BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

In Naperville, NCC led IWU 8-5 after four, but it has been all Titans ever since.  They got 1 in the 5th, SEVEN in the 6th, and 3 more in the 8th - it's 16-8 entering the 9th.

[AndOne]

NCC takes their first conference loss as they go down to IWU 16-9 in the first game of a doubleheader.
As Mr. Ypsi indicated, the difference was IWU's 7 run 6th inning. 44 degrees in beautiful downtown Naperville with a wind chill of 38!

[Mr. Ypsi]

The bottom of the ninth got a tad nerve-wracking, as the Titan pitcher lost all control: a walk, a single, and two more walks produced a run.  Fortunately the damage ended there.  IWU hands NCC their first conference loss, 16-9.  Fans of other teams, hold your noses and say "Thanks, Titans"!

[Mr. Ypsi]

The second game in Naperville was suspended due to darkness, with NCC up 8-4 after 6.  The Cards one-upped the Titans with an EIGHT run 4th inning, greatly abetted by THREE Titan errors.  (Is NCC the only school with no lights?)

[Mr. Ypsi]

The second game in Naperville was suspended due to darkness, with NCC up 8-4 after 6.  The Cards one-upped the Titans with an EIGHT run 4th inning, greatly abetted by THREE Titan errors. (Is NCC the only school with no lights?)

After posting this, I realized how dumb the question was.  Reversing it, does any conference school have lights?   After all, even Wrigley Field only got lights a relatively few years ago!  Lights for a baseball field are expensive (especially to install, but also to operate), and are probably not particularly welcomed by the neighbors.  But, if the season has to begin so early, it would seem that games either have to start an extra hour or two earlier or lights need to be in place.  Rain-outs (and, alas, snow-outs) are an inevitable part of being in the north; "dark-outs" should probably not happen.

[BigPoppa]

Redmen take a pair from NPU today... move to 7-1 in CCIW and 20-4 overall. It's good to see Carthage back in the mix.

[BigPoppa]

CCIW race became a bit clearer as Carthage and North Central seem to have seized control of the top, but the middle has really bunched together. Gonna be fun to watch this play out.

North Central   8-1   12-7
Carthage           7-1   20-4
North Park           5-3   10-13
Augustana           4-4   16-7
Wheaton           4-4   13-10
Elmhurst           5-6   14-10
Ill Wesleyan   4-6   13-10
Carroll           2-8   12-10
Millikin           2-8   12-12

[mwunder]

The second game in Naperville was suspended due to darkness, with NCC up 8-4 after 6.  The Cards one-upped the Titans with an EIGHT run 4th inning, greatly abetted by THREE Titan errors. (Is NCC the only school with no lights?)

After posting this, I realized how dumb the question was.  Reversing it, does any conference school have lights?   After all, even Wrigley Field only got lights a relatively few years ago!  Lights for a baseball field are expensive (especially to install, but also to operate), and are probably not particularly welcomed by the neighbors.  But, if the season has to begin so early, it would seem that games either have to start an extra hour or two earlier or lights need to be in place.  Rain-outs (and, alas, snow-outs) are an inevitable part of being in the north; "dark-outs" should probably not happen.

Carthage has lights.  Seeing that NP is a football field, I assume they have lights as well.  Augie has to have lights as well given that they have hosted regionals more than once in the past decade.  Carroll plays at Frame park which has lights.  Wheaton's Pfund field has lights.  IWU's Horenberger Field has lights.  Elmhurst's Butterfield has lights.  Milikin's Sunnyside Park seems to have lights, but much like the IWU website for Horenberger, there aren't really good pictures of the field.

I think your original question was better.

[mr_b]

The second game in Naperville was suspended due to darkness, with NCC up 8-4 after 6.  The Cards one-upped the Titans with an EIGHT run 4th inning, greatly abetted by THREE Titan errors. (Is NCC the only school with no lights?)

After posting this, I realized how dumb the question was.  Reversing it, does any conference school have lights?   After all, even Wrigley Field only got lights a relatively few years ago!  Lights for a baseball field are expensive (especially to install, but also to operate), and are probably not particularly welcomed by the neighbors.  But, if the season has to begin so early, it would seem that games either have to start an extra hour or two earlier or lights need to be in place.  Rain-outs (and, alas, snow-outs) are an inevitable part of being in the north; "dark-outs" should probably not happen.

Carthage has lights.  Seeing that NP is a football field, I assume they have lights as well.  Augie has to have lights as well given that they have hosted regionals more than once in the past decade.  Carroll plays at Frame park which has lights.  Wheaton's Pfund field has lights.  IWU's Horenberger Field has lights.  Elmhurst's Butterfield has lights.  Milikin's Sunnyside Park seems to have lights, but much like the IWU website for Horenberger, there aren't really good pictures of the field.

I think your original question was better.

I believe North Central is the only field in the CCIW that does not have lights.

[Gregory Sager]

Seeing that NP is a football field, I assume they have lights as well.

Actually, I think that NPU was the first CCIW school to have lights for baseball.

[Gregory Sager]

Redmen take a pair from NPU today... move to 7-1 in CCIW and 20-4 overall. It's good to see Carthage back in the mix.

Too many errors yesterday by the Vikings. One opened up the door for Carthage to score the two unearned runs in the eighth that spelled the difference in the 5-3 opener, and another in the nightcap led to two unearned runs in the third that, again, proved to be the difference in the 11-9 outcome. Bad defense has proved to be North Park's undoing in several close losses this season, while the Red Men's defense helped their own cause rather than hurt it. The other problem yesterday was hit placement and slugging percentage. The Vikings outhit the Red Men in both games, but too many NPU hits were of the singles variety, while Carthage had a field day in finding the gap in left center, where the park is cavernous and the ball travels all day before it gets to the wall. Although each team ended the day with three homers, Carthage had five doubles and four triples, while North Park only had one apiece.

Far more bothersome than the two losses was the injury incurred by CF Joe Koutnik, who hit his first career homer yesterday in the nightcap before he had to leave the game because of his throwing arm, which he apparently hurt after jamming it while sliding into third base on a steal attempt. NPU has already lost the services of its returning starting CF and table-setter, Jared Cantu, for the season to a knee injury. If the Vikings have to go without Koutnik for any extended period of time, it's gonna hurt. There aren't an unlimited number of centerfielders sitting on the North Park bench.

There was all kinds of weirdness yesterday. The Carthage starting pitcher in the nightcap got called for three balks in the first inning, leading to Carthage head coach Augie Schmidt IV getting tossed out of the ballpark by the home-plate blue, and the reliever who succeeded him got called for three balks as well -- evenly split between the two of them between not pausing in the windup and going to the mouth while on the mound. A Carthage batter got called out for interfering with NPU catcher Cam Adams while Adams was trying to throw out a baserunner, and the Vikings were awarded an extra base when Carthage shortstop Myles Farley was called for obstructing a baserunner by applying a fake tag to the runner sliding back into second after a pickoff throw had sailed past Farley into centerfield -- the first time that I've ever seen that called. And we also almost saw a "Channel Ball" for the first time in several seasons, as NPU first baseman Cullen Gilbertson's home run just missed exiting the stadium entirely and sailing into the North Shore Channel behind the outfield stands.

Carthage outfielder Colton Klein is a circus freak; the guy made more great plays in one doubleheader than I've ever seen before from a CCIW outfielder.

[AndOne]

The second game in Naperville was suspended due to darkness, with NCC up 8-4 after 6.  The Cards one-upped the Titans with an EIGHT run 4th inning, greatly abetted by THREE Titan errors. (Is NCC the only school with no lights?)

After posting this, I realized how dumb the question was.  Reversing it, does any conference school have lights?   After all, even Wrigley Field only got lights a relatively few years ago!  Lights for a baseball field are expensive (especially to install, but also to operate), and are probably not particularly welcomed by the neighbors.  But, if the season has to begin so early, it would seem that games either have to start an extra hour or two earlier or lights need to be in place.  Rain-outs (and, alas, snow-outs) are an inevitable part of being in the north; "dark-outs" should probably not happen.

Carthage has lights.  Seeing that NP is a football field, I assume they have lights as well.  Augie has to have lights as well given that they have hosted regionals more than once in the past decade.  Carroll plays at Frame park which has lights.  Wheaton's Pfund field has lights.  IWU's Horenberger Field has lights.  Elmhurst's Butterfield has lights.  Milikin's Sunnyside Park seems to have lights, but much like the IWU website for Horenberger, there aren't really good pictures of the field.

I think your original question was better.

I believe North Central is the only field in the CCIW that does not have lights.

The status of which is not likely to change anytime soon.

[Mr. Ypsi]

AndOne, is that due solely to objections by neighbors, or something else in addition?

[BigPoppa]

A blast from the past.... one of my current players found this document with the 1996 NCAA leaders.. a nice little trip through memory lane if you have some time. I remember facing many of those top players.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/Baseball%20Archived%20Stats/1996/1996%20Baseball%20Div%20III.pdf

[mwunder]

Seeing that NP is a football field, I assume they have lights as well.

Actually, I think that NPU was the first CCIW school to have lights for baseball.

As I typed this, I remembered you commenting about the lights starting to come on during the broadcast on Tuesday...