BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[blue_jays]

It is good, at least in relative terms. As I said, it's one of the top three weekend rotations in the league, along with Augustana's and Wheaton's. Those are the only three teams in the league that have three starters who don't get lit up like firecrackers every weekend by opposing bats.

Wheaton sophomore Michael McCraith is having a helluva year on the mound. 8-1, 3.25 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 9.8 K/9

[Gregory Sager]

Yes, he is. And so is Daniel Bayer. And, although Christian Bolhuis got bombed in a few outings in April, he pitched a gem against North Central last weekend that makes it look like he's back to his early-season form.

McCraith is actually pitching better against CCIW pitching than he did against non-conference competition, which definitely runs counter to the trend. Here's a look at the 25 pitchers who've started at least four CCIW games in terms of their CCIW ERA and WHIP and their overall ERA and WHIP, as well as how those numbers change from overall stats to league stats:

player	CCIW ERA	overall ERA	CCIW WHIP	overall WHIP	CCIW ERA +/-	CCIW WHIP +/-
Michael McCraith, WC	0.77	3.25	0.86	1.08	-2.48	-0.22
Tim Sulik, CC	2.41	3.57	1.21	1.25	-1.16	-0.04
Mike Powers, AC	2.83	3.25	1.17	1.16	-0.44	+0.01
Chris DeRue, CC	3.00	4.06	1.23	1.62	-1.06	-0.39
Kevin Tibor, CC	3.02	3.18	1.32	1.27	-0.16	+0.05
Brad Dubow, AC	3.13	3.80	1.09	1.12	-0.67	-0.03
Kyle Ferraro, WC	3.27	3.60	1.86	1.71	-0.33	+0.15
Max Paolicci, MU	3.46	3.42	1.23	1.25	+0.04	-0.02
Brent Kessinger, NPU	3.60	3.32	1.40	1.50	+0.28	-0.10
Daniel Bayer, WC	3.62	2.98	1.46	1.42	+0.64	+0.04
Austin Polezoes, NCC	4.15	5.01	1.24	1.31	-0.86	-0.07
Zach Morganstern, AC	4.47	2.73	1.51	1.17	+1.74	+0.34
Ben Havel, EC	5.21	4.37	1.58	1.51	+0.84	+0.07
Sean Coonan, IWU	5.34	4.66	1.47	1.36	+0.68	+0.11
Logan Talkington, MU	5.40	4.11	1.76	1.57	+1.29	+0.19
Jonathan Vlk, IWU	5.54	7.15	1.62	1.85	-1.61	-0.23
Matt Banaitis, IWU	5.56	3.96	1.56	1.45	+1.60	+0.11
Matt Pizur, NPU	5.61	5.28	1.68	1.63	+0.33	+0.05
Christian Bolhuis, WC	6.27	3.86	1.77	1.47	+2.41	+0.30
Nick Drago, EC	6.35	6.25	2.00	1.93	+0.10	+0.07
Cam Godinsky, CU	6.88	6.45	2.04	1.91	+0.43	+0.13
Brett Pyburn, NCC	7.82	4.65	1.58	1.35	+3.17	+0.23
Josh Smith, NPU	8.07	7.47	1.90	1.74	+0.60	+0.16
Andrew Stone, CU	8.10	8.10	2.13	2.03	---	+0.10
Austin McMillan, EC	10.02	9.18	2.13	2.07	+0.84	+0.06
Carter Howard, CU	11.17	10.80	2.55	2.18	+0.37	+0.37

As you can see, the trend is for starters' numbers to worsen once they hit league play -- sometimes pretty drastically (Zach Morganstern, Christian Bolhuis, Logan Talkington, Matt Banaitis, and Brett Pyburn pretty much fell off a cliff once CCIW play began). But the elite pitchers -- Michael McCraith, Tim Sulik, Mike Powers, Chris DeRue, and Brad Dubow -- have either brought their numbers down significantly over the course of the season, or, as in the case of Kevin Tibor, Max Paolicci, Brent Kessinger, and Daniel Bayer, they've more or less maintained modestly low numbers throughout the course of the season.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg, nice summary.  One quibble: Matt Banaitis did not 'f(a)ll off a cliff once CCIW play began."  He began the conference season 5-0 with a 1.91 era.  It is just his last two starts where he totally crapped the bed.

[Gregory Sager]

I didn't say that they all immediately and in unison fell off a cliff once CCIW play began. Morganstern pitched a complete-game victory over Millikin in his first CCIW outing, giving up only two runs, then followed it up with a decent performance against Carroll and won that game as well. Pyburn pitched a great game against NPU in his league debut, giving up only two runs over seven innings but taking the loss because Brent Kessinger was just a little bit better that day. And Talkington did OK and got a win over Wheaton his first time out against a CCIW opponent. Don't think of it as this ... think of it as this.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Nice graphics!   But surely 'fell off a cliff once CCIW play began' is drastically different than being a leading candidate for POY until just two starts ago!

In today's action, I assume NCC beat Elmhurst in game one (they were up 10-5 entering the bottom of the 9th; then I got busy elsewhere and game two had started before I saw the final on game one).  In game two, NCC jumps out to a 4-0 lead after one.  Elmhurst might be in trouble - if they don't rally they would finish at 13-11, which might not be enough to make the field (I don't know how they are on tie-breakers).

[Mr. Ypsi]

Elmhurst didn't go down without a fight in game one, but NCC prevailed 10-6.  In the second game, NCC now leads 5-0 in the bottom of the 6th, though the Jays have loaded the bases with only one out.  In B'town, IWU 3, Wheaton 2, entering the 7th.  In Moline, NPU is shocking the 'other' Vikings, 8-2 in the top of the 5th.

And Carroll is at Millikin, but who the hell cares!   (Actually, Millikin might be the hottest team in the CCIW in the second half of the conference season; unfortunately for them, the first half also counts! )

UPDATE: Elmhurst got only one run out of that golden opportunity; NCC still up 5-1.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU and Wheaton headed to the 10th, tied at 3.

NCC 11, Elmhurst 3 heading to the bottom of the 9th.

Augie got 6 in the bottom of the 6th to make it a game, but NPU up 13-9 in the top of the 8th.

[Mr. Ypsi]

NCC wins 11-3.

Wheaton goes down 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th.

NPU now up 15-9, bottom of the 8th

[mr_b]

North Park shocks Augie at home, 17-9.  The Chicago Vikings scored two or more runs in every inning except the first two, pounding out 20 hits against five Augie pitchers.  Augie committed seven -- seven! -- errors, which led to eight unearned runs.  Augie battled back from a 10-3 deficit with six in the bottom of the sixth, but NPU kept grinding out hits and taking advantage of miscues to earn the victory.

[Gregory Sager]

It was a little reminiscent of that game against Carthage two weeks ago in which the Vikings blew a 9-1 lead when the Red Men scored nine runs in the top of the sixth, only to have the Vikings come back with three more runs in the late innings to win, 12-10. NPU didn't blow the entire lead this time, but it came pretty close to doing so. After knocking Brad Dubow out of the game and posting a 10-3 lead going into the bottom of the sixth, they gave up six runs in the bottom half as the Augie bats knocked Brent Kessinger out of the game. But sophomore Andy Robbins came in and stopped the bleeding, leaving North Park clinging to a 10-9 lead. NPU then kept tacking on every inning (with a lot of help from Augie's bewildering defensive ineptitude), and Robbins did as great a job in late relief as Josh Smith had done in that win over Carthage.  Robbins went three and two-thirds and held Augie scoreless, giving up only a single and a walk and earning his first career save for his pains.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Wheaton downs IWU 5-3 in 11.

Tonite's standings:

NCC       13-8
IWU        13-9
Wheaton 12-9
Augie      12-10
Carthage  12-10
Elmhurst  13-11

Cripes!  Who the hell knows where the tourney will be, or which teams will be playing?

It certainly looked destined for B'town, but they have lost four straight games.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 17, @ Augustana 9
Wheaton 5, @ Illinois Wesleyan 3 (11)
North Central 10-11, @ Elmhurst 6-3
@ Millikin 6, Carroll 4

North Central	13-8
Illinois Wesleyan	13-9
Wheaton	12-9
Augustana	12-10
Carthage	12-10
Elmhurst	13-11
Millikin	10-12
North Park	8-14
Carroll	6-16

Saturday's games
Carroll @ Millikin (2), 12 p.m.
North Central @ Carthage (2), 12 p.m.
Illinois Wesleyan @ Wheaton (2), 1 p.m.
Augustana @ North Park (2), 1 p.m.

Sunday's games
Washington (MO) @ Millikin (2), 12 p.m.

Monday's game
Wheaton @ North Central, 3:30 pm

[Gregory Sager]

It certainly looked destined for B'town, but they have lost four straight games.

The Titans had the bases loaded with nobody out in the ninth and the score tied 3-3, and still couldn't get what would've been the winning run across the plate.

[BigPoppa]

Is this the most parity we've ever seen in the CCIW. Fun to watch as a CCIW fan, frustrating to watch as a Carthage fan.

Today is a HUGE day for the CCIW as three of the four series today feature teams going head to head for the right to advance (or be eliminated from) the CCIW post-season. I have never seen a final weekend where so many teams could either be the tourney host or be eliminated altogether. I am assuming that in some way, tie-breakers will need to be used to sort it all out.

[Gregory Sager]

Is this the most parity we've ever seen in the CCIW. Fun to watch as a CCIW fan, frustrating to watch as a Carthage fan.

Trust me, BP, it's a million times more frustrating for Mr. B and I than it is for you.