Quote from: BomberJeff on May 28, 2022, 05:12:51 PM
Ithaca with the 4-0 shutout to move within a game of going to Cedar Rapids. Kyle Lambert going 8 innings and Garrett Bell coming in to seal the deal in the 9th. Big day by Buzz Shirley at the plate, providing most of the offense: 2 for 3 with a double and homer, an intentional walk, 1 RBI and touched home twice.

Big day to be a Bomber tomorrow.

Sort of an odd game. Teams combined for 6 errors. Bombers made a mental error on the bases where a runner left early on a fly out, and was called out, turning a 2nd/3rd one out situation into a 2nd and two outs.

But Kyle Lambert picked a great day to have his most dominant outing of the season. Buzz Shirley continues to show he's one of the best hitters in the country.

I thought Catholic's best chance to win was to have Alch steal this one. But Shirley won those showdowns and the Bombers tacked on two against the bullpen.

The curious thing I noticed: Alch was pulled after just 74 pitches. He'd thrown 122 vs. Susquehanna on the 1st and 120 against Stevens on May 20. He wasn't great today, but he wasn't bad either. (Nothing wrong with struggling to get Shirley out).

Based on what we saw in the regionals and conference tournament, they'll probably go with Zaffiro and Fitzgerald tomorrow. I wonder if they decided to pull Alch early in case they need him tomorrow out of the bullpen.

Saturday's weather isn't looking any better in Ithaca. I'd bet a dollar that it's moved to a Sunday/Monday

Worth noting, rain is expected in Ithaca Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as of now

Quote from: Caz Bombers on May 23, 2022, 11:37:21 AM

already 6-0 good guys, bottom 2. Keystone has left its starter in there to get splattered. Not sure what they have in the pen.

Much like Rochester in the LL Tournament, Keystone just ran out of arms.

Their starter came into the day with a 9.51 ERA in 29.1 innings. The Bombers scored 4 in the first, and at that point, Keystone's only hope was to turn it into a slugfest, but even that was a long shot. The staff just wasn't able to get outs. An error that scored two runs in the third was really the backbreaker. Made it 8-0, and IC just kept tacking on runs.

Keystone showed fight though, scoring a run in the 9th and getting a few guys on.

What an amazing run by the Bombers though. Facing elimination in the LL crossover tournament, and giving up a quick 2 runs in the top of the first, IC rallies, takes the game, pounds Union in the nightcap, and then sweeps the LL Tournament and the Regional.

It looked like it was going to be a disappointing end to the season, as Union came into the crossover series 15-16 to Ithaca's 25-11. But the Bombers saved their season, and are on to the Super Regional

Keystone stuns Immaculata for the second time.

After coming back from a 5-2, 7th inning deficit in the opener, they eliminate the Mighty Macs on a 2-out error that plates two runs. Keystone trailed 4-0 heading to the bottom of the 4.

Now the real challenge begins, as it does for any team coming from the losers' bracket who has to play that extra game. What doomed Rochester in the LL tournament was that they just...ran out of guys to get outs. IC has only used three pitchers thus far in the regional. Keystone has had to go deeper into their staff

Anything can happen, of course. But the Bombers are basically where you want to be. Needing just 1 win with a relatively rested staff

Quote from: BomberJeff on May 15, 2022, 11:18:26 AM
Congrats to Ithaca on the Liberty League championship.  Kind of unfortunate that Rochester's pitching was so tired in that last game.  Hopefully that won't hurt them too much in terms of getting an at large selection.

Yeah, the Bombers being able to cut down the lead run at the plate in the 9th inning of the previous game — leading to the win and Rochester having to play again that night — was really the key.

D3 staffs just aren't that deep. Having to play that extra game kills most teams

Tim Locastro, former Ithaca College star, has really carved out an outstanding niche for himself in the major leagues. He was, for several years, the literal fastest player in the league, and still boasts elite, top-end speed.

Last night, he came on as a pinch runner in the 9th inning of a tied game, stole second, and then scored on a single. The perfect encapsulation of his unique skill set.

Quote from: RogK on April 19, 2022, 01:50:11 PM
guys who pitched in MLB / number of teams, extracted from baseball-reference
"average quantity of pitchers per team" (guys who pitched on multiple teams are counted only once)
1980 = 15,                      1982 = 14,   1983 = 15,   1984 = 15
1985 = 16,   1986 = 16,   1987 = 16,   1988 = 17,   1989 = 17
1990 = 19,   1991 = 18,   1992 = 17,   1993 = 18
                   1996 = 19,   1997 = 19,   1998 = 19,   1999 = 20
2000 = 20,   2001 = 20,   2002 = 20,   2003 = 20,   2004 = 21
2005 = 20,   2006 = 21,   2007 = 22,   2008 = 22,   2009 = 22
2010 = 21,   2011 = 22,   2012 = 22,   2013 = 23,   2014 = 23
2015 = 24,   2016 = 25,   2017 = 25,   2018 = 27,   2019 = 28
                   2021 = 30
I excluded shortened seasons

The evolution of the game continues

In 1900, 82.2% of starts were complete games
By 1950, the number dropped to 40%
By 1980, the number dropped to 20%
By 2010, the number dropped to 3%
Last year, the number was 1%

This year, we've yet to have one in 300 starts. Sports evolve

Quote from: WLCALUM83 on April 11, 2022, 06:20:59 PM

Pitcher:                   CG's                IP           W/L                 ERA

Rick Langford           28                 290          19-12                  3.,26
Mike Norris              24                 284 1/3     22- 9                   2.53
Matt Keough            20                 250           16-13                 2.92
Steve McCatty          11                 221 2/3     14-14                  3.86
Brian Kingman          10                211 1/3       8-20                 3.83
Bob Lacey*                 1                  79 2/3       3- 2                   2.94 


The year Martin got the heat for was '81. (for overworking his starters). Per Wikipedia, "Baseball writer Rob Neyer estimates that" Langford threw 129 pitches per CG, (18 CG's); Norris 131 PPCG (12); Keough 131 PPCG (10); McCatty 131 PPCG (16) Kingman only pitched 3 CGs and  100 1/3 total  innings in '81.

Yeah. Back to back, it's no surprise the entire staff was shot.

Something, something, Nolan Ryan, though.

Quote from: RogK on April 09, 2022, 01:29:07 PM
Those cars may have been defective; those pitchers weren't.
Incidentally, last season MLB pitchers combined for 50 complete games in 4858 starts, 1.0%.
By contrast, Bob Gibson completed 255 of his 482 career starts, 52.9%.

Now do the 1980 As. Threw 94 complete games, and ruined the careers of an entire rotation in the process

Personal opinion:

I hate, hate, hate, that defensive holding is an automatic first down, and it bails a team out on 3rd and forever on a ticky tack call on some receiver crossing the field nowhere near the sticks. Heck, I could care less if it's 5 yards or 10 at that point. Unless it's the end of a half/game situation, the first down itself is much more valuable than the yards.

I'd much rather see it be a straight penalty with yards attached, but replaying the down.

Ithaca pulls away with a strong 3rd quarter, picking up their 25th win of the season. It's their fifth 25-win season under Dan Raymond. If Ithaca can win today, it will be the 450th win of his IC career.

It's the 9th consecutive NCAA appearance for the Bombers in which they've picked up a first round win.

Also, a tip of the hat to assistant coach Jim Mullins. The longtime IC men's head coach went out with a bang, finishing his head coach career with a 24-6 record, and a trip to the second round of the NCAAs, where, in his final game, the Bombers nearly knocked off the #1 team in the country, having Swathmore tied at 62 with 8 minutes to go, and trailing by just 3 with 1:30 to go. Great to see him on the sidelines in the NCAAs again.

Feels like Ithaca finally made a jump. Picked up another win over a RR team (St. Lawrence for the third time this season) while Scranton just keeps going up in the poll and IC's win over them keeps looking better and better.

Great season by St. Lawrence, and yeah that's the Pool C game. IC winning the A almost certainly cost the LL a 2-bid conference.

Bombers draw Catholic in Round 1.

Common opponents:

Scranton: IC wins by 22, Catholic loses three times, by 3, 4, and 17 points.
William Smith: IC wins by 30 and 20, Catholic wins by 18.

Hoping for an IC win!

Quote from: Augie2020 on February 19, 2022, 10:11:58 PM
Ithaca is no pushover.Saw it with my own eyes first hand when they dominated my Lady Royals early on in the season.

A win that really is not getting enough notice, I think. It was at Ithaca, and very early, but Scranton had just come off an impressive win over DeSales. So it's not like they weren't in form