BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

The only other game that was actually played on CCIW Opening Day was NCC @ CU. North Central outlasted Carroll, 11-7.

Elmhurst @ Carthage was postponed to tomorrow; the lone non-con game, Cornell @ Augustana, was postponed to Thursday; and Millikin @ Wheaton was pushed back to Saturday, April 3.

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst defeated Carthage at Schmidt Field yesterday, 11-7, so the Bluejays join North Central and North Park atop the standings at 1-0.

The current d3baseball.com poll shows North Central dropping from #3 to #6 due to the Adrian loss, but there are now four other CCIW teams represented in the Others Receiving Votes category outside of the Top 25: Millikin (14 points), Augustana (13 points), North Park (6 points), and Wheaton (4 points). I figure that Wheaton's presence in the poll must be a mistake, as some pollster likely mistook Wheaton for its namesake in Massachusetts (that other Wheaton is a long-standing baseball power that was the national runner-up in 2006 and 2012; the Lyons are #24 in the current poll) and inadvertently slotted the CCIW's Wheaton #22 on his ballot. "Our" Wheaton is only 2-4 and hasn't looked all that impressive.

Of course, it's way too early for the poll to really mean anything. I just thought it was interesting that more than half of the league was getting votes.

[mr_b]

North Park took its home opener against Concordia Chicago in spectacular fashion, 22-6.  The Vikings scored four in the first, and after  CUC rallied for 3 in the 2nd to make it close, NPU scored six in the 2nd and two in the 3rd to take control of the game.  They broke it open with 10 in the 6th.  I thought the game would end in the 7th, but there was no 10-run rule, and the teams kept playing.  The Cougars plated three in the 8th, but that wrapped up the scoring for both sides.  Ranko Stevanovic went 5-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs, but in the one AB that did not result in a hit, he reached third on a bases-loaded error.  He also scored four times. Other big bats for the Vikings included Brandon Davis (3-for-6, 4 RBI) and two hits apiece for Jared Cantu, Ryan Moritsugu, and Brad Maurer.  In all, the Vikings had 19 hits, 10 walks, and three hit batsmen.  Six Viking hurlers saw action and yielded just eight hits and two walks.  With the win, the Vikings go to 6-0, the best start in team history, surpassing the 5-0 start by the 2010 squad.  The streak will be put to the test when the Vikings host 7-1 Millikin for a Saturday twin bill.

[Gregory Sager]

Fun day. Looong day, as the game went 3 1/2 hours and we were on the air for four hours (not counting the power outage in the bottom of the second and the top of the third). It's safe to say that Concordia (IL) does not have the horses it has perennially had throughout the last decade, in which the Cougars have made eight straight D3 tournaments, finishing third in the nation in 2018 and reaching the super-regionals in 2019 while registering 40 wins apiece in those two seasons. But that's still a very shocking final score. Suffice it to say that North Park has looked very impressive thus far. The Vikings are really clicking in every phase of the game.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie's nice start continued as well, as the Doggies completed a three-game sweep of Cornell by stomping the Rams, 8-0, as seven Augustana hurlers combined for a two-hit shutout. Augustana is now 8-0 on the season -- but, just as 6-0 NPU will have its undefeated start put to a stern test this weekend against 7-1 Millikin, so, too, will Augie have to take on a serious challenge to its unblemished record this weekend when Greg Wallace's team squares off against 5-1 North Central.

[mr_b]

In a non-CCIW game yesterday, live stats show Maranatha Baptist with a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning against TBA:

Live stats

[Gregory Sager]

LOL!

[npbaseball40]

In a non-CCIW game yesterday, live stats show Maranatha Baptist with a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning against TBA:

Live stats

I can say with almost certainty that they were performing a live stats "push" test and didn't delete the play. I've made the same mistake!

[Gregory Sager]

The funny thing is that Maranatha Baptist actually has it listed on its schedule as a live test.

[npbaseball40]

Carroll center fielder Nick Angus ran into the wall and went down in a heap at Carthage tonight. Field was cleared and an emergency team carried him off on a stretcher. Pray for him and maybe reach out to anyone you may know at Carroll. Hope everything turns out ok.

[mr_b]

Carroll center fielder Nick Angus ran into the wall and went down in a heap at Carthage tonight. Field was cleared and an emergency team carried him off on a stretcher. Pray for him and maybe reach out to anyone you may know at Carroll. Hope everything turns out ok.

So sorry to hear that.  North Park saw that happen a few years ago; season-ending injury but nothing long-term.  Let's hope that Angus' injury is not serious.

[BigPoppa]

Does ANYone care to take a stab at the CCIW this year? With almost no 2020 season to use as a baseline, just about anything is possible in 2021. My top three:

1. North Central
2. IWU
3. Carthage

Tell me I am wrong...

I withdraw my statement. Carthage pitching is horrendous. This is the worst pitching staff I've seen Carthage run out in at least 30 years. Struggling to gain Ws vs traditional middle-to-bottom dwelling CCIW opponents. I fear for the games vs the top of the CCIW.

[cubs]

I withdraw my statement. Carthage pitching is horrendous. This is the worst pitching staff I've seen Carthage run out in at least 30 years. Struggling to gain Ws vs traditional middle-to-bottom dwelling CCIW opponents. I fear for the games vs the top of the CCIW.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating....  I take a look at the Carthage roster and I don't see even ONE kid north of West Bend on the squad... 

When Carthage was the dominant force in the CCIW, their roster was littered with kids from Hortonville, Neenah, Clintonville, Ripon, Reedsville, Sheboygan, Stevens Point, etc...  (I'm sure I'm missing a few, but you get the drift...)  Now they are nowhere to be found, and Carthage has become a mediocre baseball team.  Coincidence?  I don't think so....

Just to add, I also took a look at the UWO roster today...  14/41 kids on the roster from the state of Wisconsin.  There used to be that many just from HWY 21 and north...  (For that matter, I don't think there was ever a four year span where there would be 14 kids on a UWO roster that WERE NOT from Wisconsin!)  Now, Seeing them go 0-4 against Whitewater and Stevens Point thus far has me wondering if this will be yet another losing season for Tomasiewicz, which would make it four times in his seven years at the helm.  (I didn't count the shortened 2020 season.)

It also makes me wonder where all the talent from the Fox Cities and Central Wisconsin is going? Are they all going to scholarship schools now?

[BigPoppa]

You gotta recruit the Fox Valley if you want to win in Wisconsin... Carthage used to pound the valley but former pitching coach, Brian Mosher, was from the valley. He recruited it hard. The number of valley kids on the Carthage roster has declined greatly since he left.

It's easier to recruit the North Suburb kids to Carthage but those are VERY different types of kids (upper-middle class white collar kids) than the kids from the Fox Valley (Tough, blue collar kids who know what adversity is).

[cubs]

It's easier to recruit the North Suburb kids to Carthage but those are VERY different types of kids (upper-middle class white collar kids) than the kids from the Fox Valley (Tough, blue collar kids who know what adversity is).

I figured that might go over better coming from a CCIW guy like yourself than an "outsider" like me...