BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[SouthPaw]

North Central opens up their season with a three game series at Centre College this Sat and Sun. Hopefully it isnt too cold down there.

[Gregory Sager]

I've put the finishing touches on a new website for North Park Vikings baseball: http://www.cadillac76.com/baseball/home.html  I hope to keep adding historical data, including picture scans and anecdotes from former players, along with current scores, game stories, and statistics.

I recommend that all CCIW baseball fans check out Mr. B's site. It's pretty spiffy!

[Viking Blue]

I'm in.  Former All-CCIW pitcher.  I think it's awesome that there's talk about CCIW baseball on line now.  I will be counting on all of you to give me updates (I am also a high school coach, so I really can't see very many games at all).

How do you all see (I'm sure there are some current players reading this) North Park shaping up this year?

I'd like to see a pre-season ranking from some of you, if possible.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU's baseball preview is up:

http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=RNews.RNews_Story&ID=2601

One thing not mentioned in the article is that Luke Johnson actually had to make cuts to get his roster down to a workable size. While I don't think that there's anything cheerful on a personal level about getting cut from a team, I think that this is great news. It shows that there is a real groundswell of interest in Vikings baseball. I can't remember the last time that a North Park team in any sport had to make preseason cuts. It probably hasn't happened since Bosko Djurickovic was let go in 1994, since the men's basketball team used to have 30-40 guys show up and try to make the team back in the day.

Mr. B, does Luke still have plans in the works for North Park to play a JV schedule this spring?

How do you all see (I'm sure there are some current players reading this) North Park shaping up this year?

I'd like to see a pre-season ranking from some of you, if possible.

The coaches poll has the Park picked to finish sixth. I don't know how accurate the coaches poll has tended to be over the years. I do know for a fact that Luke Johnson will not be a happy camper if his team only finishes in sixth place.

Opening day for NPU is Saturday down in Memphis against Rhodes and Franklin. Hope the weather's good down there for ya, Yank!

[augiefan]

Augie will open their season tomorrow in Florida. It should be a good year for the CCIW with Carthage and IWU the favorites going in.

[Gregory Sager]

Rhodes defeated North Park, 7-6, in NPU's opener this morning on the home field of the Lynx in Memphis. It was the tenth game of the season for the Lynx, who are now 7-3. No word yet on North Park's game this afternoon against Franklin, which I believe was also played at Rhodes.

Augustana opened its season with a split against Widener in Florida, with the Pennsylvanians winning the opener, 9-7, and Augie taking the nightcap, 8-0.

[mr_b]

North Park dropped the nightcap to Franklin College, 6-0.  It was a very tight contest through six-plus innings, but the Grizzlies scored three unearned runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

[Scream]

mr b - any word on today's game against Denison?

[vmax48]

According to Denison's website their Soph pitcher threw a no-hitter vs NPU.  Game was 10-0 in 7 innings.

[yank52]

sad to say that North Park went 0 - 3 on this road trip, they scored 3 runs in the 1st 2 innings of the Rhodes game then proceeded to score 3 runs in the next 23 innings.  they had 2 hits in the 2nd game against Franklin wasting a good outing by the starter. the 3rd game against Dennison was not pretty, no offense and suspect on defense.

I hope they got their innings in and the trip coming up in Phoenix will give the team a chance to redeem themselves or its going to be a long season.

I for one like their chances in Phoenix then a few games of non-conference in sub freezing weather and on to the CCIW !!!!

[mr_b]

According to Denison's website their Soph pitcher threw a no-hitter vs NPU.  Game was 10-0 in 7 innings.

I gave one Viking a hit in the game despite all the press to the contrary.  Frankie Green hit a popup to shallow right.  The second baseman was running with his back to the infield, and as he was reaching for the ball, he collided with the right fielder.  That's not an error in my book.

[mr_b]

According to Denison's website their Soph pitcher threw a no-hitter vs NPU.  Game was 10-0 in 7 innings.

[yank52]

I agree with Mr B, I thought that the play he was referring to was a hit not an error, but the scorer was a Rhodes player not someone who would be unbiased.
The same happened in the 1st game versus (Rhodes/NPU), the scorer was giving the home team a few more hits when they were obviously errors.

Good for you Mr B, I like to give proper acknowledgement to a well pitched game by opponents and I also like it when plays that are obvious are called.

Saying this didn't you think that the officials were calling everything low during this weekend. I wish they would go back to the rules (letters to knees).

Pardon my french "Damn the professional influence of the past 20years!!!"

[REDMENFAN]

Here's the link the the Carthage Baseball preview on the Carthage website. You have to scroll about half way down the page to get to the 2007 recap and 2008 preview.  A lot of great insight from head coach Augie Schmidt.

http://carthage.edu/athleticspages/mens/baseball/preview.html

[KYGrizzly]

Saying this didn't you think that the officials were calling everything low during this weekend. I wish they would go back to the rules (letters to knees).

Not only were they calling them low, they were also giving the pitchers a good 6 inches outside the corners.