BB: SUNYAC

[baseball13]

I'm sure everyone here has Cortland as number one for SUNYACs, but who else is making playoffs?  And of course, in what order.

[Bob Maxwell]

just catching up on reading...  a couple points.


John, wasn't Ratliff a freshman and not a transfer last year?

also, cudos to Butch for asking about the other teams in the conference.  We all seem to know about Cortland and who will play there.  and its easy to talk about them.  Any input on other teams will be apprecaited.

Also, how can anyone say that (paraphrase it) - anything less then a world series championship will be a dissappointment to Cortland?  In my opinion, that is just not a fair statement to them.  Yes, they have a shot at winning that... but so do about 20 ohter teams.  So that is a bit heavy to put on their shoulders at this point of the year.

OK, back to reading... more to catch up.

[Bob Maxwell]

About Cortland winning it all... Starvin marvin is right.  You lose (or win) a game while there and it can change everything.  Last year, they lost an extra inning game to Trinity... on of all things a passed ball.  Trinity went on to win the whole thing... that loss seemed to take the wind out of Cortland.  They just didn't look like the same group in the next game.

That one game flips around and its a completely different series.

The pressure is on everyone at the regionals... once you get to the WS its a crapshoot and luck of the draw and the bounce of the ball can impact everything!

I'm going to miss following Brockport to every game... but will still be rooting for them.  While I think they've lost a lot with Rob, Tim, Jared and dan graduating.  They have some solid young guys and from what I saw in the Fall some good new players too.  So I expect them to be there again at the end of it.   I see the places of 2 - 6 being a real dogfight as anyone can beat anyone else.  The teams that emerge will still ahve to deal with Cortland in the tournament. 

One thing too... Brockport has been the only team that has beaten Cortland at SUNYACs in the last 5 years.  5 times total... if anyone else can beat them a time or two, there would be different teams from the conference going to the regionals.  And because of Cortland's strength the conference gets two teams in the NCAA tournament.  SO here is hoping that someone other then Cortland can win it this year... and SUnayc gets 2 teams in!!!

Can't wait to watch the year unfold. 

[John McGraw]

Ratliff was listed as a freshman but he was a student at Old Westbury in the fall of 2007.

[scuba16]

Losing the Dhimino's in the OF won't hurt offensively that much seeing 1 of them didn't play much at all last yr and jason simone will hit between .400 and .450 this yr! The kid can rake and rakes lefties, righties, u put em out there he rakes em! It gives simone and zlinicki more innings and they both probably deserve them anyhow!

As far as JB's record at the world series is concerned, its absoutely anyone's series when u get out there because everybodies capable of winning it. If they(C-state)  don't get the ridiculous runner interference call vs kean game 1 2007, they def win that game and probably the world series! 2008, Kiely and Trinity day 1! Back to back yrs, 2 of the toughest opponents! Bottom line is, Lose game 1 and its a long road! Like starvin said, Monclair is the only team to come through the losers bracket after a game 1 loss and cortland gave them that loss in the 2000 ws!

JB aint playing he's coaching and the players have to produce when they get out  to appleton for c-state to have a shot. All it takes is a couple guys getting hot at the plate, a little d and P's throwing strikes! We will get a ws title, hopefully sooner than later!

[Bob Maxwell]

Scuba is correct on the loss of the brothers (while they are talented players) not hruting as much because of the depth they have.  they will lose the speed, but they will get average and power...

Thanks John, I wasn't aware he had been somewhere else...

AND, I thought my comment on hoping someone other then Cortland wins the SUNYAC would have started some conversation about it.  But I guess that other then the coaches and players on the other teams are the only ones who think they can win it.  No response here seems to say everyone thinks its a lock.... 

Personally, I would like to see a 2 or three team race to host and then see some great games at the SUNYAC tournament.  We will see... in the past few years there have been some real good games in the tournament.  AND as I said, if someone other then Brockport can beat Cortland (and in some cases at least stress them a bit..) then the conference will get 2 teams in.

I think that the strenght of Cortland on the national stage is great... and good for the conference (if someone else can step up and win it).  However, the winning of the title year after year actually hurts some of the other teams that have been competative at a high level... because only one team wins the title.  Outsiders see a dominant team and doesn't give any credit to the other good teams... and just writes them off.  Brockport, Oneonta and Plattsburgh have had some good teams in the last few years... and got very little recognition for it.  Borckport got more then the other two in the polls becasue of some wins... but the other two got very little.  And were always a tough game to anyone, Cortland included.

Its great to be talking baseball... hard to believe with the single digit temps on the way!

Can't wait for the first pitch.... and hope that the top four teams in NY this year are from the SUNYAC!!!

[HotSoupTrio]

any thoughts on Player and Pitcher of the year in the conference?

[John McGraw]

There's always been good games during the regular season and teams have gone into Wallace Field and played cortland very tough. There's been a couple times recently when we didn't know until the final day of the season where the SUNY tournament was going to be. That being said, Joe Brown's teams always seem to find a way to win and then get the pieces to fall in the correct spots to host the conference tournament. I can remember a few times when I was there about wondering if I was going to have to cover the tournament in Brockport or Oneonta.

And tournament games have been generally close as well. While cortland has certainly dominated by winning the title, it's always decided in tighter games and not always a beatdown (though some years it is). I don't have the time or energy to look at the tournament results but the finals and a lot of the tournament games are one or two-run games. One year I remember Oneonta and Plattsburgh I think playing a 1-0 game in the tournament opener (the dreaded 10:00 am game). It's not that the league is one-sided in the tournament, the other teams can't seem to find a way to win like cortland does (unless they're playing Brockport in the first round LOL).

[baseball13]

You can't argue too much with Myers and Tone as Player and Pitcher of the Year respectively.  But I think Kelley from Plattsburgh could challenge Tone.

I think after Cortland, Fredonia, New Paltz, Plattsburgh, and Oneonta fight it out with only one of those teams losing out.

[HotSoupTrio]

gotta agree with the board on tone being pitcher of the year, i think he has got to be in the top 5 in the country and has to be in the running for national pitcher of the year...

i really think POY is wide open....myers from oneonta, avery and gardner from cortland, gentzke from brockport all seem to have apotential shot. Just going to have to see how they unfold on the field.

My guess for final rankings and who will be playing for the SUNYAC championship
1. Cortland
2.ONeonta
3.Fredonia
4.Brockport

Perhaps look for Oswego to make a push at the SUNYAC this year as well.

[HotSoupTrio]

Butch,
pretty strong words about palisin...I would have to agree with you that he might not know his elbow from his you know what on the baseball field. He did have some big wins taking two from the Golden Eagles last year. He might have even used some underhanded tactics by telling New Paltz not to come out there and play and then after New Paltz threw their number 1 and 2 in a doubleheader sweep by Brockport, called them back and told them to come up. Sidenote-pretty dumb by NP coach to accept the offer after being cancelled on.

I may have to retract my last post about Fredonia gettin in to the tournament (what was i thinkning, it must have slipped my mind who was running the team). Fredonia had an excellent opportunity last year, having to only win one game ontheir home field against Oneonta on the final day of the season. Palisin and Fredonia just do not know how to win the big game because they have never been there before. Maybe last years outcome might have helped them grow a bit?

[tripleplay9]

Fellas, Ive been watching this forum for months and I'd like to contribute. I have been following SUNYAC baseball for years now (I had a relative who played in the conference not too long ago). Interesting take on the predictions for this year, we all know about Cortland, but how about Oswego? Didn't they make some post season noise? Looks like New Paltz has some helfty freshman pitchers comin in anyone seen them in action?

[scuba16]

Look's like Scuba is already giving simone the POY!

nah, but the kid can rake and the sunyac will soon find out how well!
as far as who else can win the sunyac, nobody comes to mind besides cortland!
not for nothing but cortlands platoon guys and 2nd string dudes could of won the sunyac for the past 2 yrs. not putting down the other teams, but cortland is just that deep yr in and yr out!
u want a formula to beat cortland in a tournament setting? u better have 2 shut down guys on the bump and have the ability to play small ball!
IMO who makes the sunyac tournament, a shot in the dark:
Cortland
Oneonta (ferchen does a good job and is a decent baseball guy)
Brockport (the players are pretty good, rochester has excellent hs baseball but beach is   to inexperienced to win the sunyac and not enough arms to compete w cortland in the long run. they are better than the rest of the sunyac by default)
Stick anybody else u want in the sunyac tournament to be 2 and out, not enough quality arms on any of the other teams to be a factor!

[HotSoupTrio]

what about Juedes from Oneonta, he has got to have a shot at pitcher of the year as well. Kid had some good numbers last year

[HotSoupTrio]

reading through most of these posts it seems like everyone is ready to hand the conference right over to Cortland. Sure they must be the early favorites, but i think we might already be counting out to many teams. On paper I'm not to sure that this Cortland pitching staff is that great. Tone is as good as it gets at the top in the conference, don't get me wrong. After that there are some question marks. Ratliff is very beatable, a well disciplined team at the plate can knock him around. What can they expect from Jweid after a year of doing nothing? Looking at it on paper it does not seem like they have the dominant pitching that they had a few years back with Dougher, Hubbs, Burnett, Chyr, McPartland. This might be a year where the offense might have to do just a little more.

We all know the old saying that good pitching beats good hitting and i think that there are quality starters within the SUNYAC that could slow down that lineup, Juedes, Filak,Shannon, Gentzke, Kelley are just a few that come to mind.

I might have ruffled a few feathers here, but i think that all of us posters might be a little premature to hand the league over to cortland, already. Who knows i could be completely wrong and they could sweep through the conference unscaved.