 7 home runs and scored 60 runs.  Simply amazing.

[Hammer Ball]

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.

[RollTide]

Hammerball you have to look at Ursinus and give them a little more respect. They have lost many of their key players from last year, but they did beat TCNJ last week and have played solid ball thus far. I would move them up.

Hopkins will not be beaten in conference and look at them to make a run in the NCAA tourney.
The 2,3 and 4 spots will be a battle between F&M, Gettysburg, Ursinus and Haverford.

[d3baseballnut]

Hammerball you have to look at Ursinus and give them a little more respect. They have lost many of their key players from last year, but they did beat TCNJ last week and have played solid ball thus far. I would move them up.

Hopkins will not be beaten in conference and look at them to make a run in the NCAA tourney.
The 2,3 and 4 spots will be a battle between F&M, Gettysburg, Ursinus and Haverford.

I agree about JHU. I got a feeling about them making a run this year. I can't explain it. It's the same feeling I had about St. Mary's beating Villanova this past weekend. Sometimes you just can feel it.

Additionally, I dont think the NJAC or TCNJ is very good this year. I dont think the NJAC was very good last year either. They got at large bids bc of past reputation. But you can't look at their body of work and say it is any different than most other conferences, such as the ASC. They are getting at large bids now because of past reputation. There is no reason a 26-18 Montclair team should get in when you have teams down south with 35 wins.

[Hammer Ball]

Hammerball you have to look at Ursinus and give them a little more respect. They have lost many of their key players from last year, but they did beat TCNJ last week and have played solid ball thus far. I would move them up.

Hopkins will not be beaten in conference and look at them to make a run in the NCAA tourney.
The 2,3 and 4 spots will be a battle between F&M, Gettysburg, Ursinus and Haverford.

Roll - I think spots 3 and 4 could be filled by any team other than JHU and F&M.

[RSSmith]

Hammerball you have to look at Ursinus and give them a little more respect. They have lost many of their key players from last year, but they did beat TCNJ last week and have played solid ball thus far. I would move them up.

Hopkins will not be beaten in conference and look at them to make a run in the NCAA tourney.
The 2,3 and 4 spots will be a battle between F&M, Gettysburg, Ursinus and Haverford.

I just noticed that TCNJ has only won three games, and Connor Henderson pitched all three of them.

[RSSmith]

March 23 results:

Swat 6, Mules 5
Dickinson 4, McDaniel 2