BB: LEC: Little East Conference

[wordsmith]

Whether its coincidence or not (I don't think so) we always seem to talk about the injuries to the USM pitching staff...for the last couple of years they always have some stud pitchers one year and the next they are on the DL? Now maybe some of that isn't arm related (I think 90% of it is) but I can remember USM had a pretty decent ptcher back when I played (2003-2007)...don't really recall his name (hockeyfan77 you probably remember) thinking Connor's or something...threw pretty well for them...good curveball, would compete...played 1 year then the next he was toast as he destroyed his arm...I think the same happened to Armandi...what about that Rogers kid from ME that played for them? (don't know if he got hurt or not but whatever happened to him?)...I think word,kscer do have it right when it comes to the pitching up at USM...tend to be a lot more pitching injuries we hear about then with any other school!?!

I think it was Josh Connors and add to that list, Adam Lemieux, Ryan Adams, Peter Bergeron, Sam Handy,....I remember talking to a father of a USM pitcher who told me he hoped his son's arm could survive, and he was a freshman.

Not picking on USM, just responding, that when their fans start to say well we lost our first 2 or 3 pitchers....and maybe it's not arms this year....but the legacy is there. Sorry.

Word

[Jcon8958]

Gentleman gentleman take it easy

Sorry I have been tied up and unable top get on here but I am back now. SO UMB has gotten back to 12-14 (5-3 LEC) with 2 HUGE GAMES today @ KSC.

Thoughts on the team are this there offense has woken up and there young pitchers are suring up the back end of the bullpen whiched seemed to be a problem early in the year. Its all starting to come together again.

[wordsmith]

Now I dont know if you can call the 6th game of the season a MUST WIN game.....But I feel as though this is a MUST WIN for UMB to get out of this funk that they are in and string a couple W's together before they come back up north.

Doesn't matter where you start only matters where you finish. UMB will have a bullseye on their back all year but they will prevail and be right in the hunt by May.

Word

I'll say it again about UMB - they will prevail and be right in the hunt come May. I have a healthy respect for what they do in Boston and not that they need any one to come to their defense, but I for one would not want to play UMB once they get it all pieced together. A very talented and highly motivated group of young men, not to mention a most passionate fan base. And besides boys and girls, they are defending champions and they are deserving of our respect.

Word

JCon welcome back to you and to the UMB team. Right back where I thought you'd be.

One last word about pitching and USM, nowhere did anyone say or even imply that coaches were purposely blowing out kids arms. Those are your words not mine.  I am just pointing out facts...year after year USM has big name pitchers go down with major arm injuries. Unfortunate, yes, predictable, also yes.

Not intended as an indictment just as a comment. Sorry not trying to offend. I have followed LEC for 12-13 years now, had kids play in the league, coached kids that have played in the league, coached with coaches who coach in the league (wow follow that one will ya!), know players, parents and coaches from many of the teams over a span of years and I guess I'd just say ....it is what it is.

Word

[LEC Fan]

Hockeyfan77,

At this point it is only speculation on our parts as that is what we see with the USM team from the outside looking in. We are not here to badger any coaches, players , or schools. Also, I just find it interesting that as Word pointed out those were your words about coaches intentionally over working arms...maybe the thought was on your mind on this topic?! Again I am not trying to digrace any coach or program but rather offer my thoughts on what I have exeperienced playing against USM thats all...but to piggy back your last statement...back to baseball!!

2 big games in the swamp today with Boston making a push up the LEC totem pole. Keene heads into this tough test after beating Amherst and Fitchburg after a tough loss to rival Plymouth (I only call them that becuase they are in state lol). Should be some great LEC baseball with both teams knowing the ramifications of a sweep either way. GO OWLS

[wordsmith]

Link to video of UMass Boston v Keene State Doubleheader

Go Owls

3-0 KSC in bottom of 3rd

Word

[KSCfan]

Keene out to the early lead on Dalton.  Knock on wood Thiessing looking good so far, keene put the pressure on 1,2 innings and Dalton looked good in 3rd.  Would be a big two for keene after the plymouth hiccup. 

[KSCfan]

umbust scores 3 in the fifth ties game 3-3

[wordsmith]

UMB v KSC Game 1

Top of the 9th Tied 3-3

[KSCfan]

Doyon walks off on UMB keene takes game 1 in bot of 9th

[wordsmith]

Yea Doyon had 4 hits on the day and the winning hit to overcome some hinky baserunning by the Owls.

Owls 4-3 Dalton pitched well, but UMB coach pulled him with 1 out in the ninth, men on 1st & 2nd and brought in a reliever to face Doyon. Kind of understandable as Doyon had Dalton's number with 3 hits to that point. Well played exciting game.

I am headed to the field now for Game 2; I am the ultra handsome guy on the left field line with all the bugs landing on me....

Word

[hockeyfan77]

Game 1       USM    7    Plymouth State   10

[7express]

On Wednesday, Western pounds out 24 runs on 22 hits in a 24-0 thrashing of Lehman college.  Lehman's starter gave up 13 runs (12 earned) and 13 hits in 4 innings of work.   Connor Nolan went 7 innings for the Colonials giving up only 5 hits.

On Thursday the Colonials split a double header with St. Joseph's college.  First game was another Colonials rout as they won 25-3.  Score was 0-0 going into the 3rd inning meaning we got 25 runs in only 4 innings.  Mike Yates went 6-6.  Nice to see them scoring some runs.
Game 2 wasn't good as the Colonials had an 8-2 lead at the bottom of the 6th; gave up 2 in the 6th so it should still be a commanding 8-4 lead into the 7th.  We scored 0, but we gave up 5 in the bottom half to lose the game 9-8.  Mike Yates was 2-4 so he finished the day 8-10 with 3 rbi's and 5 runs scored total between the 2 games.

Western with a double header at Dartmouth today.  Western wins the first game 7-2, don't have a box score or a score update from game 2 yet.  I'll update that later this evening. 

[wordsmith]

Umass Boston takes Game 2 over KSC 6-4. UMB got to Vogt several times over the last 3 innings.

So now that I've had a chance to check out an adult beverage I have this question: Whom (other than EConn) benefited most from the UMB/KSC split today?

How often do you get to see 2 legit All-Americans on the same field in a regular season game?(Walsh & Doyon). Both pretty special players.

                                         LEC 
Eastern Connecticut          8-1
Keene State                      6-4
UMass Boston                   6-4
UMass Dartmouth             5-4 
Southern Maine                4-6
Western Connecticut        3-6
Rhode Island College        3-6
Plymouth State                 3-7

[7express]

Billy Armstrong bounced back from a couple of bad outings with 5 hits, 6 strikeouts and 2 runs through 9 innings of work.  Chris Alberto and Mike Yates lead the charge for the offense as they combined to go 6-11 with 2 runs scored and 2 rbi's.  That final as mentioned earlier this evening was 7-2.
Western ended up with the split as they fall in game 2 9-6.  Bill Eannotti had a 3 run homer in the 4th to give the Colonials a 4-2 4th inning lead but that was about all the offense they had from that point.  After combining to hit .545 the first game (6-11), Chris Alberto and Mike Yates hit only .125 the second game (1-8).  Dartmouth falls to 11-17, 5-4 in the conference, Western evens their record at 14 up and 14 down, with a 3-6 LEC record.  We are back in action Monday evening with a single game at home against Mount St. Mary.  First pitch slated for 5:00 PM.

Whoops boxscore swapped the teams LEC record.

[wordsmith]

A couple of questions for the board as I awake to snow this morning!!

1) Where are all of the EConn posters?

2) What team in the LEC has the most regionally diverse roster.

I ask this second question after a side-by-side comparison of the UMB & KSC Rosters appeared in yesterday's game program. I was surprised by the number of players from different states on both rosters.

Understanding that most New England states are relatively small regional might be the wrong word, but I used it anyway. I know in discussing this topic with some of the LEC coaches some programs struggle to recruit in certain states due to In-State vs Out-of-State tuition cost comparisions. Still I was surprised by the reach that UMB had into CT for example.

UMB has representation from
MA, CT, NH, RI, CA, DR, VA, FL, while KSC has kids from NH, NY, CT, VT, MA, AR;
Southern Maine has players from ME, MA, CT, & NH.....

Look forward to your thoughts on theis snowy baseball-less Saturday.

Word