BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[BigPoppa]

Irish... good to see you are still out there. I was getting worried. Are you going to catch a game in St. Louis this weekend?

I don't know about you, but this regional scares me because of the unknown teams involved... Millsaps and Mt. St. Joes.

[TitanRailer]

I too am sorry to see Augie did not get a bid, but it was not surprising. SuperFan asked me to defend my position that a bid might not have been earned. Here goes:

1. Losing nonconference games to Rockford and Alma (Bad)

2. Losing 2 out of 3 to Wheaton (Really Bad)

3. Losing 2 out of 3 to Cathage (Not bad but it set the stage and ultimately helped confirm Carthage to be the class of the CCIW).

4. Losing to NCC 6-1 at the end of the regular season (Hurt their chances).

5. Splitting 4 games with IWU capped by losing in the CCIW tourney (Virtually guaranteed no bid for Augie with Carthage winning the title game).

6. Other than two excellent pitchers, the rest of the pitching staff struggled big time (Not Good).

All in all a good season for Augie, but not one deserving of a DIII World Series opportunity. I think if they had beaten IWU, they would have been invited, but with the bid on the line they came up short. Regretably the tournament committee agreed. I know some of my posts piss of the Augie faithful, and I would much rather drink Blue & Gold kool aid, but I try to be objective.

Good luck to Carthage. They have the talent to go a long way.

Well, those are good points and obviously reasons for them not making it.  However, those reasons are not what started this conversation.  You claimed that their PITCHING didn't deserve the bid.  Then I put forth the stats of the 5 most used pitchers.  So, in my opinion, you didn't prove anything by listing these points up here that would verify your original statement.  And I think you point #6 above is just overstated.  You are telling me that the rest of the pitching staff struggled BIG TIME??  That is just crazy.  Did you ever play Division III baseball, have you ever followed it really closely before this message board was created?  A 4.00 ERA in a conference such as the CCIW is hardly BIG TIME struggling for college baseball.  Go look up a team like Rowan, a team that was probably one of the last Pool C's.  They have team pitching statistics that are almost exactly the same as Augustana.  Obviously the selection comittee found them to be deserving.  The difference between Augustana and Rowan was most likely that Rowan played tougher competition throughout the year and that made up for their lower record.  So, if you'd like another chance, please explain to me why the PITCHING was not deserving.

Please look at the pitching in the 9 regional losses.  Augie pitchers gave up an average of 6.5 runs per game, including double digits three times.  So, it is safe to say Augie pitching struggled, at times, when it counted.  Although in year's past your comments would hold true, don't over-estimate the CCIW this year.  Only three teams had winning records and 4th place was 8-13.  

Although a good overall record, unfortunately, we know in D3, only region games count, and 9 in-region losses is tough to ignore.  I have trouble with Rowan getting a bid.  I know I haven't seen them play, but the entire selection process is an ON-PAPER process and, on-paper, Augie appears to be the better team.    

[matblake]

Here are all the teams websites from the regional

http://www.carthage.edu/athletics/index.cfm?page=325
http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/baseball/index.shtml
http://www.aurora.edu/athletics/baseball
http://www.msj.edu/athletics/mens/baseball/index.asp
http://bearsports.wustl.edu/baseball/baseball.html
http://www.webster.edu/athletics/mbaseball/main.html

[REDMENFAN]

Just read the sports page today, and Augie is not very thrilled about being the 7th ranked team in the country and having to travel to St. Louis. The paper stated that this is like a flashback from the 2002 squad when they were ranked 2nd in the country and got shipped to mississippi. Its clear in the article that his biggest problem with the decision for Wash U. to host is that they don't have lights, and he tought a field had to have lights in order to host a 6 team regional. He stated that Carthage could have hosted a 6 team regional easily.

Also, for any of you who have access to the kenosha news, there is a classic picture of Augie in yesterdays paper in the umpires grill with his finger right in his face.

[79jaybird]

"Why did Clark Jones leave"

Thanks to those who replied.  I agree that if a Coach is spending too much time in areas where he "shouldn't be and/or shouldn't care"  then you aren't spending enough time where it does matter.
Irish21-- You are right on.  I like Coach Jones, but he can be "out there" sometimes with his actions and mannerisms.
Good luck to the CCIW in the post-season.  Hopefully our guys play better than the *** Cubs!  My beloved Cubbies made me sick with 3 errors in 1 inning, then 2 Wild Pitches in a row to bring home runs.  Ugh!  Baker/Rotchschild/half the team has to go!

[BigPoppa]

Just read the sports page today, and Augie is not very thrilled about being the 7th ranked team in the country and having to travel to St. Louis. The paper stated that this is like a flashback from the 2002 squad when they were ranked 2nd in the country and got shipped to mississippi. Its clear in the article that his biggest problem with the decision for Wash U. to host is that they don't have lights, and he tought a field had to have lights in order to host a 6 team regional. He stated that Carthage could have hosted a 6 team regional easily.

Also, for any of you who have access to the kenosha news, there is a classic picture of Augie in yesterdays paper in the umpires grill with his finger right in his face.

Augie has a way of getting his players re-focused on the game at the right time. He will use the St. Louis thing to motivate his players. Only Augie can make a #1 seed feel like they need to have a chip on their shoulder.
I was also surprised that Wash U hosted without lights. Any rain will certainly upset the weekend. They should reward the #1 or #2 seed with the hosting. If #1 refuses, give it to #2 and so on down the road. It would make the #1 seed much more valuable.

[augie_superfan]

I think Augustana's biggest weakness was the defense.  They only fielded .946 and 34% of their run were unearned...that can hurt.  Also, you mentioned that the pitching staff gave up about 6.5 runs per game but that is not taking into account unearned runs.  I think they actually gave up 37 ER in the 9 games...not completely sure I counted that right though.

[BigPoppa]

I think Augustana's biggest weakness was the defense.  They only fielded .946 and 34% of their run were unearned...that can hurt.  Also, you mentioned that the pitching staff gave up about 6.5 runs per game but that is not taking into account unearned runs.  I think they actually gave up 37 ER in the 9 games...not completely sure I counted that right though.

To look for a silver lining here, I bet if someone were to tell Augie that they were going to be a bubble team at the start of the season, they would have taken that season. They had a GREAT year. Another thing is that they now know exactly what needs to be done to get to the next level. I look for Augustana to be a major player in the CCIW, if not the nation, next year.

[REDMENFAN]

Does anyone know if games will be able to be played Sunday if the weather does not cooperate. When is the deadline to have a winner in the regional?

[bataviapete]

Adding to Auguie's defensive woes was the catching.  Opponents were 60-69 in SB's against them.  They have two top notch catchers coming in next year.  

[augie_superfan]

I think the regionals need to be completed by Monday night...it is somewhere in the handbook, I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

[mr_b]

The CCIW All-Conference teams have been announced:

http://www.cciw.org/spring_baseball/2006bballconferenceteam-1.htm

Congratulations to North Park Head Coach Luke Johnson for being named "Coach of the Year."  He is very deserving of the accolades, not only for the improvement of this year's Viking squad, but also for his tireless work in preparing the players in every facet of the game.

Also recognized were Viking outfielder Pat Zarilla and DH Mike Kuta, both of whom were named to the second team.

Carthage's Scott Evosevich and Augustana's Andrew Setter were named co-pitchers of the year -- both outstanding choices -- and Elmhurst's Anthony Contaldo was player of the year.

Congratulations to all the players who were honored!

[Cooler King]

The CCIW All-Conference teams have been announced:

Congratulations to North Park Head Coach Luke Johnson for being named "Coach of the Year."  He is very deserving of the accolades, not only for the improvement of this year's Viking squad, but also for his tireless work in preparing the players in every facet of the game.

Carthage's Scott Evosevich and Augustana's Andrew Setter were named co-pitchers of the year -- both outstanding choices -- and Elmhurst's Anthony Contaldo was player of the year.

Again congrats to all.  Great to see Contaldo bring some attention to the Jays this year, along with EC alum Johnson. 
Setter, who I believe is from Rockford, helps to prove that some pretty decent players come from the NIC-9, which I believe is an under-recruited conference.

[Cooler King]

I'd be shocked if any of the new players that Luke Johnson brought in this past year cited the baseball field as one of the reasons why they chose to attend NPU.

As I've said before in a post, being a former CCIW lefty, a solid NPU squad would have made the Holmgren Field a nice place to hit for four years.

[REDMENFAN]

Congratulations to all the all conference players. Looking at stats alone, I think Jeff Livek deserved 2nd team, but he just didn't pitch enough in the conference because Carthage's starters almost always went complete games.