BB: CAC: Capital Athletic Conference

Started by bisonpride, January 11, 2006, 04:48:08 AM

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rolln2

Well the 2014 Capital Athletic Schedule got off to an early start yesterday.  St. Mary's spoiled the debut for CNU as they beat the Captains at CNU.  If CNU is not going to beat the lower tier of the Capital at home it will be a long season.

Boysofsummer21

Rollin - Very true about not winning the games you should. Seeing that both of us have been on the USAS board and I have been following the USASouth for a long time I see this as a growing year for CNU. I do not think they are prepared at this point to really be a top 20 team. I think they will find their personnel loses from last year will hit them harder than they think and if their offense doesn't get on track very long season is ahead of them.

rolln2

Boysofsummer21, CNU is not in a rebuilding year offensively. They only lost their 1st baseman from last years lineup. All of their returners all had 100 or more at bats last season. Now the pitching may see some changes as they lost a very good back end of the bullpen. So long story/short. I don't think CNU can claim a rebuilding year in 2014.

PNeal7

I agree with Rolln2 in that CNU is not in a re-building year by any means. They return practically their entire offense, and even had a transfer in from Division 1 George Mason (who hit .271 w/ 3 HR, 18 RBI, and 10 2B's in 180 AB's for GMU last year) and a transfer who attended the Univ. of Maryland out of high school (and got 80+ AB's as a FR). Combine that with the returners of Weaver, Steel, Grissom, etc. and they should have a very potent offense.

Pitching wise, only time will tell. The loss of Chrisman clearly hurts, and SO LHP Brandon Taylor is out for the year with a labrum injury. They also lost their recording setting closer, as well as two top relievers in Lindsay and Verdillo. Bryan Bierlein anchors the staff and is a very good pitcher, and the return reliever Adam Emerson (who threw the ball amazing for us this past summer in the VBL). Austin Kilbourne (the transfer who originally want to UofM) is also a high quality arm with a lot of room to develop. Outside of that, the majority of the staff is unproven and will need to step it up. Guys such as Vaughn, Mays, and Boze will need to play/fill big roles.

If CNU's offense can put up high run totals to allow their pitching to gain experience and 'catch up', CNU could be poised to make a run at the CAC and the South Region. It's always tough to judge a team based on these early season games due to the weather, etc. Metal bats in 30-40 degree temperatures is never fun.

Boysofsummer21

Both very true observations and maybe mine was overstated or miss stated, I am just saying they need to get the O rolling or it is a very long year. They are returning all but 1 in a offense that was not very good last year and so far they have been cold. It is very early and I know they will probably getting it going just hope t is sooner than later.

rolln2

Looks like CNU is starting to come around offensively, but what is going on w/ what has traditionally been a very good pitching staff year in and year out.  The Captains are now 1-4 against what so far has been a very average schedule to start the season.

Boysofsummer21

I was at Methodist this last weekend and think I know a little into that. I had not heard that Taylor was out till you guys told me but while there also heard that now Emerson is out. So they for this year they have lost 2/3 of their starting rotation and all of their bullpen. It hurts them up front but what is really hurting them is they have no one to hand the ball to when the game is on the line. CNU has been very lucky/good/recruiting studs in the closer department for many years now but all the sudden they have nothing there. This is biting them in the close games. They have good arms when you watch them just not the type you have gotten use to seeing. They got Vaughn back and he does not look bad so that will help but they need to develop some of the talent they have into a bullpen. Their offense is pretty much the same as last year, not built to score a lot of runs so their pitching needs to keep them in the game or it will not matter. Their current ERA of 6.02 just isn't getting it done especially when you have only score 6+ runs twice (and lost both) so a little growth and some hard work they should steadily get better. But I fear .500 is going to be a good record for them this year.

PNeal7

Boysofsummer21 head the nail on the head. Losing Taylor was a huge blow, and now with Emerson injured as well, you lose 2 of your top 3 arms. I'm not sure what the extent of Emerson's injury is and/or how long he will be out, but that leaves CNU with a slew of unproved arms. Like Boysofsummer21 said, everyone has gotten used to seeing top notch arms on the hill for the Captains, guys that would compete for the Conference Pitcher of the Year every year (Moreland, Brinkman, Chrismon, etc.). Even more important is the loss of their bullpen. For the past few years, a CNU starter only needed to go 6 IP and then the ball would be handed to Lindsey, Verdillo, and Fleischman. With Emerson being forced to a starter role when Taylor went down, they lost the guy you feel comfortable handing the ball too in a 1 Run game in the 9th.

I have confidence in Coach Harvell and his staff that they will be fine. I still expect them to compete for the CAC crown, although Salisbury is a very, very good squad.

rolln2

Looks like the Captains have gotten themselves going as they won their 3rd straight yesterday vs VWC. On the flip side is against competition whose combined record is 3-9. So let's wait and see how they fair this week against teams with better records in HSC, Cortland St., and a Montclair St., team that I am not sure about.

Boysofsummer21

Rollin2 you seem to be correct as CNU seems to have found its stride. Work had keep me tied up but now getting a chance to watch this a little bit. Can they handle York this weekend?

D-BAT

Who is in the running for Salisbury job?

cmackowiakSGSN

For the 2018 season, Salisbury University Baseball will be moving into their new Sea Gull Baseball Stadium. Today I sat down with SU Athletics Director Dr. Gerry DiBartolo to talk about the new facility's features alongside other ventures taking place on East Campus with the athletics facilities.

Here is a link to my article for The Flyer:
https://thesuflyer.com/2018/01/24/changes-come-to-east-campus-alongside-new-baseball-field/

YourAverageRighty

Rich Keep Getting Richer in the CAC, field is going to be really nice, still a band box, but really nice. The future of the CAC is certainly in question though with Marymount and Wesley leaving plus PSU-Harrisburg and SVU trying to find a way out.

Ralph Turner

Quote from: YourAverageRighty on February 01, 2018, 11:05:48 AM
Rich Keep Getting Richer in the CAC, field is going to be really nice, still a band box, but really nice. The future of the CAC is certainly in question though with Marymount and Wesley leaving plus PSU-Harrisburg and SVU trying to find a way out.
Welcome to the boards, Righty

cmackowiakSGSN

Here's a brief preview of the 2018 Salisbury baseball team from one of my staff writers at The Flyer Zach Gilleland.

https://thesuflyer.com/2018/02/15/despite-new-faces-salisbury-baseball-is-tooled-to-recapture-cac-crown/