BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[REDMENFAN]

Two other guys who were as intimidating as they come in D3 baseball were Dan Grybash and Dusty Reid, who most went unbeaten during the regular season, Grybash finished that year 9-0 with an ERA in the low 1's

[BigPoppa]

Another guy I would have never stepped in against was Todd Greenlee, but for different reasons.  He could throw a baseball through a brick wall, but you never knew where it was going!!  I think "Horse" still holds the Carthage record for walks ina game with 11!!

Horse was a wildman.... In addition to the 11 walks that day, he also hit 5-6 Lakeland batters. He gave up 6-7 runs while throwing a 1-hitter! Augie just kept sending him back out to the hill and told him to figure it out.

He was even wilder in the dorms. Man, the stories about that guy that I could tell...

[REDMENFAN]

BP, when did you play at Carthage?

[Spence]

The only time I ever saw Grybash he got lit up in the Series.

[REDMENFAN]

Yeah Carthage struggled in the series his soph. year. His junior year, as I said, Augie did something because Grybash rarely walked hitters, and actually started to locate is pitches very well. I'm sure if he would've came back his senior year instead of signing with the Brewers he would've had another great year. I believe his soph. year Dan actually had a few losses. Once he developed a splitty and more than just a get me over curveball, he was nearly untouchable at the D3 level

[BigPoppa]

BP, when did you play at Carthage?

I played from '93-'96...

[BigPoppa]

The only time I ever saw Grybash he got lit up in the Series.

Typical assessment by you, Spence. The only players that ever have, currently are, or ever will be any good, either played for, are playing for, or will play for Marietta.

[Captain Morgan]

The only time I ever saw Grybash he got lit up in the Series.

Typical assessment by you, Spence. The only players that ever have, currently are, or ever will be any good, either played for, are playing for, or will play for Marietta.

Poppa-
Once again your honesty is right on. I may not always agree with your assessments, but I always respect your honesty. I think board needs to have a "debate-off" between you and Ralph over your favorites: Carthage vs. McMurry.

I have no idea of why people take your karma away simply because you are not afraid to talk about the elephant in the room. Keep posting the truth, BigPoppa.

[BigPoppa]

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's

NCAA Div. III Pre-Season Poll (As of Dec. 26)

www.baseballnews.com

Rank    School Name '06 Final Record Point Totals
1. Otterbein, OH 34-16 252
2. Chapman, CA 33-13 248
3. Montclair St. 35-19-2 246
4. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 35-18 244
5. Southern Maine 32-17 241
6. Eastern Conn. St. 36-20 240
7. Marietta, OH 43-11 238
8. Coll. of New Jersey 38-8 235
9. Wheaton, MA 42-10 232
10. North Carolina Wesleyan 31-19 229
11. Cortland St., NY 39-9 226
12. Aurora, IL 34-14 225
13. Wooster, OH 38-9 222
14. St. Thomas, MN 31-11 220
15. Kean, NJ 31-17 217
16. Millsaps 37-13 215
17. Ripon, WI 34-7 212
18. Texas Lutheran 35-13-1 209
19. Carthage, WI 34-9 208
20. Ithaca, NY 33-11 206
21. Salisbury, MD 37-10 204
22. Western New England, MA 35-12 202
23. Rensselaer Poly. Inst., NY 34-11 197
24. Rowan, NJ 30-15 196
25. Augustana, IL 31-10 194
26. Trinity, TX 34-13 191
27. George Fox, OR 29-15 190
28. St. Olaf, MN 30-10 189
29. Bridgewater, VA 32-14-1 185
30. Manchester, IN 35-11 183
     Washington, MO 34-7 183
Other Top Teams: Emory, GA (31-9), St. Scholastica, MN (37-6), California Lutheran (20-19-1), William Paterson, NJ (26-14), Johns Hopkins, MD (28-9-2), Mount St. Joseph, OH (30-17), Alvernia, PA (30-13), York, PA (25-16-1), Methodist, NC (26-17), Washington & Jefferson, PA (34-13), LaGrange, GA (26-16), Texas-Tyler (28-11).
Source: Collegiate Baseball newspaper

Thoughts? Overated? Underated?

[mwunder]

Since Milsaps lost their All-American, Garner Wetzel, I'd have to think that his numbers from last season will be hard to replace.  They might be high at #16.

Cortland-SUNY returns 5 starting pitchers that went a combined 33-5 last season with over 250 Innings pitched and they return 2 of their top 4 hitters (batting average).  They might be ranked low at #11.  (thanks for the catch Mr. Sager)

I can't find anything on the Aurora website about returnees, etc.

Point only lost three to graduation, but they were the starting SS (Frombach) and OF Brehm (16 HRs) as well as 7-2 SP Perkins.  They still have a stud in Zimmerman and will be tough.

The other WI school that is ranked, Ripon lost 4 of it's top 5 hitters from last season and 2 of their top 4 pitchers.  I'm not sure they belong here.

How's that to generate a little discussion??

Poppa / Red_MenFan, et all... if Carthage made web-broadcasts of their baseball games available, would you be interested?

[BigPoppa]

Poppa / Red_MenFan, et all... if Carthage made web-broadcasts of their baseball games available, would you be interested?

I would certainly be interested. Easier to keep track of Augie's ranting on-line.

[REDMENFAN]

Yes I would most likely listen quite a bit. Better than calling the Carthage sports hotline every ten minutes or so when Carthage is on the road!

[BigPoppa]

The other WI school that is ranked, Ripon lost 4 of it's top 5 hitters from last season and 2 of their top 4 pitchers.  I'm not sure they belong here.

I think Ripon is starting its fall from grace after Gordie Gillespie left the program two years ago. He was a great recruiting tool for Ripon and now that he is gone, it will be interesting to see how their recruiting classes pan out. This year and next year are when the first classes that he did not recruit will be expected be impact players. I am betting that Ripon will return to the level they were prior to his arrival.

The one advantage they have is that they play in a weak conference and can pile up wins while letting young guys develop.

[REDMENFAN]

BP, I agree. Ripon plays in a very weak conference overall, and hasn't done much in the postseason.  I know they sure take it seriously when they play Carthage. BP you know Augs will never throw any of his top 4-5 guys in a midweek nonconference double header, not even for a few innings. Ripon, along with some other teams, will be throwing their top guns to get the wins. I understand their reasoning, because it will look great to the voters and keep them up in the rankings. Don't get me wrong, Carthage tries to win those games, but conference is much more important. Augie most of the time will also play a lot of back up position players who see little or no time in conference games.

[BigPoppa]

BP, I agree. Ripon plays in a very weak conference overall, and hasn't done much in the postseason.  I know they sure take it seriously when they play Carthage. BP you know Augs will never throw any of his top 4-5 guys in a midweek nonconference double header, not even for a few innings. Ripon, along with some other teams, will be throwing their top guns to get the wins. I understand their reasoning, because it will look great to the voters and keep them up in the rankings. Don't get me wrong, Carthage tries to win those games, but conference is much more important. Augie most of the time will also play a lot of back up position players who see little or no time in conference games.

I know what you are saying. Carthage comes to town and it is a big event on some campuses. They fire the best guns at Carthage mid-week because they can still win without them on the weekend(conference). Carthage always throws their middle relievers in those games to get them work and keeps their big guns in the holster.

I remember playing a Friday night DH at Marian once and they threw their #1 and #2 even with conference games the following day. We swept the DH and they got hammered on the weekend with their 3-5 throwing games. They would be smarter to throw their 1 and 2 on the weekends as conference is more important. Augie understands that and will throw his #1 and #2 against even the worst teams on the schedule. I know they threw their 1 and 2 at a 1-39 North Park team a few years ago.