BB: E8: Empire 8

[NYbaseballguy]

Or just disband the league..but, if someone like Alfred comes aboard Fisher and Stevens will be licking their chops each season.  There may not be a more unbalance league than this one from its top to bottom.  Fisher beat a good RIT team today and Fisher can flat out pitch.  I have seen Cortland, Oswego, Fisher.  Have not seen Stevens or Union.  Fisher takes a back seat to none of them. 

Fisher, Stevens
Canton, Utica, Houghton, Elmira and say Alfred.  Yikes.  VERY unbalanced with no reason to think it would ever change.

[e8bbfan]

Hello,
I'm a newbie to this forum but find it interesting.  I agree, the E8 is top heavy.  Fisher and Stevens are certainly at the top.  Ithaca is really a jeckyl and hyde team this year.  They played Stevens tough in NJ and won the series, and they played Cortland to a one run game.  I'm not sure their pitching will get them there in the end though.

Adding another weak school to the E8 to replace Ithaca?  Yes, it would mean more "potential" victories for Stevens and Fisher but I still can't figure out how the ranking system works and specifically, how the at large bids work.  Does strength of schedule weigh more than number of wins?  So, if Stevens and Fisher pad their record with conference, non-quality wins and hit the 30+ win mark, does that look better than say a 25-28 win year against a more difficult non-league schedule?  This year, both appear to have strong non-league schedules.  If they sweep the games against the bottom half of the division, that would seem to have a negative impact on their overall strength of schedule even though they're winning games since the SOS rankings take into account the opponents winning percentage, which in the case of the bottom half of the E8, is under .500.

Of course, the flip side of that is to play in a conference like the Ohio Athletic conference (OAC) which has teams like Marietta, Ohio Northern, Baldwin-Wallace, Otterbein...all strong teams that are beating each other up during the regular season.

So, does the strength of the conference come into play at decision time for an at large bid and would Fisher and Stevens benefit in moving to a conference that has a stronger baseball reputation?

[NYbaseballguy]

It's not necessarily the strength of conference as much as it is strength of schedule and in region records that get taken into main consideration.  But, the NY region has been widely thought of as being the weakest over the years.  I don't think you can say that anymore.  The national champ. resides in this region and Oswego, St. John Fisher, Stevens, RIT to a certain extent, Rochester and Union...these schools challenge themselves out of their conferences and win.  All of these programs have wins over ranked teams.  In the case of Cortland, Oswego, Fisher and Union, they are ranked or have received votes.  The NY region is getting much stronger and it will be interesting to see when it comes time for the regionals maybe there won't be as many teams shipping in from elsewhere.  That always is a variable that is impossible to project simply because you have no idea who gets at-larges.  For the Empire 8, they need to get 7 teams to keep an AQ. That's the safest bet to get in the dance.  And if your Stevens or Fisher...who cares who they add.  It's going to come down to those two.

[sjfcards]

I agree the pool B is an uphill climb for Fisher this year, but at least they are doing some damage in the region early on. 6-1 against in region opponents and a quality win against a good Oswego team. The only loss is a 1 run loss to that same Oswego team. Add in the wins against some quality teams in Florida (split with ONU and Marietta, and swept a UMU team that was decent last year) and all in all it is a good start for Fisher. The problem is there is zero room for error in this conference. If you drop a game or two that you should win that pool B goes away quickly. I still don't know how I feel about this Fisher team, but so far so good I guess. Hopefully some of this snow goes away and we can get into the full swing of the season and start to find out what teams really have.

I still think Ithaca will be fine. I never put too much stock into what happens out in California. Those teams are all pretty good, and have been outside for months by the time IC gets to them. I think Fisher, Stevens, or Ithaca should all have a good chance to win the league.

[NYbaseballguy]

They have another DH coming up with Oswego at home and according to the website all the tough conference games for Fisher are at home.  Sjfcards...the schedule is definitely in your favor this year and your right, the team is playing well against a real difficult schedule.  I do think it's their league this spring, but, Stevens will have a lot to say about that.  I haven't seen Ithaca, just doesn't look like a typical Ithaca club (statistically) but they have played competitive since coming back north.

[D3SportsFan]

Stevens, Fisher, and Ithaca continue to string wins together as it looks to be a 3-way race for the top spot in the E8.

[D3SportsFan]

How many teams make the conference tournament, 4 or 6? If 4, it seems likely that St. John Fisher, Stevens, and Ithaca are in, which leaves one open spot. Who is the next likely team?

Canton looks like they swing it fairly well. Houghton has several returners from last year. Utica has played some tight games against good competition. Elmira doesn't look like there's enough there.

[DucksBB]

Here's a link for the E8 tournament.  Four teams qualify and play a double elimination format.

http://empire8.com/sports/2016/2/22/BB_0222161851.aspx?path=baseball

I agree, seems like SJF, Stevens, and Ithaca are locks.  In fact, I heard Stevens qualified after their wins last weekend.  Should be a good race for #4. 

[Bombers798891]

Ithaca has won six in a row, and might actually wind up with a decent record (which, given the state of the conference isn't all that great, but hey, it's an improvement on last season)

Yesterday's win marked a nice moment though, as Prendergast picked up his first win in nearly two years, going five innings and giving up two runs. He's not the same guy who was arguably the best pitcher on a national title contender, but I'm glad he's been able to make it sort of back

[NYbaseballguy]

That's a big deal for Ithaca that Prendergast is back.  Bombers in that "trending up" mode right now.  Makes it a good three team league race and Ithaca has that first series 2 out of 3 against Stevens going for them.  This league this season still goes through Fisher who gets both Stevens and Ithaca at home.  Good point on Canton...looks like they could steal a game when they shouldn't.  Played Ithaca tough in first game and Stevens close as well.  Maybe they are the 4 seed. 

[sjfcards]

Another impressive win by Fisher today, 18-0 over Brockport. Bats looked sharp today at home. Now 17-6 on the year.

[e8bbfan]

And the shutout means they will stay in the top 5 nationally in team ERA.  Quite a statement considering some of the hitters on a team that has already beaten Cortland and Stevens this year.  Big weekend for Brockport against Oswego.  It's going to be fun coming down the stretch to see how many of these teams make the NCAA's.  I think Cortland and Oswego are a lock.  Stevens and Fisher should certainly be in consideration if they continue playing the way they have been and of course Ithaca is definitely a team to watch as they are really starting to put things together.  Not surprising though with the legendary coach and baseball legacy at that school.

[Ralph Turner]

e8bbfan,

Here is the link to the FAQ for the playoffs.

http://www.d3baseball.com/interactive/faq/ncaaTournament..

Please look for the Regional Rankings when they come out in early May.

That will give us an idea of how many at large bids (both Pool B and Pool C) that the New York Region earns.

[e8bbfan]

Excellent!  Thank you.  It's clear that the process takes a LOT into consideration.  Overall record is at the top of the list, so if the top three E8 teams keep winning, that's going to make a big statement.  Of course they all still have to play each other in the second half of the season.  Should make for some good baseball coming down the stretch.

[DucksBB]

Conference is heating up....Utica puts themselves in a good position for the #4 seed with their series win over Ithaca but anything can happen.  Top 3 of SJF, Stevens, and IC are solid and will sort themselves out over next 2 weeks.  Stevens squeeks by Elmira in extras yesterday, SJF and IC making big statements with their convincing wins on Sunday.  SJF gets to host Stevens this weekend and will finish by hosting IC the following.