BB: MIAC: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

UST--- 2009 NATIONAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gustie13]

Dan Kaczrowski was drafted yesterday. I assume he'll be leaving the Saints and going to the Diamondbacks organization, who drafted him 786th overall.

[bikerdude]

St Olaf grad Todd Mathison recently signed with the St. Paul Saints on July 24th, joining Schmiesing and Ruud on the roster, as well as Foster from hamline and Moriarty from Scholastica.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Congrats to Dennis Denning, who announced his retirement today. I can honestly say that in all my time around the MIAC, there has not been a more savvy baseball mind.

[whozonfirst]

It's time to get some baseball talk going for 2010!

Who will be the MIAC champs this year? who will go to the playoffs, and why do you think so?

Any players to watch who are under the screen now?

[biggio34]

It's time to get some baseball talk going for 2010!

Who will be the MIAC champs this year? who will go to the playoffs, and why do you think so?

Any players to watch who are under the screen now?

It's going to be hard to bet against the Tommies.  Almost everyone back, a proven core of playoff competitors, one of the best pitchers in the country, a sound defensive squad that always finds a way to win the big games... I'd for them to win the MIAC and be a top contender for another World Series apperance.  No real surprises there I guess.

[jmbaseball06]

There is little to no doubt that the Tommies and Oles will be back in the playoffs again this year. Who do you guys see as the other playoff teams? Does Carleton get in again? MAC on the arm of Murrey? Hamline with no Kaz? Augsburg and Henry perhaps? Bethel returns its entire line-up but loses Adams. Concordia lost MVP Johnson. Needless to say it should be a pretty interesting battle for the playoffs.... just like it always is.

[baseballfreak32]

The Tommies are not going to the World Series again this year because they are going to get blown out by UW-Stevens Point this year in the Whitewater regional. Hey why don't you guys check out the WIAC board. That will explain why Point is the best. HINT: Point has 2 extremely good transfers playing in 2010 and they have a ton of seniors. CHECK IT OUT.

[BigPoppa]

The Tommies are not going to the World Series again this year because they are going to get blown out by UW-Stevens Point this year in the Whitewater regional. Hey why don't you guys check out the WIAC board. That will explain why Point is the best. HINT: Point has 2 extremely good transfers playing in 2010 and they have a ton of seniors. CHECK IT OUT.

I placed both teams in my pre-season top 5 based on who was returning and who I had found out was transferring. Should make for an interesting in-region battle. That is to say if Point can battle through the brutal WIAC schedule.

[OshDude]

There is little to no doubt that the Tommies and Oles will be back in the playoffs again this year. Who do you guys see as the other playoff teams? Does Carleton get in again? MAC on the arm of Murrey? Hamline with no Kaz? Augsburg and Henry perhaps? Bethel returns its entire line-up but loses Adams. Concordia lost MVP Johnson. Needless to say it should be a pretty interesting battle for the playoffs.... just like it always is.

I'll take Mac and Bethel.

[jmbaseball06]

Does anyone know then the MIAC preview is supposed to be released?

[Iluvd3BBALL]

I'll take the Tommies again even with Denning retiring.  You can't ever count out St. Olaf either, they always seem to put it together with what they have and they are usually built around strong pitching with hitters that can get the job done.  Mac with Murray returning could poise a very strong season as long as they can keep putting moon shots out of their park....side note:  What idiot decided to build a stadium looking like that, was it all on a budget?  Bethel could be good this year, they are always a team with high hopes that seems to fall short.  With Adams leaving that leaves a strong void to fill, who knows if they got what it takes.  They have a very good sophmore catcher in J Slick who is by far the best player they have and possibly the best in the MIAC.  Carleton was a fluke last year, St. Mary's will still be bad, you never know about Concordia or GAC especially under Carroll.  I always like Hamline and Verdugo and what can you really say about Augsburg? 

Pitcher of the Year: Murray (sp?)
Player of the Year: Jay Slick
Coach of they Year: New St. Thomas Coach
MIAC Champions: St. Thomas

[supermiac]

I think this has the potential to be one of the more competitive seasons in the MIAC we've seen in awhile. It seems like several of the "middling" teams are returning a significant amount of players from their teams from last year, which could mean trouble for the typical powerhouses up top (UST, StO). I'll take a stab at a write-up, but honestly... I'm not quite certain with the amount of talent returning on most teams.

1. St. Thomas-- Probably the only easy pick here. Their pitching staff this year is going to be ridiculous. After having one of the best pitchers in the country in Schuld, they still have 4 or 5 legitimately good hurlers who would probably be a top 2 starter at any program in the conference. Their hitting will be very solid with Larson, Wippler, Olson and McQuillan; but their pitching will definitely be the highlight of this team. Good chance we see this team back at the Series again this year. I'm reaaally looking forward to seeing this team on the field; it's not everyday that you get a World Series team return this much.

2. St. Olaf-- I like the Oles returning lineup this year, especially with the Jones' brothers and Nelson up top. Not quite sure they have the pitching to make a run into the NCAA playoffs. Agneberg is a very good #1, and Hughes could have a big year with his good stuff. Well coached team that always plays hard and is always in the hunt for a MIAC crown. Don't really see them posing a threat to UST though this year, but as always St. Olaf could put together a very legitimate season and make a run like they always manage to do.

3. Augsburg-- The middle of their lineup could potentially be one of the best in the MIAC with Blunt, Pierce and Henry. Still waiting on Henry to have a bigger breakout season, but they'll have a lot of support from their offense this year, which will be necessary considering their pitching staff is pretty average. Ozga has great stuff and got pretty unlucky with results last year, and like Henry, I'm still waiting on Weber to show the stuff he had freshman year and then some. They'll definitely have to be on their game to outcompete teams 4 through 9 this year, as the discrepancy is talent in paper thin this year across the board.

4. Macalester-- Not quite sure how I feel about this one yet. They won't be surprising teams this year like they did last year (sweeping Bethel, Oles, Cord.) They aren't losing anyone in their lineup from last year, but need to get some production outside of their top 5. Wilson-Traismen is a probably the best offensive shortstop in the conference, and I expect they'll get a bit more production from the several freshmen they started last year. They have arguably the best pitcher in the region (Schuld being a very close second) with Murray, but after that the rest of their rotation will need to step up; typically having the weakest staff in the MIAC. But if their bats gel like they could and Murray gets the ball every 4 days, I think they are a lock for the playoffs.

5. Bethel--- On the outside looking in as of now. Their hitting with Oesterlin, Churchill, and Slick heading it could be nasty. After watching him in several DHs last year, I'm convinced Slick will be one of the best offensive players conference has seen in awhile. The only problem for Bethel is that their pitching staff projects to be pretty bad this year. They return McCracken, who has shown himself to be a reliable pitcher... but after that it's slim pickins. Bethel's going to have trouble if they can't find ways to outscore teams this year.

6. Carleton--- While I don't expect Carleton to compete for the MIAC playoffs as they did last year; they are definitely not the doormat of the MIAC as they'd been in the past. They lose Melson and Guevin, which who will be hard to replace, but they still have several very quality players in Fujisawa, Wirta and Troyanski who I expect to have pretty big impacts this year. I'm not entirely counting them out, but they'd need to play pretty flawless against teams like Bethel, MAC, Aug, and StO (who have better talent) if they expect to make a return trip to Dundas this year.

7. Hamline--- Very young team who I think will have trouble keeping up in close games this year with the teams above them. Based on the simple fact that they don't really have a heap of talent in their lineup (solid hitters, but no big names like Kaczrowski or Bennett anymore), combined with a young pitching staff; I don't think they'll pose much of a threat. They do have several talented players, namely Mullendore who had a great year last year. Well coached, but not sure they have the firepower.

8. Concordia--- Concordia may very well be better than I am listing them; however, considering the players they had in the middle of their lineup last year and finishing 8-12 still in conf., I don't see things getting better. Losing Schumacher for their pitching staff (despite not having a good year last year) will be significant, as will Johnson from their lineup. They still return 3 hitters than put out some very good numbers, but I have a sneaking suspicion those might have been inflated a bit by having one of the best power hitters in college baseball hitting around them.

9. St. John's--- Similar to Concordia in that they very well could sneak ahead of few of the teams listed before them. Can they make the playoffs? Most likely not. Can they ruin another team's chances at making the places? Certainly. They have a couple bright spots in their lineup, but outside of 1-4, nothing is proven. Their pitching also showed some bright spots, but experience and depth are also in question there as well.

10. Gustavus--- Simply put, they don't have the talent they've had the past 3-4 years that will let them move up in conf. this year. Their pitching has always been their weakness, and not having a solid offense as they've had in years past hampers them quite a bit. They could prove me wrong, but I think rebuilding might be the name of the game in St. Peter this year.

11. St. Mary's--- Someone has to take this spot, and while SMU is here almost every year, they (like Carleton) are not the doormat they once were as well. They had a lot of contributions from underclassmen last year, especially within their pitching staff, so I expect the experience of last year might toughen them in that regard a bit. Olberding is one of the better hitters in the MIAC, but we'll have to see what kinda production pops up around him.

Lemme know what ya think. Pretty rough right now, might have to catch some dome games the next couple weeks and make some adjustments to my picks, but this is what I got for now.

[BigPoppa]

Great preview of the MIAC. I agree that after the Big Two, it is mostly a crapshoot with teams falling possibly anywhere within 4-5 spots of where they are predicted to.

Should make for a great race to the finish.

[Iluvd3BBALL]

Love it!  Can't wait to start taking in games this week.