BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

[Will2Win]

SU getting throttled by Bridgewater College 9-1 after 2 complete....ouch!

12-8 BC over SU after 6 complete...Either the wind is blowing out or both teams are squaring em' up, 7 combined HR's thru the 6th.

Ha, WOW....Shenadoah does it in walk-off fashion again....3B C. Nelson gives the hornets the win with an RBI single thru the left side with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Great win for SU, down 9-1 after two and they claw back to get the W. Pitching appears to have been roughed up until K.A. brought in his horses that he relies on in big time games. Once again they come thru and remain undefeated. Best team in the south.

[Boysofsummer21]

Bossman, yes good win for Shenandoah today but this game did more to hurt your argument then help it. SU can flat out hit the ball but they have two conference series coming up where this would not happen. Bridgewater appeared to throw a new pitcher every inning and not go with any of the main starters till the end and SU pitching was far from good. Scallion did a good job and deserved the win but he was not his sharpest either. But your closer is around to get outs and he did that. Good job! Do you think that if you spot Methodist or CNU 12 runs you are coming back like that? Don't think so. So SU should stop worry about being called the best in the south and start to work on their pitching because you won't get where you want to be giving up 12.

[D-BAT]

Caught this game today.  Bridgewater swung it early and often to build a 9 to 1 lead.

My question for the Bridgewater coaching staff ... you have runners on 1st and 2nd with 1out? and did some type of hit and run or steal and get the guy thrown out at 3rd base by 10 feet.  Still scratching my head on that one.

In the bottom of the 9th, SU has runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1st base open, 1-out and SU's #11 up at the plate, why didn't you put him on 1st base with IBB?

[rolln2]

One thing for sure arm chair coaches are never wrong.  It's nice to be a fan isn't it.  That's why we can say anything and never be wrong.

[Boysofsummer21]

Rolln - Amen I am the best coach I know and I have never been wrong after the fact! 

[Boysofsummer21]

My earlier post may have seemed harsh, I did not mean it that way it was a good win by Shenandoah but what I would like to see is as many teams for the USA SOuth ranked and in the mix at the end so to all teams let get busy. Methodist you are moving up keep up the good work. CNU and Shenandoah need to continue to be as good as they have let see if we can get 3 teams ranked!

[Will2Win]

My earlier post may have seemed harsh, I did not mean it that way it was a good win by Shenandoah but what I would like to see is as many teams for the USA SOuth ranked and in the mix at the end so to all teams let get busy. Methodist you are moving up keep up the good work. CNU and Shenandoah need to continue to be as good as they have let see if we can get 3 teams ranked!

You guys are awfully funny, reminds me of Batman(boysofsummer) and Robin(rolln2) kinda thing you guys have going for ya.....but if you think SU's gonna spot any conference team 12 runs with Van Sickler on the bump YOU guys are the ones that need to think again. Like I said earlier this spring, glad to see everyone in the USAS stepping up and playing good ball again. We'll see you guys the first weekend in April, we'll see which team really is the best team in the south.  . I'm pretty sure I can make these claims until someone takes that title from SU, correct? And rollin'....it's easy to sit back and be the side kick, all you gotta do is chirp in when your buddy says something that you find clever. Whatever works though, I'll leave the CNU/SU trash talk alone until after we meet! Later boys

[Boysofsummer21]

Hey Bossman don't get mad, just saying the SU needs to stay hungry is all. They are a good team no doubt so don't rest now USA South needs to make sure everyone knows they are the best conference in all of NCAA. SU is the current champs so yes they have the crown right now and someone will need to knock it off. As for the CNU vs SU game,, well if you are east of the mississipi river you should be there as I think it will be a classic duel. And I don't think VanSickler would spot the Yankees 12..

[Will2Win]

Hey Bossman don't get mad, just saying the SU needs to stay hungry is all. They are a good team no doubt so don't rest now USA South needs to make sure everyone knows they are the best conference in all of NCAA. SU is the current champs so yes they have the crown right now and someone will need to knock it off. As for the CNU vs SU game,, well if you are east of the mississipi river you should be there as I think it will be a classic duel. And I don't think VanSickler would spot the Yankees 12..

Just voicing my opinion bud, it is what it is...no hard feelings. Had to take a stab at you guys, you know!

[Boysofsummer21]

hey I welcome it. Be proud be loud or go home! I am a proud fan of the USA South and love the fact that there are teams playing this well.

[narch]

I agree. He knows the game inside and out. He knows more about the game than anyone I have ever met and he rubs off on his players. Alot of Players come in there freshman year lacking "baseball savy" and by the first game of the season they will have the mental part of the game down. The man is a great teacher and demands that the game be played one way. He treats the worst player in the program the same as the best player in the program.

Finally, He is a great motivator. He knows how to get the best out of his players. I know the speech last year at the conference tourny after we had lost the first game on sunday to CNU sure got us PUMPED for game 2.

Would have to agree with ya on all the above, with the exception being I wasnt in the pregame pep-talk! The guy's a genious...he taught me things on the baseball field that I would have never thought about on my own. He really expects his baseball players to not only be good players, but to be students of the game. He preaches that as much as he does the physical/athletic aspect of the game as well.  Great all around guy!

ka a genius?  Nobody in the game of [baseball] should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein.

seriously, though...if you're an su fan or former su player, i would expect you to be proud of your coach and coaching staff, but there are a number of really good coaches and coaching staffs in the usasac...kinda hard to say which one is the best

i lean more toward tom austin than kevin anderson - austin has 13 conference championships in 31 seasons, while kevin anderson is sitting at 0 conference championships in 8 years right now...austin's teams have won 39 or more games 4 times in 31 years, while anderson has yet to eclipse that mark - tom austin teams have won fewer than 25 games just once in his tenure, while su teams have eclipsed 25 wins only 3 times in the kevin anderson era - including this season, tom austin has a career .705 winning % vs. kevin anderson's .659 (and let's face it, until this year, su wasn't exactly known for scheduling a who's who of regional or national powerhouses and the monarch schedule routinely includes some of the best teams in the region/country) – i haven't crunched numbers for other usasac coaches, but charlie long at ncwc has something no other usasac coach has, and that's a national championship ring...harvell has been at cnu for one year longer than anderson has been at su, and has a higher winning % and has finished 2nd and 3rd in the world series

don't get me wrong...i like kevin anderson as a coach, and his hornet teams are on an incredible three year run which could culminate in a pretty special year this year, but before we get too hyperbolic, let's put what he has accomplished in proper perspective

[hokieone]

Narch, Good perspective. Tom Austin has an amazing record, and, speaking as a father of an opposing player, he's an awfully nice guy. A few years ago, during the USAS Tourny, he plopped down and just shot the baseball breeze with some CNU dads for quite a while-very impressive man.  Coach Anderson has done a wonderful job turning around Shenandoah from a perennial doormat to a very strong program, and his teams play very good baseball. They hold the crown.   He's an awfully good "in game" coach and certainly knows and teaches the game.  Personally, I kind of like the job Coach Harvell has done at CNU-very different style, he's pretty laid back, definitely doesn't blast the vocals like KA is able to do occasionally,  but his players are comfortable and enjoy playing for him, team chemistry is always good, and CNU is at or near the top of the USAS every single year.  It's not by accident.   Of course coaches always look better when they can attract top talent, and all three coaches mentioned have done that.   MU and CNU have much longer track records of success, but SU is on top now until they get knocked off-which I hope happens in April, in Newport News.       It should be a great weekend series for the USAS and for D III baseball. Shenandoah travels well and they have vocal fans, and CNU should have quite a crowd-and hopefully the women's basketball team will be walking around the place with a national title by then (they're in the final 4 this weekend.)

p.s. I think Van Sickler is a pure stud, on the mound and at the plate, and expect to see him drafted come June, but yes, he would give up 12 to the Yankees, as would just about any pitcher in the conference.

[PNeal7]

I agree with Narch, and HokieOne as well. I'm sure me agreeing w/ HokieOne comes as no surprise  . Taking CNU out of it, because obviously I have personal bias towards the Captains, I give my hat to Austin as a coach. It's impossible not to respect the man. Year in and year out, his teams are flat fundamentally sound, including all "small ball" aspects of the game. I easily remember one year when they just small balled us straight to a loss.

Good comeback win for SU; however, it certainly does raise some concerns. When you put Van Sickler v Chitaz on the hill, you've got two very, very good pitchers; an even matchup. However, when the Sunday game rolls around, CNU does not loss anything between their #1 to #2 starter (Goldsmith), whereas as SU clearly, clearly does. After Van Sickler, the lowest ERA on SU's staff by anyone who has a start is 4.85. CNU has 3 guys after Chitaz with an ERA under 3.20. I'm not saying this is going to be the difference, but it is certainly something to note.


My Captains have 1 more today against Wisconsion-Platteville, then head to NCWC for the weekend.

[Will2Win]

Narch, I won't even bother replying to anything else you say after this post until you stop taking everything I say out of context. Not ONCE, did I ever say KA was the best coach in the conference and not ONCE did I say he has a better track record than the coaches you have stated....I was simply stating he knows the game of baseball like no other coach I had ever played for! So, unless you just have it out for me or KA, I dont know why you take offense to what you've quoted of mine...   

[PNeal7]

It can be solved pretty simply: Harvell, Austin, Anderson, and Long are all very, very good coaches that product quality clubs year in and year...and I think everyone agrees with that.