2017 Mideast Regional

[Pops33]

Regional preview for the Washington Mid-East Regional is here http://www.d3baseball.com/playoffs/2017/previews/mideast-regional-playoff-preview.  This regional has 3 of the 8 teams from last year's World Series.  They were all placed in the same side of the bracket with DePauw being the odd man out.  While every team that makes a regional is a quality team and nobody can be overlooked, LaRoche seemed to get a very difficult draw.  If the games go as seeded, they will have to go through Keystone (who beat them twice in last year's World Series), Cortland, and Wooster. 

The preview has Cortland and Wooster as the favorite.  Most of the national attention is going to Cortland as the favorite, and why not, they have been to the World Series several times in the last several years and seem to re-load every year.  The preview does give Wooster some praise as well. 

Interesting stat....this regional does feature 4 of the top 5 teams in the country in slugging percentage (LaRoche, W&J, Wooster & DePauw) so it may be a slugfest, especially in the later rounds.

I am looking forward to seeing the NCAC teams compete against the national competition.  Wooster fared well last year in the regional, but OWU had a quick exit.  I was glad to see the committee award a 2nd NCAC team a bid again this year.  Hoping that both DePauw and Wooster win some games so the conference keeps that respect. 

I expect Wooster to make the Championship round.  They have a better offense than last year, better pitching than last year, and their fielding percentage is close to leading the nation again this year. 

[Jim Dixon]

A lot of times, once you get past the top two pitcher, hitting becomes prominent as the pitching gets worse and the hitting stays top notch.  We can see some big scores on Saturday before a #1 can be potentially brought back.

[Wooster Booster]

Rain has backed up the schedule of the Mideast Regional.  Now, if Wooster wins today, they are booked for a possible tripleheader on Sunday.  I thought this had been banned by the NCAA but apparently not.  And, why does it have to happen at all?  Why not have Wooster's possible third Sunday game on Monday, followed by the "If Necessary' game?

[Pat Coleman]

Rain has backed up the schedule of the Mideast Regional.  Now, if Wooster wins today, they are booked for a possible tripleheader on Sunday.  I thought this had been banned by the NCAA but apparently not.  And, why does it have to happen at all?  Why not have Wooster's possible third Sunday game on Monday, followed by the "If Necessary' game?

They can't play a tripleheader. Indeed, it is not allowed. If Wooster advances far enough to force a third game for the Scots on Sunday, it will indeed be held over until Monday.

[Wooster Booster]

Rain has backed up the schedule of the Mideast Regional.  Now, if Wooster wins today, they are booked for a possible tripleheader on Sunday.  I thought this had been banned by the NCAA but apparently not.  And, why does it have to happen at all?  Why not have Wooster's possible third Sunday game on Monday, followed by the "If Necessary' game?

They can't play a tripleheader. Indeed, it is not allowed. If Wooster advances far enough to force a third game for the Scots on Sunday, it will indeed be held over until Monday.

Thank, Pat.  I guess their plan is to play the schedule as it's currently listed UNLESS the winner of Sunday's first game also wins their second contest, at which point they'd drop the last game to Monday.  They don't mention that, though, and probably should.

[Pat Coleman]

Well, it'll be someone else's problem other than Wooster's.

[Wooster Booster]

Well, it'll be someone else's problem other than Wooster's.

Yep.  Wooster is soundly beaten by former and current punching bags.  Ouch.

[AllStar]

Through Saturday, 5/20

[Dr. Acula]

Well, it'll be someone else's problem other than Wooster's.

Yep.  Wooster is soundly beaten by former and current punching bags.  Ouch.

It was also the bottom two seeds beating the top seed so I'd say it's definitely a disappointing regional for the Scots.  They had to think if they could just hang around enough games until the pitching gets thin they'd have an advantage (similar to what W&J is doing with their own formidable offense).  Not in the cards though. 

[Wooster Booster]

Well, it'll be someone else's problem other than Wooster's.

Yep.  Wooster is soundly beaten by former and current punching bags.  Ouch.

It was also the bottom two seeds beating the top seed so I'd say it's definitely a disappointing regional for the Scots.  They had to think if they could just hang around enough games until the pitching gets thin they'd have an advantage (similar to what W&J is doing with their own formidable offense).  Not in the cards though.

Prior to this regional, Wooster held an all-time record of 27-1 against Earlham.  Prior to this season, they were a modest 7-4 against NCAC newcomer DePauw, but in the recent NCAC tournament, demolished them 18-3 and 25-6.  So, disappointing is putting it mildly.

Wooster looked terrible.  Their starting pitcher in games one and three threw the ball all over the place.  Outside of a couple of long balls, Wooster struck out a ton and hardly hit any balls hard.  Tons of pop-ups.  They were either severely overrated, really overconfident, or flat-out choked.

[AllStar]

Through Sunday, 5/21

[AllStar]

Congratulations to Washington & Jefferson!

[Dr. Acula]

Tough pill to swallow for W&J.  After winning that first game in the championship series I thought it must just be their year.  They were cruising.  Credit to Cal Lu for bouncing back and winning two straight.