BB: Top Teams in West Region

[waterlogged]

JSG,

They lost ~ 275 of their ~460 innings from last year and you don't replace those easily, and/or it takes time to develop a more inexperienced staff. Gray has historically struggled early in the season and with the past staffs it did not matter, with a limited staff it becomes more visible, he will get it together by the end of the season I am sure. They are not the second best team in the country  right now IMO, but can develop into a very tough team to beat if the pitching develops. (I thought they were as good a Corland last year and unfortunately ran into some scheduling and weather issues so we will never know)  From what I have seen looking at comments and schedules I think the West Regional will be a little easier this year than in the past, but again it is all about playing well at the end of the season, and there is TON's of baseball to be played.

I agree their pitching has been a bit less than last year.  Nelson has been very good, I'm curious to see if he gets more innings as a starter or if they keep him available for closing out some games as well.  They do have some talent, it will be interesting to see if some of the less experienced pitchers rise through the season.  They also have a Freshman who has yet to see the field who was in consideration for the starting rotation until he went out with some arm soreness just prior to the season start.  He was experiencing some command issues at times, but was said to have the best stuff and velocity on the staff.  Smith compared him to Ben Klimesh as being their best pitching recruit in some time.  Who knows if he gets back or if it helps even if he does.  But at least there is one potential additional bullet in the chamber.
I saw Centenary play a couple of times last year and they were very scrappy and talented in some areas.  If Trinity keeps at its currently level, I would expect them to win the conference and tournament, but I would not count Centenary out.  They played with aggression and attitude when I saw them.

[Ralph Turner]

Welcome to the Boards, waterlogged.

Glad to have your here.

[108 Stitches]

Welcome watterlogged!
Top West teams Wk 2
(note Centenary is getting some votes RE: SCAC discussion)


#   School (1st votes)   Rec   Pts   Prev.
1   Cortland (25)   8-0   625   1
2   UW-La Crosse   0-0   577   2
3   Emory   11-2   560   3
4   Trinity (Texas)   12-3   534   4
5   Birmingham-Southern   11-2   502   5
6   Shenandoah   9-1   459   9
7   UW-Whitewater   0-0   411   8
8   Frostburg State   6-2   407   6
9   Randolph-Macon   11-1   370   16
10   Southern Maine   0-0   354   12
11   UW-Stevens Point   0-0   326   10
12   Mary Washington   13-1   300   18
13   Salisbury   4-3   291   7
14   Whitworth   12-2   290   14
15   Ramapo   2-0   273   15
1[b]6   Texas-Tyler   11-4   239   17[/b]
17   Christopher Newport   10-1   234   24
18   Marietta   4-2   184   19
19   Webster   5-3   183   13
20   Wooster   0-0   113   23
21   Concordia-Chicago   4-0   105   rv
22   Berry   13-4   92   21
23   Oswego State   7-0   83   rv
24   Wartburg   5-3   81   22
25   Linfield   11-6   77   20
Dropped out: No. 11. Kean, No. 25. Heidelberg.

St. Thomas (Minn.) 67, Kean 45, Misericordia 44, Carthage 31, Centenary (La.) 30, Rhodes 23, Heidelberg 21, Rutgers-Camden 20, Maryville (Tenn.) 20, Cal Lutheran 16, Brockport 15, Buena Vista 13, Pacific Lutheran 10, MIT 10, Mt. St. Joseph 10, Keystone 9, La Roche 9, Ohio Northern 8, Adrian 7, Swarthmore 6, Endicott 6, St. Scholastica 5, Washington (Mo.) 5, Coe 5, Chicago 4, Thomas More 4, Worcester St. 4, Moravian 3, Baldwin Wallace 2, George Fox 1, McDaniel 1, Tufts 1.

[NWBaseballFan10]

Overall, I think the new poll provides a fairly accurate depiction of the top teams in the West. If rankings were handed out today I'd probably go with...

1. Trinity - Their offense has a lot of POP and I expect their pitching staff to continue to improve (I can't imagine Gray finishing with an ERA above 4 by the end of the season either).
2. Texas-Tyler - Their losses have come against solid competition and they've beat the teams they "should" beat pretty convincingly this season
3. Whitworth - I would have had them above TT until they dropped a non-league game against Lewis & Clark yesterday. A great start has been blemished by a 1-3 stretch over their past 4 games.
4. Centenary - Has swept TT, but I'm not as impressed with the quality of their schedule to this point
5. Linfield - The fact that they've dropped a series game against Lewis & Clark for 2 years in a row PAINS ME. But the fact that the Pios beat Whitworth yesterday and that they are a win away from being .500 eases the pain a little.
6. Redlands - I'd give them a slight nod as the top team in the SCIAC right now. Their losses have been against strong opponents, but we will see how they measure up this week with a non-league contest against Webster and a conference series with Cal Lu.

IMO Redlands, Cal Lu, and La Verne are a toss up for the representative from the SCIAC.

[108 Stitches]

Nicely done. NWBBF. +1
I don't think we will know the real Centenary team until they meet Trinity later in their schedule. PLU is a bit of a surprise. (negative one) and Whitworth, a positive based on who they graduated. We will get a better picture of the SCIAC in the next couple of weeks,

[108 Stitches]

Top teams in West for week 3

#   School (1st votes)   Rec   Pts   Prev.
1   Cortland (25)   11-0   625   1
2   Trinity (Texas)   16-4   555   4
3   Birmingham-Southern   15-3   544   5
4   Emory   15-5   503   3
5   UW-La Crosse   2-2   479   2
6   Randolph-Macon   13-2   463   9
7   Southern Maine   2-0   420   10
8   Shenandoah   10-3   415   6
9   UW-Whitewater   0-0   404   7
10   Salisbury   8-3   365   13
11   Frostburg State   7-3   343   8
12   Ramapo   6-0   341   15
13   UW-Stevens Point   0-0   328   11
14   Whitworth   14-4   288   14
15   Christopher Newport   12-3   269   17
16   Oswego State   8-1   211   23
17   Mary Washington   13-5   209   12
18   Texas-Tyler   12-6   168   16
19   Wooster   0-0   140   20
20   Concordia-Chicago   8-3   129   21
21   Piedmont   14-5   109   rv
22   Washington (Mo.)   12-4   81   rv
23   St. Thomas   0-0   71   rv
24   Centenary (La.)   14-3   70   rv
25   Rutgers-Camden   4-0   69   rv
Dropped out: No. 18 Marietta, No. 19 Webster, No. 22 Berry, No. 24 Wartburg, No. 25 Linfield.

Berry 66, Marietta 65, Maryville (Tenn.) 49, Mt. St. Joseph 45, Wartburg 41, Misericordia 32, Webster 27, Rhodes 25, Buena Vista 22, La Verne 18, La Roche 16, Kean 14, Keystone 12, Linfield 12, Ohio Northern 10, Carthage 9, Heidelberg 9, Endicott 7, Denison 5, Amherst 5, Haverford 5, Swarthmore 4, Western New England 4, Mitchell 4, Penn St.-Berks 4, Coe 3, Pacific Lutheran 3, Roanoke 3, Cal Lutheran 2, Thiel 2, Redlands 1, St. John Fisher 1, St. Scholastica 1.

[Ron Boerger]

CTX is 10-8 but just took two of three from UT-T.   Any thoughts about what's going on there?

[Just_Some_Guy]

CTX is 10-8 but just took two of three from UT-T.   Any thoughts about what's going on there?

In the scheme of things, they have pretty (solid) losses -- no reason to believe they won't challenge UTT for the ASC title.

All three of these games were good, in-region games* against solid teams in a tournament to open the season.

*Eh, perhaps Piedmont is not in-region. 

• Lost to a 14-5 Piedmont team in season opener, a team who has wins against #18 Marietta and #5 Birmingham Southern. Traxler had trouble with command; his worst outing (only start) of the year.
• Lost to a Pomona team that may be better than their current record would indicate; not a great loss, though
• Lost to a Whitworth team that is currently winning the NWC. Threw a #4-#5 guy against Kingma (4-0) who has emerged as Whitworth's #2-3

In addition to those three you have these three that you're not terribly upset about:

• Two losses to (now) #2 Trinity. A very good, very senior laden team.
• One to UT Tyler

Finally, the Tornadoes dropped games to Southwestern and Ozarks, the latter part of a 2 games to 1 conference series win.

CTX isn't the only good team SW has toppled. Ask Trinity and Centenary about the Pirates.

So yeah, they're only 2 games over .500, but I do anticipate them getting to, and being a force, in the ASC tournament.

SP Lane Hobbs has been very, very good. Seriously, his stat line is ridiculous. I think it's time to just go ahead and put Traxler in their weekend rotation and then settle on Smith or Benyo as your 3rd starter. I know they like Traxler out of the pen, but couldn't Benyo (long)/Bratton (short) serve that purpose?

I like Lieferman (FR), Britz (FR), Mellman and Valadez at the top of the CTX order. Poindexter swings and misses too much, but provides some nice pop in the 5-hole.

I think the most confounding thing is not what is going on with CTX, but what's going on with SR Connor Bertsch. The guy hit .403 with 13 2B and 8 HR last year and he's at .089 this year. Maybe he's pressing and maybe he's dinged up, but if they could get him going, it'd be a huge shot in the arm headed into the heart of conference play.

JSG

[108 Stitches]

Top West Teams.

2016 D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25, Week 4

Through games of Sunday March 20, 2016

#   School (1st votes)   Rec   Pts   Prev.
1   Trinity (Texas) (11)   20-4   599   2
2   Cortland (8)   14-3   587   1
3   Birmingham-Southern   18-4   537   3
4   Ramapo (2)   12-0   515   12
5   Southern Maine (3)   4-0   509   7
6   Randolph-Macon   15-3   478   6
7   Emory   17-6   460   4
8   UW-Whitewater   2-0   443   9
9   Shenandoah (1)   13-4   411   8
10   Whitworth   17-4   377   14
11   Salisbury   10-5   308   10
12   Centenary (La.)   17-3   296   24
13   UW-La Crosse   6-4   276   5
14   Christopher Newport   14-5   256   15
15   Rutgers-Camden   8-2   229   25
16   Frostburg State   9-6   200
17   Texas-Tyler   15-7   140   18
18   Mary Washington   15-7   120   17
19   Oswego State   8-3   118   16
20   St. Thomas   3-1   114   23
21   Western New England   8-0   103   rv
22   Wooster   4-2   89   19
23   Buena Vista   5-1   82   rv
24   UW-Stevens Point   1-3   78   13
25   Concordia-Chicago   10-5   71   20
Dropped out: No. 21 Piedmont. No. 22 Washington (Mo.).

Others receiving votes: Amherst 68, Keystone 56, Piedmont 53, Washington (Mo.) 44, Rhodes 42, Wheaton (Mass.) 34, Redlands 34, Mt. St. Joseph 33, McDaniel 28, Maryville (Tenn.) 26, Marietta 25, TCNJ 24, La Roche 24, North Central (Ill.) 23, Eastern Conn. St. 18, Mitchell 12, Benedictine 11, Ferrum 11, Berry 10, Kean 9, Ohio Northern 9, Otterbein 9, Misericordia 9, Occidental 8, Saint Mary's (Minn.) 8, Haverford 7, Methodist 7, Webster 7, Brockport St. 5, Fredonia 4, La Verne 4, New Jersey City 3, Penn St.-Berks 3, Roanoke 3, Denison 2, Johns Hopkins 2, Penn St.-Behrend 2, Wesleyan (Conn.) 2, Bowdoin 1, Moravian 1, Pacific 1.

[108 Stitches]

My comments on the poll.

Trinity might be number 1 in rank, but solely on others around them. Even their coach called them out in the press release on Sunday. Pitching is starting to shape up (and not) I will comment in SCAC later in the week.

Centenary makes a big move up and its well deserved, HUGE series for them this weekend vs Trinity. The only problem for them is that they are in the same conference as a team from San Antonio. They had a very bitter loss last year in the SCAC tournament at home and I am sure they will be gunning for the Tigers.

Whitworth is looking good in an otherwise disappointing NWest conference. What has happened? El Nino'?

UTT is a steady mid top 25 position and clearly the favorite out of the ASC.

Speaking of disappointing... what is going on in the SCIAC?  Uggg. Occidental ? Seriously who have they beaten?

[Jack Parkman]

Speaking of disappointing... what is going on in the SCIAC?  Uggg. Occidental ? Seriously who have they beaten?

The answer to this is very simple: nobody.

SCIAC SOS's as of today

Whittier- 36
Caltech- 40
Redlands- 56
Claremont- 76
Cal Lu- 87
Pomona- 118
La Verne- 135
Chapman- 151
OXY- 305

OXY has won 13 in a row and the combined record of those teams they have done it against is 27-62 for a .303 win %  Not very impressive but they have won the games they are supposed to and have not slipped up against anyone.  They have a much tougher road ahead.

[108 Stitches]

Trinity sweeps Centenary in very convincing fashion. Trinity dominated in pretty much all aspects of the game. They got a little sloppy in the last game this afternoon, but none of the games were very close. They should remain a solid number 1 next week. They changed up their pitching rotation a bit, and later in the week I will take a look and comment. As Centenary found out that lineup 1-9 is pretty tough to pitch to as there are really no breaks for an opposing pitcher.
Final scores.
11-4
13-3 Run rulled 7 innings
11-4

[Ralph Turner]

Trinity sweeps Centenary in very convincing fashion. Trinity dominated in pretty much all aspects of the game. They got a little sloppy in the last game this afternoon, but none of the games were very close. They should remain a solid number 1 next week. They changed up their pitching rotation a bit, and later in the week I will take a look and comment. As Centenary found out that lineup 1-9 is pretty tough to pitch to as there are really no breaks for an opposing pitcher.
Final scores.
11-4
13-3 Run rulled 7 innings
11-4

I would expect at Top 15 team to play a competitive series at home against a #1.
That casts doubts for me that Centenary is worthy of the consideration that they have received

[Bmo]

Maybe, but shouldn't the same logic apply between Centenary and UT Tyler? 

[108 Stitches]

I would agree with Ralph, I am not too sure about Centenary. They have beaten TT twice, but once was against a freshmen pitcher, and many times top teams use midweek games to let some of their younger guys get experience.

Looking closely most of their wins are against sub-par teams and this was the first really competitive series they faced and boy did they lay an egg [pun intended].  Happy Easter to all BTW!

Their last three weekends were Schreiner, Austin, Schreiner and playing three weekends in a row against weak teams does not prepare you for a team like Trinity and I think mentally they probably just wilted. The whole Trinity lineup is batting over 0.300 and as a pitcher if you are not mentally prepared for that it can get ugly quick and I think that is just what happened. They still are a sound baseball team, just not a top 15 at the moment. They will likely head back down the rankings as fast as they came up.

It looks like Trinity and Whitworth are separating themselves from the Western pack and the moment.