BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

BigPoppa · February 23, 2015, 08:21:09 AM

Quote from: backbackheyhey on February 20, 2015, 09:27:31 PM
Quote from: mwunder on January 15, 2015, 05:21:56 PM
Quote from: BigPoppa on January 08, 2015, 01:28:06 PM
Carthage released its schedule for 2015. Let's hope the Redmen (one word... my alumnus status will not let me write it any other way) can get back on track this year.

http://athletics.carthage.edu/schedule.aspx?path=baseball&

Nice change of pace by heading to Kentucky (new in 2015) and Indiana for weekend games before heading to Arizona for the Spring Trip. Solid schedule as they get Spalding and Rose-Hulman included in those weekend trips. Additionally, they run into UW-Oshkosh in Indiana as well. The rest of the schedule look pretty similar to years' past. Still waiting for the AZ portion to be posted.

Any new faces that will make an impact this season? What have you heard Poppa.

From what I hear, Redmen will start two all-conference level seniors at short and catcher along with 5-6 sophomores. Lots of good young players but unproven at this level. Their # 1 or 2 starter returns from last year with 3-4 promising JC transfers on the mound and and a handful of other promising freshmen and sophomores- again, unproven at this level. I am cautiously optimistic that they can make a good run, especially if the pitching steps up.

Carthage has not gone the JC-transfer route too often in the past, but when they do, it has usually paid big dividends. Augie must have realized they needed to fill holes NOW and was not willing to wait for development of younger players. Kudos to the staff for changing tactics after a few rough seasons.

BigPoppa · February 27, 2015, 02:50:34 PM

http://www.cciw.org/news/2015/2/11/BB_0211150259.aspx

My Redmen are projected 6th. I think it's safe to say that Carthage has not had a bad run like this since Augie Schmidt took over the program... there was a time when being voted #6 in the country was cause for concern, now they struggle to gain a Top 5 rank in the conference. Ouch.

BigPoppa · March 14, 2015, 04:14:36 PM

Carthage knocks off Oshkosh 4-1 in game one of today's DH. Five years ago this game would have drawn tons of national interest... But not today. Game two just getting underway in Kenosha.

Gregory Sager · March 14, 2015, 04:29:52 PM

NPU picked up its second shutout down in Ft. Myers today, as Kenny Blanchard followed in the footsteps of last week's CCIW Pitcher of the Week Alex Vannucci by tossing eight goose eggs in today's 9-0 NPU win over Minnesota-Morris. Blanchard scattered four hits and struck out seven, and did not allow a walk or a HBP before freshman hurler Brett Kessinger came on to finish up with a 1-2-3 ninth.

North Park (5-3) is currently playing the final game of the spring Florida trip, as the Vikings are in the midst of a contest against Montclair State in Port Charlotte.

cubs · March 15, 2015, 11:07:53 PM

Quote from: BigPoppa on March 14, 2015, 04:14:36 PM
Carthage knocks off Oshkosh 4-1 in game one of today's DH. Five years ago this game would have drawn tons of national interest... But not today. Game two just getting underway in Kenosha.

Probably closer to ten years, but your point remains the same!!!!

BigPoppa · March 17, 2015, 02:06:47 PM

Carthage swept UW-O in a three-game series over the weekend. Nice start for the Redmen. Let's hope it continues in Arizona next week.

BigPoppa · March 20, 2015, 01:02:59 PM

Redmend pound Gustavus Adolphus 17-7... move to 4-0 on season.

BigPoppa · March 21, 2015, 04:19:43 PM

Carthage split with Hamline yesterday and beat Luther this morning in Arizona. Red men move to 61- on the season. Off the a nice start but I am still not sold on this squad.

By the way, am I the ONLY poster on this board lately?

Mr. Ypsi · March 21, 2015, 08:57:00 PM

Quote from: BigPoppa on March 21, 2015, 04:19:43 PM
Carthage split with Hamline yesterday and beat Luther this morning in Arizona. Red men move to 61- on the season. Off the a nice start but I am still not sold on this squad.

By the way, am I the ONLY poster on this board lately?

Most of us haven't switched gears from basketball to baseball until just now. After all, the snow is not even completely gone from some of the fields!

Gregory Sager · March 22, 2015, 09:08:18 AM

NPU swept a doubleheader with Cornell yesterday, 5-1 and 4-3, raising North Park's record on the year to 9-4. The Vikings have another twinbill today, facing Cornell again and then Dominican at Holmgren Athletic Complex, with Cornell and Dominican facing off in a neutral game that'll be sandwiched by the two NPU games.

Like BP, I'm not entirely sold on my alma mater's team, either. The pitching's been solid, although it's had some hiccups as well. The offense doesn't have as much pop as it did last season, even though the Vikings are as effective as always at getting on base and maximizing their OBP with aggressive baserunning. The defense has me worried; NPU's infield has not looked steady at all, especially up the middle.

Then again, NPU's been so solid across the board over the past several seasons that some of my complaining is simply an outgrowth of the heightened expectations that I've come to have for the team. Which is a good thing, I suppose.

BigPoppa · March 22, 2015, 02:04:49 PM

Per the Carthage live stats, Redmen currently up 8-0 on Middlebury in 6th inning in Arizona today. It appears the Redmen have figured a few things out after the last few seasons of disappointment. I am guessing the others in the CCIW may see the return of Carthage with a bit of nervousness. We'll see how they finish up this trip and open CCIW play this weekend.

I'll assume this one is over and the Redmen will move to 7-1.

Huge series between NPU and Carthage to open the CCIW on Saturday. Time to find out if the Redmen are for real. NPU is a team that is built to beat Carthage. They run and run and run. And Carthage has struggled to throw runners out to this point. Carthage's only chance is to keep the Vikes off the bags.

mwunder · March 23, 2015, 10:58:00 AM

It appears that this Carthage team has made some adjustments at the plate or maybe the pitching in AZ this season is just flat out bad.

Carthage is hitting .396 as a team through 8 games. Led by Zach Wade at a whopping .548 and Nick Schmidlkofer at .455, they already have 22 doubles and 5 HRs. These numbers look more like the late 90's teams than anything else. For those fans of the Red and Black, let's hope this team keeps their hitting shoes on all season.

They will need to do that to compete with the arms in the CCIW. They will also have to clean up the defense. 14 errors and 12 stolen bases allowed so far this season. It's still early, so let's hope those numbers drop as more games get played.

Like what I'm seeing out of the 2015 team so far.

BigPoppa · March 23, 2015, 12:13:30 PM

Quote from: mwunder on March 23, 2015, 10:58:00 AM
It appears that this Carthage team has made some adjustments at the plate or maybe the pitching in AZ this season is just flat out bad.

Carthage is hitting .396 as a team through 8 games. Led by Zach Wade at a whopping .548 and Nick Schmidlkofer at .455, they already have 22 doubles and 5 HRs. These numbers look more like the late 90's teams than anything else. For those fans of the Red and Black, let's hope this team keeps their hitting shoes on all season.

They will need to do that to compete with the arms in the CCIW. They will also have to clean up the defense. 14 errors and 12 stolen bases allowed so far this season. It's still early, so let's hope those numbers drop as more games get played.

Like what I'm seeing out of the 2015 team so far.

I am struggling to determine if it is weak pitching they are facing or if they are finally hitting again after a few rough years. There is a good chance they could enter Saturday's CCIW opener at 10-1. Their pitching still scares me a lot.

BigPoppa · March 24, 2015, 10:58:07 AM

As I looked through the Carthage game notes today, I noticed that Carthage's only loss (Hamline) was to one of my former high school players on the mound, Nicho Roessler. If we had to lose one, it might as well have been to someone I helped shape.

Redmen back at it today with a single game vs Oberlin followed by another single with Oberlin tomorrow morning before heading home to prep for NPU on Saturday.

BigPoppa · March 24, 2015, 02:56:31 PM

Carthage trailing Oberlin 6-2 in the bottom of the 3rd. Redmen starter, Kyle Cibrario (not sure if any relation to former Redmen player and coach Robb Cibrario) is getting hit hard at this point giving up 6 hits including a 2B and a HR.

Let's hope the bats can pick it up and give Carthage a chance to win this one with the back of their rotation today as the top arms are resting for CCIW play this weekend.

EDIT: and just like that Carthage answers with a pair of runs in the 3rd... 6-4, runners on and still no outs.

2nd EDIT: Carthage answers again the 4th knotting it up at 6s. This sure feels like the Redmen of old!