BB: General NY Region Talk

[John McGraw]

Empire 8
FINAL - Ithaca 12 Stevens 4.

Stevens finishes at 29-14. Ithaca finishes at 20-14.

Liberty League
FINAL - R.P.I. 13 R.I.T. 9

RPI forces a winner-take-all game for the Liberty League title. Liberty tournament being played at R.P.I.

[John McGraw]

FINAL - Rensselaer 10 Rochester Tech 5

Rensselaer wins the Liberty League championship and the automatic bid. The Engineers are likely headed to Auburn to join Old Westbury and SUNY Cortland.

FINAL - St. John Fisher 9 SUNY Canton 4.

New York Pool A Qualifiers
SUNYAC - SUNY Cortland
Skyline - Old Westbury
Liberty League - Rensselaer

Possible Pool B teams
Stevens (29-14)
St. John Fisher (25-18)

Possible Pool C teams
Oswego State (27-11)
Clarkson (24-9)

Depending on what happens elsewhere around the country, Oswego State looks to have a really good shot at a Pool C bid. The Lakers were second in the regional rankings released this past Thursday and I do not see them dropping from that spot. Clarkson went 1-2 in the Liberty League tournament though they still have an outside shot at a Pool C.

For Pool B, Stevens is definitely in the national discussion along with Emory and Wash. U. Emory finished 26-12 while Wash. U at the moment is 32-14 with one game remaining later today against conference foe Chicago. The Eagles and the Bears both in the top 50 nationally in strength of schedule while Stevens is around 100. It's a tough choice and it looks like there will be three teams for two spots. St. John Fisher had a great finish to the season and beat Cortland but four losses head-to-head against Stevens keep them out of the discussion for me despite a terrific SOS. Kudos to Brandon Potter for the run his team made down the stretch. 

[D3SportsFan]

Thoughts on the NY Regional and seedings? It's always interesting to see who gets moved and to which region. I feel like there was a lot of movement to other regions this year, not just the NY Regional.

[Bombsquad]

Solid, minus Amherst....I just don't get that one at all...I didn't even think they would get in.

[DucksBB]

All Region Teams were just announced....

http://www.d3baseball.com/awards/all-region/2015/new-york

As a Duck supporter, very happy one of our own was named Player of Year.  Congrats to Jayson Yano on a great year!

[D3SportsFan]

With most spring seasons in the NY Region about to get started, or starting this week, hoping to start the early talks about who's hot and not in 2016. I look forward to outlooks and perspectives!

#   School (1st votes)        2015    Pts   Prev.
1   Cortland State (23)       45-4     622   1
2   UW-La Crosse               36-16   537   3
3   Emory                           31-15   508   6
4   Salisbury                       33-6-1  501   5
5   Kean                              35-12   442   11
6   Webster                         34-15   415   8
7   Trinity (Texas) (1)         40-14   414   4
8   Birmingham-Southern   37-12-1  396   10
9   UW-Whitewater              35-11   372   9
10   Frostburg State (1)     43-9      370   2
11   Rhodes                        33-13   342   13
12   Heidelberg                    33-14   286   14
13   UW-Stevens Point        33-14   277   12
14   Linfield                         33-15   245   15
15   Southern Maine           32-15   225   rv
16   Shenandoah                28-10-1   216   16
17   Pacific Lutheran           32-14   193   17
18   Ramapo                       33-16   185   8
19   Baldwin Wallace           31-12   183   20
20   Wartburg                     33-14   153   21
21   Wooster                      36-9     150   24
22   Texas-Tyler                 34-12   140   19
23   Methodist                   32-10   125   22
24   Marietta                      29-18   108   rv
25   Alvernia                      35-14   61   18


Others receiving votes: Misericordia 57, Cal Lutheran 54, Ohio Northern 50, Mary Washington 45, St. Thomas (Minn.) 41, Coe 40, Concordia-Texas 37, Concordia (Ill.), Johns Hopkins 25, Carthage 25, Adrian 24, La Roche 23, Mitchell 22, Thomas More 21, Millsaps 21, Keystone 19, MIT 15, Stevens Institute 12, St. Scholastica 12, Randolph-Macon 11, Huntingdon 8, Wesleyan (Conn.) 8, Ohio Wesleyan 6, Anderson 5, DeSales 5, Endicott 5, Eastern Conn. St. 3, Wis.-Oshkosh 3, Rensselaer 2, Redlands 2, Clarkson 1, Rose-Hulman 1, Rutgers-Camden 1, Salem St. 1, Southwestern (Tex.) 1


I think it's obvious so predict Cortland will be a contender and early favorite for the NY Regional, if not national contender. Anyone feel differently?

Stevens, Clarkson, and RPI received votes, but no other representation in the NY Region. I'm confident Oswego, Ithaca, St. John Fisher, and Old Westbury will all be very competitive. Thoughts?

Any possible surprises? RIT? Farmingdale? St. Joseph's-LI? U.Rochester?

[Bishopleftiesdad]

I am kind of surprised to see that St. John Fisher is not getting any votes. I do not mean they should be top 25. But I expected them to possibly receive a couple of votes. I know Fisher started out slow last season but got much better as the year went on.

[Ralph Turner]

+1! Thanks for starting up the boards. It is a beautiful day in east Texas. Temp may hit 70 today!

Let's play two!   

[D3SportsFan]

I am kind of surprised to see that St. John Fisher is not getting any votes. I do not mean they should be top 25. But I expected them to possibly receive a couple of votes. I know Fisher started out slow last season but got much better as the year went on.

I had the same thought, especially with a small SR class in 2015. Fisher usually has a couple transfers who come in each year and contribute so it's possible that they begin the year under the radar.

[Bombers798891]

I am kind of surprised to see that St. John Fisher is not getting any votes. I do not mean they should be top 25. But I expected them to possibly receive a couple of votes. I know Fisher started out slow last season but got much better as the year went on.

Well, 25-18 isn't anything to write home about.

I mean, they got better after starting 6-14, but that's in part because they played well teams like Elmira, Houghton, Utica,  and Ithaca.

You've got Keystone getting 19 points, and Keystone beat them twice. Stevens is getting 12 points, and Fisher went 0-4 against them last year, Ohio Wesleyan with 6 also beat them.

The potential angle is well-founded, but we can't just assume guys will get better. Look what happened to IC in 2014. They thought they'd have back a lot of talent from the 2013 team that nearly won it all, (7 of the 9 main hitters, four of the six main pitchers). But one guy goes pro, another leaves the team for personal reasons, three of the four pitchers post higher ERAs, and two of the hitters lose 89 and 72 points off their average. Ithaca goes from 41-8 to 26-10.

I don't see anything wrong with asking a team like Fisher—which lost most of the games they played against better teams—to prove it

[DucksBB]

If I can speak for Stevens.....IC and SJF are always solid and tough.  It will be a good conference competition.  As for the pre-season poll, we're very happy to be receiving some notice, it's been a long time coming.  We even had one of our own named a pre-season AA 1st teamer.  The Ducks are an senior heavy team.  We had 18 recruits in when these seniors were freshmen and now is their time to show what 3 years of seasoning can do.  The pitching is very solid and the line-up will be the most balanced we've had since I've been watching.  Lost a few pieces to graduation but no more than other schools.  Should be alot of fun.

[D3SportsFan]

Is it now a 3-team race at the top of the E8? For years it was Fisher and Ithaca battling for the top spot. Can Stevens now be considered a true contender in the E8?

Fisher seems to have a couple transfers each season as well. Any word on new additions other than freshmen?

Ithaca has Prendergast returning after injuring his arm in his first game of the 2015 season. Did he have TJ surgery and is he healthy?

Stevens looks like they graduated 14 starts in the pitching staff, but have 3 SP returning (combined 27 starts) each with an ERA below 2.10.

There could be a lot of noise made in the Empire 8 this year!

[Bombers798891]

Ithaca is a mixed bag. They graduated a lot of pitching.

Prendergast is the big question mark I think. But Diorio and Parkes need to improve. Ryan Cotegni is intriguing (1.90 ERA in 19 IP)

The team returns most of its best hitters, but they need to improve across the board if they want to compete.

[DucksBB]

Yes, Stevens lost 14 starts but replacement should be seamless since our strong lefty, Jakusik, was out all year and returns this season.  He played in the Northwoods over the summer to help work himself back into the groove.  Lost 3 bats out of the starting line-up but the main hitters and table setters return.  Some good new additions should contribute well.

Like I said before, it will be fun competition.  Can always expect SJF and IC to reload well.  They always do.

[D3SportsFan]

What other teams in the NY Region will be equipped to contend with Cortland for the Regional Title? Oswego? Stevens? RPI? Clarkson? Rochester?

Now that Phil didn't see his shadow, spring can continue!