BB: Regionals (South) Danville '08, Salisbury '09, Methodist '10, Rhodes '11

[Falcon2720]

If you need to play in a minor league stadium to get you pumped up for games then something is wrong.

I have played in 2 south regional tournaments and I didn't care where they were or what field we were playing on. The competition and the chance to play for a world series bid is what we players played for.

Teams have to place bids for the regional and the bid gets selected. The ability to get a minor league stadium cost a ton of money and the host school probably makes little to any money hosting a tournament. Like I said earlier, most schools don't put in bids because of the time, effort, and money required to go into the tournament. 

Tell coach Harvell at CNU that you want them to host the regional tournament at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, VA next year and see what he says. If you are hosting and you don't get in, that a huge risk to take.

[hokieone]

Falcon, of course the players get cranked up for regionals wherever they might be played..duh.... and I'm sure it's a lot of work to host, certainly not as much fun, or as easy to get volunteers  if your guys aren't in it.  Maybe they should follow the D I example, and designate sites when the teams are selected, with teams being able to indicate ahead of time whether they are able/willing to host.  It is a lot of work, but if a team has access to a facility, and rooms blocked off, the other logistics can be worked out within a week. The biggest thing would be the host securing commitments for the necessary hotel rooms before they offer to host.

  CNU's players would have loved to have had a regional at Hampton, but I understand War Memorial, which I've never seen, might not be in the best of shape.

  Perhaps Shenandoah can secure Front Royal's Bing Crosby Stadium and offer to host if they keep getting to regionals. Very nice new stadium with all new lights and facilities used by the Front Royal Cardinals of the Valley Baseball League and two local high schools.   

[Stargell]

Guys,
New to the site, been around college baseball for a long time.  The Ferrum Regional in 2007 was the best hosted regional that I have attended.  Large, unfilled minor league stadiums become too quiet and lack the energy that on campus sites offer.  Just one man's thoughts.

[narch]

i can see both sides of this...

i think for the FANS, the pomp and circumstance surrounding a regional in a nice minor league park is an advantage - good concessions, better parking, nicer/more comfortable seating, better restroom facilities

i think the PLAYERS care about different things - does the infield roll true, does the outfield have pot holes in it, is there a good hitting background, is it well lit

i can tell you that if i were a player, i'd prefer to play in front of 400 people in a facility that holds 700 vs. 400 in a facility that holds 5,200...arthur perdue stadium must have felt pretty empty last year...i think that "big time" feeling probably went away real quick for the players when they looked out and saw 5,000 or so empty seats, but maybe i'm wrong...

there is also the question of finances - i imagine someone has to pay to use an off-campus facility, no?

Perhaps Shenandoah can secure Front Royal's Bing Crosby Stadium and offer to host if they keep getting to regionals. Very nice new stadium with all new lights and facilities used by the Front Royal Cardinals of the Valley Baseball League and two local high schools.

my understanding is that if su wanted to host, they could put in a bid, even if the team was the worst team in the country...

and i've also heard that monarch players will be @ the regional regardless of what the selection committee thinks...they've got to work the event if they aren't playing in it...talk about motivation to win

[Falcon2720]

hokie,

Your the one that said players appreciate the chance to play in minor league stadiums or out of the ordinary places. No, they appreciate the chance to play in a regional.

D3 chooses sites ahead of time for logistical purposes, so they can plan ahead. The NCAA pays for all regional teams. The NCAA doesn't want to pay money to fly teams to different sites at a last second notice.  Some teams conference tournaments, pool A bids are the week before or end the day before regional selections. You can't have teams making a decision to host a regional tournament a couple days before it starts..duh...

BTW,
War Memorial host a CPL Pilots team that averages a couple thousand fans a game. The stadium is old but in the same shape as Burlington Stadium.

[hokieone]

Whatever, no use beating the horse. Speaking just for the players, now former players,at my house, they enjoyed playing in the professional stadiums, 90% empty or no. Once the game starts, what or who is the stands doesn't much matter.

Burlington has been renovated since 2009-new sod throughout, new dugouts, new backstop, new infield. It's pretty sweet.

[Richard of Funchester]

I would say that the players don't care where they are playing as long as it is a regional game.  I can see and understand that players might enjoy playing at a professional stadium compared to a college field.  But I also see the other side, last year in Salisbury the stadium was nice, but it was not packed or as loud as a college stadium.  At SU we travel well and I think that the smaller bleachers can be helpful for us. At this stage in their career they have played at pretty much every level venue and it is still 60 feet from the rubber to the plate and 90 feet on the base paths.   

As for Winchester/SU hosting a regional- I think that the Bing is a great stadium in Front Royal.  The field and bleacher area is nice.  The only bad part is that it is a band box.  During the valley season I have seen a lot of homeruns with wooden bats, I can't imagine what it would be with aluminum during a regional setting.  In my opinion it does not matter where you play now or what the field is like for regionals, the goal is to get to Appleton, where the stadium and field are in tip top condition.

Looks like we kind of shot ourselves in the foot with the loss to Stevenson the other night.  I applaud Anderson for starting and playing the seniors on senior night.  He did have to bring in the regulars in the 7th to see if they could pull out the win.  My biggest concern from that game was the way the Van Sickler threw.  He gave up 14 hits in 4 innings of work, his ball was up and very flat.  Stevenson does have some good bats, but they teed-off on him like they were hitting in the cage.  To me this was very discouraging after he was just voted pitcher of the year in the conference.  He even struggled on the bump down in Burlington.  He is going to have to get rested in order for SU to do anything game 1 at the regional.  Looks like MU has made a great bid to get a look at the regional and with CNU losing their last 3 I don't see them getting a look.

GO HORNETS!!

[narch]

As for Winchester/SU hosting a regional- I think that the Bing is a great stadium in Front Royal.  The field and bleacher area is nice.  The only bad part is that it is a band box.  During the valley season I have seen a lot of homeruns with wooden bats, I can't imagine what it would be with aluminum during a regional setting. 

didn't mu and su play in that stadium last year?...i kinda like the idea of using that place, if so...the monarchs put up 45 runs in 2 games

[hokieone]

MU and SU had their "softball game" (or so the score seemed) in Winchester at Bridgeforth Field. The Front Royal stadium is about 15 miles away. It's a very nice practically new minor league-type stadium, although the playing surface at this point probably isn't quite as good as most college field playing surfaces. It just needs some TLC by folks that really know what they're doing, something hard to accomplish sometimes when there is public ownership and Parks and Rec Departments involved. The stadium is extremely nice, the nicest in the Valley League until Harrisonburg starts playing this summer at JMU's new field, although W&L's, where Rockbridge plays, is close.

[Diamond King]

My biggest concern from that game was the way the Van Sickler threw.  He gave up 14 hits in 4 innings of work, his ball was up and very flat.  Stevenson does have some good bats, but they teed-off on him like they were hitting in the cage.  To me this was very discouraging after he was just voted pitcher of the year in the conference.  He even struggled on the bump down in Burlington. 

Yeah, I saw that Van Sickler got carved up pretty well and thought "How is Stevenson [the former Villa Julie] putting up this kind of offense against such a fanstastic pitcher?" That box was mind-boggling: 14 hits, seven earned! I might disagree with your statement on how GVS "struggled on the bump down at Burlington." Sure, he gave up 11 hits and four earned. But that was in a complete-game effort against one of the USA-South's top hitting teams in Methodist! He had 17 runs of support, so I don't think he had to be fine on every stinking pitch! I too have noticed that he has gotten the ball up some throughout the season and has lost some velocity on pitch No. 1. Keep in mind that he has a new catcher (albeit Neeb has done a very good job as a true freshman and made all-state in high school because of his receiver's tools more than his batting prowess), and in relation to that, had two D1 catchers at Front Royal last summer when he was one of the top five starting pitchers (any level) in the VBL. Van Sickler still has wicked off-speed stuff and is one of the more coachable players you will ever come across. Having nearly a month off between games might just hurt the Hornets, who knows? But that also gives Coach K time to fine-tune everything and get this staff ready for the haul at the Shelly. I don't think you're going to see Kevin or Taylor DuFrene tinker with Van Sickler's arm slot much or get him to work inside/out or up/down with location. Van Sickler will still be one of the best pitchers in Fayetteville. If you're an SU fan, hope more that Yokum can keep up his hot pitching or some other starter can eat innings if the Hornets continue to win. The fewer you play (towards a championship) the better you'll be.

[D-BAT]

Keep in mind that he has a new catcher (albeit Neeb has done a very good job as a true freshman and made all-state in high school because of his receiver's tools more than his batting prowess).

That's pretty impressive, SU wins the USA-South Conference tourney championship with a freshman catcher.

[vabaseball]

And CNU did the exact same thing two years ago -- won the tournament championship (and the regular season) with a freshman catcher -- perhaps two freshman catchers splitting the time.

[Richard of Funchester]

D.K. - I agree with you on Van Sickler being one of the best pitchers at regionals.  We need him to throw well to get us off on the right foot towards the championship.  I have noticed that he has lost velocity on the fastball this year, which could result in him living with his breaking stuff.  I am just comparing what I see this year, to what I saw last year and in the VBL.  Taylor and Anderson are not going to change anything with regards to Greg in the next month off from games, they will as you put it "fine tune things".  I think that the month off is going to be good for both Greg and the rest of the pitching staff.  I heard that Stefanowicz is back throwing; this could be helpful for the middle relief staff.  This is a place that we have been shaky lately.  From starter and closer perspective I feel comfortable, but for the middle relief it's a toss up.  Yocum is going to have to stay hot for us in the #2 slot in the rotation.  He did a nice job in Burlington, but as we all know regionals are the next step up and I hope he steps up like he did a couple of weeks ago.  My biggest questions are who is going to be the #3 or #4 for us?  Hopefully our bats continue to do what have done all season.  Looking forward to seeing what will come over the next couple of weeks.

GO HORNETS!!

On a more serious note:  SU Baseball Player/ 2008 Graduate Preston Tarleton was in a really bad car accident over the weekend, so keep both his family and the SU family in your thoughts and prayers.  

[Richard of Funchester]

Keaton has done one hell of a job behind the dish this year.  I am very impressed with his ability to recieve the ball as well as he does.  He has saved some games/ big innings for Hornets with his ability to block the ball as well as he does.  He has been a great find from the SU coaching staff.

[Diamond King]

Keaton has done one hell of a job behind the dish this year.  I am very impressed with his ability to recieve the ball as well as he does.  He has saved some games/ big innings for Hornets with his ability to block the ball as well as he does.  He has been a great find from the SU coaching staff.

The way Neeb handles a game is well beyond his years. Obviously, he has had good coaching. None of his last three in-season mentors (Todd Miller, Nick Sborz, or Kevin Anderson) have ever caught a game (beyond little league) to my knowledge, but I am sure they or someone on their staffs have taught Neeb how to play the position well (no diss meant here if Keaton learned the tools of the trade through summer ball). Neeb plays with a lot of confidence, at least when he is in the field. Just watch Neeb and you'll see he carries himself well. He was a three-sport athlete in high school, but baseball has always been far and above his best sport. Neeb still needs some work at the bat, just some mechanical stuff and the ability to transfer some of that confidence behind the dish to the plate. But that will come, I am sure. Getting Neeb in camp might have been Coach K's most promising pickup in the off-season. Neeb actually started out at D1 VMI but from I learned was told they had two schoalys ahead of him at catcher and he would be redshirted for 2010. Neeb wanted to play right away, and looked into coming to SU. Now you know!

About Preston: Sorry to hear he was in a car wreck. What exactly happened? Didn't know him very well, but I know he always played hard when given the chance. I'll never forget Tarleton going deep against CNU's Kenny Moreland (now playing High A ball in the Orioles' system) a few years back. He could always say he had a homer against a future pro player! My family will keep Preston in our prayers.