BB: SUNYAC

[magicman]

Congrats to Dave Filak.  I could only imagine the joy he felt when he found out.  I hope he makes it to the show and beats the Mets real soon!  I hope he represents the SUNYAC well.

I'll go along with that! Having been a Braves fan since 1952, I was especially glad that Filak was drafted by them. I sure hope it works out for him. Being a D3 guy, playing in the SUNYAC conference, and now (I hope) signing and playing for the Braves, gives me three good reasons to follow his career.

[magicman]

Dave Filak is off to a decent start in his professional career. He's playing for the Danville Braves in the Appalachian League and their season started on June 22nd.
Filak got his 1st start on Saturday June 26th and walked the first batter he faced. After getting the next 2 batters to hit ground outs to 2nd and 3rd, he then walks 2 more batters to load the bases but gets his first professional strikeout to end the inning with no damage. He then retires the next 5 guys he faces in the 2nd and 3rd innings before an error puts a runner on with 2 out in the 3rd. He gets the 3rd out on a fly ball and the team manager decides he has worked enough and replaces him to start the 4th with the Braves up 5-0. Too bad they didn't leave him in for 2 more innings so he could have claimed his 1st professional win. Braves ended up winning the game 9-2 and Filak's stat line was 3 innings pitched 0 hits 0 runs 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. 5 days later he started again and went 5 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 run, with 1 walk and 4 K's. When he left the game the Braves were losing 1-0 and Filak was on the hook for the loss. The Braves never tied the game up or took the lead and ended up losing 6-3 resulting in Filak's 1st decision as a pro and it left him at 0-1. So after 2 starts, Filak has pitched 8 innings giving up 1 run, 3 hits, 4 walks, and recorded 7 strikeouts. His ERA is 1.13. Not too shabby. Hope he continues to improve and move up the ranks in the Braves farm system.     

[theguru25]

Did Filak get hurt? I noticed he hasnt pitched since July 6th. Anyone have some info?

[RSSmith]

Did Filak get hurt? I noticed he hasnt pitched since July 6th. Anyone have some info?

He pitched one inning in relief a couple of days ago, so my guess is he was injured.

[magicman]

Did Filak get hurt? I noticed he hasnt pitched since July 6th. Anyone have some info?

I gave a Dave Filak update yesterday. Go to National Topics and click on the D3 players in minor leagues board. Also gave an update on former St. John Fisher hurler, Dan Jurik, who just recently joined Filak on the Danville Braves of the Appalachian League.

[CobbSpikes2B]

What do you guys think about the new conference schedules for SUNYAC? Best of 3 series now on Fridays and Saturdays...instead of doubleheaders on saturday and sunday. I think it's better because of the BS tiebreakers at the end of the year because the competition is so good other than the always winning team of Cortland everyone else always splits.

[cs2to6]

I like the 3 game series.  Many other conferences use this format, and it will allow every team to use its top 3 starters.  

[reddragon00]

I think it is great to see this happen.  Now we will really see how good some of these teams are.  Never did like how some teams could load up on the stronger teams and then throw off on the weaker teams.  Cortland always saw 1 and 2's always.  Now when they see a three......WOW!  Case in point in Oneonta State.  Had 7 wins last year in conf and Filak had 5 of them.  That will change a little.  I always liked the way E8 dose it and the Liberty League with 4 game sets.  Can't wait.

[ballsy]

word has it a major transfer out of cortland program.... big shoes to fill

[John McGraw]

word has it a major transfer out of cortland program.... big shoes to fill

It's mentioned in the Utica OD so it's public knowledge. Jason Simone has transferred to or is in the process of transferring to D-II Mount Olive.

[StarvinMarvin]

The Simone kid leaving won't make a huge difference...that program is not built on any one player especially one with a poor attitude and me first motivation.  The kid is a midget who has the arm of a tee league shortstop...word is he thinks he got shafted by not getting drafted and it's the program's fault apparently.  Geez, guess all those Cortland kids who played pro ball got shafted too...what a joke!  So many cases of kids now a days who can't look in the mirror when they fail and must blame everyone and/or everything around them for their failure or disappointment.  No loyalty and it's really unfortunate.  In my opinion, the Cortland program desrves more respect than this young man has shown and I say good riddance!  Kids now-a-days believe the program owes them something and that's a travesty.  That warning track power will fit in nicely down south.  It's a simple case of addition by subtraction, mark my words!   

[BaseB13]

While I don't know the details of his departure I can say the kid can flat out play/hit.  He was one of the best positions players in the NYCBL this summer.  Maybe not power wise but he's got some speed.  What that translates into at Mount Olive or the draft, who knows.  I'm sure he'll play well there.  I think it's a big loss for any team.  Obviously a program like Cortland can handle the loss of a player like that better than most though.  Why he left is just speculation unless you talked to him.  I heard a different reason.  Not defending his actions necessarily but I can say after seeing him play quite a bit he's a pretty darn good player.

[ballsy]

a player like Simone will be missed by any D3 team.  Major player for Cortland for the last 3 years...as stats show.....I have seen him play over those 3 years and was most impressed with his clutch hitting and base running.... good luck JB filling his shoes

[StarvinMarvin]

My son knows the young man and this decision comes down to professional baseball...the kid believe that he is being sabotaged by the program plain and simple.  Solid player of course but a team player he is not.  Unfortunately talented kids are given a bit of a pass when it comes to tolerating things that less-talented players are held far more accountable for.  I'm willing to bet that the head coach won't miss having to coddle this young man.  Any kid who thinks that a program(especially DIII) would deliberately hurt a  young man's opportunity to play pro ball is absolutely ridiculous.  My son knows this to be fact.  His abilities aren't worth putting up with his pre-madonna attitude and his exit comes as somewhat of a relief in some regards I would have to imagine.       

[magicman]

His abilities aren't worth putting up with his pre-madonna attitude        

Yeah, but what about his post-madonna attitude?   Perhaps he was a "Material Boy" who hit "Like A Virgin" and had major league aspirations that were "Like a Prayer"