BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage made it interesting, coming back from being down 3-0 to take a 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, but NPU showed a lot of heart and pushed two runs over the plate in that inning, and then held on in the ninth for a huge win. As disheartening as yesterday's 3-2 loss in the nightcap was for the Park -- and sitting there in the cold made it even worse for those of us who were up in Kenosha for the doubleheader -- today's comeback win was that much more satisfying.

NPU will play Augustana tomorrow at Holmgren AC, with the first pitch at either 4 pm or 7:30 pm. It's going to mean a lot of reshuffling of schedules for everybody -- tomorrow evening is NPU's Senior Athletics Banquet, with Trevor Popp up for Senior Male Athlete of the Year and Angel Carrasco up for Sportsman of the Year -- but the Vikings certainly don't mind having to pre-empt banquets or studying or anything else.

Why? After all, the fact that North Central apparently dressed up the NCC Chess Club or the WONC deejays in baseball uniforms this weekend meant that Illinois Wesleyan clinched both a share of the CCIW title today and hosting privileges for the CCIW tourney ($^&*!#@* Cardinals!). North Park will not only have to go on the road for the CCIW tourney, the Vikes will also presumably be facing Carthage in the first round of the tourney next week no matter what.

Well, the reason why a win tomorrow over the Doggies is so important for NPU is because it would mean that the Park will be CCIW co-champion as well. And that's a big deal here on the North Side, as the last time that North Park won a CCIW baseball title was all the way back in 1990, when the last of Bosko Djurickovic's great Vikings baseball teams featured Tony D'Andrea, Kevin Krawczyk, Mike Miscevich, Jeff Pearson, John Valentin, John Klebba, and Chris Nelson.

A Monday win over Augie would also enhance NPU's SOS and help boost the team's fortunes in the Central Region rankings -- if, knock on wood, the Vikings get ranked next week -- and it would get the team to thirty wins on the season. But, mostly, a share of the title would be very big for the NPU baseball program, and it would mean a tremendous amount to Luke Johnson and his staff and to the players who've worked so hard to put themselves in this position.

Travis Boyer (3-1, 2.25) will make his sixth start of the season tomorrow for NPU. In his last two starts (shutouts over Chicago and Concordia WI) Boyer's pitched thirteen innings of scoreless ball, striking out twenty while giving up only eight hits and seven walks. I strongly doubt that Greg Wallace is going to let Augie roll over for NPU, even though the Doggies are no longer playing for anything but pride. In fact, my guess is that Wallace will put his ace, Jared McIntosh (4-0, 2.68), on the mound for Augie, as he didn't use McIntosh in Augie's sweep over Millikin in Decatur this weekend. (Unless McIntosh is hurt, of course, in which case it's anybody's guess as to who Wallace will trot out to the mound tomorrow.)

The Park will have to earn it tomorrow.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

accordion to north park's schedule - augiestana is coming to chicago tomorrow (Monday), time TBA

north park can tie for the conference title with a win

accordion?

Man, you must have some weird voice recognition patterns in the Dragon Naturally Speaking!

      

started taking lessons when I was 7 years old - still have it - though i haven't played it in 18 years.

[iwumichigander]

Nice work Titans

[BigPoppa]

MY CCIW top four:
1. IWU
2. North Park
3. Carthage
4. North Central

My pre-season prediction made on January 27th was perfect. I hit the top four in order, but I am not happy about that at all. Watching Carthage slide from first to third in two days was hard on my gut.

[mr_b]

MY CCIW top four:
1. IWU
2. North Park
3. Carthage
4. North Central

My pre-season prediction made on January 27th was perfect. I hit the top four in order, but I am not happy about that at all. Watching Carthage slide from first to third in two days was hard on my gut.

Wow, great prediction!  It should be a fun tournament.

[cubs]

MY CCIW top four:
1. IWU
2. North Park
3. Carthage
4. North Central

My pre-season prediction made on January 27th was perfect. I hit the top four in order, but I am not happy about that at all. Watching Carthage slide from first to third in two days was hard on my gut.

+K Shannon!!!!  Nice prediction!!!!  Any idea what the Powerball numbers are going to be on Wednesday?

[BigPoppa]

Post-season Awards:

I am not sure how the Pitcher of the Year can go to anyone other than IWU's Jason Pankau.

My Vote:
1. Pankau- IWU (Unanimous?)

Player of the year: I think it goes to IWU's Kevin Callahan, but only after some serious debate about Carthage's Will Hodges. Very comparable CCIW-only stats which is what is looked at first.

My vote:
1. Kallahan- IWU
2. Hodges- Carthage
3. Petti- Carthage

CCIW Coach of the year will go to IWU's Dennis Martel, but I think it SHOULD go to NPU's Luke Johnson.

[CCIWFAN6]

Post-season Awards:

I am not sure how the Pitcher of the Year can go to anyone other than IWU's Jason Pankau.

My Vote:
1. Pankau- IWU (Unanimous?)

Player of the year: I think it goes to IWU's Kevin Callahan, but only after some serious debate about Carthage's Will Hodges.

My vote:
1. Kallahan- IWU
2. Hodges- Carthage
3. Petti- Carthage

CCIW Coach of the year will go to IWU's Dennis Martel, but I think it SHOULD go to NPU's Luke Johnson.

I could see the COY being shared by Martel and Johnson.  Especially if North Park wins tonights game.

[Viking Blue]

Post-season Awards:

I am not sure how the Pitcher of the Year can go to anyone other than IWU's Jason Pankau.

My Vote:
1. Pankau- IWU (Unanimous?)

Player of the year: I think it goes to IWU's Kevin Callahan, but only after some serious debate about Carthage's Will Hodges. Very comparable CCIW-only stats which is what is looked at first.

My vote:
1. Kallahan- IWU
2. Hodges- Carthage
3. Petti- Carthage

CCIW Coach of the year will go to IWU's Dennis Martel, but I think it SHOULD go to NPU's Luke Johnson.

Nolt saying he necessarily deserves to win, but I would think North Park's Zack Deutscher deserves some votes.

[Gregory Sager]

CCIW Coach of the year will go to IWU's Dennis Martel, but I think it SHOULD go to NPU's Luke Johnson.

... particularly since the CCIW coaches, who sorely lack your prognosticative abilities, BP, picked NPU to finish sixth in the conference this year.

If the coaches are going to declare that NPU had a higher degree of difficulty in winning the league than did IWU, whom they picked to win the title, then the least that they could do is be consistent and give Luke Johnson the CCIW Coach of the Year award.

[BigPoppa]

From my preview of the CCIW. I am not sure how it looks now, but I did ok. I was right on about Carthage and their unproven, inconsistent arms.
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin-(CCIW): First the first time ever, a CCIW baseball team has a massive target on its back as the defending national champion. The Titans of Illinois Wesleyan head into 2011 with that target as they carry lofty expectations from multiple pre-season polls. The Titans are lead by senior all-American pitcher Jason Pankau (11-2, 2.60 ERA) who put the Titans on his back for the second half of 2010 and carried them to a CCIW crown as the #4 seed. Looking to challenge the Titans is who some consider to be the darkhorse in the region, North Park. The Vikings return CCIW co-Pitcher of the Year Pete Sparacino (8-1, 3.83 ERA) along with utility man Trevor Popp (.371, 38 SBs) and infielder Ryan Javech (.393, 16 2B). Lurking in the shadows is Carthage whose success will rely on a set of mostly unproven arms and they make lack the big gun on the mound that has come to define this program in the past two decades. Second team all-CCIW pitcher Eric Rohe (4-2, 4.11 ERA) looks to lead the charge along with two time all-CCIW pitcher Mario Perez (5-3, 3.69 ERA). At the plate, the Red Men are led by a pair of 2010 all-CCIW and all-Region performers in Joey Aiello (.400, 18 2Bs) and OF Will Hodges (.358, 60 RBI). Hodges is a pre-season all-American and Aiello is making the switch from 1B to 2B in 2011. The Cardinals of North Central return six all-CCIW players (three first-team and three second-team). Was 2010's success a flash in the pan or are they for real? They are led by catcher Michael Corrigan (2010 CCIW Player of the Year, .406, 67 RBI) and they return two all-CCIW arms in Nate Arenson and TJ Hecimovich. The CCIW looks to be a four-team race with the above mentioned battling for league and region supremacy. While the other teams may find themselves in a battle for a playoff spot, they certainly offer some talent to help make their case. If Augustana and Wheaton are expecting promise this season, it will have to be built on the shoulders Dave Hoffman and Kurt Schmidt of Augustana, and Justin Zeller and Drew Golz of Wheaton. Though each is a fantastic offensive force, they do not appear to have the arms in their own dugouts to make them postseason factors.

[Viking Blue]

What time does the North Park-Augie game start?!  Sager says 4 or 730, the NP site says 5 but there are currently no live stats, and the Augie site says 6.

[Viking Blue]

Thanks to Kevin Shepke for texting me back....North Park is up 5-0 in the 7th.  Guess it started at 5. 

[Viking Blue]

Due to the several conflicts on campus (some of which Greg was referring to last night), live stats are unavailable.  I will try to update this as often as I hear anything from Kevin.

[BigPoppa]

I expect to see NPU in the regional rankings this week. Maybe as high as 4th?