BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[mr_b]

Final from Naperville: North Park 4, Augustana 2.  Josh Ward outduels Chris Refka in an elimination game with a 5-hit, 1-walk performance. Two Augie errors led to three unearned runs, capped by Anthony DiNardo's two-run pinch-hit double in the seventh.  Andy Robbins finishes the ninth for a save.

This is the same Augie team that swept NPU two weeks ago, with Refka picking up the win in game three of the series on a complete game six-hitter.  It was nice to see North Park bounce back to take this game.  The eastern Vikings await the loser of the North Central-Carthage contest, which is on deck.

[AndOne]

North Central over Carthage 15-4 in a game stopped in the seventh inning due to the slaughter rule. With the score at 13-4, the Cardinals' Mike Wisz slammed a 2 run homer to end it. Wisz had earlier hit an inside the park HR, and a 2 run triple, driving in 5 on the day.

[BigPoppa]

Ouch! Carthage needs to win this game right now. If they can reach the CCIW title round I like their chances for a Pool C.

Up 1-0 on NPU in 3rd.

[Gregory Sager]

Ouch! Carthage North Park needs to win this game right now.

FTFY.

NPU leads, 2-1, going into the fourth.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park rode a six-run eighth to a comeback 8-3 win over Carthage, keeping the season alive for the Royal Blue and Gold. The Vikings got a good starting performance out of newly-minted graduate Josh Smith, with Andy Robbins again coming in to shut the door in the late innings. Robbins ended up getting the win.

Carthage certainly did itself no favors, as the Red Men committed six errors. Three of NPU's eight runs were unearned.

Good, solid late hitting by the Vikes, who also coaxed six walks out of Red Men hurlers.

[AndOne]

North Park with a huge 6 run eighth as Carthage self destructs, and the eastern Vikings knock the Redmen out 8-3. Carthage made 6 errors in the game.

NPU will now face NCC in the Championship. NPU must win two.

[Gregory Sager]

This was a particularly satisfying day for North Park in that the Vikings not only eliminated two of the teams seeded above them, they also beat a pair of teams that had swept NPU in their respective regular-season series.

I doubt that there's very many people outside of the Vikings dugout who think that North Park has any shot at beating North Central twice tomorrow. But as long as the Vikings are still alive, they have a puncher's chance.

[AndOne]

Least the people outside the Vikings dugout forget that they were the only conference team to take the regular season series from the Cardinals. ⚾️

[BigPoppa]

Carthage's Pool C chances all but evaporated with that ugly loss.

[Ralph Turner]

North Park with a huge 6 run eighth as Carthage self destructs, and the eastern Vikings knock the Redmen out 8-3. Carthage made 6 errors in the game.

NPU will now face NCC in the Championship. NPU must win two.

High drama in the CCIW tourney. IF  (That is a big "if" for those of you in Rio Linda.    ) NPU wins both games, they enter the NCAA with a 22-22 season record!

(We would never hear the end of that!  It might be the biggest moment in NPU history since the 5 National Championships in basketball!)

[mr_b]

North Park with a huge 6 run eighth as Carthage self destructs, and the eastern Vikings knock the Redmen out 8-3. Carthage made 6 errors in the game.

NPU will now face NCC in the Championship. NPU must win two.

High drama in the CCIW tourney. IF  (That is a big "if" for those of you in Rio Linda.    ) NPU wins both games, they enter the NCAA with a 22-22 season record!

(We would never hear the end of that!  It might be the biggest moment in NPU history since the 5 National Championships in basketball!)

... or at least since last fall's NCAA runner-up performance by the men's soccer team.

[Gregory Sager]

... or at least since last fall's NCAA runner-up performance by the men's soccer team.

This.

The soccer guys set the standard at NPU nowadays, not some ancient national championships in basketball remembered only by creaking old fossils like me. I'm just happy that another squad on campus is taking up the challenge and is trying to match the soccer team's excellence, however belatedly in the season.

[mr_b]

Can anyone else load the complete live stats for this morning's game?  All I'm getting is the banner with the score and no further information.

[Gregory Sager]

North Central wins the tournament with a seven-inning mercy-rule victory over North Park, 13-2. I'm not terribly surprised by the outcome, as NPU didn't really have any front-line pitching left for today, but I am disappointed that the Vikings couldn't at least be competitive in this contest.

Nevertheless, the Vikings had a great run over the past two weekends that redeemed an up-and-down season that looked like it was going to be characterized in the end by squandered opportunities. They buckled down and played terrific ball for the most part in taking three out of four against North Central and Millikin last weekend when they were close to backs-to-the-wall territory, and did so again this weekend in eliminating Augustana and Carthage and getting to the final day of play. Losing overall record or not, they made this season a success with that strong finish.

Congratulations to each of NPU's departing seniors, and thanks to all of them for their hard work and dedication. In particular, the Vikings are especially going to miss shortstop Seth Dvorak and catcher Cam Adams next season, for their production, their excellence at premium defensive positions, and their leadership. They won't be easy to replace. But the Vikings have plenty coming back, and in terms of pitching the only significant loss is Josh Smith -- who was versatile and rose to the occasion this weekend but who is by no means one of NPU's premier hurlers (that would be Michael Pritts and Matt Pizur). The Vikings could definitely use some more pitching help for next season, and the coaching staff will have to account for the loss of Dvorak and Adams, but the outlook seems bright for next season. North Central will be the unanimous favorite to repeat yet again -- almost the entire Cardinals team will return intact -- but NPU is in position to be one of the top challengers to NCC in 2019.

[Gregory Sager]

Just bringing this forward for recording purposes, since the CCIW website doesn't have this table:

school	apps (first/latest)	W-L (.pct)	chips
Augustana	23 (1989/2018)	29-36 (.446)	3
Carroll	0		0
Carthage	27 (1985/2018)	51-31 (.622)	12
Elmhurst	13 (1985/2012)	17-25 (.405)	1
Illinois Wesleyan	32 (1985/2017)	50-51 (.495)	6
Millikin	2 (1986/1990)	1-3   (.250)	0
North Central	24 (1985/2018)	45-31 (.592)	9
North Park	14 (1987/2018)	14-22 (.389)	3
Wheaton	5 (2008/2017)	2-10 (.167)	0