BB: General New England Discussion

Started by Paul Heering, February 14, 2007, 06:14:24 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

wordsmith

Eye-See the KSC-Wheaties match is cancelled. Any ideas why?

Too bad a great Inter-NewEngland match-up. Better for KSC as the real important games come tomorrow vs the Quahogs of Rhody.

Still the loss to the Monks, while not unexpected, did not help KSC in the all important At-Large Bid contest.
They have lost to AmHerst, Williams, WNEC, St. Joe's in NE, whilst defeating Babson, Brandeis, and the JACs of the world. Still must remember they defeated CCNJ twice, and Johns Hopkins to start the year.

Word
Word

TheGNAC

Would anyone like to speculate on the New England regional at-large situation? How many bids do you guys think New England will receive? Some are saying 3, others are saying 4. With that, who is in the running?

Let's look at the regional rankings from last week;

1. Trinity - I'm going to assume the Bantams will win the NESCAC tournament, as they are currently 34-0 and easily the best team in the conference. They would receive the pool A bid.

2. Wheaton - Wheaton has already won the NEWMAC, thus earning an automatic bid to Harwich.

3. Keene State - Keene is the top team in the LEC, along with Eastern. The way I see it, one of these two teams is going to win the LEC, and the other will receive an at-large bid.

4. Eastern Connecticut - See above.

5. Suffolk - The big wild card in New England, imo. Suffolk really hurt their chances last week by failing to win the GNAC after running the table in the regular season, but they still have an excellent record (27-10), and are 3rd in strength of schedule in New England, only trailing Trinity and Eastern Connecticut. The Rams have 5 games remaining, and should at least go 3-2 in those games, thus guaranteeing themselves 30 wins. At worst, I see them finishing at 30-12, and I think this should be enough to get them an at-large bid, so long as the teams above them win their conferences.

6. Amherst - Amherst is an interesting case. They currently sit at 22-9-1, and have a number of impressive wins on their resume. They swept St. Joe's of Maine yesterday, who last week earned an automatic bid by winning the GNAC. The only problem I see with Trinity is the fact their regular season is completed, and they only have 22 wins. I don't think they can beat Trinity to win the NESCAC, so an automatic bid is out of the question. Let's say they win 2 games before bowing out in the tournament, they would end their season with 24 wins. Could the committee really justify awarding an at-large bid to a team with 24 wins over a team like Suffolk, with 30 wins? I'm not sure.

7. Roger Williams - RW pretty much sealed their fate by losing in their conference tournament yesterday, failing to even reach the finals. Although they have an excellent record, their weak strength of schedule and lack of impressive wins makes it highly unlikely Roger Williams will receive an at-large bid.

8. Southern Maine - USM is another interesting case, and I think they're definitely in the running for an at-large bid. They have an excellent record (29-10) while playing in one of the best conferences in the country. They've beaten some very good teams, and their offense is downright scary. The only problem facing USM in my opinion is their conference. I don't think they have the pitching to beat Keene State or Eastern Connecticut, and if they fail to win their conference, there is no way the committee will award two at-large bids to the LEC, along with the automatic bid. For USM, it's win or go home.

9. WNEC - WNEC is my sleeper from this region. Although they started 0-5, they've since gone 30-6 to run their record to 30-11. They are slated to play for the CCC championship today, and I think they'll handle Wentworth to receive the automatic bid. Once they get to Harwich, watch out for these guys. They have the pitching to surprise a lot of people (Anderson and Pizzoferrato are as good as they come).

So, what does all this mean? Basically, I think the automatic bids will go to Trinity from the NESCAC, Keene State from the LEC, and WNEC from TCCC. That leaves the following teams in the running for an at-large, and I've ranked them in order for their likelihood to receive a bid. Again, this is just one man's opinion, and I am simply going on what the knowledge that is already out there.

1. Eastern Connecticut - They have the history, the strength of schedule, and the impressive wins to guarantee themselves a spot in the regionals this year.

2. Suffolk - 3rd in the region in strength of schedule, and they still have 5 games remaining, with a very good chance of going 30-12.

3. Southern Maine - They're going to finish with 30-32 wins, and their strength of schedule is among the best. Although I have already mentioned the unlikelihood that the committee will award two at-large bids to the LEC, I think there is an even greater unlikelihood that the committee will award an at-large to a team with 24 wins (Amherst) over a team with 30+ (USM, Suffolk).

4. Amherst - As stated earlier, their lack of wins is going to hurt them immensely.

5. Roger Williams - I think their goose is cooked now that they have failed to win TCCC, but I don't see any team in the region who would be considered for an at-large before these guys.

Alright, now that I've wasted everyone's time with this drivel, what does everyone else think?

Knuckles97

Are Wheaton and St. Joe's still the only two teams that have earned NCAA bids in the Region?

ECSUalum

Quote from: Knuckles97 on May 04, 2008, 05:49:41 PM
Are Wheaton and St. Joe's still the only two teams that have earned NCAA bids in the Region?

Worcester State snapped a 4-4 tie with a four-run, seventh-inning uprising in a 9-4 victory over Westfield State in the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference baseball tournament championship game. Worcester State, 23-16 and riding a nine-game winning streak, earns and automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

wordsmith

Quote from: ECSUalum on May 04, 2008, 06:41:41 PM
Quote from: Knuckles97 on May 04, 2008, 05:49:41 PM
Are Wheaton and St. Joe's still the only two teams that have earned NCAA bids in the Region?

Worcester State snapped a 4-4 tie with a four-run, seventh-inning uprising in a 9-4 victory over Westfield State in the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference baseball tournament championship game. Worcester State, 23-16 and riding a nine-game winning streak, earns and automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.


WNEC Secured an Auto-Bid to the NC2As this afternoon. Congrats to Coach LaBranche, another real quality coach who has done an outstanding job without a lot of 'pub'.


Western New England College cages Leopards to claim TCCC Tournament crown
Baseball


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior pitcher Jason Pizzoferrato (Windsor, CT) won his eighth game of the season without a loss as third-seeded Western New England College posted a 6-4 victory over fourth-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology in the championship game of The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Baseball Tournament Sunday afternoon (May 4) at Trelease Park.

The Golden Bears, who posted a perfect 4-0 record in the playoffs, will receive an automatic invitation to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the third straight year. This is Western New England College's inaugural first season in TCCC after capturing the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament title the last two seasons.

Coach Matt LaBranche's squad now has a 31-11 record after running its winning streak to nine games.


Word

KSCfan

Teams in:
1. Wheaton
2. WNEC
3. St Joes
4. Worchester State

Teams still to be decided on

Keene State
Eastern CT
Southern Maine
Trinity
Suffolk


Some serious competition this year in the regionals.  Shaping up to be better than last years talent wise.

Ralph Turner

Quote from: KSCfan on May 05, 2008, 09:43:59 AM
Teams in:
1. Wheaton                      NEWMAC
2. WNEC                             CCC
3. St Joes                           GNAC
4. Worchester State          MASCAC

Teams still to be decided on

Keene State
Eastern CT
Southern Maine
Trinity
Suffolk

Some serious competition this year in the regionals.  Shaping up to be better than last years talent wise.
The NAC has a Pool A bid this year.  We need the Pool A bids from the NESCAC and LEC.

There are 14 Pool A bids to give nationwide.  Expect one or two for New England.

Tourney FAQ

Knuckles97

Is that your current seeding as well?

Paul Heering

Here is how I see things right now.  This year there are 8 team regionals and 6 team regionals (no 7's--I think).  I put 1-9 here even though there can only be 8 teams.  Somebody is going to get shipped out and everyone else moves accordingly

1.  Trinity (win or lose in the NESCAC)
2.  Keene State (here if they win LEC tourney--in field but lower if they do not)
3.  Wheaton
4.  Western New England
5.  Eastern Connecticut / Southern Maine (whoever goes farther in LEC)
6.  ***See Below***
7.  St. Joe's Maine
8.  Worcester State
9.  NAC winner

6th Seed
Scenario #1--Williams makes it to the NESCAC finals, Williams gets the 6 seed
Scenario #2--Amherst makes it to the NESCAC finals, Amherst gets the 6 seed
Scenario #3--Tufts makes it to the NESCAC finals, Suffolk gets the 6 seed--this all depends on how Suffolk plays this week as they have games against MIT, Umass Boston, Endicott, & St. Joe's Maine (DH)

Looks like a VERY STRONG field.  This year may be the year that the team sent to the NY region isn't that upset about being shipped out.

met_fan

Quote from: Paul Heering on May 05, 2008, 04:29:09 PM
This year may be the year that the team sent to the NY region isn't that upset about being shipped out.

Could be, but I don't think any of them want to play Cortland either.

frank uible

The year Trinity went to the World Series (my guess 2003) it came out of the NY regional and over Cortland.

Paul Heering

Cortland is arguably the best team in the NY / New England area but 2-8 I think the field in New England will be much stronger.  But we will never know.

I would actually LOVE to see more crossing up in these tournaments (although I don't see it happening).  Send some NY teams to Harwich & send some NE teams to Auburn NY.  I think every team in the running for these spots is within 500 miles of both sites. 

ECSU has also gone through the NY region to get to Wisconsin

Ralph Turner

Quote from: Paul Heering on May 05, 2008, 06:29:13 PM
Cortland is arguably the best team in the NY / New England area but 2-8 I think the field in New England will be much stronger.  But we will never know.

I would actually LOVE to see more crossing up in these tournaments (although I don't see it happening).  Send some NY teams to Harwich & send some NE teams to Auburn NY.  I think every team in the running for these spots is within 500 miles of both sites. 

ECSU has also gone through the NY region to get to Wisconsin
Paul, I agree.  As much as the budget will allow.

With the price of diesel, and an anticipated four airfares in the West, I hope that the committee can move some teams between the regions, if affordable.

met_fan

Quote from: frank uible on May 05, 2008, 06:02:33 PM
The year Trinity went to the World Series (my guess 2003) it came out of the NY regional and over Cortland.

I'm not trying to say they couldn't win, just that going through Cortland will be no easier than going through Trinity.  I'm guessing 75% of the teams in the NCAAs are capable of getting hot for a weekend and winning a regional tournament, even though they may not be the best team.

ECSUalum

Just wanted to share some NCAA D-III statistics as of 2007 here on most successful baseball programs in post season play (alphabetical order):

CWS Points:   4 for 1st place, 3 for 2nd , 2 for thirdplace , 1 for 4th place

                       Years          Tourney        Years       CWS
Team            in Regional     W      L         in CWS   Points  comments
-------           ---------------    ---     ---        ---------   --------  ------------

Cal St Stan,       10              49    21          10          19       now D- II
ECSU                 28             101   54          12          28       LEC
Ithaca                30              89    61          NA         21       Empire 8
Marietta             28             123   58          19         37        OAC
Montclair St        23              97    46          13         23        NJAC
NC Wesleyan     20              73    43          12         14        USA South
Rowan               17              50    32            6         10        NJAC
SUNY Cort.         16              50    32            8           7        SUNYAC
Wooster             21              45    45           4           5        NCAC
U St Thomas       12              35    23           3         10        MIAC
US Maine            16              48    32           6           8        LEC
UW Oshk            22            101    47           17        24       WIAC
W. Patterson      17              56    33           NA        11

Points are indication of toughness/sucess at CWS  Separates the men from the boys
WHERE ARE ALL THE CALIFORNIA/TEXAS TEAMS!!!!!