BB: LEC: Little East Conference

[KSCfan]

Thank god the winter meetings here on the D3boards are heating up.  I have been missing the baseball talk for sure.  517 welcome to the board, good points on keene and eastern.  As far as the teams are shaking up I have no clue.  Last year i bashed UMB all year and then they go to the World Series.  The more and more i watch this conference the more and more I it all comes back to pitching.  You need pitching to win, as most of these hitters in this league can swing it well.  If you can hit in the LEC you can hit as the pitching in the league is always very very good.  

[ECSUalum]

I will take a preliminary shot at ECSU starters for 2011, without knowing who Coach Holowaty has recruited as freshman or who may have transfered from other schools, and of course barring any injuries:

Pitching- Sr. RHP Jim Shult will certainly be the ace of the staff, (5-1 W/L 3.52 ERA, 61 IP)  (also a top hitter and Scholar Athlete)

              So RHP Ben Church looked great as a frosh last year (4-0 5.14, 43)

              So RHP Evan Chamberlain another true freshman last year will be in the starting rotation ( 0-0 4.26, 12)

              Jr. RHP Mitch Furber 6-4, 5.89, 18) transfer from Post U should be ready to make impact

              Sr. LHP Bill Roveto I think may get some starting innings, did well in relief last year, (3-1, 4.20, 15 ) starter on
              the Basketball team so comes in a bit late.
              Sr Chris Wojick bullpen (3-3, 5.75, 36), hopefully steps up and has great year!!

              Key losses: Will Musson (6-1, 4.73, 59)
                                 Matt Fontaine (6-3 3.75, 57)

Catcher- Sr Chris Cannata and Jr Steve Cammuso had similar offensive stats, (.359/.353), Cammuso with a bit better power, however key will be who is better defensive catcher.  I  think they will be platooned unless someone breaks out offensively.

      Key losses : none


1B- Sr. Andrew Dewing, a lock in here ( .354, 6 HR , 57 RBI)

2B- Big loss of John Park, so up for grabs with Sophomore, Drew Accomando, or jr. Mark Julius

3B - Huge loss Melvin Castillo, ( yes everybody, he finally graduated , everyone know his production numbers), Tyler Turgeon most likely, (.333, 6, 34), with  Joe Balowski backup

SS- Big loss Travis Bass, See above lot of IFs


OF Seniors. Joe Cousineau CF,( .303, 2, 18), fastest on the team; Robert Perry RF, (.303, 0, 13), will have to perform like his So year; and Andrew Smiley RF, ( .375, 1, 8)


           

[KSCfan]

Alum that is some indepth info.  I will do my best to look at impact pitchers for the Owls that are coming back.  I am not sure what coach KH16, and Coach Testo have brought in to bolster the staff but as far as returning here is my 2 cents

Sr. Dan Nelson- Weekend starter who went 7-0 for the owls last year with a 4.38 era.  He chewed up a lot of innings and was a big part of why the owls turned it on at the end of the year.  Would have to be a favorite to start weekends again this year.

Sr. Kyle Davis- Struggled to start the year turned it on late.  Had some control issues for the owls as he walked 21 and struck out 23.  He has the tools and potential to be dominate.  Amother year with jedi pitching master Coach Testo could see him step up his game to where the owls need him to be

Junior Jeff Pelkey- Suffered the ol sophmore slump last year after having a very good freshman campaign.  Has shown he can be effective.  A year can go a long way for a player getting bigger, stronger, and more importantly seasoned.  If the owls are going to make noise he is going to have to be part of it

Then there is Vogt.  All i can say is last year he was filthy, 1.05 era in 17 games and 25 innings pitched.  Played in the NECBL and was an all-star in that league.  The kid can shove, will shorten games for the owls. 

Thats a very early, have not talked to or seen the coaches in a while things can change a lot guess on impact pitching for the owls.

Alum saw chamberlin pitch all summer long.  Throws hard with movement in on a righty.  Better than average slider.  He pitched pretty much out of the bullpen in the Connecticut Collegiate Baseball League, and was very effective.

[ECSUalum]

KCSFan,

Thanks for your views on 2011 Keene State Owls!!!

Keene will always have very competitive athletics because the athletic directors there historically have been top notch and have given the coaches what they need to succeed, together with the fact that Keene has always had a  tremendous student academic/athletic tradition.

Anyone want to predict the LEC Coaches preseason baseball poll, or, more difficult, what the final LEC standings will be?

How about for the latter:

Keene/UMB tie
ECSU
RIC
USM
UMD
WCSU
Plymouth

[517th]

Alum and fan,thanks for the welcome. Alum is that your batting order?I am wondering who might be the 3,4,5 hitters.They need to make up 190+ runs that  graduated in 2010.

[ECSUalum]

1-2-3-4-5 hitters?

Cousineau, Perry, Shult, Dewing, Turgeon.

514, it will be tough to reproduce the run production of Bass, Park, Castillo, Thompson

[KSCfan]

Offense wise Keene is losing Cipolla and Patnode.  That means most of the guts of the line up is back.

Diprato hit .370 last year and back
Doyon hit .400 10hr  18 2b and 50 something rbi ss back
Morril .313  15 2b  47 rbi is back
Burgio .303 slugged over 500 is back


yeah the owls can swing it

[517th]

So,it looks like UMB has good hitting with a young and untested pitching staff.KSC has very good pitching and some very good hitters returning and ECSU looks like they have some pretty good pitching with an unknown hitting quantity.I would have to give KSC the edge going into the season and will pick KSC to finish first in the LEC based on the return of their best hitters and pitchers from 2010.However as you guys have pointed out,Coach Holowaty always seems to find a way to field a great team and UMB loves the underdog role.So it looks like we have a classic example to study in 2011 of pitching versus hitting and what carries a team.

[KSCfan]

517-

I would say that Keene has the potential to have some good pitching but are not thier yet.  They have a very good pitcher in Nelson, and a very good closer/reliever in Vogt.  That being said the other starters struggled a little bit last year and need to step it up.  If a couple of guys step up and really pitch well then they are def the favorite to win the conference this year.  In order to win in the LEC/ The LEC tournament/and the Regionals you need a crop of 3-4 quality starters and a shut down bullpen guy.

I feel that the league is wide open this year.  ECSU not as many hitters but still solid,  USM is always good and UMB returning champs.  RIC always competes and UMD can upset a top team.  Its the best d3 conference in the country for a reason!

[517th]

KSCfan,  I noticed 5 Keene pitchers played summer league ball.Vogt was lights out in the NECBL and i'm sure if a scout or crosschecker were there he will get some follow time this spring.Perrault and Davis got some decent innings and ,based on ERA, did ok.Pelkey looks like he got lots of innings and a 3.72 ERA is pretty good in the ABCCL.Thiesing didn't get much work in the ACBL.I have to think the experience itself would help them all in 2011.

[KSCfan]

517-

Yeah i am hoping as well.  It was nice to see some of the Keene players finally getting into some of the better summer leagues.  Vogt was lights out and dominate but they have got to get to him with a lead first.  That comes from the starters which was the point i was trying to make.  Experience is always key and I agree with your points.  Just one thing that i would say is that summer era's tend to be lower because of the wooden bats.  Metal tends to make era's go the other way. 

[CrashDavisD3]

517-

Yeah i am hoping as well.  It was nice to see some of the Keene players finally getting into some of the better summer leagues.  Vogt was lights out and dominate but they have got to get to him with a lead first.  That comes from the starters which was the point i was trying to make.  Experience is always key and I agree with your points.  Just one thing that i would say is that summer era's tend to be lower because of the wooden bats.  Metal tends to make era's go the other way. 

Expect ERAs in spring 2011 games to approach the wood back summer league ERA. The new NCAA BBCOR metal bats are biggest change to the game since the they starting using metal bats. In the fall some players have said the bats at times perform same as wood or sometimes even worse....Expect pitchers to dominate in 2011 and teams with pitching/defense will do well in 2011.

[LEC Fan]

Why the change in bats? Step in the right direction for safety? Cost?

Is this change across the NCAA? I know most D1 schools have contracts with manufacturer's for bats and such and didn't know if this would affect all divisions. As Crash pointed out this may be one of the biggest changes in the game but I don't really have much information around why the change, any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Jim Dixon]

Jim,

What is the record for doubles in a career? What is Bobby currently at? Is it a realistic goal or he would have to have a monster year?

Thanks for the info!

Bobby Doyon has 52 double through three years and needs to hit 23 to tie, 24 to pass Erik Kratz.  His high is 22 doubles in 2009.  he will need to improve on the 18 he hit last year but it is certainly in reach.


D-III Doubles records:

Game
5—Aaron Dalton, East Tex. Baptist vs. LeTourneau, March
30, 2007

Season
27—Jonas Fester, Johns Hopkins, 2007 (48 games); Andy Kucek, Hendrix, 2003 (40 games); Craig Conway, Montclair St., 2000 (50 games); Scott Forbes, N.C. Wesleyan, 1997 (47 games)

Career
75—Erik Kratz, East. Mennonite, 1999-02 (154 games)

[KSCfan]

LECFan and esteemed LEC board

I know that these new bats are suppoused to act a lot like wood bats.  If this is the case then why not shift collegiate baseball to wood.  I think the obvious argument is that the cost of wood is too high?  However, with the composite woods that you see now, the bambo ones under warranty, couldnt college find ways to cut costs?  I am sure that dealers would be willing to give discounts for bats bought in bulk.  Players I am sure would pony up the cash to buy wood bats that they personally want.  What is the ratio of one metal bat cost to one wood?  A new metal is roughly 300?  You could buy 5-8 ash and maybe 4-5 high class metal?

I know that the d2 conference that Franklin Pierce, Southern CT, and Umass Lowell play in use wood.  This summer i talked to a southern ct player and he said it worked like this for them.  They had a bat rep company that was not well known, it began with a Y i forgot it.  The bat company was looking to get out there so they mass sold Southern CT wood bats on the cheap.  This was a win win for both sides, some press for some discount bats.  Each player got 3 bats to start.  If you broke a bat in a game then they gave you a new one, if you broke it during BP or practice then you lost that bat.  Once you where out of your 3 you borrow your buddies or buy your own.  I could see something like that working for schools to keep costs down.