BB: Top Teams in West Region

[Just_Some_Guy]

What Big Poppa describes about Southern California JUCOs is also the case in Texas. Ralph alluded to that in his post. There are DIV III level JUCOS that play high quality baseball and have won National Championships. (Schools that are in the Dallas County Community College District). Many of these kids end up on NCAA DIV III programs their Junior and Senior years. Of course there are also the DIV I JUCOS that are very competitive nationally. Some but not many of these kids end up in DIV III NCAA programs. Like Big Poppa attested to, these kids tend to be role players that are not likely to receive D-I or D-II scholarships after their sophomore year.  There are also a number of transfers from DIV-I or II NCAA teams that finish with a D-III school. These are kids that may have signed as freshman with a D-I program and find that they are not getting any real playing time so they transfer to a school where they can play and be seen. When Jim Vilade when he was head coach at  UTT  would really push for the JUCO or DIV-1 transfers. He also had scout days where he would bring in professional scouts in to look at his players. He was very successful in placing a lot of players in the Independent Minors after they graduated from UTT. My own son was one of those. Beg borrow and sometimes steal is the life of DIV III coach that is trying to build or maintain a program.

Very true.

Newell and Sherman were a D1 guys.

Amyx and Damewood were a JUCO guys.

Jennings was a DII guy.

Copeland, Fox, Holland and Booher were all HS guys, though.

My perception of Vilade and to some extent, Wyczawski, were that they were proactively recruiting within the conference. Was that players proactively saying, UTT is winning and we want on board that train -- or were those guys planting the seed. I can only speculate, but there were always a lot of guys from other ASC teams transferring to UTT (public school = less tuition perhaps?)

Back in the day (04-09) McMurry always had strong JUCO guys and then there's Trinity with their strong AZ/Cali guys.

[108 Stitches]

The UT schools have an advantage to recruit Texas players who get benefits of in-state costs and may be borderline D1 players who the Texas D1 teams don't have spots for. Trinity has been able to recruit Nationally (actually internationally now) since they have a large endowment and can attract high academic players with academic scholarships who because of academic reasons don't want to play at the D1 or fall through the D1 cracks. They have also poured a lot of money into their STEM programs so they can attract D1 kids from all over the country. I would think that Southwestern could also fit this model, due to their academic reputation. TLU/Schreiner and some of the other regional Texas private schools tend to get more local players, and in TLU's case they always field a very competitive team. 

With the new head coach at CMS, I would think they could follow the Trinity model with their academic reputation, although there are so many players in California that can get onto California D1 rosters that they probably can get a very competitive team. Oxy and P-P probably fall into this category also. I think the NWest teams are similar to the WI teams where D1 players can stay in region, since there are so few D1 programs around. They also get their spattering of Cali kids who did not make D1 rosters in Cali (where there are probably 3 D1 players for each Cali D1 roster spot)

It is nice to see Oxy in the top 25, which I think is the first time in the 4-5 years I have been following D3 baseball.

[108 Stitches]

I would agree with the ASC comments above. An interesting team to watch may be Hardin Simmons. After starting 2-6 they have gone 13-1 in their last 14 games. Again, this is against lesser teams, but still noteworthy. They also wont play CTX or UT Tyler in conference play (how in the world did that happen?). Their remaining schedule is fairly weak. They could end up with a pretty impressive record when this is all said and done due to their weak schedule.

I think you got a little bit of an idea on Hardin Simmons last night vs a quality opponent. They may go into the ASC tournament but I would expect them to struggle if last night was an indication. It's only one mid-week game so it is hard to tell, but they also lost 3 to TLU earlier in the season.

[Jack Parkman]

I would agree with the ASC comments above. An interesting team to watch may be Hardin Simmons. After starting 2-6 they have gone 13-1 in their last 14 games. Again, this is against lesser teams, but still noteworthy. They also wont play CTX or UT Tyler in conference play (how in the world did that happen?). Their remaining schedule is fairly weak. They could end up with a pretty impressive record when this is all said and done due to their weak schedule.

I think you got a little bit of an idea on Hardin Simmons last night vs a quality opponent. They may go into the ASC tournament but I would expect them to struggle if last night was an indication. It's only one mid-week game so it is hard to tell, but they also lost 3 to TLU earlier in the season.

I think (which is dangerous) the only West teams that have punched their tickets to Spokane are Trinity and Whitworth.  There are plenty of games left but the resume for both teams are solid.  Unless there is an epic collapse, I would expect both of those schools to make it regardless of what happens in conference tournaments.  I could be jumping the gun a little but that's how i see it at this point.

I think the SCIAC is a 1-team bid this year and there are a few big series left to be played.  Both Oxy and Cal Lu have 3 SCIAC losses with Oxy ahead due to playing 3 more SCIAC games.  The race for the top 4 in the SCIAC is a pretty good one and there are a number of teams still in it.  Oxy played a very weak non-conference schedule and that would hurt them a lot if they don't win the SCIAC tourney.

The SCAC is a little tight at the top with TLU undefeated but this weekend (on the road at Trinity) will make or break TLU in the SCAC race.  I would say Centenary is out of contention for an at-large (if they don't win the conference tournament) due to their weak non-conference schedule.

The ASC has UT Tyler and Concordia as potential regional teams but I only see 1 of them making it if they win the ASC tournament.  If neither of them do, it might be tough to get an at-large unless they win most of their remaining games.

The only way the NWC gets 2 teams in is if Whitworth fails to win the conference tournament.

My opinion has the 4 conference winners and 1 at-large from the West with 1 team coming in from another region.  Spokane requires plenty of flights and that will make it a little easier for the NCAA to bring in teams from another region. 

[Ron Boerger]

TLU hasn't played the other quality teams in conference, Trinity or Centenary, so this weekend in San Antonio should be very educational.    Going to make one of the Saturday games.

[Ron Boerger]

I was wrong (surprised?  lol) - TLU and Trinity did play a non-conference series in Seguin earlier this season, with the Bulldogs winning the first (Ryan Gray's last loss, dropping him to 2-3 at the time) and the Tigers taking both games of the Saturday DH.

[Jack Parkman]

Jack Parman's dinner tonight-

I'm telling you, I am still not 100% sold.....BUT I will give them a lot of props for what they are doing.  They came back for a walk-off yesterday and smoked Pomona twice today.  They have won a lot of close games (which is what good teams do) and they are on a roll.  If they sweep La Verne next weekend I will be 100% sold on this team.

I am a man of my word.  What OXY is doing is pretty damn impressive.  They have squeaked out some close games with some big comebacks, but they are just beating up on the SCIAC right now.  They have 7 games left and they still play Cal Lu, which is probably the best team they will have played all year.  Still a chance they don't make the SCIAC tournament but I would be shocked if they didn't.  Tip of the cap to Oxy.

[108 Stitches]

A bit of shifting around in the top 10, Trinity drops to 4, Whitworth and Centenary more or less hold, Occidental moves up, UTT down to 20, and TLU and CLU join the top ten. Congrates to them and in particular TLU for beating up Trinity over the weekend as well as Occidentals continued run. Nice to see both doing well.

Through games of Sunday April 10, 2016

#   School (1st votes)   Rec   Pts   Prev.
1   Ramapo (12)   19-1-1   591   4
2   UW-Whitewater (4)   14-1   564   3
3   Cortland (3)   22-5   559   2
4   Trinity (Texas) (5)   28-7   546   1
5   Emory (1)   27-7   513   7
6   Randolph-Macon   23-5-1   502   5
7   Shenandoah   23-6   462   8
8   Oswego State   20-3   451   9
9   Birmingham-Southern   25-9   432   6
10   Whitworth   23-7   341   10
11   Salisbury   19-8   315   11
12   UW-La Crosse   14-5   299   15
13   Frostburg State   19-7   291   16
14   Centenary (La.)   23-7   261   12
15   St. Thomas   13-3   244   19
16   Christopher Newport   21-9   194   14
17   Occidental   23-5   171   24
18   Southern Maine   13-5   167   23
19   Amherst   14-4   156   17
20   Texas-Tyler   19-10   129   13
21   McDaniel   22-4   107   22
22   TCNJ   18-4   90   rv
23   North Central (Ill.)   15-4   78   18
24   Texas Lutheran   21-10   66   rv
25   Cal Lutheran   20-9   53   rv
Dropped out: No. 20 Buena Vista, No. 21 Wooster, No. 25 Rutgers-Camden

Others receiving votes: Wartburg 42, LaGrange 42, Wooster 40, La Roche 37, Wesleyan (Conn.) 30, Concordia Texas 26, Wheaton (Mass.) 25, Ferrum 25, Keystone 23, Concordia Chicago 22, Suffolk 21, Buena Vista 20, Berry 15, Maryville (Tenn.) 14, Misericordia 14, Washington (Mo.) 13, Haverford 13, Western New England 13, Mary Washington 12, Rose-Hulman 12, Washington and Lee 11, Denison 10, Mitchell 10, Alma 10, St. John Fisher 8, George Fox 7, Rutgers-Camden 7, Augustana (Ill.) 5, Eastern Conn. State 5, Marietta 4, Earlham 3, Washington College 3, Linfield 1.

[Ralph Turner]

Respectfully, everyone is saying that the West is down, (SCIAC, ASC and maybe the NWC with the perception that Linfield did not make the tourney).  The ASC has been competitive with the SCAC which has 3 teams in and around the Top 25.

But, I saw most of the games at the West Region in Tyler and the Region was BALANCED!

Trinity went on the finish 3rd in Wisconsin.

I am not sure that we have a "break-out" dominant team, but I am looking at 12-15 teams in the Region that are in the top 100, even though we are the least numerous region.

[108 Stitches]

Ralph, (copied from the SCIAC thread)

I would agree with you regarding the West. At the beginning of the season there were not the traditional West powers making noise, so the thought was the "West was down"  however over time other teams have stepped up, including a surprising to some folks, Whitworth due to their losses last year. Centenary and TLU are two strong teams to be feared, Occidental as we have been talking about, as well as consistently competitive teams from UTT and CLU are in the top 25.

I also agree with you regarding Trinity as I watched them for four years go to the West Regional and be one of the top teams there, but with just a tad too little pitching to get them through to Appleton. Clearly in 2013 they were probably the second best team in the country, they just happened to be in the Regional with the best. I expect to see the same in the West regional. TLU or Centenary could knock off Trinity in the SCAC conference, who knows what is going to happen in the SCIAC and NWest, but it is possible to see three at large teams come out of the West depending on what happens in their tournaments, and I certainly did not see that possibility at the beginning of the season.

It is going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

[TexasBB]

UTT has taken a plunge the last 2 weeks dropping 4 of their last 6 conference games. A double header loss to Ozarks was shocking. Something is wrong as both the pitching staff and offense has been having issues.  This should be the time where the good teams get stronger as they head to the conference tournaments. UTT is going in the wrong direction. I expect them to drop out of the top 25 based on their recent performances.

[Jack Parkman]

Looking at the differences in the d3.com and Collegiate Baseball polls might be a waste of time but below is the differences in the 2 polls. 

                d3               CB             Difference

Trinity        6                 2                -6
Oxy           13                8                -5
Whitworth 14               13               -1
Centenary 18               21               +3
Cal Lu        23              18                -5
TLU           24               31                -7
Concordia 28               42               -14
UT Tyler    30               34               +4
Pacific       54               43               -11

Chapman- 44th in the d3.com poll, no votes in the Collegiate Baseball
Hardin-Simmons- 48th in the d3.com poll, no votes in the Collegiate Baseball
ETBU- 49th in the d3.com poll, no votes in the Collegiate Baseball
Radlands- 0 votes in the d3.com poll, 50th in the Collegiate Baseball         

Like I said, this could be a huge waste of time but it's interesting to see how the voters are so much different in the 2 polls.   

[108 Stitches]

For ref the D3 poll.

Through games of Sunday April 17, 2016

#   School (1st votes)   Rec   Pts   Prev.
1   Cortland (22)   27-5   620   3
2   Randolph-Macon (1)   26-5-1   532   6
3   UW-Whitewater   17-4   524   2
4   Oswego State   23-3   509   8
5   Ramapo   23-4-1   496   1
6   Trinity (Texas) (1)   29-7   485   4
7   Birmingham-Southern   29-9   451   9
8   Emory   27-9   423   5
9   UW-La Crosse   18-5   412   12
10   St. Thomas (1)   17-3   381   15
11   Shenandoah   26-8   332   7
12   Frostburg State   23-8   321   13
13   Occidental   26-5   281   17
14   Whitworth   25-8   278   10
15   TCNJ   23-4   250   22
16   Southern Maine   18-6   247   18
17   Salisbury   20-10   223   11
18   Centenary (La.)   24-9   138   14
19   Concordia-Chicago   22-7   136   rv
20   Christopher Newport   25-12   116   16
21   North Central (Ill.)   19-5   110   23
22   La Roche   25-7   94   rv
23   Cal Lutheran   23-9   90   25
24   Texas Lutheran   23-11   84   24
25   Amherst   16-6   76   19
Dropped out: No. 20 Texas-Tyler, No. 21 McDaniel.

Others receiving votes: Wartburg 56, Wheaton (Mass.) 40, Concordia Texas 37, LaGrange 36, Texas-Tyler 35, St. John Fisher 28, Misericordia 26, Grinnell 22, Maryville (Tenn.) 21, Marymount 20, McDaniel 20, Buena Vista 19, Denison 17, Keystone 17, Berry 16, Suffolk 16, Tufts 12, Ferrum 11, Chapman 10, Rutgers-Camden 9, Western New England 9, Marietta 8, Hardin-Simmons 6, East Texas Baptist 5, Rose-Hulman 4, Thomas More 4, Wooster 4, Wesleyan (Conn.) 3, Pacific (Ore.) 2, Adrian 1, Johns Hopkins 1, Otterbein 1.

[Jim Dixon]

Looking at the differences in the d3.com and Collegiate Baseball polls might be a waste of time but below is the differences in the 2 polls. 

                d3               CB             Difference

Trinity        6                 2                -6
Oxy           13                8                -5
Whitworth 14               13               -1
Centenary 18               21               +3
Cal Lu        23              18                -5
TLU           24               31                -7
Concordia 28               42               -14
UT Tyler    30               34               +4
Pacific       54               43               -11

Chapman- 44th in the d3.com poll, no votes in the Collegiate Baseball
Hardin-Simmons- 48th in the d3.com poll, no votes in the Collegiate Baseball
ETBU- 49th in the d3.com poll, no votes in the Collegiate Baseball
Radlands- 0 votes in the d3.com poll, 50th in the Collegiate Baseball         

Like I said, this could be a huge waste of time but it's interesting to see how the voters are so much different in the 2 polls.   

Usually by now, there is a consensus but all you have to see in the number of schools receiving votes in both polls that past the top 5-10, every voter is looking to find teams that stick.

[Westside]

Are the Regionals the weekend of the 23rd? Trying to decide if I want to make the drive over to Spokane for it.