2015 West Regional - Tyler, TX

[Purple Heys]

Our good friends in the NCAA not doing their job again, surprise, surprise.

Linfield (Haddeland) v Trinity (Gray) about to start, and Trinity is the home team giving more credence to the NCAA not seeding.   Live video/stats:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/uttyler/stats.htm?eventId=217248&streamType=stats

If the teams were not seeded, how were the match-ups decided?

Coin flip?  Random draw?  Number of vowels combined in pitcher's last names?

All games suspended until 10AM Thursday.  Gray has a no-no going thru 5, too bad the rains came.

Yes, I was watching some of the LIN/TU game, Gray looked very, very tough - really impressive.  BTW, PLU came from behind to defeat Emory 9 - 6.  I really enjoyed the South Region broadcast, the Piedmont pitching coach was doing the color commentary and he's great - quite insightful.  Garret Brown was absolutely nails for PLU in long relief.

Speaking of broadcast quality, you really should check out Wartburg's KnightVision streams.  Best feed quality I've ever seen from a D3 broadcast...

[Wildcat17]

The weather forecast for Tyler is pretty ominous through the weekend.  Accuweather is calling for thunderstorms every day, and Saturday is the only day with less than three hours of storms forecast.  If this is accurate, it could make for a very fractured and haphazard regional.  Is it too late to relocate to McMinnville, Tacoma, or the LA area?

[CAK72B]

UPDATE:

Gray loses the no hit bid to the leadoff hitter in the 8th inning. Pretty impressive coming back after throwing a decent amount yesterday and trying to finish the game off today.

[Westside]

Impressive?? Kudos to him, but that is straight negligence to let a kid throw 70+ pitches and come back and start the next day. Especially when the kid is a fringe prospect with a chance to play pro ball. I get it if this is his last game ever, but he will likely throw again this year and he is only a junior. I know how many great arms Trinity has in their bullpen. It seems silly that they would allow that to happen.


Also, it appears that the tournament director didn't realize that the seeds were supposed to determine the home and away... So while every single other region did it right, the west did a coin flip before the games.

[Whatagame]

Impressive?? Kudos to him, but that is straight negligence to let a kid throw 70+ pitches and come back and start the next day. Especially when the kid is a fringe prospect with a chance to play pro ball. I get it if this is his last game ever, but he will likely throw again this year and he is only a junior. I know how many great arms Trinity has in their bullpen. It seems silly that they would allow that to happen.


Also, it appears that the tournament director didn't realize that the seeds were supposed to determine the home and away... So while every single other region did it right, the west did a coin flip before the games.

Add to that the simply unwatchable quality of the video feed the last two days.

[Johnny Wholestaff]

I'm against it too, but it is no different than what Brosius did with Haddeland two years ago in the Regional. Was Brosius negligent then?

[CAK72B]

Agreed with the feed starting and stopping every 5 seconds makes it nearly unwatchable

[Westside]

I'm against it too, but it is no different than what Brosius did with Haddeland two years ago in the Regional. Was Brosius negligent then?

The two situations are similar, but you can't say they are the same.

For Gray:
Day 1: 70 pitches (guessing)
Day 2: 70 pitches (guessing)

In 2013, for Haddeland, it was:
Day 1: 112 pitches
Day 2: 0 pitches
Day 3: 19 pitches
Day 4: 63 pitches

So Haddeland never started back to back days. He had a day off after his start and then came in in relief two days in a row.

[Whatagame]

Agreed with the feed starting and stopping every 5 seconds makes it nearly unwatchable

Yep, there is no excuse for not getting that right.

[Westside]

Congrats to Trinity. Ballgame.

The "first" day is taking a bit longer than usual, but hopefully the regional will have smooth sailing from here.

Whitworth and Millsaps coming up next.

[Johnny Wholestaff]

I'm against it too, but it is no different than what Brosius did with Haddeland two years ago in the Regional. Was Brosius negligent then?

The two situations are similar, but you can't say they are the same.

For Gray:
Day 1: 70 pitches (guessing)
Day 2: 70 pitches (guessing)

In 2013, for Haddeland, it was:
Day 1: 112 pitches
Day 2: 0 pitches
Day 3: 19 pitches
Day 4: 63 pitches

So Haddeland never started back to back days. He had a day off after his start and then came in in relief two days in a row.

That's a fair point about the off day, but I don't think it is fair say it fair to call what Gray did "starting back-to-back day", since it was the same game and he threw 3+ innings the second day. That is more like coming back out of the bullpen. Per the live stats he threw 126 total, so 56 today. IF he is done for the tournament (and the tournament finishes on time), I'm not sure it is fair to say one is fine and one is bad. Both are not ideal, but I would bet both wanted the ball and it's hard to say no to your number one.

[Westside]

I'm against it too, but it is no different than what Brosius did with Haddeland two years ago in the Regional. Was Brosius negligent then?

The two situations are similar, but you can't say they are the same.

For Gray:
Day 1: 70 pitches (guessing)
Day 2: 70 pitches (guessing)

In 2013, for Haddeland, it was:
Day 1: 112 pitches
Day 2: 0 pitches
Day 3: 19 pitches
Day 4: 63 pitches

So Haddeland never started back to back days. He had a day off after his start and then came in in relief two days in a row.

That's a fair point about the off day, but I don't think it is fair say it fair to call what Gray did "starting back-to-back day", since it was the same game and he threw 3+ innings the second day. That is more like coming back out of the bullpen. Per the live stats he threw 126 total, so 56 today. IF he is done for the tournament (and the tournament finishes on time), I'm not sure it is fair to say one is fine and one is bad. Both are not ideal, but I would bet both wanted the ball and it's hard to say no to your number one.

Solid points. To be fair, I never said the Haddeland situation was fine, just different. I guess if I was Trinity, I don't understand why I would've wanted him to re-start this game. If they don't bring him in, he can likely come back later in the tournament a la Haddeland in 2013. Besides it being likely not good for the arm, it just seemed like a waste while facing an impotent offense.

In other words, I would rather have Gray available to pitch the regional championship game instead of burning him on day two to win a game that was in hand already. It would be better for his arm and for the team!

[Johnny Wholestaff]

I'm against it too, but it is no different than what Brosius did with Haddeland two years ago in the Regional. Was Brosius negligent then?

The two situations are similar, but you can't say they are the same.

For Gray:
Day 1: 70 pitches (guessing)
Day 2: 70 pitches (guessing)

In 2013, for Haddeland, it was:
Day 1: 112 pitches
Day 2: 0 pitches
Day 3: 19 pitches
Day 4: 63 pitches

So Haddeland never started back to back days. He had a day off after his start and then came in in relief two days in a row.

That's a fair point about the off day, but I don't think it is fair say it fair to call what Gray did "starting back-to-back day", since it was the same game and he threw 3+ innings the second day. That is more like coming back out of the bullpen. Per the live stats he threw 126 total, so 56 today. IF he is done for the tournament (and the tournament finishes on time), I'm not sure it is fair to say one is fine and one is bad. Both are not ideal, but I would bet both wanted the ball and it's hard to say no to your number one.

Solid points. To be fair, I never said the Haddeland situation was fine, just different. I guess if I was Trinity, I don't understand why I would've wanted him to re-start this game. If they don't bring him in, he can likely come back later in the tournament a la Haddeland in 2013. Besides it being likely not good for the arm, it just seemed like a waste while facing an impotent offense.

In other words, I would rather have Gray available to pitch the regional championship game instead of burning him on day two to win a game that was in hand already. It would be better for his arm and for the team!

Yeah, that would be the primary reason why I was against it. That said I never feel safe against Linfield, so making sure the go to the loser's bracket is nice. I have some experience with them...

[Westside]

Alright, after a week of hyping up Scheibe, it is game time. Hoping he doesn't lay an egg, but I am convinced he is as good as it gets at the D3 level.

It will be fun to see how Whitworth does. They have flown under the radar pretty much all season.

Millsaps has quite the impressive middle of the order...

2. Shumaker: .395 BA
3. Glenn: .446 BA
4. Chenoweth: .366 BA
5. Etheridge: .384 BA

[infielddad]

Jim Page of MIllsaps is one of the very best hitting coaches anywhere, at any level.  It does not matter what year or who is on the mound, they are usually 9 tough outs.
Millsaps starts the game, walk, HBP, double, fly out, single, single.