BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Don't forget that the first of two NCC @ IWU games tomorrow is already 2/3s over. It is the continuation of a previous game in Naperville which was suspended due to darkness with NCC holding an 8-4 lead after 6 innings.

[Mr. Ypsi]

One week to go:

NCC has a 3.5 game lead and needs two wins this week to lock up the conference championship.  2 @IWU, 2@NPU, 1 NPU
Carthage sits in second with a 4.5 game lead over Augie and NPU.  Need 1 win to clinch second seed.  All 5 games at home.  Wheaton, NPU, 3 IWU
Augie currently in 3rd with a .5 game lead over NPU by virtue of season series.  Augie has easiest remaining schedule with 4 remaining.  @Millikin, 3 Carroll
NPU sits in 4th with a 1.5 game lead with 5 games remaining.  1 @CC, 1@NCC, 2 NCC, and 1 @Millikin -- tough week but not as tough as IWU's.
IWU sits a game and half back of NPU with 5 to play.  2 at home vs NCC, 3 @CC.
Elmhurst is a 1.5 games behind NPU and .5 games behind IWU.  1 @Carroll, 1 @Wheaton, 2 Wheaton

Carroll is mathematically still alive but they don't hold tie breaks over anyone except Elmhurst so I don't see a scenario where they get into the tournament.
Millikin and Wheaton are both eliminated from CCIW tourney action in 2018.

IWU has been an enigma all season. If they want to get into the post-season as the #4 seed (so we can hear ALL about that 2010 team... again and again) they need to step up right now and have a daunting task vs two of the region's best teams. I think the Titans are in trouble.

Hey Big Poppa, if IWU does not make the playoffs this year, you can rag on them all season that they were not as good as that 2010 team...just did not have the right stuff.   

Now, now, Ralph - behave yourself!  This IWU team has underperformed  by many expectations (especially mine ), but to denigrate them because they were not 2010 is unfair.  After all, the 2010 team was  ...
   
                    THE GREATEST 'MIRACLE' TEAM OF ALL TIME; ANY SPORT, ANY LEVEL!!!

Did the "Miracle Mets" of 1969 have a losing record one week before the post-season?  No.

Did the "Miracle on Ice"  hockey team in 1980 bludgeon the "unbeatable" Soviets 17-5?  No

Did the "Murderers Row" Yankees of 1927 have anyone have a stat line of 5-4-5-3 like Jeff Grodecki did?  No.

Would the 17-0 Miami Dolphins have gotten a hit off Jason Pankau?  Regular season, maybe (he didn't make AA that year).  Final game, no way (Cortland was destroying every pitcher in the WS; Jason virtually shut them out).


[I hope everyone sees this as tongue-in-cheek.  I've been eviscerated by Greg and others for reminiscing about 2010.  Now that Big Poppa and Ralph have "piled on", I thought it was time for a satirical response. ]

[mwunder]

One week to go:

NCC has a 3.5 game lead and needs two wins this week to lock up the conference championship.  2 @IWU, 2@NPU, 1 NPU
Carthage sits in second with a 4.5 game lead over Augie and NPU.  Need 1 win to clinch second seed.  All 5 games at home.  Wheaton, NPU, 3 IWU
Augie currently in 3rd with a .5 game lead over NPU by virtue of season series.  Augie has easiest remaining schedule with 4 remaining.  @Millikin, 3 Carroll
NPU sits in 4th with a 1.5 game lead with 5 games remaining.  1 @CC, 1@NCC, 2 NCC, and 1 @Millikin -- tough week but not as tough as IWU's.
IWU sits a game and half back of NPU with 5 to play.  2 at home vs NCC, 3 @CC.
Elmhurst is a 1.5 games behind NPU and .5 games behind IWU.  1 @Carroll, 1 @Wheaton, 2 Wheaton

Carroll is mathematically still alive but they don't hold tie breaks over anyone except Elmhurst so I don't see a scenario where they get into the tournament.
Millikin and Wheaton are both eliminated from CCIW tourney action in 2018.

IWU has been an enigma all season. If they want to get into the post-season as the #4 seed (so we can hear ALL about that 2010 team... again and again) they need to step up right now and have a daunting task vs two of the region's best teams. I think the Titans are in trouble.

Hey Big Poppa, if IWU does not make the playoffs this year, you can rag on them all season that they were not as good as that 2010 team...just did not have the right stuff.   

Now, now, Ralph - behave yourself!  This IWU team has underperformed  by many expectations (especially mine ), but to denigrate them because they were not 2010 is unfair.  After all, the 2010 team was  ...
   
                    THE GREATEST 'MIRACLE' TEAM OF ALL TIME; ANY SPORT, ANY LEVEL!!!

Did the "Miracle Mets" of 1969 have a losing record one week before the post-season?  No.

Did the "Miracle on Ice"  hockey team in 1980 bludgeon the "unbeatable" Soviets 17-5?  No

Did the "Murderers Row" Yankees of 1927 have anyone have a stat line of 5-4-5-3 like Jeff Grodecki did?  No.

Would the 17-0 Miami Dolphins have gotten a hit off Jason Pankau?  Regular season, maybe (he didn't make AA that year).  Final game, no way (Cortland was destroying every pitcher in the WS; Jason virtually shut them out).


[I hope everyone sees this as tongue-in-cheek.  I've been eviscerated by Greg and others for reminiscing about 2010.  Now that Big Poppa and Ralph have "piled on", I thought it was time for a satirical response. ]

At least it's not women's softball...

[Ralph Turner]

ROTFL!

[Gregory Sager]

One week to go:

NCC has a 3.5 game lead and needs two wins this week to lock up the conference championship.  2 @IWU, 2@NPU, 1 NPU
Carthage sits in second with a 4.5 game lead over Augie and NPU.  Need 1 win to clinch second seed.  All 5 games at home.  Wheaton, NPU, 3 IWU
Augie currently in 3rd with a .5 game lead over NPU by virtue of season series.  Augie has easiest remaining schedule with 4 remaining.  @Millikin, 3 Carroll
NPU sits in 4th with a 1.5 game lead with 5 games remaining.  1 @CC, 1@NCC, 2 NCC, and 1 @Millikin -- tough week but not as tough as IWU's.
IWU sits a game and half back of NPU with 5 to play.  2 at home vs NCC, 3 @CC.
Elmhurst is a 1.5 games behind NPU and .5 games behind IWU.  1 @Carroll, 1 @Wheaton, 2 Wheaton

Carroll is mathematically still alive but they don't hold tie breaks over anyone except Elmhurst so I don't see a scenario where they get into the tournament.
Millikin and Wheaton are both eliminated from CCIW tourney action in 2018.

IWU has been an enigma all season. If they want to get into the post-season as the #4 seed (so we can hear ALL about that 2010 team... again and again) they need to step up right now and have a daunting task vs two of the region's best teams. I think the Titans are in trouble.

Hey Big Poppa, if IWU does not make the playoffs this year, you can rag on them all season that they were not as good as that 2010 team...just did not have the right stuff.   

Now, now, Ralph - behave yourself!  This IWU team has underperformed  by many expectations (especially mine ), but to denigrate them because they were not 2010 is unfair.  After all, the 2010 team was  ...
   
                    THE GREATEST 'MIRACLE' TEAM OF ALL TIME; ANY SPORT, ANY LEVEL!!!

Did the "Miracle Mets" of 1969 have a losing record one week before the post-season?  No.

Did the "Miracle on Ice"  hockey team in 1980 bludgeon the "unbeatable" Soviets 17-5?  No

Did the "Murderers Row" Yankees of 1927 have anyone have a stat line of 5-4-5-3 like Jeff Grodecki did?  No.

Would the 17-0 Miami Dolphins have gotten a hit off Jason Pankau?  Regular season, maybe (he didn't make AA that year).  Final game, no way (Cortland was destroying every pitcher in the WS; Jason virtually shut them out).


[I hope everyone sees this as tongue-in-cheek.  I've been eviscerated by Greg and others for reminiscing about 2010.  Now that Big Poppa and Ralph have "piled on", I thought it was time for a satirical response. ]

Oh, I don't blame you at all for this, Chuck. I put the blame right where it belongs, at the feet of BP and Ralph. They should know darned well by now that you can't help yourself. 

(And, to be honest, I got a laugh out of the '72 Dolphins reference.)

At least it's not women's softball...

[AndOne]

Don't forget that the first of two NCC @ IWU games tomorrow is already 2/3s over. It is the continuation of a previous game in Naperville which was suspended due to darkness with NCC holding an 8-4 lead after 6 innings.

This game has been completed, and resulted in a final score of NCC 15, IWU 5.
Regularly scheduled game to follow.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The "regularly scheduled game" is now entering the 8th, and is one of those truly aggravating anomalies (if you're on the lesser side):  IWU has so far outhit NCC 13-9, yet trails 8-3!  We're just not getting the timely hits; the Cards are making just about every hit count.

[Mr. Ypsi]

NCC closes out the win, 8-3.  IWU falls to 9-12.  Unless I've missed something, the ONLY way IWU can make the conference tourney is to sweep Carthage (in Kenosha), while Augie gets swept by Carroll (in Rock Island).  Or, to put it in simpler terms, the Titans were eliminated tonight.

For the conference season - the beginning sucked (2-6), the middle was glorious ((7-0), the ending is not lookin' so hot.

[mwunder]

NCC - Lock for #1 seed
CC  -  Lock for #2 seed
Augie - #3 seed all but locked up.  Tie Breakers over NPU and Elmhurst, Carroll coming to town for 3.
NPU - #4 seed but has 3 with North Central.  Half game lead over Elmhurst.
Elmhurst - Three remaining with Wheaton and holds tie breaker over North Park and IWU.

IWU - life support.  Needs Augie to get swept by Carroll AND Wheaton takes 2 of 3 from Elmhurst while sweeping Carthage.  Their other scenarion would be for North Park to get swept by NCC AND Wheaton takes 2 of 3 from Elmhurst while sweeping Carthage.  If either of those happen, IWU could sneak in as the #4 seed.  If all both happen, IWU would be the #3 seed.

Carroll, Millikin, and Wheaton relegated to spoiler roles at this time.


Best guess for tournament...NCC, Carthage, Augie, Elmhurst.

[BigPoppa]

Nice Work mwunder! I was just looking into it all myself and found you already did the work for me.

[Gregory Sager]

A ton of drama played out today at Holmgren, as North Central topped North Park in the opener of the doubleheader, 19-13, and the Vikings came back to win the nightcap, 11-9, to take the series two games out of three.

NCC jumped all over NPU starter Josh Smith with an eight-run third in which the first three Cardinals batters hit home runs -- none of them cheapies, either, although the Cards would hit a couple of "Holmgren Homers" as the day wore on -- to take a commanding 10-2 lead, but the Vikings fought back with a nine-run third of their own to post an improbable 11-10 advantage However, the Vikings never managed to slow down the NCC offense in the first game, as they walked or plunked too many Cardinals batters, and you just can't give a team with a stacked lineup like NCC's that many extra baserunners. Eventually, the Vikings offense slowed to a trickle, while the Cards pulled away.

It looked like the nightcap might become a reprise of the opener, as NCC's Mike Wisz launched a three-run homer in the top of the first. But then the first five Vikings to come to the plate in the bottom half of the inning scored, culminating in a three-run homer from Justin Woolbright. The game seesawed back and forth from there, but eventually the Vikes were able to break a 7-7 tie with a Joe Koutnik RBI double in the fifth, and then the Park added three more in the seventh off of a Seth Dvorak RBI double and a two-run single by Cullen Gilbertson. Woolbright moved to the mound to finish the game, and, in spite of giving up a two-run homer in the ninth that hit the top of the fence in the shallowest part of right field (i.e., the Holmgrenest of Holmgen Homers), he was able to keep the ever-dangerous Cardinals from coming back, and the Royal Blue and Gold got the win.

Meanwhile, over at Butterfield Park, Elmhurst and Wheaton split a pair, which means that the two teams battling for the fourth and final playoff spot maintained the status quo ante in the standings over Friday and Saturday, with NPU and EC each taking two out of three. That's a significant accomplishment for North Park, given that the Vikings had to play the best team in the league while Elmhurst had to play last-place Wheaton. The Cards came into this weekend with the best team ERA in CCIW play by far -- NCC had given up 25 fewer runs than the next-best pitching staff -- and yet the Vikings managed to tattoo North Central pitching to the tune of 32 runs, 30 of them earned. Of course, the Cardinals scored a ton of runs themselves, but to hang around and go blow-for-blow over three games with a team that can hit like North Central (NPU outhit NCC for the weekend, 41-40) says something about how the Vikings bats rose to the occasion.

Nevertheless, it all comes down to tomorrow for North Park. The 12-11 Vikings host Millikin at 3 pm with the season on the line; if the Vikings win, they'll have fourth place all to themselves and will be in the CCIW tourney. If they lose, they wind up in a fourth-place tie with 12-12 Elmhurst, and the Bluejays will go to Zimmerman Stadium in Naperville for next weekend's tourney by virtue of the tiebreaker.

[AndOne]

With today's split with NPU, North Central finishes the CCIW slate with a record of 20-4, and captures the conference crown for the fourth straight season. The Cardinals will host the CCIW Tournament beginning next Thursday in Naperville. With their 20 wins, NCC becomes just the second team in CCIW history to win 20 games.

The Cardinals Mike Wisz finished the doubleheader with 10 RBI. In so doing, he finished wth 47 RBI over the 24 game conference schedule, breaking the all time NCC season record of 42. With one non-conference game left he has a total of 64 on the season, fifth best in single season history.

[Ralph Turner]

With today's split with NPU, North Central finishes the CCIW slate with a record of 20-4, and captures the conference crown for the fourth straight season. The Cardinals will host the CCIW Tournament beginning next Thursday in Naperville. With their 20 wins, NCC becomes just the second team in CCIW history to win 20 games.

The Cardinals Mike Wisz finished the doubleheader with 10 RBI. In so doing, he finished wth 47 RBI over the 24 game conference schedule, breaking the all time NCC season record of 42. With one non-conference game left he has a total of 64 on the season, fifth best in single season history.

How does the .833 winning percentage (20-4) compare with previous "bests"?

[Gregory Sager]

Well, the 1947 Millikin team went 6-0 in conference play, so that winning percentage is never going to be beat.

In the modern era (post-1967), the best winning percentage belongs to the 2007 Illinois Wesleyan team, .952 (20-1). The cautionary note here is that a gaudy winning percentage in league play by the CCIW champion is no guarantee of anything. In 2007 Illinois Wesleyan not only didn't win the CCIW tournament, the Titans didn't even make it to the tourney's final game (Carthage beat Augie). As an added indignity, Illinois Wesleyan was knocked out of the NCAA tourney in two games, losing to Webster and ... Augie.

The only other CCIW team to get through the conference slate with only one loss during the CCIW-tourney era was the 2009 Carthage team (18-1) that finished fourth at the College World Series, and that Red Men team breezed through the CCIW tourney with three relatively easy wins.

Prior to the CCIW tourney era (pre-1985), these championship teams also finished with only one loss in a full-slate (i.e., no divisions) CCIW season:

1971 Carthage (15-1)
1979 Elmhurst (15-1)
1983 North Park (15-1)

Only the '83 North Park team made the NCAA tourney out of those three, as the Vikings lost the regional final to eventual national champion Marietta by a score of 7-6.

With today's split with NPU, North Central finishes the CCIW slate with a record of 20-4, and captures the conference crown for the fourth straight season. The Cardinals will host the CCIW Tournament beginning next Thursday in Naperville. With their 20 wins, NCC becomes just the second team in CCIW history to win 20 games.

A 20-4 record is a huge accomplishment, but it needs to be said that this season and last season are the only two campaigns in CCIW history that have had 24-game schedules. Prior to the re-entry of Carroll for the 2017 season, CCIW teams never played more than 21 games.

[mr_b]

North Park defeated Millikin, 11-8, in the win-and-get-in contest at the Holmgren Athletic Complex.  North Park took an early 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run single by Justin Woolbright.  The Big Blue tied the game with two in the third, but Cullen Gibertson's triple down the right field line gave NPU a 3-2 advantage.  Millikin regained the lead in the 4th on a walk, three singles, and two sacrifices, but the Vikings tied it in the fifth on a bases-loaded groundout by Cam Adams.  The Big Blue rallied for two runs on four hits in the top of the 6th for a 6-4 lead, but a decisive six-run rally by the Vikings in the bottom half of the frame turned the game around.  The key play, in my estimation, came with two on and nobody out, when Richie Silva laid down a sac bunt and Big Blue starter Connor Gross tried to throw out the lead runner at third, but the throw was not in time.  Niko Buck then cracked a two-run single to ignite the scoring; Joe Koutnik had an RBI groundout, and a balk scored another run. Woolbright came through with another two-run single to put NPU up, 10-6.  Woolbright finished up on the mound as well, hurling 3 1/3 innings of relief to earn the win.  The Vikings edge out Elmhurst for the final playoff spot and finished tied with Augustana for 3rd (but Augie ends up the third seed by virtue of holding the tie-breaker).  Congratulations for a very solid and gritty performance by the Vikings, and best of luck in the CCIW Tournament!