BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

The WAY-TOO-EARLY prognostication for the title is Carthage vs. IWU vs. Augie.

Don't feel bad, Chuck. You've got company:

All thought CC would finish in the basement, though looking more and more like it might be NPU this year.   Again.   As Deng Xiaoping would always say, "best to seek truth from facts."

... and then there's this other post from the basketball boards, which makes you and your IWU classmate look like pikers in the "Whoops!" category:

Illogical to travel to DePere to play that game, yes. Also, just completely pointless to have Northwestern in the field. UMAC team in the tourney, really? Can't say I like the Tommies, but I can't wait to see them blowout Northwestern by 30+ and show that no UMAC team deserves to be in the tourney.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm thanking the baseball gods that, as hideous a season as this has been for the Park, at least the Vikings have Elmhurst to cushion their fall. NPU now leads EC 6-2 in the ninth out at Butterfield Park in the western suburbs, thanks in part to Mitch Jordan's first career homer and Dan Sabin's third dinger of the year ... and six errors by the Bluejays.

[mr_b]

IWU handily won the softball AQ, 9-2.  Hopefully a good omen for the baseball tourney!

In baseball news, NCC downed Carthage, 8-5, so they have wrapped up the #1 seed (and hosting) for the tourney.  They also are the undisputed (no tie-breaker necessary) winner of the regular-season title, as IWU falls to Wheaton, 2-1.  Current standings: NCC 15-4, IWU 12-7, Wheaton 12-7, Carthage 11-8.  Those are the tourney participants UNLESS Carthage gets swept AND Augie sweeps Millikin (game just underway); Augie has the tie-break over Carthage, and would replace them as the #4 seed.

Final from Decatur: Millikin defeats Augie 8-7 in ten innings on a bases-loaded error. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

The WAY-TOO-EARLY prognostication for the title is Carthage vs. IWU vs. Augie.

Don't feel bad, Chuck. You've got company:

All thought CC would finish in the basement, though looking more and more like it might be NPU this year.   Again.   As Deng Xiaoping would always say, "best to seek truth from facts."

... and then there's this other post from the basketball boards, which makes you and your IWU classmate look like pikers in the "Whoops!" category:

Illogical to travel to DePere to play that game, yes. Also, just completely pointless to have Northwestern in the field. UMAC team in the tourney, really? Can't say I like the Tommies, but I can't wait to see them blowout Northwestern by 30+ and show that no UMAC team deserves to be in the tourney.

Well, hey, I got two of the four in the tourney!

Wheaton doesn't particularly surprise me as a participant, but (as mentioned when they beat IWU 2 of 3 earlier in the season) NCC IS a shock - they were rather poor in the pre-conference, lost badly in the first game against IWU (dropping them to 3-3 in conference play), and are 12-1 since then!!  I did not see that coming.  (But if they are trying to follow the IWU model of 2010, they started a month too early! )

You could have included the D3baseball.com poll in the miscalculations above - the ONLY CCIW team to break into the Top 25 this year is Augie, and barring a near-miracle they will not even make the conference tourney.

Update from mr_b: no miracles for Augie - Millikin won in 10.

[Gregory Sager]

You could have included the D3baseball.com poll in the miscalculations above - the ONLY CCIW team to break into the Top 25 this year is Augie

There's a good reason for that. None of the CCIW teams this season have been particularly impressive, historically speaking. Having watched them all, I can say that none of them have wowed me.

That's what makes NPU's lousy season even more galling. This would've been the perfect year to put a strong team on the field and dominate the league.

[jester13]

The way that NCC did was pretty impressive. You can only play the hand you were dealt.

[BigPoppa]

The return of Coach Ed Mathey to NCC was likely bigger than the addition of any one particular player. The guy just wins... And is it unprecedented for a D1 to willingly step down to take over a D3 program?

[Chantastic]

NCC and Wheaton are coming in as clear favorites. NCC won the league and has a great 1-2 punch on the mound. Wheaton has won 9 of 10 in conference to close the season.

[izzy stradlin]

The return of Coach Ed Mathey to NCC was likely bigger than the addition of any one particular player. The guy just wins... And is it unprecedented for a D1 to willingly step down to take over a D3 program?

Mathey was 54-110 (.329) over his last three years at NIU.  He wasn't going to be keeping his job there and was either quietly asked to leave or saw the writing on the wall and took an open job when a he had the chance.   

[Mr. Ypsi]

NCC and Wheaton are coming in as clear favorites. NCC won the league and has a great 1-2 punch on the mound. Wheaton has won 9 of 10 in conference to close the season.

I'd agree with this.  A few weeks ago I thought the Titans would be the favorite (especially if they were the hosts), but they have really sputtered of late.  My only remaining hope is that they win game one - surely Wheaton can't beat them FOUR consecutive games, can they?   If so, anything can happen.

Chantastic, got a favorite between NCC and Wheaton?  As the home team, I'd give a slight edge to the Cards, but the Thunder are hotter than that place they hope to avoid right now!

Big Poppa, now that your pessimism about Carthage even making the tourney has gone away, do you see any (realistic) hope for either your RedMen or my Titans?

And Greg, since you are one of the very few to have personally seen all the teams, care to chime in?  I know predictions are not your thing, but at least perhaps the keys for each team to have a chance at winning?

And anyone - is there any realistic chance of anyone getting a Pool C this season?

[Chantastic]

I see North Central as the favorite. I like their home field advantage, their lineup, and their 1-2 pitching combo (Krusen-Polowy). The interesting thing about NCC is that the kid they start #2 is probably the best pitcher in the league.

Carthage could throw everything off by beating Krusen in game 1.

I like Wheaton's chances against IWU. Their likely starter, Peter Moran, shut down IWU last week. But I am less optimistic about their chances to beat Polowy in game 2.

Even in a four-team field it is hard to win without taking the first two games.

[markerickson]

A friend of my family (parents), Phil Lundin, won some Big Ten track titles at the U of Minnesota, I believe, and then switched to St. Olaf, a DIII school, where he has had success.

[BigPoppa]

Carthage is too inconsistent to be a true threat to win the CCIW tourney. I think the CCIW is a one-bid league this year.

[Gregory Sager]

I agree with you about the CCIW only getting the one team in, BP. As I said the other day, it's a down year for the league.

I think that North Central's the favorite this weekend, due to the hosting privileges and the fact that NCC's got the best mix of hitting and pitching, but it's not a big enough advantage to make the Cardinals the prohibitive favorite. There's really not that big a gap between the Cardinals and the other three teams.

[mwunder]

2-2 game, 1 out in the top of the 10th, bases loaded....then this happens....

"Hero, Reed grounded out to c unassisted, interference"  No runners advance, no other force outs.  What happened?