BB: Regionals (New England) Harwich '08, '11, ECSU '09, '10

[TheGNAC]

I've been reading these boards for three years now and have never felt compelled to reply until now (it should also be very obvious from my name, and such where I'm coming from, but I digress)...

I'm just writing to clear the air so please GNAC do not be offended; Suffolk, while they may be a formidabble opponent, did not "touch up" Bayer for four earned runs.  The FS&HG defense committed four errors behind Bayer (two in the inning where Bayer allowed the four runs, inning: walk, strikeout, single, error (double play ball), strikeout, double, error (five possible outs now), single, strikeout.  To Suffolk's credit they did get the hits when it counted, but even the singles in that inning were bermuda triangle shots down the left field line aided by the wind (the double was well struck).  So, Suffolk, yes a quality opponent, but they did not exactly cause Bayer much stress; if it was anybody that caused stress it was the Bantam's D, which averaged an ungodly amount of errors in Florida and not the Suffolk O, which struck out 15 times in the game.

BP,

I should have prefaced my comment regarding the Suffolk - Trinity game, and I didn't. This season, Bayer's has been virtually untouchable, as his ERA sits at 0.49 and his record sits at a perfect 10-0. Statistically, he's the best pitcher in Division III baseball, no question. Just looking at that stat line, it's safe to assume the rough outings have been non-existent for Bayer all season long. The closest thing to getting "touched up" for Bayer was against Suffolk, at least according to his stat line against them (http://gosuffolkrams.com/sports/bsb/2008-09/news/suftrin09.pdf - 7.1, 7 h, 4 er). For most any other pitcher, that's a quality outing; for Bayer, it's not. That is why I used the term "touched him," although it probably isn't the best word I could have used to describe his outing.

My point wasn't to put down Bayer, anyway. He's an outstanding pitcher, and Trinity rolled to a 15-6 victory in that game. The point I was trying to make is that Suffolk has seen some of the best arms New England has to offer and they have held their own, and I don't think Fahey is going to go out and throw 9 scoreless with 20 K's like some would have you believe.

[hockeyfan77]

I've been reading these boards for three years now and have never felt compelled to reply until now (it should also be very obvious from my name, and such where I'm coming from, but I digress)...

I'm just writing to clear the air so please GNAC do not be offended; Suffolk, while they may be a formidabble opponent, did not "touch up" Bayer for four earned runs.  The FS&HG defense committed four errors behind Bayer (two in the inning where Bayer allowed the four runs, inning: walk, strikeout, single, error (double play ball), strikeout, double, error (five possible outs now), single, strikeout.  To Suffolk's credit they did get the hits when it counted, but even the singles in that inning were bermuda triangle shots down the left field line aided by the wind (the double was well struck).  So, Suffolk, yes a quality opponent, but they did not exactly cause Bayer much stress; if it was anybody that caused stress it was the Bantam's D, which averaged an ungodly amount of errors in Florida and not the Suffolk O, which struck out 15 times in the game.

Bayer is the best pitcher in the regional.......period.

Both Suffolk and WPI have good #2 starters in Delia and Murphy. Can they outpitch ECSU's #2 when ECSU brings to the table a superior hitting club?

I highly doubt that Suffolk/WPI #2 will be better that Glibliar and or Musson (sp) who will probably go in games 2 and 3 respectfully ...I hope they do though!!!!   

[TheGNAC]

I've been reading these boards for three years now and have never felt compelled to reply until now (it should also be very obvious from my name, and such where I'm coming from, but I digress)...

I'm just writing to clear the air so please GNAC do not be offended; Suffolk, while they may be a formidabble opponent, did not "touch up" Bayer for four earned runs.  The FS&HG defense committed four errors behind Bayer (two in the inning where Bayer allowed the four runs, inning: walk, strikeout, single, error (double play ball), strikeout, double, error (five possible outs now), single, strikeout.  To Suffolk's credit they did get the hits when it counted, but even the singles in that inning were bermuda triangle shots down the left field line aided by the wind (the double was well struck).  So, Suffolk, yes a quality opponent, but they did not exactly cause Bayer much stress; if it was anybody that caused stress it was the Bantam's D, which averaged an ungodly amount of errors in Florida and not the Suffolk O, which struck out 15 times in the game.

Bayer is the best pitcher in the regional.......period.

Both Suffolk and WPI have good #2 starters in Delia and Murphy. Can they outpitch ECSU's #2 when ECSU brings to the table a superior hitting club?

I highly doubt that Suffolk/WPI #2 could be better that Glibliar and or Musson (sp) who will probably go in games 2 and 3...I hope they do though!!!!   

Don't know too much about WPI's #2, but I can say with some certainty that the top 3 arms at Eastern CT are 3 of the top starters in New England. You'd be hard pressed to find too many #1's in New England better than Will Musson, nevermind Gilblair, who is leading Division III in K's/9 innings. It's really an embarrassment of riches at Eastern CT right now in terms of pitching depth, and that might be the difference maker come Sunday, similar to Trinity's pitching depth last season (Kiely, Barnard, Regan, Bayer - that's just unfair).

[NESCAC FAN]

I am surprised nobody's mentionned this but ECSU really got screwed in having to play Babson in the first round. First off, Babson is not an 8 seed. They are better than Husson and Westfield St. Second, Aizenstat is a very strong #1. This could very well be a trap game for ECSU.

Trinity caught a break in that Ramsey can probably hold off Westfield St. and allow Bayer to face Southern Maine. The only problem they'll face is that Bayer won't be able to start 2 games unless rain funks up the schedule.

Still, if ECSU beats Babson, I think they are in good shape because of their pitching depth. That's the biggest weapon a team needs in a regional.

[BPCatch31]

I've been reading these boards for three years now and have never felt compelled to reply until now (it should also be very obvious from my name, and such where I'm coming from, but I digress)...

I'm just writing to clear the air so please GNAC do not be offended; Suffolk, while they may be a formidabble opponent, did not "touch up" Bayer for four earned runs.  The FS&HG defense committed four errors behind Bayer (two in the inning where Bayer allowed the four runs, inning: walk, strikeout, single, error (double play ball), strikeout, double, error (five possible outs now), single, strikeout.  To Suffolk's credit they did get the hits when it counted, but even the singles in that inning were bermuda triangle shots down the left field line aided by the wind (the double was well struck).  So, Suffolk, yes a quality opponent, but they did not exactly cause Bayer much stress; if it was anybody that caused stress it was the Bantam's D, which averaged an ungodly amount of errors in Florida and not the Suffolk O, which struck out 15 times in the game.

BP,

I should have prefaced my comment regarding the Suffolk - Trinity game, and I didn't. This season, Bayer's has been virtually untouchable, as his ERA sits at 0.49 and his record sits at a perfect 10-0. Statistically, he's the best pitcher in Division III baseball, no question. Just looking at that stat line, it's safe to assume the rough outings have been non-existent for Bayer all season long. The closest thing to getting "touched up" for Bayer was against Suffolk, at least according to his stat line against them (http://gosuffolkrams.com/sports/bsb/2008-09/news/suftrin09.pdf - 7.1, 7 h, 4 er). For most any other pitcher, that's a quality outing; for Bayer, it's not. That is why I used the term "touched him," although it probably isn't the best word I could have used to describe his outing.

My point wasn't to put down Bayer, anyway. He's an outstanding pitcher, and Trinity rolled to a 15-6 victory in that game. The point I was trying to make is that Suffolk has seen some of the best arms New England has to offer and they have held their own, and I don't think Fahey is going to go out and throw 9 scoreless with 20 K's like some would have you believe.

Good call GNAC, thanks. Like I said, it should be noted that they did get hits when they needed to in order to plate the runs.

[KSCfan]

NESCAC fan we had talked about this before, see earlier in the thread, or the general new england board i dont remember which one where we said that Babson should be the 6 seed, and westfield the 8.  I think i asked what determines a teams seed because of this.  Lets face it, everyone has a good #1 in the regionals. They wouldnt be there if they didnt. Like people have mentioned before, its the 2 or 3 or even 4 that matters. 

You want to win the regionals have pitching, and stay out of the losers bracket

[ECSUalum]

An area that is often not discussed because it is difficult to quantify is the mental toughness of the team in general and key players, (pitchers) in particular.

A lot of this comes with experience, but some is just the player and how he handles stressful/distracting situations.
In NCAA regionals and even more importantly in the CWS, it is critical that all players be able to not only handle situations where they may be in a jam, but on the other side when they have the lead, they need to have what I call is a KILLER INSTINCT, that is do not let down ever even with a comfortable lead in these games, as all teams can comeback.  Killer means unrelentless strive to put more runs on the scoreboard, (strick out the side) and not letting momentum swing to the opponent.

I truely believe Trinity College had this mind set last year IMHO

[KSCfan]

Alum does that mean squeezing up by 9 runs in the 6th??

Couldnt resist throwing that one out there.  Yes i agree about mental toughness.  I think that this is the reason why the LEC teams year in and year out do so well.  The strain of the LEC tournament prepares them for those tough situations that arise in the regionals.  Thier is a reason that in the last two years you have had 2 LEC teams playing for the trip to Wisconsin  in 07 and Trinity and USM last year.  You can tell teams that are mentally tough and stay even keel through the whole game. You can see it in the way they play the game

[Rick Vaughn]

That's what I said about Trin on the NESCAC board throughout the conference tourney.  They did not play very well, especially defensively, but still won going away.  That team knows how to win and has that KILLER INSTINCT - Killeen's grand slam.  I think the biggest thing about knowing how to win is executing with two outs.  If you stay on the field by making errors with two outs or can keep the other team on the field with two-out RBI, it can either kill or help a team.

[NESCAC FAN]

I don't see Trinity winning it this year...not the same type of talent they had last year on the bump. They kicked it around a fair amount last year, but having Bourdon and DiBenedetto on the left side made their infield alot more sound than it is this year.

They beat up on a very, very weak schedule this year. Their game vs. Eastern was cancelled and the NESCAC was probably weaker than it has been in the last 5 years. They played one good team up North, so it is very difficult to gage this team's abiolity. But I will be very surprised if they win this region.

[d3baseballnut]

I am surprised nobody's mentionned this but ECSU really got screwed in having to play Babson in the first round. First off, Babson is not an 8 seed. They are better than Husson and Westfield St. Second, Aizenstat is a very strong #1. This could very well be a trap game for ECSU.

Trinity caught a break in that Ramsey can probably hold off Westfield St. and allow Bayer to face Southern Maine. The only problem they'll face is that Bayer won't be able to start 2 games unless rain funks up the schedule.

Still, if ECSU beats Babson, I think they are in good shape because of their pitching depth. That's the biggest weapon a team needs in a regional.

I dont think Babson is automatically better than Westfield or Hussion. There is a reason they were seeded 8th. Husson has won 30 games and Westfield beat WNE and WPI this season. The problem is neither has a fairly dominant #1, but Babson does.

Nonetheless, ECSU will not have a problem with Babson.

[Paul Heering]

I'll take a stab at some predictions

I'll make my predictions ignoring the losers bracket

WPI over Suffolk (Fahey never leaves the dugout)
ECSU over Babson
Trinity over Westfield
Southern Maine over Husson

WPI over ECSU (Fahey participates)
Southern Maine over Trinity (Bayer sees that Colby, Wesleyan, and Bates aren't walking through that door)

Southern Maine over WPI

what do others think?

[ecfaninri]

Paul...
Only problem with your WPI - Eastern game, your assuming Minor will beat Suffolk and then Fahey will outduel Gilblair or Musson in 2nd round. I really like Fahey but WPI and Fahey have not seen the likes of this kind of lineup.

And after Therrian, the drop off in pitching is tremendous.

[Paul Heering]

Paul...
Only problem with your WPI - Eastern game, your assuming Minor will beat Suffolk and then Fahey will outduel Gilblair or Musson in 2nd round. I really like Fahey but WPI and Fahey have not seen the likes of this kind of lineup.

I'm just throwing out some guesses.  I'm probably wrong.

[ecfaninri]

Paul...
Your guess is an good as anyone else's.

It should be, as usual, a fun day for all the players, coaches, and fans at each of the regionals today. Weather looks good for Willimantic today. It is also nice for parents and fans who can't get out of work mid-week to catch some of these games to be able to watch it live on the net.
Here are my picks (guesses) for the tourney

Mideast                    Champion    Heidelberg
                   Runner-up   Adrian

Central                    Champion    Millsaps
      Runner-up   Carthage

New England    Champion    Eastern Connectict
      Runner-up   Trinity

MidAtlantic    Champion    Keystone
      Runner-up   Kean

West       Champion    Pomona- Pitzer
      Runner-up   Texas-Tyler

South       Champion    Salisbury
      Runner-up   Johns Hopkins

New York                   Champion    Western New England
      Runner-up   Cortland State

Midwest                   Champion    St. Scholastica
      Runner-up   St. Olaf