BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[upandin]

I agree 100 %, this is a one man race.  Hyland had a great year, along with Probasco and Wuebker (BV) and Eisenmann (Central),  but Lewis was the best from start to finish.  The tournament can still play a huge part.  Look at last year, Martijn locked it up with not 1, but 2 strong performances in the tournament.   In the end, the # 1 factor is how will the coaches vote?   I have it at 6 votes for Lewis, 2 votes for Hyland.  BV is a toss up. Coe didn't see Hyland, and Lewis dominated Luther.

                                    Hyland                          Lewis
BV=  TOSS UP              Loss ( 9H, 3R, 1BB, 1K)           No Decision ( 13H, 10R, 1BB, 2K)
Wartburg= HYLAND       Win x2  (11H, 5R, 1BB, 6K)     No Decision ( 12H, 8R, 3BB, 6K)
Central = LEWIS          Loss (7H, 5R, 0BB, 7K)            Win (3H, 2R, 3BB, 7K)
Coe =LEWIS                DID NOT PITCH   vs Coe      
Simpson=LEWIS          Loss ( 11H, 5R, 1BB, 5K)         Win (3H, 2R, 3BB, 7K)
Luther =HYLAND                                                         Win (2H, 0R, 0BB, 10K)
Loras =LEWIS              Win x 2 (10H, 3R, 5BB, 5K)      Win (3H, 0R, 2BB, 5K)
UD=LEWIS                   Win (4H, 1R, 0BB, 7K)              Win (6H, 0R, 1BB, 12K)
Cornell=LEWIS             Win (2H, 0R, 1BB, 6K)             Win x2 (11H, 5R, 1BB, 17K)

And O- by the way,  Lewis also tied a IIAC single season strike out record set in 1995 (66).

Sports fan I wouldn't say he "Struggled mightily"

The BV game:  Friday night in Storm Lake, wind blowing strait out, matchup vs Probasco ( he 2 best pitchers in conference at the time)  The two teams combined for 29 Runs, 38 Hits, 6 2B, and 7 HR.  Probasco and Lewis tried to keep the ball in the park for 5.1 and 5.2 innings.  The game was 11-10 when they both came out.  Considering the conditions both pitchers battled.

The Wartburg  game:  Friday night in Waverly, again wind blowing strait out only this time it was also raining and a muddy mess, matchup vs Watson ( two top strikeout pitchers in conference)  The two teams combined for 22 Runs, 27 Hits, 5 2B, 2HR, and 10 wet field errors resulting in 6 unearned runs.  Considering the conditions all pitchers battled.

[TheSportsFan]

Well, I was only considering numbers........if you want to consider conditions, Hyland gave up 3 home runs at Central in a tiny ballpark with ridiculous winds blowing out to center.  Hyland also threw a gem at Wartburg with winds blowing out.

You can't argue with the numbers, both Lewis and Hyland could make a case for this one.  Side note, Did Probasco really only walk two guys in 37.2 Innings!!!

Player of the Year?

Looks like a toss up between Pietrzyk and Grau.........

Another interesting question.........how much does a player's value on their team effect these awards?  Does it have any effect?

For instance, Pietrzyk has huge numbers, but Hoffman and Kloewer of BV also have huge numbers, Grau is slightly more a one-man show at Wartburg (Yoder and Schmitt did some decent things as well).

[youcantseemestill]

Tied the conference record for strikeouts in one season.  That statement alone makes this one the most dominating seasons in the history of the conference.  If you have one of the most dominating seasons in the history of the conference, have a 7-0 record, and pitch for a team going to the conference tourney.......you win the award.  I don't care about certain stats, the thing that matters the most to me is wins and losses.  If a pitcher hasn't lost, and has more wins that anyone he is the best pitcher. 

And for the record, Lewis dominated a Luther team that just got done lighting up Cody Raisch for the previous 2 hours. 

Here is where I think the argument is made for Lewis that is undeniable.  If we were talking about deciding on these two kids for one all-conference spot, there is room for some debate for Hyland.  However, when talking about the pitcher of the year.  An individual award based on individual accomplishments and domination, Lewis's numbers trump Hyland. 

[upandin]

In my opinion, how important one player is for his team should have no effect on the voting.  The voting is about the body of work / stats, and how each player played against each of the coaches teams.   If you took any of these top players off their team, it would make a huge difference in the conference standings.  This conference is just that tight.  Grau had a good year but Pietrzyk has a body of work that is just better.  He is the best player on the best team.  He is in the top 5 in every offensive category, except home runs.  The categories that Grau is better are HR ( by 6 ), and Total Bases ( by 3), Slug %, and OB%.  Not to mention Pietrzyk had 6 appearances on the mound (in conference) yielding a 0.00 ERA, 1 save, and a .053 batting average against.  Not many saves to be had the way his team pounded people all year.  In my opinion this is a one man race as well. 

[wartburgalum]

So we are underway with the tourny and not much discussion.  I wouldn't mind hearing some predictions.

I am going to stick with my Knights.  I think they will come in swinging and hopefully get some timely pitching. 

[BigPoppa]

So we are underway with the tourny and not much discussion.  I wouldn't mind hearing some predictions.

I am going to stick with my Knights.  I think they will come in swinging and hopefully get some timely pitching. 

I took Wartburg in the pre-season and I am not going to change now. I am too proud to admit I may have been wrong.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther won over Central 11-8 last night.  Hyland suprisingly was involved in a high scoring game.  He moved to 8-3 on the year.  Jeff Riddle and Steve Beckman both had 3 hits for the Norse.

Luther was up 9-0 going into the bottom of the 4th.

Today the Norse lost to Wartburg just now, 6-4.  The game was 2-2 in the 8th when Wartburg scored 4 runs on a couple of doubles.  Sophomore Augie Lindmark had pitched well up to that point, but he walked at least one and hit a batter in that inning.

Luther got 2 runs back in the 9th and had 2 guys on for Schott.  Ben hit a ball that the Wartburg pitcher tipped to slow down enough that the SS made the play at 2nd to end the game.  Schott was 2-5 but hit into 2 double plays and left 2 guys on base in the 9th.  Riddle also had a tough day at the plate even though Reynolds had 4 hits.

Hard to pick on Riddle and Schott when they have had very good years.  Besides, the bottom 6 hitters in the order for the Norse had 2 hits.  Lindmark rarely started this year, but his last two starts were pretty hopeful for the Norse going into next year.

It is about winning the tight games and having lots of pitching.  I don't know about the pitching, but I still think B.V. is the team to beat.  Luther does not have much pitching left at this point unless Riddle throws one of his better league games to string this out enough to get back to Hyland (if he can go).

Big wins for Wartburg and B.V. today.  They both took care of business after getting the bye as well.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Congrats to B.V. for winning both the regular season title and now the conference tourney and the automatic bid!  Have a good regional and let's get somebody to the World Series!

Congrats as well to Luther Softball for going undefeated in winning their NCAA Regional this past weekend!  The Norse are now 41-5 on the season going into their NCAA World Series and the only real blemish on their season is that they were 13-2 in the IIAC with one game that was never made up with Dubuque while Simpson was 14-2 and got to play all the games.  I would love to see rules altered in both baseball and softball to make the conference title as legit as possible.

Three IIAC softball teams made postseason appearances again this year.  I would love the IIAC to get back to the days of having two teams make the NCAA baseball field.

[upandin]

The IIAC will not get more than one team in the post season until ALL the baseball teams in the conference start playing and winning regional games outside of the IIAC.  UD and Cornell are killing the IIAC's sos.  And only 2 teams played a schedule ranked in the top 100 nationally.

Conference SOS             National Rank (of 368)
1.Wartburg                     41
2. BV                               95
3. Cornell                        112
4. Simpson                      140
5. Coe                             194
6. Central                        214
7. Luther                         231
8. Loras                          258
9. Dubuque                    300     

Conference win %   National Rank  (of 368)
1. BV                              26
2. Central                       78
3. Coe                            91
4. Simpson                     112
5. Wartburg                   137
6. Luther                        142
7. Loras                         258
8. Dubuque                    314
9. Cornell                       361

[Kohawk Krazy]

Congrat's to Coe's Alec Lewis for being named the IIAC Pitcher of the Year.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I say congrats to Lewis as well!

From a Norse perspective, I am very happy with the voting as Hyland and Schott were the only clear 1st team players in Decorah this year.  With them both being seniors who have contributed multiple years as main parts of the team, it is nice to see them finish their careers with 1st team honors.

Topping and Reynolds were both 2nd team players last year, but I actually thought the most consistent bat after Schott this year in Decorah was Mark Weber and then maybe Riddle.  Riddle and Reynolds ended up being 2nd team players this year, but Weber was on that level as well.

Reynolds has already had a good career at Luther, but next year as a junior I assume he might have to be the center of the lineup rather than hitting in the #2 slot.

Returning position players with starting experience for the Norse next year:

Reynolds               (2B) .367 with 11 doubles and 21 RBIs
Steve Beckman     (SS) .248 with 23 RBIs (.368 in 2009)
Ryan Bahnemann (3B) .324 with 13 doubles and 21 RBIs
Joe Thompson       (OF) .267 with 14 RBIs (.303 in 2009)
Mitchel Obey         (OF) .337 with 13 RBIs
Matthew Bruhn      (OF) .328 with 12 RBIs
Kevin Bradley        (C)   .220 with 17 RBIs

The hitting lineup needs to get better as a group or find a way to replace Schott with someone else having a huge year.

The pitching staff is a whole different issue as the mound staff hasn't looked this thin on paper going into the next season since 2006 (Todd and Kohls were the best pitchers as freshman that year).  Smith and Lindmark look like they will be fighting for starting roles next year, but who else?

[Floyd in Iowa City]

The 2010 Baseball All-IIAC team

http://www.iowaconference.com/men/baseball/all_conference/2010.htm

[Kohawk Krazy]

Congrats to Coe's Ryan Schisler on being a First Team Academic All-American.  Pretty big honor.

[bbplayer]

2011 predictions anyone? I think UD will be much improved as they did make strides last year with many freshman starters.They have all returned as sophs and have some baseball players.

[BigPoppa]

I put Dubuque in the bottom three in the IIAC.