BB: GNAC: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

Started by Ralph Turner, February 11, 2006, 04:18:59 PM

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StraightGas

To add on to the why WNEC may be leaving the GNAC for the CCC is that it matches the demographics of the other schools involved in the CCC.  Such as students looking at WNEC when filling out a college application and asked "What other schools are you applying to?"  Many of those students are writing Salve Regina, Endicott, and so on.  Those colleges offer the same programs at relatively the same costs.

Just a thought, seems feasible. 

Pat Coleman

Often conference affiliation is not based on one sport. Unless, as mentioned earlier, that sport is football. Since not every conference offers football, having an automatic bid available is important.
Publisher. Questions? Check our FAQ for D3f, D3h.
Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Paul Heering

Another reason for the switch to the CCC might be (and i am guessing) is that WNEC could have the majority of their sports play in one league.  right now there are a few sports that play in other leagues b/c the GNAC doesn't sponsor that sport.

for example....
Women's Lacrosse plays in the NEWLA
Men's Lacrosse plays in the Pilgrim League
Field Hockey plays in the NAC

Maybe they wanted all their teams to play in one league, again just guessing though.

Catch08

just a question/thought The GNAC conf has been done for over a week maybe longer while other D3 schools are still playing. Why doesnt the GNAC make its tourny the same as the LEC It seems as if we put our champs in a bad spot rolling into the tourny by having them sit for a week.

frank uible

Besides athletes usually more enjoy playing games than merely practicing.

JOUL

Well there is one benefit...Your pitching isnt worn down going into the tourny.  For example, if the LEC ends on Sunday they only have two days to rest up pitching.  As we know in conference tournys, some teams will use their ace more than once in the tourny, and therefore, wouldnt be able to use their ace on day one of the Regionals.  Other than that, I would agree that the GNAC tourny is way too early.  Maybe it has something to do with Finals for Classes?  Just a thought.

Stump

That is surprising how many conferences do run their conference tournament so close to the regionals. I suppose it helps keep team sharp but it has to tax the pitching heading into the regionals

Jim Dixon

Quote from: Catch08 on May 09, 2007, 11:07:05 AM
just a question/thought The GNAC conf has been done for over a week maybe longer while other D3 schools are still playing. Why doesnt the GNAC make its tourny the same as the LEC It seems as if we put our champs in a bad spot rolling into the tourny by having them sit for a week.

The USA South has been decided three weeks and they make the championship round often.  The northern schools have to wait longer since the majority dont play until a month after teh southern schools start.

Paul Heering

I had some time so I went through some stats I had lying around.

Here are some stats based on 2007 GNAC baseball results

Here are the figures for the production that teams got out of their underclassman pitchers (I didn't go through and check to see who was back, this is just based on their 200 statistics and roster)

To explain further, if Starts = 63% that means that in 2007 63% of their games were started by underclassmen (this is just pitching stats)

Daniel Webster (8-29-1) Team ERA 8.18
Starts = 63%
Wins = 71%
Innings Pitched = 70%
Appearances = 63%
Average of these = 67%

Emerson (12-16) Team ERA 9.88
Starts = 46%
Wins = 33%
Innings Pitched = 46%
Appearances = 40%
Average of these = 41%

Johnson & Wales (22-18) Team ERA 5.24
Starts = 48
Wins = 57
Innings Pitched = 66
Appearances = 77
Average of these = 62

Norwich (6-26) Team ERA 10.08
Starts = 69
Wins = 40
Innings Pitched = 72
Appearances = 75
Average of these = 64

St. Joe's (30-12) Team ERA 4.31
Starts = 85
Wins = 73
Innings Pitched = 78
Appearances = 83
Average of these = 80

Suffolk (23-17) Team ERA 4.11
Starts = 100
Wins = 100
Innings Pitched = 100
Appearances = 100
Average of these = 100

Based on this it would say that St. Joe's and Suffolk should be ahead of the pack but I guess that isn't a surprise.

Rivier & Albertus Magnus did not have stats listed on their pages

Jim Dixon

Catch the three part story by Eric Smolin on his reflections of his first year in the minor leagues.

Jim Dixon

Quote from: Jim Dixon on December 21, 2007, 01:37:26 PM
Catch the three part story by Eric Smolin on his reflections of his first year in the minor leagues.

The final installment is on the web site now. 

TheGNAC

Hey guys, here are my GNAC picks for 2008.

1. Suffolk - Suffolk is returning their entire pitching staff, led by Jackson, Durant, and Dimarco, all three of whom played in collegiate leagues last summer (Jackson in the NYCBL, Durant in the Great Lakes Collegiate League, and Dimarco in the Coastal Plains League). Their offense should be potent once again with Martinho and Dimarco back, as well. I think it will come down to Suffolk and St. Joe's, and going on past results, Suffolk should be the pre-season favorite.

2. St. Joseph's (Maine) - St. Joe's is new to the GNAC, but they will be a force. They're coming from an admittedly cupcake league, but no one can doubt their talent. Luke Enman is my pre-season POTY pick, he's a legitimate stud at the D3 level. They also have an excellent transfer in Pat Moran, who comes to St. Joe's from D-1 UMaine. He's a big, hard throwing righthander, and he should dominate the GNAC. I just don't think they have the pitching to win this thing, as they lost their top two arms from last season, and they were swept by Suffolk late in the season.

3. Johnson and Wales - JWU is always in the mix come April, and this year should be no different. They return their top arm from last year in Hufnagel, and also return Jackson, Melendez, and Maldonado. That being said, they lost their best player (and the best player to come through the GNAC in a long time) in Hurley, so I think they're going to have a tough time with the top two teams. Still, they should prove a tough test for any team they play.

4. Rivier - Rivier had a good season in 2007, finishing 4th in the conference. Much like last season, I just don't think they have the firepower to contend with Suffolk or St. Joe's. 2007 Pitcher of the Year Isaac Burkett is back, but after that are nothing but question marks.

5. Albertus Magnus

6. Norwich

7. Daniel Webster

Preseason Picks:

Player of the Year
1. Luke Enman, SJC
2. Nick Martinho, SUFF
3. Greg Dimarco, SUFF

Pitcher of the Year
1. Reid Jackson, SUFF
2. Pat Moran, SJC
3. Erik Hufnagel, JWU

Paul Heering

Agreed.  It looks like a two team race with Suffolk having the edge. 

Another reason they may have the edge is that St. Joe's plays both JWU and Suffolk on the same weekend.  That means that they need four different pitchers in their toughest four games in conference.  Where Suffolk and JWU can use their top two in all four of those games.

TheGNAC

Good point Paul, that alone will make it tough for SJC to get that #1 seed. IIRC, Suffolk lost their last conference game to Albertus Magnus last year, failing to clinch the regular season title in doing so. Instead of facing Rivier, the 4 seed, in game 1, they ended up playing JWU, and losing. This put them in a hole for the rest of the tournament, eventually running out of pitching in the finals against WNEC.

IMO, whoever gets that #1 seed will be playing in Harwich come May.

broke_ya_ankles

I'm not sure why you guys are so quick to look at St. Joe's pitching as a weak point.  They did lose their ace from last year (Sam Tupper) although Moran should at least replace him.  Andrew Kierstead and Kyle Dorr were a pair of freshmen southpaws last year that each had very respectable seasons.  Kierstead went 4-2 with a 3.46 ERA over 54.2 innings including 2 complete game efforts and showed great control with a 25/6 k/bb ratio.  Dorr finished 4-1 with a 4.15 ERA over 30.1 innings holding opponents to just a .217 BA.   Andrew Pooler the main arm out of the bullpen who led the team in appearances last season with 17 posted a 3.09 ERA.  Newcomer Mason Roberge should have at least similar seasons to that of Kierstead and Dorr last season. Their pitching should prove to be good enough to keep them in just about every game as long as their offense does as they have the past couples years and there is no reason why they shouldnt considering they boast about a half dozen players who have some sort of all conference honor under their belt including the previously mentioned 2nd team all-american Luke Enman.   Their lineup top to bottom will do a number on opposing pitching staffs as they averaged over 7 runs per game last year.    I think it would be pretty difficult to not considering these guys the favorites going into the season....