BB: LEC: Little East Conference

[hockeyfan77]

 Final    Bowdoin.     4     USM.      9



USM improves to 30-6  (11-1 in the LEC):  Next up for USM: Wednesday. May.  1.  @ Bates.  @.  4

[KSCfan]

Are we looking at one team from the LEC in the regional this year?  I mean if USM wins the tournament i cant see another team worthy of a pool C.  If USM gets upset, I cant see any other way that LEC gets two teams.  When was the last time that the LEC only got one team in a regional?  And where is the regional for NE this year?

[WNECalum222]

I think over the last 5-8 years Wheaton and WNEC have become the class of the Northeast and the LEC has been slowly declining. Eastern isn't quite what it use to be and keene has fallen off a bit. Clearly I may have a biased opinion, but that is what I have seen.

[wildthngvaughn]

KSCFan,
    It all depends on what happens today.  If Eastern sweeps Amherst, that puts them right back into the conversation for being an at-large team.  If they get swept then that's pretty much it for Eastern. Suffolk is also in the same situation.  They play Williams twice, S. Maine and MIT.  They could play themselves right in or right out of the NCAA's. Assumming that S.Maine, Wheaton, and WNE win their conference tournaments, here is my list for at-large teams

1. Endicott
2. Suffolk
3. MIT
4. Eastern
5. Bowdoin/Amherst

A lot of things can change though, with many conference tournaments still to be played and the ECAC's.

[wordsmith]

I think over the last 5-8 years Wheaton and WNEC have become the class of the Northeast and the LEC has been slowly declining. Eastern isn't quite what it use to be and keene has fallen off a bit. Clearly I may have a biased opinion, but that is what I have seen.

I stated on these boards either a year or two ago that I thought State University/College baseball in New England was in a steep decline and I hold to that position. The elite schools over the past 5-6 years have largely been private schools. Trinity (although inconsistent), Wheaton, WENU, and let's not forget St. Joe's. Sure EConn has been there at that level, KSC took a peak into the room but hasn't finished it off, and what can you say about USM. Up and down, but not nearly as dominant as the early 00's or late '90's.

So what are the factors that may have led to this decline? College costs? Facilities? Coaches?

Costs...Private schools like WNEU are running $40k+ a year and many State schools are running $10-$15k Less per year;

Facilities...USM & EConn have premier ballparks that rival any parks in D-III in the country and certainly are an attraction to young ballplayers.

So that leaves Coaches which really what we're talking about is recruiting.  Guys like Will Sanborn (the hardest working man in show business), Matt LaBranche, and The Wheaton Coach (I refuse to speak his name) all work their arses off recruiting and have the distinct advantage of solid academic institutions behind them (not to say that schools like KSC a Josten Award Winner a few years back aren't solid as well).

So is it that simple? Or are there other factors?

Thoughts?

[wildthngvaughn]

Wow Eastern just shot themselves right back into the at large conversation with a sweep of Amherst today.  Now depending on what Suffolk does over their final 4 games (Williams 2, S.Maine, and MIT) and what Eastern does in the Little East Tournament, Eastern is in a much better situation.

[kscer]

Most of the teams that will be in the regionals are those teams listed in the regional rankings by the NCAA. Rankings of 4/26 had ESCU ranked 4th behind USM Wheaton and WNEU. The rankings come out on Friday, and they are the only rankings that count for the selection committee. After the automatic qualifiers, the at=large teams are chosen from the regional rankings. ESCU stands a very good chance of going to the regionals unless they are swept by KSC and go 2 and out in the LEC Tournament. If someone other than USM or ESCU win the LEC tourney, you might see three LEC teams in the regionals.

A general question... Does the NAC have an automatic bid this year as a standalone conference?

[wildthngvaughn]

kscer,
    you have to remember though, Eastern had lost 3 of 6 since the 1st regional came out.  If they were to have been swept by Amherst, they probably would have dropped out of the rankings completely.  Sweeping Amherst just saved their season, granted they still have more work to do.   

[OshDude]

...
A general question... Does the NAC have an automatic bid this year as a standalone conference?

No.

[kscer]

kscer,
    you have to remember though, Eastern had lost 3 of 6 since the 1st regional came out.  If they were to have been swept by Amherst, they probably would have dropped out of the rankings completely.  Sweeping Amherst just saved their season, granted they still have more work to do.

I'm not sure what rankings you are looking at, Wildthing, but after the rankings of April 25, ESCU is 4-2, with one of the losses to Wheaton. I think they are in fine shape.

[wildthngvaughn]

The rankings were posted on d3baseball.com on the 25th but if you look right below, it says games thru April 21.

[hockeyfan77]

USM beat Bates yesterday 9-4 to improve to 31-6  (11-1 in the LEC): Next up for USM:  Fri May   3    Mass.-Dartmouth * 12:00 PM   (DH)

[wordsmith]

Answers await:

http://www.d3blogs.com/d3baseball/2013/05/02/second-ncaa-regional-ranking-of-2013/

New England Region
1 Southern Maine 23-3 29-6
2 Wheaton (Mass.) 24-7 27-10
3 Western New England 26-8 27-9
4 Endicott 27-11 27-11
5 MIT 22-7 22-8
6 Amherst 20-7 20-8
7 St. Joseph's (Maine) 26-10 28-11
8 Eastern Connecticut 23-10-1 23-11-1
9 Bowdoin 22-11 22-11
10 Salem State 18-7 21-13

[kscer]

Answers await:

http://www.d3blogs.com/d3baseball/2013/05/02/second-ncaa-regional-ranking-of-2013/

New England Region
1 Southern Maine 23-3 29-6
2 Wheaton (Mass.) 24-7 27-10
3 Western New England 26-8 27-9
4 Endicott 27-11 27-11
5 MIT 22-7 22-8
6 Amherst 20-7 20-8
7 St. Joseph's (Maine) 26-10 28-11
8 Eastern Connecticut 23-10-1 23-11-1
9 Bowdoin 22-11 22-11
10 Salem State 18-7 21-13

Ought to be interesting to see how this shakes out in the next week I can see Endicott bumping up because of in-region wins. I don't see Eastern and St Joe's dropping off that far with Mit and Amherst ranked ahead of them.  Of course St Joes has an automatic so it doesn't matter too much except for location and seeding. I think Eastern's fate is in their hands this week-end.

[wildthngvaughn]

Answers await:

http://www.d3blogs.com/d3baseball/2013/05/02/second-ncaa-regional-ranking-of-2013/

New England Region
1 Southern Maine 23-3 29-6
2 Wheaton (Mass.) 24-7 27-10
3 Western New England 26-8 27-9
4 Endicott 27-11 27-11
5 MIT 22-7 22-8
6 Amherst 20-7 20-8
7 St. Joseph's (Maine) 26-10 28-11
8 Eastern Connecticut 23-10-1 23-11-1
9 Bowdoin 22-11 22-11
10 Salem State 18-7 21-13

It seems that Eastern is in a pretty good spot as MIT lost to both Brandeis (15-21) and RIC (11-26) since the 2nd Regional Rankings were made. Losing to two teams with losing records will drop MIT way down, possibly even out of the top 10.  Beating Amherst twice also helps a lot.