BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

[PNeal7]

Hasanove - You are absolutely correct, based on rankings that is about right. But as we all know, "on any given day..."...Especially when one goes and plays on that awful turf infield at Salisbury.

[hasanova]

Hasanova - You are absolutely correct, based on rankings that is about right. But as we all know, "on any given day..."...Especially when one goes and plays on that awful turf infield at Salisbury.

I agree, a great win.  I've been to a football game (20  years ago!) at Salisbury - I don't think I've ever seen their baseball field.

[Boysofsummer21]

Oh Salisbury is a terrible field and on a calm day there is a 30MPH wind. It always feels like it is 40 degrees there to! But the turf to natural grass transition into the outfield is bad and they should allow you to play a short fielder behind the catcher as there is a lot of room back there. Just my fond memories of the place.

PNeal any special plans for Shenandoah's final USA South conference games there next week end maybe the Hokie1 roast or something??!!

[PNeal7]

HaHa...I don't know about that, but I certainly plan on being in Winchester for those 2 games. A HokieOne roast would be interesting though...

[hokieone]

Hokieone will be there!   

[narch]

mu gets a 7-3 win over fc - perry was strong, once again - 8 ip, 3 er and 13 k's - frosh kirby had 3 rbi, 2 of them after fc had cut the mu lead to one - nice win for mu

[narch]

mu finishes its first conference sweep of the season, with a 5-4 10 inning win over fc - judge struggled early, giving up 4 runs in 3.1 ip, but the bullpen (ayers, womble, white) pitched 6.2 scoreless innings to secure the win - it's good to see mu finally have a good sunday on the hill

[Boysofsummer21]

Ok heading into the final weekend and the only thing that we are really able to say is that if CNU splits or sweeps they win the regular season, if SU sweeps they win. After that the seatings get a little more complicated. So here we are anyone want to take a shot at the final standings?

[PNeal7]

I'm not sure about the final standings, but at this point I would say Pitcher of the Year goes to either Goldsmith (CNU) or Perry (MU), and I give the edge to Goldsmith strictly due to him being 4-1 in conference compared to Perry's 2-1. I would say Player of the Year is between a couple guys, with a lot riding on this weekend. In the discussion certainly has to be Pendergraft (SU) and Jaglowski (FC). I would put Nelson (SU) into the mix somewhere for an overall solid season, both at the plate and on the mound. Mark (CNU) may be in the mix as well, and if Madden (CNU) had a big final weekend he could potentially be in the discussions. At this point, I give Pendergraft the edge. I assume whoever wins the regular season will recieve Coach of the Year, so Harvell or Anderson.

Any thoughts? I haven't followed it as closely this year as normal, so the above is based on my limited knowledge of the players and a look at numbers.

[LTBB1971]

Just wondering if the format will be
#4 vs #5, loser plays #1
#2 vs #7
#3 vs #6

[Boysofsummer21]

LTHS - I am assuming so as I have not heard anything about a change

PNeal - I think you are moving down the right path as I agree mostly with what you are saying. As to Pitcher of the Year I think Goldsmith is a very small advantage over Perry but I would say that Fleischman from CNU should be thrown in the mix, know he will never get it as he is a closer but he is 3rd in era overall and 1st in conference for all pitchers that qualify. I think Cory Nelson should get some love simply because he has come up huge for SU and done more than can be expected in filling the Van Sickler hole.

As for Player of the year - Good call on this I think it is between Pendergraft, Mark and Jaglowski with Madden on the outside needing a huge weekend. But don't think you can be wrong with any of these gentlemen.

Coach - It is a winner take all this weekend for this award (CNU vs Shenandoah) lol

[narch]

if pitcher of the year comes down to goldsmith or perry, i think you've GOT to give it to perry for one simple fact...he has been throwing on saturday against the opposing #1 all season long...goldsmith didn't move into this role until ncwc and averett

at this time, the only metric that goldsmith has an advantage over perry in is wins - it is simply much easier to win against a #2 than an ace - perry has pitched 3 more innings in conference play and given up just one more earned run, but has 50 k's to goldsmith's 24 k's

if you're looking for another factor, look beyond the conference games (i don't normally advocate this unless conference only numbers don't allow for easy separation) - perry has pitched very well against the #1 starter for 3 nationally ranked teams and pitched OK (4 ip, 2 er) vs. a fourth nationally ranked team - goldsmith's only notable ooc game was against adrian, and he pitched well, but 1 game vs. a nationally ranked team is not the same as 4

this weekend may provide more separation between the two, but if it doesn't, perry is the choice...

[PNeal7]

I don't think we can go wrong with either Perry or Goldsmith, but I feel that Goldsmith is the pick at this point. They both have the same overall record (4-1), with Perry being 2-1 in conference and Goldsmith 4-1. Goldsmith has a lower ERA both overall and in conference. Goldsmith also has a lower batting average against overall and in conference, as in conference hitters are hitting at a .257 clip against Perry and a  .183 clip against Goldsmith. Both have thrown 2 complete games. Goldsmith has only given up 1 XBH all season, with Perry giving up 10. The area where Perry has a significant advantage, which is an "attractive" stat for pitchers (like HR's and RBI's for hitters) is the K's. While the W's and L's can somewhat be impacted by facing an opposing teams #1 or #2 pitcher, the ERA, BAA, etc. are directly related to the opposing teams lineup, which generally is the same day in and day out.

As noted above, I don't think we can go wrong either way, as both are very solid pitchers having great seasons. It could come down to whoever has a better weekend this coming weekend, with Goldsmith facing Shenandoah and Perry facing NCWC. 

[narch]

While the W's and L's can somewhat be impacted by facing an opposing teams #1 or #2 pitcher, the ERA, BAA, etc. are directly related to the opposing teams lineup, which generally is the same day in and day out.

good points (although i think that baa is no more important than k's...a guy who pitches to contact needs to have a lower baa than a guy who makes people swing and miss - the delta between the two is one earned run in conference play, and perry has pitched 3 more innings) - your analysis neglects the issue of run-suppport vs. the opposing #2 pitcher - it's a lot easier to pitch (and get a win) when your offense is able to score for you against the #2 pitcher from the other team - cnu has scored at least 6 runs in all but one of goldsmith's 5 conference starts and a total of 38 runs in those 5 games...at least some of that has to be the fact that his offense is facing the #2 starter (cnu scored 21 runs in 3 sunday conference games goldsmith stared) - perry has had to pitch against the #1 all five times out and mu has scored more than 6 runs once (this weekend) and a total of 14 runs in those five games - as a former player i think you can understand the difference between pitching when you know your team has a chance to score a lot of runs...the margin for error that perry has had this season has been really small because he has always faced the other team's #1...goldsmith can't say the same

by the way and so that you know i apply this theory evenly, i disagreed publicly (on this board) with the selection of judge over womble for freshman pitcher of the year last year for this very same reason...womble was pitching on sunday most of the season, and judge was a mid-week guy - strength of opponent plays a big part in success, especially if you're measuring that success with wins and losses

we do agree, however, that both are very deserving at this stage...i think this weekend will determine the winner of this award

[Boysofsummer21]

Narch I agree with some of your points and do think this weekend will play into it. Good debate as this is going to go down to the wire.

Now if MU sweeps this weekend they could be in position for the 4 or 5 spot! What do you think should be the right play here?