BB: Top Teams in West Region

[108 Stitches]

Crash I don't think they (Centenary) is eligible to be in the polls. They are a very good D3 team, but have a few D1 carry overs. Ralph or someone could shed some light on it.

[CrashDavisD3]

Crash I don't think they (Centenary) is eligible to be in the polls. They are a very good D3 team, but have a few D1 carry overs. Ralph or someone could shed some light on it.

Others can correct me.

D3 Baseball Polls -
NCAA Regional Ranking - No
SCAC Playoffs - Yes
NCAA Regional Playoffs - No
Other D3 baseball polls -

At the bottom of D3baseball.com Top 25 poll
The D3baseball.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Full members of NCAA Division III are eligible.

[Ralph Turner]

Crash I don't think they (Centenary) is eligible to be in the polls. They are a very good D3 team, but have a few D1 carry overs. Ralph or someone could shed some light on it.

Others can correct me.

D3 Baseball Polls -
NCAA Regional Ranking - No
SCAC Playoffs - Yes
NCAA Regional Playoffs - No
Other D3 baseball polls -

At the bottom of D3baseball.com Top 25 poll
The D3baseball.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Full members of NCAA Division III are eligible.

Yes, Centenary is "D-III re-classifying".  They are not eligible for the NCAA playoffs. They were NCAA D-1 as recently as 2010-11.  They spent 2011-12 in the ASC.  They should be full members in 2014-15.

[Patriotfan87]

UT Tyler moves to 15-4 with a 10-5 Tuesday night victory over Hendrix in Conway.

[108 Stitches]

Trinity beat TLU last night in what is beginning to be typical fashion this year. Pound the ball, good pitching (actually outstanding by the Soph starter) with 11K's in 6.2 innings of work, as well as continued poor fielding. I also agree with ILVBB on some of the decisions by the coaching staff, but it is easy to criticize without being there, plus it is baseball and that is what we do.

Trinity University             IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zack Speer ................   6.2  3  3  1  2 11   0  0  1  0   22 25   4  4

Texas Lutheran...... 000 000 600 -  6  5  1
Trinity University.....400 000 22X -  8 14  3

I am not sure if there is a better hitter in D3 ball right now, but Pat Hirschberg has to be close to the top with an OPS of 1.6 and unreal numbers. I saw BSC Bruce Maxwell last year and Hirschberg is in the same zone right now IMO.

Next up for TU is an away weekend series with a well coached  UofDallas squad that is probably better than their record.

No question that TU is one of the top teams in the country but a few things will have to change IMO to make it a championship team.

[Ralph Turner]

Big win for TU.  The TU errors kept TLU in the game!  It is also nice that they answered the 6-spot with two 2-run innings.

[ILVBB]

108 - I didn't question coaching decisions' what I said or attempted to say is they tried many freshman in the field and on the mound, hence the word "auditioned". The point that I was making was the team had yet to be challenged at the level they needed to see to make a statement at regionals.

However, even looking at the win last night you see some good (hitting) with somethings that can lead one to question how good a team they are (errors and bullpen).

Teams need to be challenged, they need to see how good or in some cases how tough they are. I tried to make the point that they needed to win 10 of 14 games against teams that have a track record of being competitive. Since my post they are 2-2.

I don't know how good they are and other than playing tough teams over a short period of time, it will be hard to see how good they will be when regionals come around.

[Richard Hamstocks]

If all games count towards SOS not just in region in 2014, why would EAST COAST Teams come West. West coast teams have 10 or more games under their belt while the EAST Coast team will have zero or very few.

Please understand their is a change going to take place in 2014 is what I understand. ALL D3 games will count not just in region for Pool C bids. Others can confirm or verify this if I am wrong but is what I read and heard.

This could translate into less COLD WEATHER teams coming West.

Or teams in the East start at the same time as West but make trips to Florida, Arizona, Texas, California. Teams in CA start in Late January/Early February for their 1st games of the year.

True. And your concerns are not unique. "A game is a game" will be the focus of a column much later in the season. Not all of the coaches I contacted like it. The second half of the selection chair Q&A deals with the rule change as well. Part I of that Q&A is next Wednesday.

As it stands right now, 3 east coast schools (Kean, Bridgewater and Ithaca) came to the SCIAC for their spring break trip.  Two are ranked, one is receiving votes.  No SCIAC teams are ranked, though a few are receiving votes. 
Thus far, those 3 teams are a combined 2 wins and 8 losses against the SCIAC.  One of the wins came against CMS, which may do more harm to a team's SOS than it benefits their WL%.   
Factor in what Cal Tech does to your OOWP, and one can start to see what some coaches don't like it. 

[Whatagame]

If all games count towards SOS not just in region in 2014, why would EAST COAST Teams come West. West coast teams have 10 or more games under their belt while the EAST Coast team will have zero or very few.

Please understand their is a change going to take place in 2014 is what I understand. ALL D3 games will count not just in region for Pool C bids. Others can confirm or verify this if I am wrong but is what I read and heard.

This could translate into less COLD WEATHER teams coming West.

Or teams in the East start at the same time as West but make trips to Florida, Arizona, Texas, California. Teams in CA start in Late January/Early February for their 1st games of the year.

True. And your concerns are not unique. "A game is a game" will be the focus of a column much later in the season. Not all of the coaches I contacted like it. The second half of the selection chair Q&A deals with the rule change as well. Part I of that Q&A is next Wednesday.

As it stands right now, 3 east coast schools (Kean, Bridgewater and Ithaca) came to the SCIAC for their spring break trip.  Two are ranked, one is receiving votes.  No SCIAC teams are ranked, though a few are receiving votes. 
Thus far, those 3 teams are a combined 2 wins and 8 losses against the SCIAC.  One of the wins came against CMS, which may do more harm to a team's SOS than it benefits their WL%.   
Factor in what Cal Tech does to your OOWP, and one can start to see what some coaches don't like it.

Yep, and Kean has one trophy and Ithaca has two!   ....so, it's about time a NWC (or SCIAC) team rises up and takes it all this year.

[CrashDavisD3]

If all games count towards SOS not just in region in 2014, why would EAST COAST Teams come West. West coast teams have 10 or more games under their belt while the EAST Coast team will have zero or very few.

Please understand their is a change going to take place in 2014 is what I understand. ALL D3 games will count not just in region for Pool C bids. Others can confirm or verify this if I am wrong but is what I read and heard.

This could translate into less COLD WEATHER teams coming West.

Or teams in the East start at the same time as West but make trips to Florida, Arizona, Texas, California. Teams in CA start in Late January/Early February for their 1st games of the year.

True. And your concerns are not unique. "A game is a game" will be the focus of a column much later in the season. Not all of the coaches I contacted like it. The second half of the selection chair Q&A deals with the rule change as well. Part I of that Q&A is next Wednesday.

As it stands right now, 3 east coast schools (Kean, Bridgewater and Ithaca) came to the SCIAC for their spring break trip.  Two are ranked, one is receiving votes.  No SCIAC teams are ranked, though a few are receiving votes. 
Thus far, those 3 teams are a combined 2 wins and 8 losses against the SCIAC.  One of the wins came against CMS, which may do more harm to a team's SOS than it benefits their WL%.   
Factor in what Cal Tech does to your OOWP, and one can start to see what some coaches don't like it.

Yep, and Kean has one trophy and Ithaca has two!   ....so, it's about time a NWC (or SCIAC) team rises up and takes it all this year.

SCIAC Chapman has 1 (B4 SCIAC) 1 finals and couple of 3rd places.

[Just_Some_Guy]

It's really too early to be making any kind of rankings, but here's what my West rankings would look like if I had to pull the trigger today:

1. Linfield: 12-3 -  The top of their rotation is only rivaled by UT Tyler's, but I think Linfield has more depth. They play good D and have a lot of guys that can swing the stick.
2. Trinity: 16-4 - They're going to beat themselves here and there, but Scannell has let a lot of guys see action already this year. They'll be battle tested and what Hirschberg is doing at the plate is just silly.
3. UT Tyler: 15-5 - Have flopped them w/ Cal Lu no less than 5x b/c I think SCIAC might be stronger conference this year. If they don't sweep UTD today they should move down, but I like their rotation. They always seem to get exploited during tournament play, though.
4. Cal Lutheran: 11-5-1 - They've won every series against the "better" teams in their conference. Save for La Verne it only gets easier during the 2nd half of their season.
5. George Fox: 12-5 - They looked great in the AZ Desert Classic, but they have 9 games left w/  Whitworth, Pac Lu & Linfield. Long road ahead.
6. Pomona : 14-4 - Interesting to see how today's DH with Chapman goes, but they feel like the 2nd best team in the SCIAC this year.

7-13 is where it starts to get a little muddy.

ASC:
UT Dallas - I think they can beat anyone with Derek Dallas on the bump, but they're just above average after him. 0-4 in the Desert Classic against the NWC/SCIAC, but have taken 5 of 7 from the top two teams in the ASC West.
Texas Lutheran - They're really missing Kellen McGriff who was 5-1 on the bump last year, but it may be a blessing in disguise as other guys Snider/Harwell have had to log innings. They play great D, but I just dunno if they can beat anyone if it comes to a slug fest.
Concordia - They've struggled to replace some guys from the top of their rotation last year, seem to be a bit weaker at the plate, have already matched their loss total from last year, lost all 4 in the Desert classic and got swept by UTD. I still wouldn't be surprised if they won the ASC tournament.

NWC:
Pac Lutheran - Konopaski,, Beatty, & Lubking have all looked great on the bump. We'll know a lot more once they square off against Linfield and George Fox.
Whitworth - They've struggled on the road thus far this year, but they did take 2 of 3 from Cal Lu to open their season. Did they get hot at the right time last year? Probably -- but what I like about them is they seem to sweep their series' against the 'weaker' teams. Those games add up.

SCIAC:
Chapman - I think they're young. I think they make too many mistakes and I don't think they're good enough on the bump, but I don't ever count out Tereschuk and staff.
La Verne - They've beaten Linfield, Kean and Ithaca, but dropping 2 of 3 to Chapman and losing to CMS in conference play doesn't bode well with Pomona and Cal Lu still lurking later in the season.

JSG

[Patriotfan87]

UTT takes two of three at UTD giving up a total of 5 runs. They have allowed 9 runs total in six conference games.

[108 Stitches]

Pretty much agree with JSG, except that for accuracy purposes I would put Centenary as one of the top 4-5 teams, even though they can't move on. They have two D1 holdovers who gave up scholly's so they could participate in the SCAC tournament and the rest are D3 recruits. In my book they should be mentioned just because they are so good and the program/kids deserve to be mentioned. The top teams in the SCIAC are starting to separate themselves with CLU, P-P looking good with the 3 – 4  place a bit of a scramble.

For Trinity a 4th and 5th starter are emerging, as well as a flame throwing closer who seems to be able to throw strikes this year. If they continue to develop their pitching staff they will have the depth necessary come Regionals with two experienced options for late game shut downs and a group of middle relievers to bridge to them if necessary. Defensive development will be critical for them.

[Patriotfan87]

UTT has Centenary coming in to town for three games the first weekend in April, I'm excited to see how we stack up.

[CrashDavisD3]

MY TOP TEAMS

NWC
Linfield(15-3)
George Fox(15-5)

SCAC
Trinity-Texas(19-4)
Centenary(15-5)

ASC
Texas-Tyler(17-5)
Texas-Lutheran(17-6)

SCIAC
Cal Lutheran(13-5-1)
Pomona-Pitzer(15-5)