BB: General New England Discussion

Paul Heering · February 14, 2007, 06:14:24 PM

I started this up b/c the new england conference threads have nothing going on but there seem to be some new england posters out there. if starting a new thread in here is frowned upon, please take it down and accept my apologies.

so here you go, jcon, ecsu alum, bostonion, dr.gilblair, others--please chime in. here are some predictions to get the ball rolling.

NEWMAC
1.   Amherst—Finished strong last year winning 8 of the last nine against pretty good competition. Took 2 from division 2 Bentley, 2 out of 3 from conference champ Middlebury, shut out LEC co-regular season champ Keene State, one against Brandeis.
2.   Bowdoin—Don't really know much about them but have been right up there for a few years.
3.   Tufts—See Bowdoin

Middlebury and Williams don't make the cut, they both seem like they can mash but pitching isn't there.

NEWMAC
1.   Wheaton—Stacked, went to final game last year and didn't lose much. Pitching should carry them, starters are solid, simmons slides into bakers spot as the closer.
2.   Springfield—not much here other than past performance
3.   Babson—see springfield

LEC
1.   Keene State—Almost everyone is back from a team that went 11-3 in the conference last year and was only an ECSU double header sweep on the last day of the LEC Tournament away from NCAA Tournament last year.
2.   Southern Maine—seems to have a lot returning had a strong showing and new England regional last year.
3.   Eastern Connecticut—I know it is eastern and they will be strong and they will have some studs coming in, so it is a stretch to predict them third but it all depends what team shows up the team that went 8-6 in LEC regular season and lost 1-2-3 hitters or the team that got very very hot at exactly the right time.

MASCAC
1.   Bridgewater
2.   Worcester
3.   Salem State—Atlanta Christian College, Clearwater Christian College, Taccoa Falls College, & Spring Arbor College aren't walking through that door in April and May. Seriously who makes this schedule.

CCC
1.   Endicott
2.   Salve Regina
3.   Somebody else

NAC
1.   St. Joe's
2.   honestly I can't think of any other teams in this league

GNAC
1.   WNEC—Returns everyone except Connelly (all-american pitcher/2nd basemen—graduation). Returning pitchers Anderson (jr. third team all new England 2006, 1-2 with 3.97 era this summer in NECBL), Pizzaferrato (so. Second team all new England, 4-0 2.10 era this summer in NECBL), and others. Pitching needs to carry them.
2.   Suffolk—Suffolk has some strong returnees (with solid summer experience) but loses Mercado (aka WNEC killer)
3.   Johnson & Wales—Loses a bit to graduation but should hit (they always hit) loses Gilbert to graduation (aka WNEC killer)

If that all plays out that way here is what tournament looks like

Automatic BidsAmherst
Wheaton
Keene
Bridgewater
Endicott
St. Joes (pretty sure that NAC gets an AQ this year)
WNEC

I say Amherst goes to new york region, leaving only one at large bid which goes to southern maine.

I will be the first to admit many of these are just guesses and you can probably tell which conferences and teams I know more (and less) about

Ralph Turner · February 14, 2007, 09:52:05 PM

Looks good, Don, but one correction. There has been a change in the allocation of bids in the last few years. There is no specific allocation of Pool C (at large bids) to an evaluation region, or number of bids in toto to a region. For example, the NESCAC and Little East both might earn Pool C bids.

Paul Heering · February 14, 2007, 09:58:19 PM

i don't know exactly how all the bids work but i don't think nescac will get two this year.

question, does the selection committee (if there is one) take into account what teams conferences did in the ncaa's in the past?

back to the nescac and lec example, last year bowdoin got in as the second nescac team and went 2 and bbq. and a non aq team from the little east also got in, southern maine, who lost in the regional final while ecsu made it to wisconsin.

seems like an arguement for lec being a "two bid league" but not nescac. i realize this is just one year but if this were a trend would they take this into account

Ralph Turner · February 14, 2007, 10:05:06 PM

Quote from: don mattingly on February 14, 2007, 09:58:19 PM
i don't know exactly how all the bids work but i don't think nescac will get two this year.

question, does the selection committee (if there is one) take into account what teams conferences did in the ncaa's in the past?

No, that criterion is gone from the Handbook as well.

Here is the link to the 2006 Handbook for your review.

The only major addition that I foresee in the 2007 Edition is the paragraph on Geographical regions.

Bostonian · February 15, 2007, 10:45:42 AM

Don,
The best 2 teams in the NESCAC did not make the league tourney. Amherst stumbled against Williams and it ruined their season. Trinity lost their top 3 pitchers to injuries and it killed them. The NESCAC, last year, was just as strong as the LEC. Howeverm because Amherst had one bad weekend and Trinity's pitchers were hurt, nobody really got to see it's best teams. Another thing to consider is that the NESCAC tourney was basically played on the Saturday and Sunday before the regionals. By the time Bowdoin and Middlebury got to the regionals, they were using their 4th starters in the first game. But the league was strong. Look at Tufts. They beat 2 teams that were in the CWS (NC Wesleyan and ECSU). Amherst had some big wins. Williams beat WNEC and other storng teams.

This year, I think Middlebury is the team to beat, but injuries will still be the issue. Donahue, at Amherst, who pitched great on the Cape 2 summers ago, has never been the same since because of elbow issues. If he is healthy, Amherst should overtake Middlebury in the NESCAC West. Kiely and Rappaport, from Trinity, have both missed an entire season after perfoming well in the NECBL. If they are back at full strength, their 1-2 presence is unmatched in the NESCAC East. Tufts just lost their #1 for the entire season, but they do have quality depth in their rotation. Bowdoin lost alot of top talent and will rebuild.

Here's how I see it.
East-
Trinity
Tufts
Bowdoin
Colby
Bates

West-
Middlebury
Amherst
Williams
Wesleyan
Hamilton

Paul Heering · February 15, 2007, 12:03:47 PM

i wasn't trying to "bash" the NESCAC at all. I agree it is a strong league. bostonian you obviously know more about the league than i do. i appreciate the info.

Bostonian · February 15, 2007, 12:31:46 PM

I know you weren't trying to bash it, Don...just figured I'd add my 2 cents.
With all of the injuries, I would definitely say the LEC has a much better shot of getting multiple teams in the tourney this year than the NESCAC.

Paul Heering · February 15, 2007, 04:12:46 PM

dear bostonian,

I expect a full NESCAC preview on my desk first thing monday morning (wait that is a holiday--you get until tuesday).

thank you

management

Old Spartan · February 16, 2007, 03:49:04 PM

The report would be ideal if it included some thoughts on the freshman recruits at these schools. I know of one school that had a particularly successful recruiting effort this year.

Paul Heering · February 16, 2007, 04:10:20 PM

Quote from: Old Spartan on February 16, 2007, 03:49:04 PM
I know of one school that had a particularly successful recruiting effort this year.

Would you like to share with the group?

Bostonian · February 16, 2007, 04:54:52 PM

Unfortunately, we won't know anything about these freshmen untill the rosters are released.

Old Spartan · February 16, 2007, 05:07:06 PM

If I share my knowledge it will compromise my confidential sources, the rosters should be out soon.

dgilblair · February 17, 2007, 02:32:54 PM

I really don't know much about the non LEC teams other than the ones ECSU played against. The thing I thought was the most interesting last year was the parity in D3 baseball across the country. Me now being a ECSU groupie and using all my vacation time to follow the team to California, all across New England, deep into Maine for the LEC tourney, NY for the regional and Fox Cities for the championship I did see a lot of teams from all around the country and was really amazed with the thought that no one team really awed me....well Marietta did seem to be a cut above everyone actually, but other than that no one was scary if you know what I mean. Even the fact we played Chapman 2 times and lost, they didn't awe me. (darn Buddy K kid twice). Anyway, my top New England teams are.

LEC- SMU, ECSU, KEENE (ECSU winning tourney and bid)
NEWMAC- Wheaton, Wheaton and Wheaton
GNAC- WNEC, Pizzaferrato huge year

How did SMU get a bid? Keene tied SMU for the regular season and went further in the LEC tournament than SMU.

Jim Dixon · February 19, 2007, 03:58:50 PM

Quote from: dgilblair on February 17, 2007, 02:32:54 PM
How did SMU get a bid? Keene tied SMU for the regular season and went further in the LEC tournament than SMU.

Southern Maine must have won more important conference games than Keene to get the bid over Keene. There is a point schedule in the championship handbook that is used to rank teams. The more points, the greater your chance at getting a bid.

dgilblair · February 19, 2007, 04:51:44 PM

Quote from: Jim Dixon on February 19, 2007, 03:58:50 PM
Quote from: dgilblair on February 17, 2007, 02:32:54 PM
How did SMU get a bid? Keene tied SMU for the regular season and went further in the LEC tournament than SMU.

Southern Maine must have won more important conference games than Keene to get the bid over Keene. There is a point schedule in the championship handbook that is used to rank teams. The more points, the greater your chance at getting a bid.

Thanks Jim, Just seemed strange because Keene pounded SMU in the LEC tournament also.