2016 West Regional - Spokane, WA

[Ralph Turner]

After winning 32 last year, but being left at home,  Cal Lu decided to take TWO trips -- one to Texas and one to Arizona -- just to increase their SOS in case they had to compete for a pool C bid.   The motto this year was 4 trips.  3 down, 1 to go.

+1!  I like the motto!

I believe that the travel helps the team grow as a unit, too.

Thanks for coming to Texas.

[108 Stitches]

Uh from the Spokane Regional posting.
Cinderella

"Pacific Lutheran was regular season runner-up and swept the NWC tourney to earn the pool A bid. In his first year as Lute head coach, PLU alum Nolan Soete has the Lutes in their first regional since 2007, Soete's first year as an assistant. After the long rest, Pacific Lutheran is ready to step into the under dog role."

http://www.d3baseball.com/playoffs/2016/previews/west-regional-playoff-preview

Did they not go to the South Region last year?

just saying.

[Ralph Turner]

Uh from the Spokane Regional posting.
Cinderella

"Pacific Lutheran was regular season runner-up and swept the NWC tourney to earn the pool A bid. In his first year as Lute head coach, PLU alum Nolan Soete has the Lutes in their first regional since 2007, Soete's first year as an assistant. After the long rest, Pacific Lutheran is ready to step into the under dog role."

http://www.d3baseball.com/playoffs/2016/previews/west-regional-playoff-preview

Did they not go to the South Region last year?

just saying.

My bad! Thanks.

[Bmo]

Avista Stadium appears to be a pretty HR friendly ballpark.  335 to left, 398 to center, and a very short porch in right at 296.  This slightly dated ballpark factors analysis (see link) also shows the park to play HR friendly. 

http://www.sportsmogul.com/files/2013_milb_park_factors.pdf

Pitchers that give up a lot of flyballs might experience some whiplash...

[Westside]

The ball does travel fairly well in Spokane. I have posted this before, but here are the dimensions. Right field is super short, but it juts out quickly.

[Jack Parkman]

One thing I thought of that probably doesn't mean a whole lot is that Trinity and UT Tyler are the only ones who regularly play night games.  I know Cal Lu only played 1 this year and I'm not sure about the others.  Again, not a huge deal but something to think about.

[Ralph Turner]

The ball does travel fairly well in Spokane. I have posted this before, but here are the dimensions. Right field is super short, but it juts out quickly.

Yeah, but a right handed batter coming around late on a fast ball might pull it down the line.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

The ball does travel fairly well in Spokane. I have posted this before, but here are the dimensions. Right field is super short, but it juts out quickly.

That's a bandbox. Under 400 to dead center, 355-365 to power alleys. At almost 2000 feet elevation, that's really small.

[NWBaseballFan10]

It's been a while, but I'm showing up just in time for the party this weekend. Excited to see what and who comes out of this year's West Regional.

My predictions heading into today's first slate of games:

Trinity over PLU - Trinity is deep, experienced, and quite frankly (really) talented. For each regional that I've witnessed in-person, I've been impressed with their physicality and moxie. I'm not convinced that PLU's #1, Nelson, has the stuff nor command to get by TU's lineup (he also hasn't been very impressive over his last few starts).

CLU over TT - I watched every SCIAC team play this season (including CLU 4 times) and they easily boasted the most potential to make a run in the postseason. Offensively, there are no "holes" 1-9 and their guys do a nice job of being selective and balanced at the plate. Their ace, Saito, is what I describe as the "lull you to sleep" type on the mound. He mixes well and keeps the ball down (decent velo), but he's the one where hitters will think they got him and 2,3,4 innings later he is still in the game tossing 0's. My main concern for CLU is that the SCIAC's pitching talent is abysmal (sorry not going to sugarcoat it for any other SCIAC followers) so if TT's ace is on then it might give their lineup fits.

Whitworth over CWRU - I know nothing about Case Western, but I do know that I'm biased toward the NW  . It will be interesting to see how the Pirates' freshman ace handles CWRU. The Spartans SoS could pay dividends this weekend as well. Sticking with my NW roots on this one.

Let the fun begin

[Ralph Turner]

I will post my picks for the bracket. Game by game

1) TU
2) CLU
3) Whit

4) PLU over UTT; UTT out
5) TU over CWRU; CWRU out
6) CLU

7) TU
8) Whit over PLU; PLU out
9) CLU over Whit; Whit out

10) TU over CLU; CLU out; TU champ

[Purple Heys]

As long as CWRU goes 2 and a BBQ, I am happy.

West Region does not get respect - sending a 26-11 team out here (SoS yada yada yada) and leaving West Region 30 win teams out.  Save the explanation/justification, I've heard it.  The only reason that makes sense to me is that CWRU has the word "Western" in their name.

Now watch...I've given CWRU billboard material and they run the table.

Hell with that!  The West Region all sucks and the NCAA says so!!!

There.  Now we are winning it all.  You're welcome.   

[NWBaseballFan10]

As long as CWRU goes 2 and a BBQ, I am happy.

Amen to that

[108 Stitches]

Having been to 4 previous Regionals I can attest to how much luck, or a bad hop, or a pitcher having a great game, or some other strange baseball happening can play in closely matched games to predict the final outcome so I am just going to make my predictions one game at a time. Clearly Trinity is experienced and deep and I expect them to be in the championship game.

I happen to think having a number 2 SoS  in the country says a lot about a team so I would not discount them at all. Not really knowing Whitworth this year other than they are young leads me to think CWRU will win the first game, but Whitworth will be home in front of their own fans and CWRU had to fly across the country and is playing a late game so they will be jet lagged and tired.

My predictions for game 1.

Trinty vs PLU: Very tight game with Trinity on top
CLU vs UTT:   CLU should win this game as UTT is not that strong of a team compared to previous years.
CWRU vs Whitworth: CWRU due to their SoS experience you have to respect who they have played and to have a couple of pitchers with mid 3 ERA says something.

Lt's hope the webcast quality is there.

[Bmo]

I don't know much about CWRU other than their strong SOS and what can be gleaned from their stats.  They should be a pretty quality ball club given who they have competed against day in and day out this season. 

One thing that is interesting is they have a .972 fielding percentage in their wins, and a .939 fielding percentage in their losses.  Other thing to note is that they have the most "Ring Rust" of any team in the regional having last played on April 27th.  Seems like you will be able to tell pretty early how they will perform by how they are fielding.  If they start kicking it around early, it might be a pretty short trip to Spokane.

[CAK72B]

Well PLU came to play...BB, K, 2B, 1B to start and take a 2-0 lead on Gray and the Tigers. Well if TU was gonna be hungover from the layoff/flight I'm sure this got their attention. We will see how this plays out but maybe the West will be a more offensive region this year with the field dimensions and the lack of many dominating pitchers that we have seen in the past.