Mid-East Region 2014

[ADL70]

Big Mid East showdown DH today as Laroche and Pitt-Bradford battle for first place in the AMCC.

Thanks motorman. There is so little talk here about tge amcc. Are they officially a mideast conference this year? Or are still considered a multi region conference?

Mideast per the manual

http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/MANUALS_DIIIMBA_PreChampsManual_2013-14.pdf

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Did you know that Finlandia was in the UAA? 

Check under appendix B. Tried to get a screen shot but it would not let me upload the JPG file.

[motorman]

EttaFan, at first I had JCU lower than BW, but they are ahead of them in the conference and swept BW head to head and their strength of schedule is better than W&J, though not by as much as I thought (#5 vs #35), so I guess you could put them in ahead of JCU and BW.

[motorman]

Did you know that Finlandia was in the UAA? 

Check under appendix B. Tried to get a screen shot but it would not let me upload the JPG file.

It's a typo, the UAA is supposed to be Case, not Finlandia. Finlandia is an independent.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Did you know that Finlandia was in the UAA? 

Check under appendix B. Tried to get a screen shot but it would not let me upload the JPG file.

It's a typo, the UAA is supposed to be Case, not Finlandia. Finlandia is an independent.

Yeah I know, hence the sour face smiley. I just bring it up because it was a typo in an official NCAA document.

[Spence]

I think we're all just used to it.

[EttaFan1]

EttaFan, at first I had JCU lower than BW, but they are ahead of them in the conference and swept BW head to head and their strength of schedule is better than W&J, though not by as much as I thought (#5 vs #35), so I guess you could put them in ahead of JCU and BW.

Just going by what I can remember seeing in years past.  Often time conference leaders with similar records to 3rd and 4th place teams in other confernces get a nod in the rankings.  No biggie really, just discussion stuff until we get to see them.  the Prac is a one bid league this year, as is the MIAA, AMCC and the HCAC.  The biggest surprise would be if one of those conferences had more than one team in the regional rankings.  Depending on circumstances, I would be slightly surprised if the NCAC gets more than one.  I think the OAC is almost a lock for two teams, and there are a few scenarios where a third team might get a pool C bid.  (standard disclaimer about unexpected upsets applies, though)

My thoughts:

Mortal Locks for the regional:  Case & Berg (unless Berg just completely falls apart starts losing and goes 2 and out in the OAC tourney), Adrian—quite frankly the MIAA is typcially bad, and Adrian should win the pool A bid without much trouble.
Looking good for a bid: Marietta.  However winning their next 6 and a strong tourney showing would go a long way to solidifying this.  Manchester.
Really needing a strong finish:  If either Wooster or Allegheny doesn't win the NCAC, the other will need to finish strong in the next two weeks to make their case for a bid. 
Better win your conference tournament: JCU, BW, Dennision, Wabash, any PrAC team, and anyone from the AMCC.   

[motorman]

The really ironic thing about the MIAA is that last year in the 1st year of them having a conference tournament, Adrian wasn't the regular season champ but won tournament. Talk about good timing. Hope must have had a lot of Seniors graduate, not nearly as good this year.

[EttaFan1]

Even the past few regionals, Adrian has been somewhat of a disappointment.  I can remember in 10, 11, and 12, they had some pretty solid pitching numbers, and went out fairly early.  I think the two OAC teams which make the field and Case will be tough outs of the regional this year.  They will be seriously battle tested when the time comes. 

[motorman]

In Mideast news today: Ohio Northern beats Valpo 2-1, Case and Allegheny split a DH, Berg handles Denison 14-5 and Wooster beats JCU 9-4.

In polls out today: D3.com has Berg #7, Case #16 and Etta #23. ABCA has them #7, #19, and #27. Adrian ORV in both and LaRoche in ABCA only.

[ADL70]

Feast/famine for the Spartans yesterday at Allegheny.

Fortunato lowered his ERA to 1.85 w/ 7 IP CG  1 R/ER  4 H  1 BB  7 K IN A 5-1 win in game one.

Then six Spartan pitchers helped the Gators score 13 with 7 BB, 6 HBP, and 3 WP, as Spartans dropped game two 13-3.

Big game with Berg today.

[ADL70]

Johnstone regains form and gets a complete game win over Berg 2-1.  Fluharty pitched well for them as well, as both Spartan runs were unearned.

[DagarmanSpartan]

Winning two out of three from Top Ten Heidelberg is nice.  Now we have to break even with B-W.

After that, we need to take care of business against Denison and Oberlin.

Our last game against JCU could be quite intriguing.  We've split our first two with them.  We'll see if we can win at Progressive.  Sure wish I could see that one in person!

[EttaFan1]

First Regional Rankings of the year posted very recently...

1.  Berg
2.  Marietta
3.  John Carroll
4.  Case
5.  BW
6.  Wooster
7.  Allegheny
8.  La Roche
9. Adrian

Surprised at the order a little.  Thought Marietta would (should) be lower.  THough JCU would be much lower, and Case would be 2.  Bigger surprise, no manchester.  But what do I know, right?

[Spence]

MC has taken 2 of 3 from Case and is ahead of JCU and BW in the standings. Not sure how you would move them down further.

Only the standings lead keeps a case from being made for Marietta being 1st by that methodology, since they got the split at Heidelberg and took 2 of 3 from a team that has beaten Heide 2 of 3.