BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Viking Blue]

FINAL... NP 5, augie 0. I'm VERY proud to be a north park viking. Cciw (co) champs! Congrats!

[Dennis_Prikkel]

congrats to north park, coach johnson, his coaches and players

[Mr. Ypsi]

While I'm very comfortable with Pankau as (unanimous) pitcher-of-the-year, and Callahan as (heavy majority) player-of-the-year (CCIW.org has not updated conference-only stats for the weekend, and he did not have a good weekend, but I'd certainly bet he still has the OB% and slugging% titles, even if he was overtaken for the batting title), but, even as a loyal Titan, I would have no problem at all with Luke Johnson being the sole COY.

A coach (Martel) should not be penalized for continuing excellence, but a coach (Johnson) should be rewarded for restoring excellence to a long-dormant program.  My vote (if I had one) would go to Johnson.

[Titan Q]

One thing to note, regarding the Coach of the Year discussion, is how many young position players the Titans have.  Here are IWU's top 5 hitters (by batting average):

Kevin Callahan (1B), .415 (135 AB) - Sophomore
Johnathan Erickson (2B), .375 (120 AB) - Freshman
Bobby Czarnowski (DH), .341 (129 AB) - Freshman
A.J. Nathan (C), .341 (132 AB) - Sophomore
Zach Scott (SS), .326 (129 AB) - Sophomore


I believe success in recruiting and developing young talent is relevant to a "coach of the year" discussion,  and it seems Dennis Martel has done both in impressive fashion this year. 

I think 2011 should be a co-COY situation.

[mr_b]

Travis Boyer gave up three hits and struck out 13 in a complete-game victory against Augie.  That gives North Park a well-deserved share of the CCIW title, plus 30 wins on the season for only the third time in school history.  The game ended at 7.25 PM, just in time for the team to head to Hamming Hall for the senior sports awards.  Trevor Popp was named Male Athlete of the Year.  Quite an evening for Viking baseball!

[Viking Blue]

One thing to note, regarding the Coach of the Year discussion, is how many young position players the Titans have.  Here are IWU's top 5 hitters (by batting average):

Kevin Callahan (1B), .415 (135 AB) - Sophomore
Johnathan Erickson (2B), .375 (120 AB) - Freshman
Bobby Czarnowski (DH), .341 (129 AB) - Freshman
A.J. Nathan (C), .341 (132 AB) - Sophomore
Zach Scott (SS), .326 (129 AB) - Sophomore


I believe success in recruiting and developing young talent is relevant to a "coach of the year" discussion,  and it seems Dennis Martel has done both in impressive fashion this year.  

I think 2011 should be a co-COY situation.

Let's not forget that North Park lost its top starter to the draft, it's top offensive player to injury, and a projected top-4 pitcher to injury, as well.  If Pankau is as dominant as most seem to say he is (I've never seen him pitch...high school coaches never get to see these games in person), then I wonder where Martel would be if he was playing pro ball this year, as Giovenco is doing rather than pitching his senior season at North Park.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Good point, Bob - I had not noticed that their top hitters were THAT young!  I had noticed at the end of last season that they were losing a ton, but kind of forgot just HOW young they would be.

Co-COYs seems like a good call.

Staying on top with THAT big a target on your back (and a team THAT young) IS IMO as impressive as bringing a dormant team back to life.

[Viking Blue]

Good point, Bob - I had not noticed that their top hitters were THAT young!  I had noticed at the end of last season that they were losing a ton, but kind of forgot just HOW young they would be.

Co-COYs seems like a good call.

Staying on top with THAT big a target on your back (and a team THAT young) IS IMO as impressive as bringing a dormant team back to life.

This is not about bringing a dormant team back to life.  This is not 2007.  It may be that kind of thinking that has kept North Park out of the regional rankings, inexplicably, to this point. 

Luke Johnson, as I remember, has already won a COY for bringing  dormant team back to life, and that was a while ago.  This team was not, has not been, and is not dead.  This is a team that was nationally-ranked last week, and will be again if rankings make any sense.

What Johnson HAS done is what I described in my earlier post....take a group of guys that were ranked pre-season 6th (except by BP), lost a starter to the draft, a starter to injury, a leading hitter to injury, won 30 games, and a share of the conference title.

I'm sorry if my paints me as a bit irritated, but it almost seems as if some people still want to think about North Park baseball as being a bottom-division team.  And they haven't been that team for a while.

[Viking Blue]

I should say, sorry if my post paints me.  Tongue-twisting post.

[Viking Blue]

North Park is back in the D3 baseball Top 25 this week at #25.  Carthage drops to #22.  Wesleyan and Augustana also received votes.

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to NPU, to Luke Johnson and his assistant coaches, and, most of all, to the Vikings themselves on their CCIW co-championship!

Yesterday was a special day, with the 5-0 shutout, the on-field celebration (including a well-deserved Gatorade bath for Luke Johnson), and the seniors hustling over to Hamming Hall while still in their uniforms to be recognized at Senior Awards Night. I hope it's a day that those Vikings seniors will always remember. Personally, I had a lot of fun working the mic for the game, as I discovered that it's a terrific pleasure to be able to announce over the stadium P.A. that your alma mater is the conference co-champion.

That 21-year drought was a heavy burden for the program to bear. Glad to see it go.

[Gregory Sager]

One thing to note, regarding the Coach of the Year discussion, is how many young position players the Titans have.  Here are IWU's top 5 hitters (by batting average):

Kevin Callahan (1B), .415 (135 AB) - Sophomore
Johnathan Erickson (2B), .375 (120 AB) - Freshman
Bobby Czarnowski (DH), .341 (129 AB) - Freshman
A.J. Nathan (C), .341 (132 AB) - Sophomore
Zach Scott (SS), .326 (129 AB) - Sophomore


I believe success in recruiting and developing young talent is relevant to a "coach of the year" discussion,  and it seems Dennis Martel has done both in impressive fashion this year.  

I think 2011 should be a co-COY situation.

Let's not forget that North Park lost its top starter to the draft, it's top offensive player to injury, and a projected top-4 pitcher to injury, as well.  If Pankau is as dominant as most seem to say he is (I've never seen him pitch...high school coaches never get to see these games in person), then I wonder where Martel would be if he was playing pro ball this year, as Giovenco is doing rather than pitching his senior season at North Park.

Well said, TD. Plus, as I said yesterday, NPU was picked to finish sixth. IWU was picked to finish first. Sure, Dennis Martel has had a fine year. But if the coaches have any sense of integrity with regard to their preseason poll, they'll make Luke Johnson the CCIW Coach of the Year.

Staying on top with THAT big a target on your back (and a team THAT young) IS IMO as impressive as bringing a dormant team back to life.

This is not about bringing a dormant team back to life.  This is not 2007.  It may be that kind of thinking that has kept North Park out of the regional rankings, inexplicably, to this point. 

Luke Johnson, as I remember, has already won a COY for bringing  dormant team back to life, and that was a while ago.  This team was not, has not been, and is not dead.  This is a team that was nationally-ranked last week, and will be again if rankings make any sense.

What Johnson HAS done is what I described in my earlier post....take a group of guys that were ranked pre-season 6th (except by BP), lost a starter to the draft, a starter to injury, a leading hitter to injury, won 30 games, and a share of the conference title.

I'm sorry if my paints me as a bit irritated, but it almost seems as if some people still want to think about North Park baseball as being a bottom-division team.  And they haven't been that team for a while.

Again, well said, TD. The NPU baseball program was not dormant coming into this season, Chuck. You're forgetting that the Vikings finished second in the CCIW last season, two games ahead of Carthage and three games ahead of Illinois Wesleyan.

Luke Johnson already brought a dormant program back to life, back when Jack Surridge hired him to revive the NPU baseball program six years ago. As Mr. B has pointed out before, the Vikings were 1-39, 1-20 in 2005, the season before Luke was hired; in 2006 the Vikings finished in a fourth-place tie and Luke was named CCIW Coach of the Year. As Viking Blue said, that was quite a while ago. The Coach of the Year award should not be a career-recognition plaudit. It should go to the coach who earned it specifically for the season in question ... and for 2011, that coach should be Luke Johnson.

[Gregory Sager]

I would be remiss if I didn't give a special shout-out to NPU junior hurler Travis Boyer for his complete-game gem yesterday. As Mr. B pointed out, he shut out Augustana on three hits, walking five while striking out thirteen. Very few Augie hitters made even halfway-decent contact against him.

Boyer (4-1, 1.70) currently has a 23-inning scoreless streak going. Not bad for a #4 starter.

[mr_b]

I would be remiss if I didn't give a special shout-out to NPU junior hurler Travis Boyer for his complete-game gem yesterday. As Mr. B pointed out, he shut out Augustana on three hits, walking five while striking out thirteen. Very few Augie hitters made even halfway-decent contact against him.

Boyer (4-1, 1.70) currently has a 23-inning scoreless streak going. Not bad for a #4 starter.

Boyer was chosen as CCIW co-pitcher of the week, along with Wesleyan's Jose Sweeney, who pitched a no-hitter.  Congratulations, Travis!

[CCIWFAN6]

I want to preface this comment by saying I believe Luke Johnson should be the COY more so than Dennis Martel, and that I think the coaches will probably vote for the two men to share the honor.

That being said, to base the job a coach did on their preseason ranking as voted on by the coaches is silly to me.  I think most people would agree that IWU was voted to win the conference based simply on the fact that they were National Champions last year.  In looking at their roster turnover, of their top 5 pitchers in terms of innings, Pankau is the only returning pitcher. Their top 4 hitters in the lineup were either not on the team last year or played a very limited role.

In my opinion, this is the best coaching job Martel has done in the 12 years that I have been following IWU baseball.

In 2006, Luke did win Coach of the Year after finishing in a tie for fourth (with an 8-13 record).  Maybe I am reading the previous posts incorrect or just interrupting them in a way to create conflict (I have been known to do this over my life and for that i apologize), but this notion that North Park would have been shorted in the event that Luke is not COY just seems like whining. He has done great things with that program and has done something this year that Coach Wallace has never been able to do at Augustana and that is win a conference championship.