BB: LEC: Little East Conference

[7express]

Here's the West Conn schedule:
http://wcsu.edu/sports/Baseball/schedule.htm

Open with a weekend set down at Emory & Henry in late February, first game is against Thiel in Fort Myers on March 17.

[hockeyfan77]

USM Schedule is out...


http://southernmainehuskies.com/sports/bsb/2011-12/schedule

[wordsmith]

Perhaps I missed this on the Boards but I see where Bob Prince, sorta-long-time Ass't. Coach of the USM Huskies was named as HC of the UMass Dartmouth team. Good for him. A good guy. Will make that team better and create an interesting match-up rival for USM.

http://www.corsairathletics.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/082911aaa.html


A fun little poll to waste some time during the cold winter months:

Which Team has the BEST Team Website? Base this on look/appeal, information accessibility, user friendly/ease of use, go-to links, sharing links, pics, archives, virtual tours, etc. Please try to stay away from being a homer for your team and be objective. 

Word

[Hobbesy]

Wordsmith-

Top two are Keene St. and Southern Maine by far!

I think they are pretty much the same because they are Presto sites. I really like how much Keene gives you on every sport. The SID's for the Owls do a great job.

My ranking:

Keene
USM
Plymouth
Boston
Dartmouth
Eastern
Western
RIC

AND...LEC website is one of the best conference website I have come across at any division.

[lefthanders]

Hobbesy-

Once again, Keene State has been left out of both preseason polls after a 29-14 season, while other teams that had a much less record and/or may have accomplished something for the first time ever in program history crack the poll or receive votes. Keene State was ranked in the regional poll all year last year as high as 3....but that doesn't matter. Do they pick names of colleges/universities and numbers out of a hat,,,match them up and then decide the poll? Or better yet, maybe they pick names out of a hat and then throw a dart at the board for the top 20....then match up the last 10?

But now that we have received a top vote in the website poll,in one of the top conferences, I'm hoping we can crack the top 25 in D3baseball website poll.

Hope you enjoy my humor Hobbesy. I enjoyed you as a player and appreciate everything you are doing for D3 baseball!

Keep up the great work!

Lefthander!

[kscer]

Re KSC ranking...

I think you still have to be suspicious of Keene's pitching. The consistency has not been there except 06,07,08. They have shown they can survive to loss of big hitting because they are fundamentally sound at the plate and in the field. The pitching has not always had the depth.

[lefthanders]

Let's talk pitching....

Since 2005, Keene State has finished in the top 3 in team statistics in pitching, hitting and defense every year. Lead the league in pitching in 06 and 07. Lead the league in hitting in 08 and 09. Lead the league in defense in 05 and 07. Sounds like all three areas have been somewhat consistent.

Regardless, these stats have nothing to do with preseason rankings (I'm not sure what they base it on...maybe who they like vs dislike....maybe the uniforms??) Keene State has averaged 28/29 wins a year in a top conference in the country...playing a tough schedule...and has only been ranked preseason twice....while other teams continue to fall, but continue to get ranked.

The bottom line is it is nice for the kids to be recognized for their hard work year in and year out. It also provides some motivation/pressure to start the season.

Keene State will be competitive again and will have 8 senior pitcher's on this years staff....is that depth? Time will tell.

[LEC Fan]

Should be interesting to see who rises to the top of the rotation this year for Keene. With 8 seniors on the pitching staff lets hope their experience can bolster the bullpen and bring some depth to the rotation! We all know how important it is to have depth in the LEC especially come playoff time.

On another note, looks like ECSUAlum was on his mark about the weather...after a beautiful 45 degree day yesterday it feels like early Spring...if only it wasn't the end of January 

[Hobbesy]

Lefthander,

Thank you for the kind words.

Per Keene's ranking...Preseason polls are always a crapshoot because most voters select their teams based on what happened at the end of the previous season. Usually, all the teams that make the NCAA tournament and are ranked within the top 15 or so are usually going to be placed on this list because they are the freshest (I know its been nearly 7 months) in their minds. No doubt about it that Keene has been one of the most consistent and strongest programs in New England but I think the main reason they get left off is because they slip through the cracks. They were not an NCAA tournament team last year and that could hide them from voters view.

As for the other seasons in which they were not selected preseason, I can't really comment. They were ranked in both 2008 and 2009 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings but have not been in the last three seasons. There might have been the "new kid on the block" type of reaction in which voters finally noticed Keene but for some reason they have looked the other way the last three years.

But when it is all said and done, these polls mean nothing. Very nice for the program and the kids to get recognized but I'd rather be on there in May than in January.

[lefthanders]

Well said Hobbesy!

Every teams goal should be to have a chance at the end!

As far as the top of the rotation....I would say the OWLS have some options with 4 oitchers that have demonstrated success in the LEC Pelkey, Perrault, Theising, Wogsckh. Then you have 2 younger pitcher's returning from solid years....Coughlin and Crutcher. With the addition of a talented freshman and some hard strike throwers at the backend...they may have a shot to have some success!

Regardless of the names though...it will come down to throwing strikes, making plays and limiting big innings!

Is it time yet?

[ECSUalum]

lefthander,

As I have posted in prior preseasons, it is just a matter of time before the Owls win the LEC, and NE Regional tournaments.  Coach Howe not only is a great coach but a true gentleman, and based on the stats quoted above has done a heck of a job over the last 5 years.

The big hole in at least the D-III preseason polls has to be voters not knowing if a particular team has had a big recruiting year.  This recuiting data is not readily available vs lets say, a D-I and/or D-II programs, where players are recruited with scholarships and get more publicity in the media or at least on their own athletics web sites.  I would assume voters would be cognizant of graduation of impact players, and/or if a imact player is redshirted, but sometimes I think that they dont, so... as Hobbesey stated above, the pre-season poll is pretty much a reiteration of the final poll from the previous season with maybe a few tweeks.  Only after, IMHO, 5-6 weeks into the season do you start to see the best teams appear in the national polls.

Get to Grand Chute WI or at least go deep in the NCAA NE Regional this year, and you will see Keene St in the top half of the 2012 Collegiate Baseball poll and for sure in 2013 preseason polls

[LEC Fan]

Hobbesy- are you doing the preview of the New England region again for D3 or have any idea when that will be out? Always interesting to get your take on things...thanks

[Hobbesy]

LEC Fan-

I just finished my New England preview for D3baseball this morning. The unabridged version is 13 pages long.....I am working on cutting it down a bit right now. Lots of parity around the region. I think there are going to be some teams that really surprise people this season.

As far as its release date...I believe the previews started today with the South region and will continue through the week.

[kscer]

In case you haven't seen this posted by Crashdavis on National Topics:

http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careersearch

[LEC Fan]

looking forward to the good read...thanks Hobbesy!