BB: Top Teams in West Region

[Whatagame]

With most West Region teams now having a fair amount of games under their belts, here's a quick scan of the top team ERA's:

PLU: 1.87
G. Fox: 1.90
Trinity: 2.22
Linfield: 2.33
LeTourneau: 2.64
CTX: 2.91
Chapman: 3.06
TLU: 3.39

It looks like Fox and Trinity have the most impressive overall combinations of team BA, OBP, SLG and ERA with Linfield trailing just a bit behind those two in offensive categories. 

[108 Stitches]

Nice job Whatagame.

I looked up Cal Lu and they were:

ERA: 4.33 Batting: 0.363 Fielding: 0.960

Surprised me a bit with the high ERA.

Post season is all about pitching and solid defense with timely hits.

GF and PLU have very nice ERA's.

[Westside]

George Fox put on a clinic this weekend, on the mound.

Their staff's numbers were: 29 IP, 1 Run, 37 Strikeouts. Absolutely unstoppable.

[Spence]

Depending on the regional sites, just because they get a pool A in the west, does not mean they will go west. If they are closer to a south regional, they will go south. D3 in the past has tried to minimize plane travel. They have surprised us with additional flights.
I believe Marietta has gone east before even though they received the pool A for the OAC.

Spence correct me if I am wrong.

They played a couple of regionals in PA in the 70s, but I don't think the pool system was around then and I have no idea what system was. When they hosted the championships, they never played a regional in Marietta, but most of the time it was in Ada or they went to Illinois or somewhere. Before my time, getting all that from last year's media guide.

But long story short, I don't think Marietta is a good example of what you're talking about, and I really have no idea if it's a valid statement to say that Pool As below the top 2 seeds are less likely to be moved.

[CrashDavisD3]

Depending on the regional sites, just because they get a pool A in the west, does not mean they will go west. If they are closer to a south regional, they will go south. D3 in the past has tried to minimize plane travel. They have surprised us with additional flights.
I believe Marietta has gone east before even though they received the pool A for the OAC.

Spence correct me if I am wrong.

They played a couple of regionals in PA in the 70s, but I don't think the pool system was around then and I have no idea what system was. When they hosted the championships, they never played a regional in Marietta, but most of the time it was in Ada or they went to Illinois or somewhere. Before my time, getting all that from last year's media guide.

But long story short, I don't think Marietta is a good example of what you're talking about, and I really have no idea if it's a valid statement to say that Pool As below the top 2 seeds are less likely to be moved.

Linfield went to a regional in the Midwest in the past in the past decade
Teams have been brought into the West Regional from outside the region in recent times shutting out teams in the West getting 6 teams in a regional. So anything can happen with teams in a regional. They are no guarantee's for where Pool A's play and who will be Pool B/C teams

[Spence]

This would be my initial assumption as well, that there's little correlation. But when I think back, I do feel like Pool B/C teams have gotten moved a little more frequently than you'd expect. Completely unscientific there.

[108 Stitches]

Coe was in the West Regional two years ago, the rest were West teams.

[Ron Boerger]

That LeTourneau ERA's prolly going up .... (5-10) Centenary's put 12 runs on 'em after five, though I don't know how many are earned since they don't have live stats.

Edit:  Centenary 12, LeTourneau 6, final (9).    11 of the Gents runs were earned.

[108 Stitches]

The'll be dropping out of the 6 hole on Massey's. 

[Ralph Turner]

That LeTourneau ERA's prolly going up .... (5-10) Centenary's put 12 runs on 'em after five, though I don't know how many are earned since they don't have live stats.

Edit:  Centenary 12, LeTourneau 6, final (9).    11 of the Gents runs were earned.

Mid week pitching is not as strong as it needs to be.

[dp643]

LeTourneau has to be taken seriously with the sweeping of Hardin Simmons in my opinion. With that said, it will come down to how they perform against UMHB and CTX at this point to determine if they are for real.

UMHB's pitching is still a cause of concern for me. They can hit with anyone in the ASC, but a 4.90 ERA isnt going to cut it down the stretch. I imagine they improve as the year goes on with some young arms. Hopefully they continue to field at a conference best clip of .965. If they don't, it may get ugly fast.

[dp643]

UMHB sweeps MC to move to 13-2 overall and 10-2 in conference. Big showdown this week at Trinity. That should be a good one.

LeTourneau is 3 outs away from sweeping ETBU and moving to 16-2 overall and 11-1 in conference play. Those guys just keep winning.

[108 Stitches]

Clearly the top two teams in the West are Linfield and Trinity, they are really separating themselves from the pack right now. Everyone else took a step back this weekend.

SCIAC, while it seems like while they have some good teams no one really is a standout. CLU is good but not in the Linfield/TU category.

George Fox laid a big egg this weekend.  (I am being polite) The rest of the NWest - I am not sure about until they get into the meat of their schedules. How real is Willamette? PLU took 2/3 from Whitworth, let's see how good they are later in the season.

LeTourneau has won a lot of games but who have they played? Lets see how they do against Concordia and MHB. Not convinced they are a Regional team just yet. Concordia looks competitive and so does MHB. Lets see how MHB looks against TU on Tuesday and CTX vs them the following week.  UTT - fo get a bout tit.

TLU looks solid but they better plan on winning the SCAC if they want to get to their second straight Regional, although GFox did not help themselves this weekend and we all know what their schedule looks like at the end of the season.

SCAC is all about TLU and Trinity, everyone else looks mediocre.

My 2 cents on a Sunday eve.

[dp643]

Clearly the top two teams in the West are Linfield and Trinity, they are really separating themselves from the pack right now. Everyone else took a step back this weekend.

SCIAC, while it seems like while they have some good teams no one really is a standout. CLU is good but not in the Linfield/TU category.

George Fox laid a big egg this weekend.  (I am being polite) The rest of the NWest - I am not sure about until they get into the meat of their schedules. How real is Willamette? PLU took 2/3 from Whitworth, let's see how good they are later in the season.

LeTourneau has won a lot of games but who have they played? Lets see how they do against Concordia and MHB. Not convinced they are a Regional team just yet. Concordia looks competitive and so does MHB. Lets see how MHB looks against TU on Tuesday and CTX vs them the following week.  UTT - fo get a bout tit.

TLU looks solid but they better plan on winning the SCAC if they want to get to their second straight Regional, although GFox did not help themselves this weekend and we all know what their schedule looks like at the end of the season.

SCAC is all about TLU and Trinity, everyone else looks mediocre.

My 2 cents on a Sunday eve.

Im worried about Tuesday's game of UMHB vs Trinity for The Cru. Historically Trinity throws their top arms in midweek regional games, and UMHB has thrown guys further down the depth chart. As evidenced by my recent posts, it is no secret I am worried about the pitching depth of UMHB. If that is the case I can see Trinity hammering UMHB, but we will see. I am still holding that UMHB's arms get better as the season goes. It should be a fun contest to see where UMHB stands at this point in the season vs one of the best in the country.

[CrashDavisD3]

My picks for Regional Tournament. Lots of baseball left but the picture is getting clearer. Tournament upsets can make things change. I will check back to see how far off I am in May 2013

SCIAC: Cal Lu
NWC: Linfield
SCAC: Trinity-Texas
ASC: Concordia-Texas
Pool C(2): Chapman, Whittier, Pacific Lutheran,  LeTourneau, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Texas-Lutheran