BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

irish21 · May 26, 2007, 12:50:34 PM

That was the finest hitting performance by any Carthage team that I have watched in the past eight seasons! The ECon pitchers didn't have a clue how to get the Redmen out! Jeff Livek had great command of his pitches for the entire game and the defense was spectacular! Jose Alba, Steve Rucks and Boe Baitinger made some outstanding defensive plays!

We had a great time tailgating with RedMan1, Cowboy and a host of others! Redmanfan made it in time for the celebration last night along with 2002 CWS members Joos Hallock and Eric Krull. Also saw Danny Gasner, Adam Husing and John Hendrick - former Redmen baseball players. Not too many other former Redmen baseball players in attendance - very disappointing! Hopefully they will show up today to take our place since we had to get back home this morning.

Good luck Redmen - you can do this!!!!!!

Mr. Ypsi · May 26, 2007, 11:07:23 PM

The RedMen fell to UWSP, 12-8. Next up: SUNY-Cortland at noon tomorrow.

They've got a tough row to hoe, now. Win tomorrow (technically, today!) and they'd still have to win two games Monday and two more on Tuesday to get the walnut-and-bronze. But, hey! They just won twenty in a row - five in a row should be a breeze!

Go get 'em!

RedMan1 · May 27, 2007, 09:11:24 PM

Wow what a weekend!!. Too bad we couldn't bring it home but we had a great time. All I have to say is that Carthage had a great run... The parents and Alumni were awesome. The tailgates and post parties/rain delay parties were also very entertaining. Congrats to the senior class Carthage has a few holes to fill but I'm sure we will fill them.

Irish21, it was great meeting you this weekend. Cowboy and I loved every minute of it. I hope to see you out at the football games next year...

Now with the umpires.. They didn't win or lose games, but my gosh this was the D III championship and some of these guys didn't know where the stirke zone was... I don't know if you could hear the fans but Cowboy and I were all over the plate umpire against Point.. He kept looking into the dugout because he thought Augie was yelling but it was the two Carthage Crazies behind the dugout making all the noise...

football2007 · May 27, 2007, 10:16:13 PM

What are the main holes they need to fill for next year. Is it pitching, infield, outfield??

RedMan1 · May 27, 2007, 11:31:30 PM

Football2007- They need to fill the hole Livek leaves in the rotation, even though Trace Ruffie will become the number 3... Rucks played 2nd, Sadjak played 1st/DH, Wuis catcher, Ruffus in the pen, Yapp at 3rd (might come back because he has another year of eligibility)... That is all I can think of, not just ability loss, but leadership too...

The Redmen are very deep in the outfield... Many good players are still on the team that saw alot of playing time this year... So really we lose some depth and leadership....

What I could see for next year is a couple more championships under our belt.... Augustana, and IWU will be tough like always...

How do both of those two teams look for next year, and also the rest of the conference?

REDMENFAN · May 29, 2007, 10:40:54 AM

Also would like to give my congrats to Carthage on a fine season. Augie's comment in the paper was great. He mentioned he had tee times scheduled and even a trip to Vegas, then these darn kids go and win 20 in a row and I have to cancel everything!! LOL, classic Augie. Irish-great seeing you and Patrick again, I agree its ashame that there weren't more former players around. Redman1 and Cowboy: you guys were awesome. I stayed for the Point game on Saturday, talk about a great atmosphere. Husing was right on when he evaluated his performance in the paper. Instead of missing down with his pitches, he was leaving everything up when he was missing. He pitched his heart out though, and showed the kind of determination and guts that got Carthage to the series in the first place. Congrats to Jeff Livek on being named a D3Baseball all-american, and to Baitinger, Hermes, Krepline, and Husing all being named to the All-Region team. Lastly, anyone who's played for Augie knows how emotional he gets after the team's final game. Lets give coach a ton of credit for this season. He got these players to work their tails off, and love him or hate him as a player, you for darn sure respect him and his ability to coach. Augie mentioned in the paper that he kept telling the guys during the winning streak that they weren't that good of a team, they just kept getting all the breaks. Well, for the first time after their loss Sunday, he told them they're a great team, and the reason they got to this point was their work ethic. Augs said why change what I was saying when we kept winning, so I just kept telling them they're really not that good. Gotta love it!

REDMENFAN · May 29, 2007, 10:47:22 AM

Here's a link to 2 articles from the Kenosha news. The second one for some reason cuts the article way short, but there's a nice comment from Jim Dixon of D3Baseball about Augie. The article goes on to talk about how much all the media and opposing coaches like and respect Augie, and how they knew he was a successful player, but had no idea just how successful:

http://ksn.kenoshanews.com/view_article.php?articleNum=1159381
http://ksn.kenoshanews.com/view_article.php?articleNum=1159680

BigPoppa · May 29, 2007, 07:05:40 PM

How many days till D3 Baseball starts up again?

One of my students came across this article and I thought it would be fun for everyone to see. It is from The New York Times in 1981.

Enjoy! Spike Owen?... Odibie McDowell? Wow... flashbacks!

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E2D91138F93BA15755C0A967948260

Mr. Ypsi · May 30, 2007, 01:51:59 AM

Congratulations to Carthage on a great post-season, even if it fell a few games short - you represented the conference well!

My understanding is that MLB can draft college players three years after first enrollment - correct? Ricky Angel is completing (has completed?) his junior year. As CCIW POY, and first-team AA in both ABCA and d3baseball.com, I'd assume he will be drafted somewhere unless he has CLEARLY indicated he plans to stay at IWU. Does anyone closer to the situation know what his intentions are if he is a reasonably high draft choice?

BigPoppa · May 30, 2007, 10:58:29 AM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on May 30, 2007, 01:51:59 AM
Congratulations to Carthage on a great post-season, even if it fell a few games short - you represented the conference well!

My understanding is that MLB can draft college players three years after first enrollment - correct? Ricky Angel is completing (has completed?) his junior year. As CCIW POY, and first-team AA in both ABCA and d3baseball.com, I'd assume he will be drafted somewhere unless he has CLEARLY indicated he plans to stay at IWU. Does anyone closer to the situation know what his intentions are if he is a reasonably high draft choice?

From a selfish point of view, I hope he leaves. He is getting in the way of Carthage every year.

REDMENFAN · May 30, 2007, 12:31:28 PM

Its always tough to say what will happen. Who knows what the scouts are thinking. Two seasons ago, UW-Parkside had a First Team All-American 1st Baseman who hit over .400 and went undrafted. He was 6 feet tall and around 215 pounds, so his size wasn't the issue. It wouldn't surprise me if Angel went in the 15th round, or went completely undrafted. I've learned that whatever I hear about the draft never ends up happening. I was sitting in the living room with one my best friends who was told he'd be drafted for sure between the 3rd and 5th round. Cubs called during the 6th and said we're taking you for sure if you're still there, and he doesn't go til the 10th round to Cleveland. But I'll agree with BP on this one, and hope he goes, and goes fairly early (top 25 rounds or so)

Mr. Ypsi · May 30, 2007, 12:36:33 PM

Aw, BigPoppa, it wasn't so bad! During the regular season sweep, he only batted .667 (8 for 12), with two doubles and two homers (slugging: 1.333) and 3 runs and 6 RBIs!

Alas, you got your revenge when it really counted, holding him to 1 single (1 RBI, no runs) in 4 plate appearances in the conference tourney.

But the REAL difference was Foster (and/or the Carthage hitters): he spun a CG shutout the first time, then you roughed him up but good in the tourney.

goldengear · May 30, 2007, 01:44:21 PM

I'm not sure what position you would project him at, I don't think it would be a middle infielder.

augie28 · May 30, 2007, 05:29:57 PM

Here is a look at what Augie will return next year. They are losing LF Pietroski and C Meisenbach. Both pitchers Engle and Kuntz were seniors this year but have a year of eligibility left. They also did not walk in the graduation ceremonies leading me to believe they have classes left to take...it will be interesting to see what they choose to do.

Returning Starters, with this years stats and the year they will be next season:
CF - Senior - .448 BA, 17 2B, 10 HR, 35 RBI, 20 SB - 1st Team ABCA A-A, 2nd Team D3Baseball A-A, 1st Team All- Region, 1st Team CCIW
RF - Junior - .337 BA, 7 2B, 6 HR, 39 RBI, 26 SB - 2nd Team All-Region, 1st Team CCIW
3B - Soph - .315 BA, 9 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 5 SB
SS - Junior - .346 BA, 10 SB - 2nd Team CCIW
2B - Junior - .376 BA, 13 2B, 2 HR, 36 RBI, 16 SB - 2nd Team All-Region, 1st Team CCIW
1B - Two freshman split time

SP - Senior - 11 GS, 7-5, 3.70 ERA - 2nd Team CCIW
SP - Soph - 9 GS, 7-1, 3.20 ERA
SP - Soph - 8 GS, 3-2, 4.87 ERA
RP - Two pitchers with over 15 appearances

Augie also had a huge year as far as the record books are concerned...it helped playing 49 games, but still goes to show they have quite a bit of talent returning.
Marc Blakeley set school records for Hits (90), At-Bats (201), Runs (60) and HRs (10) and also led the nation in hits.
Jake Meisenbach broke his own school record with 24 2Bs and set the career mark with 45.
Don Hansen set school records for SBs (26) and BBs (39).

Their one huge hole is currently behind the plate as no returning catcher has played in more than 5 games, but they have a tough lineup coming back for 2008.

Mr. Ypsi · May 30, 2007, 10:02:07 PM

Quote from: goldengear on May 30, 2007, 01:44:21 PM
I'm not sure what position you would project him at, I don't think it would be a middle infielder.

I assume 'him' is Ricky Angel? Unfortunately, I never have seen him play, but his fielding stats are certainly fine: conference games only - 107 chances, 2 errors (.981), 13 DPs; all games - 215 chances, 7 errors (.967), 30 DPs. I'm curious why you think he would not be projected as a second baseman - his physical attributes are not 'traditional'? A case where the statistics don't tell the whole truth? Other?

Not by any means that I want to see him drafted - another year of bedeviling BigPoppa and Redmenfan would suit me just fine!