BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CCIWFAN6]

Jason Pankau made his first appearance for the River City Rascals of the Frontier League on Sunday.  It was not a great outing.  It appears he was unable to pitch over a costly error.

http://frontier.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=40688

[mr_b]

Congratulations to Mike Giovenco on picking up the victory in Idaho Fall's extra-inning win over Ogden.  Mike struck out three batters in the ninth for the win.  Ogden had taken the first two games against Idaho Falls by a combined score of 32-4.

[dansand]

Congrats to Augie pitcher John Peters, who has signed a free-agent contract with the Washington Nationals.

http://www.augustana.edu/x35938.xml

http://www.qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=553377

[Gregory Sager]

Luke Johnson has tabbed Kevin Tomasiewicz to be NPU's new pitching coach. He replaces Steve Hardman, who was named the head coach at Dominican in late June.

[Gregory Sager]

I neglected to mention that Mike Giovenco was promoted from Idaho Falls to Kane County last month. After posting a 1.64 ERA for Idaho Falls, he's struggled out of the gate for the Cougars, going 7.13 in his first nine appearances for Kane County. But that's deceiving; take away a nightmarish inning and two-thirds a week ago yesterday in which he gave up six earned runs to Beloit, and he's pitching at a 3.33 clip. In his latest appearance, which was on Sunday at Clinton, he threw two scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out five.

[BigPoppa]

Carthage has released their Spring Trip schedule. Instead of their traditional Florida trip, they are heading to the Southwest in Tucson, AZ.

3/17/2012  Sat.   Dickinson State University TBA Tucson, Ariz. Details 
3/18/2012  Sun.   University of Wisconsin-Superior TBA Tucson, Ariz. Details 
3/19/2012  Mon.   Luther College TBA Tucson, Ariz. Details 
3/19/2012  Mon.   Carleton College TBA Tucson, Ariz. Details 
3/20/2012  Tue.   Luther College TBA Tucson, Ariz. Details 
3/23/2012  Fri.   Nebraska Wesleyan University (DH) TBA Tucson, Ariz. Details 
3/24/2012  Sat.   Middlebury College (DH) TBA Tucson, Ariz. Details 

UW-Superior made a nice run in the WIAC last year and could pose a threat to Carthage. The two games versus Luther could be big in the region as both teams are traditionally strong. Nebraska Wesleyan is a NAIA/NCAA dual member, but the games should still count as in-region regardless. Dickinson State is an NAIA program from North Dakota. These games will give the Redmen a good opportunity to test thier young arms expected to fill new spots in the rotation this year.

[matblake]

Wheaton's season preview

[CCIWFAN6]

Coaches Poll is out...

http://cciw.org/news/2012/2/15/BB_0215122453.aspx

[BigPoppa]

Coaches Poll is out...

http://cciw.org/news/2012/2/15/BB_0215122453.aspx

No real surprises here. Carthage, IWU, North Park as the top three.... I'd be surprised if it were any other team in the top three. The real battle in the CCIW is going to be for 4th place and the final playoff spot.

[TheSportsFan]

The points indicate that Carthage and IWU are far above the rest, and that North Park, Wheaten and Augustana could fall anywhere between 3-5.

[BigPoppa]

The points indicate that Carthage and IWU are far above the rest, and that North Park, Wheaten and Augustana could fall anywhere between 3-5.

This is nearly exactly how it looks every year... Carthage and IWU sitting at 1 and 2 (or 1a and 1b in this case). Still, I think NPU is going to be there at the end.

[TheSportsFan]

Ya, I agree with you that North Park will likely get third (You may even think higher).  But looking at the poll numbers rather than seed tells you that the conference thinks North Park is in the 3-5 category, not the 1-3 category.  The numbers show a very distinct Tier between Carthage and IWU compared to the next grouping of 3.  NPU was only 2 points away from being predicted 5th.

[TheSportsFan]

....and yes, I know that we will now get all the posters that say "Predictions don't matter, it's what the standings say at the end of the season that counts."  I'm just pointing out what you see if you look closer at what the poll suggests.

[Gregory Sager]

First, third, fifth, whatever. I would've been perfectly happy to see NPU picked to finish eighth.

The NPU locker room has a bulletin board. And Luke Johnson has a printer and a thumbtack, and he knows how to use them.

[warrior35]

So it looks like Wheaton is making some substantial upgrades to their facility... anyone seen it?  Anyone have more pictures other than what's already on their website?  I'm excited for them.  Now if Elmhurst and Millikin would follow suit, no players could complain about playing surfaces anymore... haha.  Like that's going to happen.