BB: General West Region Discussion

CrashDavisD3 · February 18, 2013, 12:09:49 PM

TOP TEAMS IN WEST 2-18-2013

ASC - Texas Lutheran 7-2 Ozarks 5-2 Texas Tyler 4-2
NWC - George Fox 5-3 Pacific Lutheran 4-2 Whitman 4-2
SCAC - Trinity TX 5-1
SCIAC - Pomona 7-0 Occidental 7-2 La Verne 5-2

Westside · February 18, 2013, 07:30:03 PM

Not to be a nitpicker or anything... but, depending on your definition of "top teams", Linfield has the highest win % in the NWC!

And I believe they are the team to beat in that league this year.

Richard Hamstocks · February 18, 2013, 07:55:43 PM

Quote from: Westside4 on February 18, 2013, 07:30:03 PM
Not to be a nitpicker or anything... but, depending on your definition of "top teams", Linfield has the highest win % in the NWC! And I believe they are the team to beat in that league this year.

actually, regardless of his definition of "top team", Linfield has the highest winning percentage in the NWC!
Looks like he might be going total wins, as its at least fairly clear that oxy isn't a team to beat in the sciac.

108 Stitches · February 18, 2013, 08:09:58 PM

In fairness to Crash his list changes as games get filled in at the cream comes to the top. I mentioned Linfield in my post that got rolled over. I suspect that Oxy is not long for this list, but hey they can enjoy the spotlight for now.

Of course you are free to make up your own top teams in the West list, and we can throw rocks at it.

Whatagame · February 18, 2013, 08:59:23 PM

I'll take an early swing at the top teams in SCIAC/NWC at least:

SCIAC: Pomona-Pitzer, their pitching stats are really strong thus far.
La Verne - some quality early wins. Some good team speed.
CLU - Slugged it out with G. Fox, taking 2 out of 3

NWC: Pac LU, Tough pitching.
Linfield
Whitworth - Off to slowish start, still shaking off Spokane snow, should hit stride soon
G. Fox - Lots of offense, pitching giving up lots of runs

I've never seen them play, but Trinity U. on paper seems to have one of the strongest combinations in the West of strong pitching and a powerful offense (high averages + lots of extra base hits/power)

Colorado · February 18, 2013, 09:48:18 PM

You could be right on Linfield. Maybe them and Pac Lu as a 1 and 1A for now. Pac Lu has beaten the teams it should but I was surprised that GF lost to the 2 SCIAC teams (Cal Lu and especially Whittier). Whitworth lost to a strong Pomona squad but also had a loss and tie to a not so strong Claremont team.

Made me re-think where teams might fit now in the SCIAC constellation which I would list as follows: (1) Pomona Pitzer (2) La Verne and (3) Cal Lu in the top tier; with (4) Chapman (5) Whittier (6) Redlands or Oxy in the 2d tier. If Chapman's pitching didn't have those question marks, I'd move them up. Even with some of the errors they've made so far, they are dramatically better defensively than the last 2 years. Its obvious they recruited with defense in mind (catcher, 3B and SS). Despite the bad start, the line up looks stronger in the middle than last year. Clean up hitter Battaglia is the real deal. Add Gandy, Saatzer and Dillon to the mix and if Surnie can get untracked..then maybe....

Last year's pop-gun offense couldn't string enough hits to score anything and the errors always came at a bad time. I don't know where this fits but Linfield fans might recall a series last April when Rauh, McGee and Osaki threw 3 consecutive complete games at Linfield, struck out a combined 36 and gave up a total of 3 runs (2 ER) and all Chapman got was a 4-game split. That was the whole season in a nutshell.

Of this year's staff, the freshman SP Riddle bears watching. Eddie (Edwards the PC) looks for things in a wind up to tweak so as to get rid of inefficiencies (glove, shoulder, leg, hips and driving forward). In HS, Rauh didn't throw that hard and had a big rainbow curve but when i saw him later at Chapman in 2010, he looked like a different pitcher (mechanics-wise). Not just Rauh (who got it right away) but apparently most of the all time greats at Chapman seem to add about 5-7 mph to their FB from when they start as they grow into their bodies, weight lift and follow Eddie's gospel. Edwards is one of the real keys to Chapman's success over the last decade. Riddle so far has shown good command and location with a ball that moves a little. I'd like to see where he is next year when McGee and Osaki come back from their med redshirt years because he looks like a ROY this year. The Junior RP Watson did well last weekend as the closer. There's another freshmen SP Smith who looked nervous in his first 2 games but last game, they took the pressure off of him by putting him in long relief and he did well before tiring. Everybody else? The jury I'm afraid is still out...

108 Stitches · February 18, 2013, 11:20:43 PM

Welcome Colorado, great to get some more insight and comments on the West board.

I like the Chapman team, they are just young. Not sure if they will develop quick enough to be a real contender this year, but they will continue to get better. I saw the TU/Chapman games and they put on a nice show during BP and then got mowed down by the front line TU pitching, but hitting is timing and if they get the timing down as the season progresses then they will be dangerous offensively. They did hit in the final game, but that was against a bunch of freshmen pitchers after Fink went down, but they hit, so it is there. Their pitching will just get better based on experience, and defensively they were solid and make some great plays.

I would expect the Northwest teams to start slower than the Southern teams so a few games with some inconsistencies are to be expected.

As far as ASC and SCAC teams. Centenary is solid but ineligible for post season play, and there is no one else in the SCAC that looks very strong, (other than Trinity). TLU looks good and I am sure Concordia or one of the other ASC teams will get it together and be a contender. Too early to know who yet.

Trinity is the real deal, they can hit have some speed and are deep pitching.

CrashDavisD3 · February 18, 2013, 11:28:20 PM

Chapman's key to 2013 may be hitting/scoring runs in the SCIAC. They must score runs with the young pitching staff to win games. Currently a team BA of .233, OBA of .316 and slg % .271 will not win alot of games in the SCIAC.
http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2012-13/teams/chapman

Last year the top 2 teams La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer were the top 2 hitting teams in the SCIAC.
http://www.thesciac.org/sports/bsb/2011-12/stats/lgsumm.htm

108 Stitches · February 19, 2013, 08:26:03 PM

Trinity beat MHB 12-6 in extra innings. (10) MHB was up most of the game and Trinity came back to tie it in the top of the 9th. The wheels came off for MHB in the top of the 10th, giving up two unearned runs and then the flood gates opened.

Lucero gave up 3 runs and did not have his best stuff. Bentz pitched 3.2 innings and I think will get the win.

Box
TU - 12-12-3
MHB- 6-11-5

I just picked up part of the game on the video feed and liked how MHB looked. I think their new coach is doing good things there. TU offense carried them, but their sloppy play continues. They will have to be tighter defensively later in the season to compete with the top teams IMO. Good come from behind win for them however.

dp643 · February 19, 2013, 08:32:02 PM

5 errors and 9 walks for UMHB. Clean that up and they showed they can hang with the big boys. I am glad to see they hit Lucero, Barron, and Bentz. I have come to expect to see Trinity's best pitchers every time UMHB faces them in a midweek game. Arguably could be the toughest 3some they will face in any one game.

108 Stitches · February 20, 2013, 12:48:51 PM

I agree with you DP, I thought MHB looked very competitive and had TU down 6-3 through 7. Overall however it was a sloppy game, I took a look at the box this morning and there were 5 ER's on each side, 5 errors by MHB and 3 by TU. TU left 14 runners on base, and MHB gave the game away at the end after playing a pretty good one through 7. Although it may be hard for them to swallow they should take away from this that they can compete with anyone if they play clean baseball.

I am sure Barron was in just to try to settle things down after a tough outing for Lurcero, which looked like a mid week bull pen for him. Bentz needed to get some mound time as he has not been used much so far as the coaches have been looking at some of the freshmen early in the season. He settled the game down for TU from a pitching standpoint and only gave up one run. Since TU's conference schedule looks so weak they may save some of the front line pitching for some of the more competitive mid week games.

TU has a lot of pop in their line up and if you make mistakes they will make you pay, you just can not extend innings against them, which MHB found out.

CrashDavisD3 · February 20, 2013, 03:45:24 PM

Quote from: 108 Stitches on February 20, 2013, 12:48:51 PM
I agree with you DP, I thought MHB looked very competitive and had TU down 6-3 through 7. Overall however it was a sloppy game, I took a look at the box this morning and there were 5 ER's on each side, 5 errors by MHB and 3 by TU. TU left 14 runners on base, and MHB gave the game away at the end after playing a pretty good one through 7. Although it may be hard for them to swallow they should take away from this that they can compete with anyone if they play clean baseball.

I am sure Barron was in just to try to settle things down after a tough outing for Lurcero, which looked like a mid week bull pen for him. Bentz needed to get some mound time as he has not been used much so far as the coaches have been looking at some of the freshmen early in the season. He settled the game down for TU from a pitching standpoint and only gave up one run. Since TU's conference schedule looks so weak they may save some of the front line pitching for some of the more competitive mid week games.

TU has a lot of pop in their line up and if you make mistakes they will make you pay, you just can not extend innings against them, which MHB found out.

Lot of Errors will not get a team to Appleton...Look at a team like St. Thomas..Great Pitching and Great Defense last year. This combination gets team many trips to Appleton. If you can't pitch or you can play defense you will not win the big games. Last year Chapman lead the SCIAC in Team ERA but was only better than Cal Tech in Team Defense.

dp643 · February 20, 2013, 04:07:46 PM

I agree Crash. I think errors with this team will clean up quicker than the walks. Im concerned with the walks. 5 games and 37 walks won't yield too many wins. I dont expect this UMHB in Appleton, but I am encouraged by their ability to knock around a few outstanding pitchers. They doubled the number of hits Barron and Lucero had given up in the previous 2 games.

Just_Some_Guy · February 21, 2013, 08:59:19 AM

Quote from: 108 Stitches on February 20, 2013, 12:48:51 PM
Since TU's conference schedule looks so weak they may save some of the front line pitching for some of the more competitive mid week games.

I'd say this has been a pretty solid theme for the last 8+ years.

108 Stitches · February 21, 2013, 01:12:40 PM

I think the loss of BSC, Millsaps, Hendrix certainly hurts their SOS from years past. I would say that this years schedule looks less competitive than in years past. This becomes even more evident when looking at the conference tournament, not playing the top teams from the eastern conference really weakens their schedule. Centenary is a very competitive team, but is not eligible to move on to Regional play, but the rest of the conference looks weak compared to years past.

I think they should go to the Arizona tournament given their situation, but of course no one at TU cares what I think.