BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

[cnufan]

http://www.usasouth.net/news/06baseawards.htm awards are out.

[narch]

http://www.usasouth.net/news/06baseawards.htm awards are out.

goose - thanks for the heads up...interesting stuff

maloney gets the award based largely on his performance in non-conference games...he hit .413 with 17 r, 3 hr, 14 rbi and 2 sb in 18 conference games, but a whopping .429 with 18 r, 6 hr, 32 rbi and 1 sb against non-conference foes - his numbers are hard to argue with, but give me a guy like steve cornelius, who steps up in the games that really matter (conference games) 8 days a week - cornelius hit .395 with 17 r, 0 hr, 20 rbi and 2 sb in 18 conference games, and hit .348 with 7 r, 0 hr, 14 rbi and 1 sb in 14 non-conference games...or maybe a guy like chris pecora from ncwc who hit .365, 18 r, 2 hr, 17 rbi, 12 sb in conference games but slumped a bit to .355, 19 r, 0 hr, 10 rbi, 16 sb in 20 non-conf games

gc had 5 first-team all conference players, yet finished 4th in the conference...the first place monarchs hasd 3 first teamers, the 2nd place bishops had 3 and 3rd place ferrum had 1 - the pride also placed 2 on the second team to the monarchs one and ferrum's 2 (ncwc placed 5 on the second team and another 2 on the 3rd team to lead the conference with 10 all-conf selections)

[narch]

another interesting question - when is gc going to turn all these major individual awards into something better than a #4 seed?

in the last 4 years gc has been:
#4 seed, despite having the offensive poty (2006)
#5 seed, despite having the offensive poty (2005)
#6 seed, despite having the pitcher oty (2004)
#5 seed, despite having the rookie pitcher oty (2003)

gc has garnered 25% of the individual awards over the last 4 years, and has never been better than a #4

[JAF]

Any word on Game 1 of the tournament?

Goose are you out there?

[cnufan]

Ya Im here in sunny Burlington. CNU took game one, 4-3 over the Pride. Kenny Moreland, CNU's only first team all-conference performer pitching on three days rest tossed a complete game win for the Captains. You can reach the tournament website thru cnu's webpage and the USA South site.

Game two going on right now, NC Wesleyan leads 2-0 in the top of the third inning.

[BigPoppa]

Why is their conference tourney played so early? Most conference don't have their until another three weeks from now. What do they do while waiting for the bids to come out?

[narch]

Why is their conference tourney played so early? Most conference don't have their until another three weeks from now. What do they do while waiting for the bids to come out?

bigpoppa - i can only speak for mc, but i know it's traditionally been a good time for the monarchs to play some strong regional competition - traditionally the monarchs will play teams like hsc, emory, york and salisbury (as they are this year) - in years that you win the conference tourney, these games give you a good insight into the teams you may face in the upcoming regional - in years that  you don't win the conference tourney (like last year for mc), it gives you a chance to play your way into a pool c slot - it didn't work so well for the monarchs last year, despite going 2-0 vs. emory, beating b'water and splitting with salisbury to end the season after a 2-2 showing in the conference tourney (losing 2 one-run games to ferrum)

another consideration is finals - i know the last week of april is always finals week at mc, so even if you pushed it back, you could really only push it back one week

lastly (and i think this is GREAT) the conference has gone to a nuetral location and all of the spring conference tournaments are being held in one city (burlington)...there may have been some availability issues with facilities in and around burlington

[narch]

goose - updates all day would be much appreciated - good win for the captains...in the poll above i considered cnu the biggest threat, along with ncwc because of pitching depth, then mc because of their finish and ferrum because...well they're ferrum and they're always a threat to win this tournament - i don't think any other teams have a legit chance to win, but we'll see soon enough!

[cnufan]

Plus, I think Averett's exams start next week if not mistaken, they get done REAL early.

Update: NCW still leads the Cougars 2-0, bottom of the six. NCW scored twice in the first and neither team has really threatened since then.

[JAF]

Goose,

Thanks for the updates, the USA south is not posting any updates and is very slow to post the results.

Do you have any insight as to who will get the ball for the Captians tonight against the Monarchs? Both Blanchard and Brower would be going on only 2 days rest if they were called on tonight.

[cnufan]

The problem here is that we are on a dial up modem, there is no highspeed line in the pressbox, so we are on dial up here which sucks, but, you take what you get. Still 2-0 NCW going into the bottom of the 8th inning. Five total hits between the two teams from the 2nd thru the top of the 8th.

Rumor has it that Steven Mingee will get the start tonight for the Capts. He tossed three innings I think on Sunday and threw well. But that hasnt been confirmed for sure.

JAF - Do I know you?

[cnufan]

NCW finished off Averett 3-0. Great pitchers dual between Pearson and Shumate.

[narch]

goose...update me...when you get a chance

[cnufan]

Sorry narch!! Been busy, just got back to the hotel.

Shenandoah won in 10, 13-6, they score eight in the top of the 10th.

MC won a barnburner 4-3 in 12 over CNU. Capts led 1-0, MC scored two on a bloop single in no-man's land to go up 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th. Capts scratch a run across to tie it at 2-2 in the top of the 9th. CNU re-took the lead in the top of the 11th with a single run. MC answered with two outs with a run in the bottom of the inning. MC won it with a base hit to center in the 12th. Great game, looong damn day.

[narch]

goose - thanks for the update...i read the game story first thing this morning...sounds like a GREAT game - the capts had me worried, and apparently rightfully so - russell, carter and hunt came up HUGE for the monarchs and brandt sounds like he really answered the call - he pitched 10.2 innings with 13 k's and allowed just 8 hits - mc used varnell for just 1.1 inning, so he should be ready to go if needed on friday - that's a HUGE win for the monarchs...lots of elimination games today