BB: E8: Empire 8

airball55 · April 12, 2011, 12:52:51 PM

Thanks for correction on that scheduling mistake!! The Empire 8 needs to implement a nine inning game into those weekend series. The 7's won't really prepare whoever advances to the regional for those nine inning games. The league should imitate the Liberty League, it has helped them and kind of shows who has enough pitching to play on and who does not.

sjfcards · April 22, 2011, 12:22:32 PM

I am really hoping to make it to the games this weekend bbetween IC and Fisher. It is right in my back yard but the weather may do damage again this weekend. It is hard for me to say Fisher is the team to beat since IC has won so much in the past, but if (and that's a big if) Fisher can take 3 out of 4 or even split they are in good shape.

Should be a lot of fun.

sjfcards · April 22, 2011, 04:08:00 PM

Fisher takes game 1, 4-1. Good pitching performance for both teams.

sjfcards · April 22, 2011, 09:30:45 PM

Fisher also wins game two today by a run. Two big wins for Fisher in their bid to win the pool B bid.

airball55 · April 23, 2011, 07:45:12 AM

Cardinals do get sweep and set up well for day two with Johnson still waiting in the wings. Ithaca gets Healy a start, smart move and went through most of their good arms so they will have to have a good day today to maybe even get one. Fisher looks real solid, almost easy for that Pool B bid that NY always gets. It will be interesting to see if the NCAA folks regard that bid in the same light if it is not Ithaca every year (except last obviously) in that spot. Fisher has a lot of answers out there, staff struck out a lot of guys yesterday. See if weather holds today.

JohnnyU · April 23, 2011, 09:02:01 AM

Quote from: airball55 on April 09, 2011, 06:24:41 PM
Had a chance to see St. John Fisher today. They have a lot of answers. Freshman lefty no-hit Utica and he is pretty good. Johnson was workmanlike in his effort. They can run and defend very well. Not so sure that this team isn't better than last years. They may have more depth on the hill this season. Ithaca split with Stevens. They better get both tomorrow if they want a shot at St. John Fisher in this league and what seems like the automatic Pool Bid.

This is simply not true. Unless the teams SJF played start winning, their SOS is not good enough for a Pool B bid this year.

airball55 · April 23, 2011, 09:39:24 AM

In region record is the overall base for at large bids. Their in region record is pretty good. Remember, NY usually gets a Pool B bid, and, if they get close to 30 wins again, they have a great shot at it. There were Ithaca teams that had much worse resumes that got in, probably based on past history more than anything else. To say what was stated as not true is not accurate, maybe it might not materialize but it certainly could come true. U have a point though, Ithaca and Stevens are really down this year and their league is not helping them. They will probably will come out number two in the region though behing Cortland.

WrongArm · April 23, 2011, 04:28:54 PM

Not having an automatic bid in the E8 certainly hurts whoever wins the league. In the few years I've followed the conference, Ithaca may have struggled out west, but still came back and put up a strong regional record and played the best non-conference opponents. Fisher's regional winning percentage is good (second only to Cortland among NY teams on the D3baseball SOS chart), but if the E8 is down, those 16 conference games, nearly half their schedule, doesn't buy much credibility.

Isn't RIT leaving the league next year? And new member, Houghton, doesn't arrive until 2012-13 with a shiny new baseball team. That leaves a 4-team baseball conference next year. Any E8 team with tournament aspirations better play the best regional competition.

sjfcards · April 26, 2011, 04:58:57 PM

What happened to the baseball team at Hartwick? I remember Fisher playing them when I was there. It is too bad that the E8 can not get a good baseball conference going. The other sports seem to have some real solid leagues. In football and golf (and other sports) they have gone outside of the traditional schools to fill out the league (Springfield, Salisbury, Buff State, etc.). Why not for baseball?

I hope that Fisher can get that Pool B bid. There SOS is not as strong as years past, but they should have around 30 wins by the end of the year, and they have a chance to take a couple from Ithaca, and perhaps beat Cortland if things go really well for them that day (probably not going to happen, but on any given day).

I think Fisher is in line for a bid. I don't know if there are enough good teams to keep them out, but I would not want to lose those games with Brockport and Oneonta if I were Fisher.

CrashDavisD3 · April 26, 2011, 05:06:32 PM

Quote from: airball55 on April 23, 2011, 09:39:24 AM
In region record is the overall base for at large bids. Their in region record is pretty good. Remember, NY usually gets a Pool B bid, and, if they get close to 30 wins again, they have a great shot at it. There were Ithaca teams that had much worse resumes that got in, probably based on past history more than anything else. To say what was stated as not true is not accurate, maybe it might not materialize but it certainly could come true. U have a point though, Ithaca and Stevens are really down this year and their league is not helping them. They will probably will come out number two in the region though behing Cortland.

There are only 2 Pool B bids this year. In past years there were more. SOS is one of the most important numbers. Having a high in region winning percentage with a very low SOS will not get a team a bid. A team with a lesser in region winning percentage and very high SOS will get in while the former stays home.

336 St. John Fisher 17-4 .810 0.386 (357) 0.554 0.442

http://www.d3baseball.com/seasons/2011/schedule?tmpl=sos-template

WrongArm · April 27, 2011, 08:12:19 AM

My memory here is a little sketchy, but I think Hartwick got a new AD five years ago and baseball and a few other sports got the ax. I was told, with regard to the E8 as a baseball conference, that they're working on it. Not sure what that means though.

St John Fisher's SOS is certainly not impressive. But, as an absolute number to evaluate teams across the country, SOS is a little slippery. I'm pulling for them to finish strong too.

reddragon00 · April 28, 2011, 07:30:03 AM

Have watched Fisher Play but that SOS is BRUTAL!!!! With where they are located (Rochester), they have to get more competitive teams on the schedule. Ithaca is not Ithaca anymore. They can get my Red Dragons on (already have), Fredonia, B-Port 2 x, and when they go down to PA/NJ, there are a ton of teams to play. With Houghton coming in and Fisher playing them 4 x, have to work on that SOS.

airball55 · April 28, 2011, 01:35:58 PM

You certainly can't control who you play all the time. With Ithaca and Stevens really struggling just to be competitive, it certainly hurts Fishers SOS. The Florida schedule was good, but, no in region teams. Let's face it, if you are in this region the SOS will be lower anyway. They have played U of R twice and beat them. They are supposed to be a strong team. They will play RIT four times per their conference, they beat Brockport. They still have Oneonta for a DH, Cortland for one as well. I can't imagine teams rushing to play them as well right now. Bottom line, record against Ithaca (traditional power), U of R, and Brockport is 5-0. Only one of those games was in their park. Keuka, Medaille and teams like that are regional and all those Rochester teams play them, like Cortland and Oneonta play Union, Hamilton, Cazenovia, etc... When the leagues are locked up in four game conference weekends, it's tough for Fisher to play, RPI, Clarkson, Skidmore, etc... If there is only two Pool B bids then it will certainly be tough to get in, but it would be a shame that the second best team in the region (if we all think Cortland is the best) won't get a bit. That can't bode well for us that like to brag NY up as an underrated region.

Tarheel0550 · April 28, 2011, 03:50:51 PM

Oneonta has the 25th toughest sos right now in the nation.Thinking that with that along with wins over Keystone and Montclaire,and hanging tough against Cortland that they could be #2 in region behind C-Land and not St.J Fisher.O-State has put up some good wins this year but in all fairness they also have a few BAD losses ie;Union .Guess we will find out where everyone stands today,but they sure are taking thier sweet time releasing rankings.

sjfcards · April 28, 2011, 04:04:03 PM

Quote from: Tarheel0550 on April 28, 2011, 03:50:51 PM
Oneonta has the 25th toughest sos right now in the nation.Thinking that with that along with wins over Keystone and Montclaire,and hanging tough against Cortland that they could be #2 in region behind C-Land and not St.J Fisher.O-State has put up some good wins this year but in all fairness they also have a few BAD losses ie;Union .Guess we will find out where everyone stands today,but they sure are taking thier sweet time releasing rankings.

What is more important to the NCAA, SOS or head to head. If fisher takes two from Oneonta does that trump Oneonta's much higher SOS? Can't a ton of wins, say 33 or so, trump some of the bad SOS? I am really asking since I don't know how it works in baseball, but it almost has to be a combination of several factors.

Also, Fisher would not be competing with Oneonta for a pool B correct? Since Oneonta plays in sunyac doesn't that take the pool b option out of it for them?

If there is only two pool B bids then Fisher may have to work for a pool C since the league is so far down this year.