BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[norfrank]

 believe the NP will win this year solely on the ability to trot out three quality starters. I don't believe that North Central has enough pitching to amass the minimum of three wins needed to win the championship. If the third pitchers for IWU or Carthage can come through they have an outside chance at winning the tournament but I see that as a longshot.

IWU over NCC
NPU over Carthage

NPU over IWU
NCC over Carthage

NCC over IWU

NPU over NCC

[BigPoppa]

believe the NP will win this year solely on the ability to trot out three quality starters. I don't believe that North Central has enough pitching to amass the minimum of three wins needed to win the championship. If the third pitchers for IWU or Carthage can come through they have an outside chance at winning the tournament but I see that as a longshot.

IWU over NCC
NPU over Carthage

NPU over IWU
NCC over Carthage

NCC over IWU

NPU over NCC

I'd be very surprised if Carthage went 0-2 this weekend... and even more surprised if NCC lost the opener to IWU. NCC was solid all season and they took two of three against all three CCIW opponents this weekend.

[Mr. Ypsi]

This is what the preseason coaches poll predicted, and this is how the CCIW actually played out:

team	pts	1st	team	W-L	GB
1. Carthage	47	5	1. North Central	17-4	--
2. Illinois Wesleyan	42	2	2. North Park	15-6	2
3. Wheaton	40	1	3. Carthage	13-8	4
4. Augustana	29	0	4. Illinois Wesleyan	12-9	5
5. North Central	25	0	5. Wheaton	10-11	7
6. North Park	20	0	6. Augustana	8-13	9
7. Millikin	11	0	7. Millikin	5-16	12
8. Elmhurst	10	0	8. Elmhurst	4-17	13

That's pretty poor prognosticating, although the CCIW's baseball coaches have a long way to go to match the record of futility of their basketball counterparts when it comes to preseason coaches polls. To be fair, though, in the past the CCIW has been (as several of us have pointed out) a drearily predictable baseball league from year to year as compared to other CCIW-sponsored sports. It's why their being off so badly this year seems so glaring. And at least they got the bottom two right!

Now, Greg, be fair.  If you look at it as four pairs of teams (1,2; 3,4; etc.), they got the internal order of all four pairs correct!

[norfrank]

believe the NP will win this year solely on the ability to trot out three quality starters. I don't believe that North Central has enough pitching to amass the minimum of three wins needed to win the championship. If the third pitchers for IWU or Carthage can come through they have an outside chance at winning the tournament but I see that as a longshot.

IWU over NCC
NPU over Carthage

NPU over IWU
NCC over Carthage

NCC over IWU

NPU over NCC

I'd be very surprised if Carthage went 0-2 this weekend... and even more surprised if NCC lost the opener to IWU. NCC was solid all season and they took two of three against all three CCIW opponents this weekend.

But now the pitching matchups change the complexity of each game. I believe  the starters for NP (as a collective whole) are better than any other team. Get past game two and NCC has nothing in they can confidently through out there.  Carthage's pitchers have not shown they can shut down their opponents.

[droppinbombs47]

But now the pitching matchups change the complexity of each game. I believe  the starters for NP (as a collective whole) are better than any other team. Get past game two and NCC has nothing in they can confidently through out there.  Carthage's pitchers have not shown they can shut down their opponents.

North Park has proven that they have collectively as a whole a very solid pitching staff as well as hitting however I don't think saying that NCC has nothing they can confidently throw out there after game two is an accurate statement.  Looking at the box score of the Wesleyan game yesterday, Hecimovich a freshman left hander, held down Wesleyan's offense for 8 innings allowing 0 runs.  This is the same offense who scored 17 runs the day before in a game where the conference's era leader was on the mound for NCC.  So maybe North Parks pitching is a little bit better, but going into this weekend North Park's conference ERA was 5.94 and NCC's was 6.02, and with both teams going 2 - 1 and their era's both going down, I think it is a little bit more balanced than it shows.  

[BlueJay Boy]

BigPoppa,

I would agree with you that Carthage would not go 0-2 this upcoming weekend until I saw them play yesterday. Routine and I do mean routine plays could not be made. Pop ups dropped in the infield. It was not very pretty. I will say this - North Park is a very solid team! plus I do not think these teams like each other very much - so it should be fun to watch on Thursday.

[BigPoppa]

Anybody want to take a stab at the All-CCIW Team?
Player/Pitcher of the year?

Pitcher of the Year- Nate Arenson (North Central)
Player of the Year- Joey Aiello (Carthage) or Nick Robinson (North Central)

[Gregory Sager]

The CCIW tourney sked has just been released:

First Day - Thursday
Game 1: #2 North Park (27-13, 15-6) vs. #3 Carthage (26-14, 13-8), 12 PM
Game 2: #1 North Central (31-7, 17-4) vs. #4 Illinois Wesleyan (19-19, 12-9), approx. 3:00 PM

Second Day – Friday
Game 3: Losers of Game Nos. 1 and 2, 9:30 AM
Game 4: Winners of Game Nos. 1 and 2, approx. 12:30 PM
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, approx. 3:30 PM
     
Third Day – Saturday
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 12:00 PM
Game 7: if necessary (approx. 30 minutes after game 6)

[BigPoppa]

Are there any lights at North Central? (Just wondering in case of bad weather)

[ChiSoxMan]

No. The field is wired, but one neighbor has held up the installation of light poles for years.

[Gregory Sager]

believe the NP will win this year solely on the ability to trot out three quality starters. I don't believe that North Central has enough pitching to amass the minimum of three wins needed to win the championship. If the third pitchers for IWU or Carthage can come through they have an outside chance at winning the tournament but I see that as a longshot.

IWU over NCC
NPU over Carthage

NPU over IWU
NCC over Carthage

NCC over IWU

NPU over NCC

Thanks, but no thanks, Norfrank. I'm perfectly happy with host and champion North Central being the favorite. I'd rather NPU be the hunter than the hunted.

Now, Greg, be fair.  If you look at it as four pairs of teams (1,2; 3,4; etc.), they got the internal order of all four pairs correct!

You math types are all alike. I suppose that if the predicted order turned out to be a Fibonacci or Fourier series you'd give the coaches extra credit for that as well.

North Park has proven that they have collectively as a whole a very solid pitching staff as well as hitting however I don't think saying that NCC has nothing they can confidently throw out there after game two is an accurate statement.  Looking at the box score of the Wesleyan game yesterday, Hecimovich a freshman left hander, held down Wesleyan's offense for 8 innings allowing 0 runs.  This is the same offense who scored 17 runs the day before in a game where the conference's era leader was on the mound for NCC.

Keep in mind, though, that that seventeen-run outburst against Arenson (who gave up eight runs in 2.1 IP) and the NCC relievers who succeeded him was an aberration. Illinois Wesleyan had a poor offense this CCIW season. The Titans were dead last in BA and OBP, next-to-last in slugging and homers, and sixth in runs and RBI this season. That takes a bit of the luster away from Hecimovich's performance, laudable though it was.

So maybe North Parks pitching is a little bit better, but going into this weekend North Park's conference ERA was 5.94 and NCC's was 6.02, and with both teams going 2 - 1 and their era's both going down, I think it is a little bit more balanced than it shows. 

FWIW, North Park's team ERA in CCIW play winds up at 5.88 and North Central's is 6.00, which is fairly close.

BigPoppa,

I would agree with you that Carthage would not go 0-2 this upcoming weekend until I saw them play yesterday. Routine and I do mean routine plays could not be made. Pop ups dropped in the infield. It was not very pretty.

Carthage certainly has more than its share of fielding woes. The Red Men were dead last in the league in fielding percentage, both in CCIW play and overall, coming into this past weekend's series -- and against NPU the Red Men committed an epic thirteen errors in three games. They came in all flavors, too: Botched popups, misplayed grounders, throwing errors, and even an obstruction error, as on one occasion the shortstop got in the way of a runner who was rounding second and headed for third on a hit that was rolling to the wall.

plus I do not think these teams like each other very much - so it should be fun to watch on Thursday.

Yes, when Carthage pitcher Brett McQuade turned to the NPU dugout and yelled, "F*** your mother!" at the end of the third inning in Game Two yesterday, it set a nice Mother's Day tone for everyone.

[BigPoppa]

If what McQuade said is true, then I'd bet that Augie dealt with it in a way that only Augie can. He preaches playing against the game, not the opponent.

I am really looking forward to the scores rolling in on Thursday and Friday... is NCC having a live audio feed in addition to live stats?

[Gregory Sager]

If what McQuade said is true, then I'd bet that Augie dealt with it in a way that only Augie can. He preaches playing against the game, not the opponent.

It's true. I was in the North Park dugout and heard it loud and clear. It had most of the Vikings howling with laughter.

Dunno how Augie Schmidt ultimately dealt with it, but McQuade went on to pitch for three more innings after his outburst.

[droppinbombs47]

Are there any lights at North Central? (Just wondering in case of bad weather)

This is a shame that NCC doesn't have lights.  It is such a nice field and would be great with lights.  They even have extra lights that are on the football field that are not being used but are available from the days the Chicago Fire used to play at the Stadium.  However, the softball field is in more of a residential neighborhood and in order to get lights on the baseball field, both fields are required by the school to have them and there is an issue with the neighbors at the softball field.

If what McQuade said is true, then I'd bet that Augie dealt with it in a way that only Augie can. He preaches playing against the game, not the opponent.

I am really looking forward to the scores rolling in on Thursday and Friday... is NCC having a live audio feed in addition to live stats?

I would assume there would be a live audio feed in addition to this.  I know that all the NCC home games this year were broadcasted on their home radio station WONC. 

http://www.wonc.org/

So even though I am not positive I would definitely check in on this website and tune in at the times of the game because there is a good possibility that the games would be getting broadcasted on the radio station in addition to live stats. 

[Dennis_Prikkel]

No. The field is wired, but one neighbor has held up the installation of light poles for years.

sorry can't resist - are the players wired, too?