BB: LEC: Little East Conference

[wordsmith]

I find it interesting that Armandi and Sam Handy have barely thrown (Handy came in to face one batter and walked him).

I know Armandi's had arm trouble in the past, but these are two arms that have seen innings in the past.  Interesting that it's mostly freshmen pitching. 

Give Schmidt a year of development and adaptation to the college hitters, and he will be VERY effective.  Has the ability to hold runners very close and get 1-2 pickoffs per game.  Adds a whole other element to his game.

While on the subject of So. Maine. What happened to the Josh Connors kid who pitched for them last year? He was a Freshman and got used a lot last year.

As to Handy & Armandi- as Pink Floyd would say "All in all you're just another brick in the WALL!"

[Jcon2134]

Connors ripped his elbow up he is done for a at least this year possibly will never throw again...

[kscer]

Gosh...Bergeron gone - Arm trouble, Armandi missed most of last year- Arm Trouble, Connors gone - arm trouble? Must be the weather or something up there. Good thing the freshmen are soing well.

[soxfan42585]

They didn't lose anything to graduation however, (rogers) and so the staff is anchored by young guys- foley should be given more consideration- as he continually is able to get the job done.

[wordsmith]

USM can mash now 2-0. Will their pitching hold out or will HOFEF burn them up.

EConn - 4 touchdowns against Plymouth St. anyone remember Joe Dudek?

KSC has no middle relief and no solid #2 after Stromgren. Watch for Morin to move in as the weekend starter over Young. Now 1-1. 

RIC- is a middle of the road team, but a dangerous one at that. Now 1-1. 

UMESS D-beats UMESS B - Maybe if we put combined the two UMESS teams we'd have a contenda' 

WConn- ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Plymouth St. - Did the Panthers eat some of that tainted cat food today? 26 runs to EConn? 

[Pat Coleman]

Why did Armandi go only one inning in the second game today for USM? He took his warmup pitches for the second but got pulled.

Who impressed me today:
Ryan Borque (this is a bit of a duh, but still): Both with his arm and his bat. Western basically didn't run on him, not while I was there.
Tim Therrian (also fairly obvious, I guess): Struck out six in three innings of relief to earn the win. Was consistently hitting 88 on the gun in his first inning of work and threw harder the last two innings.
Andrew Stacy: Strong relief performance, including entering with runners on base and ending Western's Game 2 rally. When he was done, he had thrown 3.2 innings of one-hit relief.
Miles Scribner: His final line doesn't really show it, but he kept Western in the game with middle relief.

[Pat Coleman]

Photo gallery from today's games:
http://www.pictureprints.net/albums.php?gallery=1698

[kscer]

KSC has no middle relief and no solid #2 after Stromgren. Watch for Morin to move in as the weekend starter over Young. Now 1-1. 

Young has struggled to get through the fourth inning all season. He has not let KSC get ahead early. Also they are not getting the production out of the middle of the lineup they need. The umpiring in the second game was the worst I have ever seen...ever - at any level. If this is the caliber of the umpiring the LEC ADs have bought for this year...watch out!

[wordsmith]

Wheaton shuts down Southern Maine 2-1 as Josh Moore goes 7.2 and gives up 3 hits and 1 run.

Where is the D'Andrea and Ganley kid that played 2nd base for So. Maine last year?

[RedDevils36]

Ganley's on the team.  Kinslow (a senior) probably played his way into an everyday starter.  Kinslow's an excellent fielder. 

As for D'Andrea, he either transferred or got in trouble/dropped out of school, I would think.

[bball13]

Southern Maine has a good team, but them being so young it's tough for them.  They failed to recognize and adjust to what Moore was trying to do to them.  I was there at the Wheaton game and it seemed as if every swing they took they were trying to hit the ball out of the park.  Good pitching beats good hitting everytime.  If Southern Maine figures out how to make adjustments to teams during a game even though it puts them out of their comfort zone then they'll be a good team, but as for now this long ball strategy on offense is going to cut it especially against good teams like Wheaton who plays small ball and is built on excellent starting pitching and depth, not to overlook some people who can hit the ball a ways also. 

[soxfan42585]

Southern Maine is a very beatable team.  There are many great players on the roster and they will always perform.  However, teams are able to upset them in the sense that they are a beatable team.  They can run into problems with chemistry and getting up on them is possible.

They are capable of doing big things- but they are also very capable of stumbling.  The test will be their pitching- their lineup will hit well all season long.  If younger guys can step up their game and play well in big games- then they will live up to their hype.

[DIII Dad]

I must agree with bball13. After looking at USM's box scores, they have only won one game that they didn't have any homeruns in. It looks like the approach is pretty much all or nothing.

[Jcon2134]

A little more on how if southern Maine doesnt hit the ball they do not even know the defintion of manufacturing a run. They have stolen 12 BASE this whole season and they are 12 games in the more you look at this team all you have to do is keep there bats contained which Obviously isnt easy but if you do they are a VERY VERY average team. 

And on the little East in general through I would say about 1/3 of the season or so maybe less but theyre are 5 teams that are at least 4 games over .500 this once again the more I look be the best conference in the country there are 5 teams in this conference that have the potiental to win 30 games. (USM, ECSU, KSU, RIC, UMB) this race is only going to get better.

[wordsmith]

Sweeps are the order of the day:

Evil Empire sweeps So. Maine; Gilblair has a typical day complete game 5 hitter and 4-7 on the day. EConn looks to be the class of the LEC.

RIC gives the broom to the Beacons.

Corsairs drop a pair to Keene State. Beau Darak could be a 10. Red-shirt freshman transfer from UMaine may be the real deal.

WConn loses twice to Plywood State U.

Cream is rising to the top.