BB: General New England Discussion

[Nuke LaLoosh]

The UAA stands for the University Athletic Association.

The baseball league includes Emory, Brandeis, Case Western, Rochester, Washington University, and U Chicago.

Their tournament is a round-robin format, with each team playing 6 games in 5 days. I am unsure if the winner of the tournament gets an auto bid, but I would guess that UAA teams are all Pool B bids.

[Ralph Turner]

The UAA stands for the University Athletic Association.

The baseball league includes Emory, Brandeis, Case Western, Rochester, Washington University, and U Chicago.

Their tournament is a round-robin format, with each team playing 6 games in 5 days. I am unsure if the winner of the tournament gets an auto bid, but I would guess that UAA teams are all Pool B bids.

The University of Chicago is an independent.  They have not been active in the UAA for years.

[Nuke LaLoosh]

Oops. You're right, this site had Chicago listed. Must have been an old one.

http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Weekly_Sport_Updates/BB_Update.html

[ocho]

Does anyone know if or where Bobby Cappaziello is playing ball this season. Bobby was a standout player for Hopedale High School (MA) and was on the Western New England College team last season but didn't play much. I don't see his name on Western New England's roster this year so I'm assuming he transferred. 

[soxfan42585]

Brandeis played to a tie in the tournament.  What does that mean?  Must not mean any bid from that.....

[wordsmith]

I'd like to start a discussion about New England Coaches:

Who is your favorite coach?
Who is the most under rated coach in NE?
Who is the best coach in New England?
Who is the classiest coach?

To kick this off I'll offer my thoughts:

Favorite Coach -   Ed Flaherty - Southern Maine
Most Under rated - Matt LaBrache - WNEC and Will Sanborn St. Joe's
Best Coach - Bill Thurston Amherst
Classiest Coach - Ken Howe Keene State College

Word

[KSCfan]

I can only comment on coach howe from KSC, cause he is the only one that i really know.  I think to do what he has done to that program over the last 4 years is amazing.  Keene was a program that was floundering at best in 2004 when it went 14-23 and finished 6th in the Little East.  2005 Keene turns the corner a little and goes with a 23-14 record. 2006 31-14, tied for first reg seaon with Southern Maine in the tourny and made it to the championship round of the  tourny only to be snubbed off the regionals that year.  then last year 2007 32-15 with an LEC finals and a NE regional final to add to his resume.  I think that Coach Howe and the whole KSC staff have really picked up thier game over the last couple of years and have built a contender every year.  It is no easy task to turn things around with the type of schedule that KSC plays.  I have seen Flaherty coach, and he too is a good coach.  I mean two national titles me must be doing something right.  Having never played for him i dont know that much about him though. Really any of the coaches that word listed are great coaches and great coaches get great players to come to thier schools and thats why the teams that word listed are very good programs

[wordsmith]

When Marty Testo joined the KSC staff in 2001 the entire recruiting dynamic changed. He is the single biggest reason for their emergence onto the National stage. His connections into the Hartford, CT area via the Fiore Family and their American Legion Tourney has added a whole new level of talent to the team. He is due a Head Coaching job soon. PS he was just named Head Coach of the Keene SwampRats. A very deserving choice. Howe has also developed a better relationship with the NH High School coaches. KSC is now known as Nashua West for good reason.

Ed Flaherty is a solid coach, probably a better coach than a recruiter; he gets the best Maine talent and has some reach into the North Shore above Boston. He ventured into NH but has not been able to maintain consistency.  The days of kids outside of Maine flocking to USM are waning. KSC, WNEC, Wheaton et al are evening venturing into Maine and taking many of the kids USM may have once got.

[kscer]

I agree that Marty brought a lot to the program. He brought key players from the legion team he coached and the the Nashua kids followed, and the program was off and running. Howe took care of some lingering issues and in 2005 the dynamic changed. Also the Fiore connection- The East Hartford tourney that the Fiore family ran was and probably still is the best in New England. Last year nine NH kids started on the field. This year will probably be eight. Howe is a class act. Any parent would be happy to have him mentoring his kid through College. Every kid is important to him.

[wordsmith]

KSC Roster tide is turning 20 of 34 kids not from NH. And of the 14 from NH,  6 are seniors. They all came in together  and that interesting enough was Marty's last year coaching Legion Ball in NH. Next year the team's roster could see NH at second or even third in numbers of players. Interesting.

NH -14
CT - 11
MA - 6
RI - 1
VT - 1
NJ - 1

[kscer]

Maybe those numbers are the result of the quality of players available, rather than a conscious choice. Chevalier, Darak and LaPlante are underclassmen and there are some fine freshmen in Doyon and LaCourse. I think the NH connection will continue as long as the quality of players are there. The HS classes of 2002, 2003 and 2004 in NH had some good baseball players several of whom stayed close to home.

[DougiesGoinDeep]

The number 19 ranked Trinity Bantams beat the number 16th ranked St. Thomas Tommies 7-2 today to move to 10-0.

Trinity starting pitcher Tim Kiely was dominant and pitched 8 innings allowing 2 runs. Trinity looks to complete a perfect Florida trip tomorrow when they take on St. Michaels.

[TheGNAC]

Impressive start for Trinity. They have to be the consensus #1 in the region at this point.

Keene State also swept Gustaphus Adolphus today, moving to 9-2 on their spring trip. I'm pretty sure they have the #2 spot in New England on lock right now.

Suffolk is making a case to join the top teams in the region, sweeping Southern Maine today to move to 7-2 on their trip, with their only losses coming to #8 New Jersey and the 5th-ranked team in NAIA, Dakota State. Impressive victories over Montclair State, Western New England, and two over USM make a strong case for the Rams to be in the rankings.

Here's my top 8 breakdown, based mostly on teams' success thus far.

1. Trinity (10-0)
2. Keene State (9-2)
3. Suffolk (7-2)
4. Curry (7-1)
5. Eastern Connecticut (5-4)
6. Wheaton (6-4)
7. Bowdoin (8-3)
8. St. Joe's (ME) (6-3)

Anybody else have rankings they'd like to put out there?

[KSCfan]

GNAC couldnt agree with you more. I think that right now trinity is clearly the number 1 team in ne with an almost perfect trip.  I will also take keene at 2 with a 9 and 2 trip so far.  I didnt have Curry as high though.  Here is my top 8......

1. Trinity
2. Keene State
3. Suffolk
4. Williams
5. Eastern Connecticut
6. Wheaton
7. Curry
8. Bowdoin

[Paul Heering]

I would go top 5 as

1.  Keene State
------Playing tough teams and winning
2.  Wheaton
------Playing the toughest schedule I have seen in a long time and coming back 6-4
3.  Trinity
------Winning but really not challenging themselves with the schedule.  I put 6-4 vs Wheaton's slate as better than 10-0 vs Trinity's.  Maybe Trinity would have been 7-3 or 8-2 against the teams that Wheaton played but we will never know.  So we are left to guess and my guess is represented in this ranking
4.  Eastern Connecticut
------Maybe this is a reputation pick but in the end they will be there.
5.  Suffolk
------4-1 in 5 games against top notch competition on their trip.   7-2 overall