BB: Top Teams in West Region

[BBFan62]

Just got back. Great game. Tough battle the whole way, back and forth - two great teams going at it. Scannell was tossed the first inning going after yet another crappy umpire that gave CU a run. I am surprised they do not do a better job of selecting umpires, but I guess you get what you can get. I am sure after Friday night Scannell was fed up with guys being lazy and not getting down and calling strikes at the knees. It was a clear looking K, and the ump just stood there, next batter HBP that walked in a run. That's just baseball however since both teams had the same guy(s). Ugh...

JC Bunch called the squeeze to tie it up, perfect call. The rest I don't know - but I my wife said she thought she saw Scannell in the trees in the outfield....(just kidding)

Chapman should not feel bad about the two close losses. They were well played games on their part, (gone is are the E's for the most part) and I know the TU players have a lot of respect for that team. It is difficult for me to be unbiased but IMO Trinity is a deeper team, with stronger pitching. Michael Bentz as I posted earlier will be huge for this team in late innings. He has "the look" and the pitches of a closer. He will be very tough to score against late in a game.

Rauh is everything that has been written about him, but he is no Klimesh IMO. Klimesh has MLB stuff, Rauh might but he lives on his slider, where Klimesh will come at you with a ++ fastball and a + Slider. If TU sees Rauh again they will get to him quicker IMO. CU is a great team and I think they will fight through a difficult schedule to get to the tournament so this likely will happen.

Trinity could well run the table the rest of the way in to the SCAC tournament. Someone may beat them, but I don't see anyone on their schedule in their class.

Let me, as a "third party observer" (because my son goes out East) state that I am very glad I was able to work it out so that I attended the Friday & Saturday games (and watched today on the video feed). I agree TU is the better team and Klemish the better pitcher overall. I've always wanted to see Rauh pitch.  Klemish is way above what he was in highschool and it shows just how hard he worked to get where he is.

Both teams are very talented, at all positions. Nice to see each at bat and also the defense. Too bad the officiating was not up to par with the quality of the teams. Hats off to both teams; tanks for the enjoyment.

A special shout out to 108stitches, a pleasure to meet you and talk BB. Too bad Nick didn't follow LeSuer - we sure could use him!

[Jack Parkman]

I will officially refrain from any further predictions

Great job by Trinity coming back after Friday's debacle. 

No matter what some say, Chapman is getting really close to being in serious trouble.

[infielddad]

Jack,
We know Pool C is like walking a tight rope.
In the West Region, it can be even more of a white knuckle.
What I meant to say is Chapman knows they have a very big job for the next 25 plus games.
They have not left much, if any,  margin for error in Pool C.
To me, from this weekend, it looks like their pitching can get them there.
Hitting and defense...those need to come together quickly.

[Jack Parkman]

Jack,
We know Pool C is like walking a tight rope.
In the West Region, it can be even more of a white knuckle.
What I meant to say is Chapman knows they have a very big job for the next 25 plus games.
They have not left much, if any,  margin for error in Pool C.
To me, from this weekend, it looks like their pitching can get them there.
Hitting and defense...those need to come together quickly.

Absolutely agree 100%.  Wasn't pointing out anyone in particular by saying "no matter what some say" it was meant as many will not understand the situation Chapman is in now.

[infielddad]

Similarly, while Trinity  had a nice weekend, they need to peak near the mid/end of April.
While these games were great, on a Regional and National view, both teams need to get better, play better, win every step of the way.
For Trinity, they need to develop the type of depth on the mound that will carry them in the SCAC's and beyond and certainly need to show they will hit better against quality pitching, where that pitching is breaking ball dominant.
For the first time, maybe since Coach Scannell has been there, I think they have depth of high quality pitching.  Klimesh and Lucero can likely get them to the SCAC's.  They need more than those two to win the SCAC's.
The worst for Chapman is if TU does not win the SCAC's and they both are pool C's, I would think???

[108 Stitches]

I think that Chapman is now in the groove and see them beating the teams they need to beat and taking  2 of 3 from the tough teams remaining on their schedule. If they do this they will likely be back in the Regionals. That is one solid team - with their one weakness being the lack of bullpen depth. The TU series should just make them better (and a little bit tougher) going forward. As Jack pointed out they do not have much margin of error going the rest of the way in.

As far as infieldads point on TU's pitching depth, I don't see that as being a problem. There are plenty of arms on this squad and they will work them in. They have already had them in against Centenary, and they will likely get in a couple more midweek games, or in blowout situations. As BBFan saw even after they were blown out on Friday night they kept bringing out hard thrower after hard thrower, including a very promising freshmen that will likely get a few more starts before the SCAC tournament. The injury to Hall hurts, (shoulder) but he should be back by the SCAC tournament, and Trinity has guys already prepared to step in so this should make them even deeper come tournament time.

For me they need to tighten up their mental play a bit and execute better on the offensive side. I saw too many times where they did not execute and made mistakes they can not afford to make come tournament time. I think they should learn a thing or two from Chapman on their holding of runners. If they do this then they will really separate themselves from the competition.

[CrashDavisD3]

I think that Chapman is now in the groove and see them beating the teams they need to beat and taking  2 of 3 from the tough teams remaining on their schedule. If they do this they will likely be back in the Regionals. That is one solid team - with their one weakness being the lack of bullpen depth. The TU series should just make them better (and a little bit tougher) going forward. As Jack pointed out they do not have much margin of error going the rest of the way in.

As far as infieldads point on TU's pitching depth, I don't see that as being a problem. There are plenty of arms on this squad and they will work them in. They have already had them in against Centenary, and they will likely get in a couple more midweek games, or in blowout situations. As BBFan saw even after they were blown out on Friday night they kept bringing out hard thrower after hard thrower, including a very promising freshmen that will likely get a few more starts before the SCAC tournament. The injury to Hall hurts, (shoulder) but he should be back by the SCAC tournament, and Trinity has guys already prepared to step in so this should make them even deeper come tournament time.

For me they need to tighten up their mental play a bit and execute better on the offensive side. I saw too many times where they did not execute and made mistakes they can not afford to make come tournament time. I think they should learn a thing or two from Chapman on their holding of runners. If they do this then they will really separate themselves from the competition.

Chapman showed they can compete with teams with great pitching. Chapman starting pitching did an outstanding job. Defense still needs some work. Timely hits could have won 2 more games this last weekend. I expect Trinity to be in the West Regionals and with that pitching they have a shot at winning it.

Chapman has the talent to make it back to the Regionals but they have put themselves in difficult spot. They really need win in region games if they expect to get back as a Pool C team. But need to score runs to win games, play defense and need better relief pitching to hold the leads.

Chapman's top 4 pitchers ERA  
Rauh 1.12  24 IP
Levitt 1.80 15 IP
McGee 2.05 30.2 IP
Osaki 2.89 9.1

[CrashDavisD3]

Top Teams in West 3-5-2012

SCAC
Trinity(14-2)
UDallas(11-4)

SCIAC
Cal Lu(11-4)
La Verne(11-5)

ASC
Concordia-Texas(14-4)
Texas-Tyler(12-3)

NWC
Linfield(7-3)
Pacific Lutheran(7-5)

Last year only 6 teams were in West Regional.

Chapman has games with Linfield, Pac Lu, Cal Lu and La Verne. If they want to make to the regionals they know what they must do now to make it.

[Jack Parkman]

I think it's time for Chapman to start getting nervous.  I am fully aware that last night's game aainst Rutgers is a non-region game but they played their normal lineup and threw their #1.  Chapman is hitting .261 as a team and does not have a regular starter hitting over .300, in fact only 1 player is hitting over .300 and that is in 9 ab's.  Something has to give.

[CrashDavisD3]

I think it's time for Chapman to start getting nervous.  I am fully aware that last night's game aainst Rutgers is a non-region game but they played their normal lineup and threw their #1.  Chapman is hitting .261 as a team and does not have a regular starter hitting over .300, in fact only 1 player is hitting over .300 and that is in 9 ab's.  Something has to give.

http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2011-12/files/teamcume.htm
I  believe Chapman is in huge trouble.

They can not score enough runs to get the wins for their outstanding starting pitching. You can have great starting pitching but if you cant score runs your not going to win or if you can not hold onto to a lead then your going to lose alot of games. 5 losses by 2 runs or less.  2 shutouts. Scoring 0, 1, 2 and 3 runs will not win games. Unearned runs and lack of timely hitting is not a recipe for success.

Top 4 pitchers ERA's range from 1.58 to 2.49 but their next 5 pitchers ERA range from 7.20 to 21.60

Not only is nobody not hitting .300 team along with low OB% .339, low slg% .345, low fielding % .957

Several of their losses are to teams with losing records that hurts their SOS.
Rutgers(3-5)
Whittier(9-10)
George Fox(7-10)

Chapman does have the talent and coaching to still turn things around. I have seen it before and believe they still have time to do it but they got to stop the bleeding soon.

[108 Stitches]

I think it is safe to say that Chapman, while a good team, is not one of the elite this year. They have the opportunity to earn their way back into the tournament, but right now they should be considered one of the bubble teams. Their starting pitching is good, but they do not have the offensive firepower of the past.

[CrashDavisD3]

I think it is safe to say that Chapman, while a good team, is not one of the elite this year. They have the opportunity to earn their way back into the tournament, but right now they should be considered one of the bubble teams. Their starting pitching is good, but they do not have the offensive firepower of the past.

Agreed and Chapman posts will move to SCIAC since at this time they are not one of the top teams in the West.

[CrashDavisD3]

TOP TEAMS IN THE WEST March 12, 2012

1) Trinity(17-3) SCAC
2) Texas-Tyler(12-3) ASC
3) Concordia-Texas(16-4) ASC
4) Pacific Lutheran(10-5) NWC
5) Linfield(9-4) NWC
6) La Verne(13-6) SCIAC
7) Cal Lutheran(12-6) SCIAC
8) Hendrix(11-6) SCAC
9) Occidental(14-7) SCIAC
10)  Can you believe Chapman is not even in the top 10 in the West 

[Ron Boerger]

TOP TEAMS IN THE WEST March 12, 2012

1) Trinity(17-3) SCAC
2) Texas-Tyler(12-3) ASC
3) Concordia-Texas(16-4) ASC
4) Pacific Lutheran(10-5) NWC
5) Linfield(9-4) NWC
6) La Verne(13-6) SCIAC
7) Cal Lutheran(12-6) SCIAC
8) Hendrix(11-6) SCAC
9) Occidental(14-7) SCIAC
10)  Can you believe Chapman is not even in the top 10 in the West

So who *do* you have at #10, Crash?  "Not Chapman" isn't much help.   

[108 Stitches]

Some ideas:

While Centenary can't officially be ranked as a D3, you could give them some "Crash love".

Redlands took 2/3 from CLU over the weekend.

Louisiana College has lost mostly to highly ranked teams. They might be a fit. Take a look at their schedule. Quietly good.