Congrats on Trinity making it out of the West. Saw their program several years battle Chapman in the regionals. A great program a great coaching staff and most years have few players from Califronia on their roster.

A deep pitching staff is indeed a key element to winning the whole thing.

Chapman was without their All American #1 starter Kitchens in 2009 and fell a day short.

In 2011 Chapman was again without their #1 starter Rauh and fell a game short.

West has great teams but it is so tough to win in Appleton. Cortland has been a regular in Appleton for so many years and finally got their championship.

Is this the year TRINITY finally makes it out of TEXAS to Wisconsin?

Not a good week for baseball in SoCal. Rain. Texas is fine. Loved watching the games in Abilene regional several years ago. Linfield was also great in 2009 with great weather.

Quote from: SoCalSoxFan on May 07, 2015, 08:08:55 pm

Quote from: Westside on May 07, 2015, 07:19:46 pm

Newest Regional Rankings are out.

West Region   

1   Pacific Lutheran   27-10-0 ( 0.730)   30-12-0 ( 0.714)
2   Texas-Tyler   29-9-0 ( 0.763)   30-10-0 ( 0.750)
3   Linfield   28-12-0 ( 0.700)   30-13-0 ( 0.698)
4   Cal Lutheran   32-12-0 ( 0.727)   32-12-0 ( 0.727)
5   Concordia (TX)   29-10-0 ( 0.744)   29-10-0 ( 0.744)
6   Whitworth   27-12-0 ( 0.692)   28-13-0 ( 0.683)

Interesting that CLU jumped ahead of Concordia.    Not knowing anything, I think that means they need to win the ASC tourney to have a chance to get in as their chance of being Pool C was just reduced.   

Will Pool C pick two NWC's and have a third in Pool A?   
If they do, I wouldn't think all 3 NWC's to be in the west.  I expect if they did, they would ship one to another region 

With Linfield and CLU at 3 & 4, I wonder if the committee would only take PLU and TT (if they come in second at ASC) as Pool C. 
And if TT wins ASC, they'll import a Pool C from another region. 


The final picks on the 10th should be very interesting.

Here is what we know for sure:
1. La Verne
2. Trinity
3. Whitworth

Those teams are all in.

Here is what is still up for grabs.

4. ASC Champ is in
5. PLU is in
6. If Concordia wins the ASC, that leaves this spot for UTT.  If UTT wins, this spot is open for Linfield, CLU or Concordia.  The way the NCAA hides the final rankings leaves them the option to put Concordia in so they don't have to spend on a flight.  I think Linfield might still get a shot, but in a different region.  This leaves CLU at home.

UTT should also be in ahead of Linfield but.......lets see what happens

As we know neither poll has any bearing on playoff spots. Pool A is won by winning conference tourney's in the West. Pool C seems to have a real slant to teams with high SOS(strength of schedule) which teams in the West don't have. Regional rankings can be misleading too. Being regionally ranked does not guarantee a Pool C bid but not be regionally rank does seem to guarantee you wont get a Pool C bid.

Conceding that we will collectively fail to solve the Cal Tech Conundrum (sounds like a Big Bang Theory episode, appropriately) again this year, I'm moving on to weekend picks.

PP 3-0 over Cal Tech
CLU 3-0 over Oxy
ULV 2-1 over Chapman
Whittier 2-1 over CMS
Redlands 2-1 over UPS (we should all be rooting for Redlands in this one. A sweep puts Redlands at 26-9 overall and certainly in the Pool C conversation depending on round robin and conference tournament)

Predicted standings going into Round Robin:
1. Cal Lutheran 17-7 (24-11) (head-to-head tie breaker over ULV and PP)
2. La Verne 17-7 (20-14) (head-to-head tie breaker over PP)
3. Pomona-Pitzer 17-7 (25-10)
4. Redlands 16-8 (25-10)
5. Chapman 15-9 (22-13)
6. Occidental 14-10 (19-16)
7. Whittier 8-16 (10-25)
8. CMS 4-20 (6-29)
9. Cal Tech 0-24 (2-31)         

I think at this point, Cal Lu Redlands and PP are the only teams who will have any chance at a Pool C, and the odds aren't great. While all three have a shot at reaching that impressive 30 win mark, any Pool C team will necessarily have tacked on 2 more losses in the SCIAC tournament. Further, none of those three have especially impressive non-conference resumes. We'll see how the rest of the country fares in the coming weeks.

Many 30 win teams have stayed home in the West over the years.  SCIAC potential Pool C is penalized by playing Cal Tech, CMS and Whitter this year. SOS is hurt and Pool C bid may not be achievable. Round 1 of the playoffs is the SCIAC conference. Win it to move on or expect to stay home

Cal Tech really needs to consider moving to Club baseball. Not being competitive just does not work.