Just something to pass the time while we wait for the 2017 season to get going. If you had to build an all-time team for your favorite program, who would be on it?

I'll Start with Carthage:
C-John Zulegar '95
1B-Mark Beyer '96
2B-Ryan Lessner '00
SS- (Maybe someone can help here?)
3B- Dean Muthig '99
OF- Shorty Flees '97
OF- Glen Braun '99
OF- Will Hodges '11/Jack Richarz '95
UTL- Gavin Winfield '97
SP- Cory Everts '93
SP- Jeff Kaeppler '77
SP- Dan Falkingham '93
SP- Ryan Taylor '94
SP- Brent Sagedal '95
RP- Layne Grissman '97

Coach- Augie Schmidt IV

Some fodder for discussion and debate. A few Central Region teams on this list.

#   School (1st votes)   2015 Rec   Pts   Prev.
1   Cortland State (23)   45-4   622   1
2   UW-La Crosse   36-16   537   3
3   Emory   31-15   508   6
4   Salisbury   33-6-1   501   5
5   Kean   35-12   442   11
6   Webster   34-15   415   8
7   Trinity (Texas) (1)   40-14   414   4
8   Birmingham-Southern   37-12-1   396   10
9   UW-Whitewater   35-11   372   9
10   Frostburg State (1)   43-9   370   2
11   Rhodes   33-13   342   13
12   Heidelberg   33-14   286   14
13   UW-Stevens Point   33-14   277   12
14   Linfield   33-15   245   15
15   Southern Maine   32-15   225   rv
16   Shenandoah   28-10-1   216   16
17   Pacific Lutheran   32-14   193   17
18   Ramapo   33-16   185   8
19   Baldwin Wallace   31-12   183   20
20   Wartburg   33-14   153   21
21   Wooster   36-9   150   24
22   Texas-Tyler   34-12   140   19
23   Methodist   32-10   125   22
24   Marietta   29-18   108   rv
25   Alvernia   35-14   61   18


Others receiving votes: Misericordia 57, Cal Lutheran 54, Ohio Northern 50, Mary Washington 45, St. Thomas (Minn.) 41, Coe 40, Concordia-Texas 37, Concordia (Ill.), Johns Hopkins 25, Carthage 25, Adrian 24, La Roche 23, Mitchell 22, Thomas More 21, Millsaps 21, Keystone 19, MIT 15, Stevens Institute 12, St. Scholastica 12, Randolph-Macon 11, Huntingdon 8, Wesleyan (Conn.) 8, Ohio Wesleyan 6, Anderson 5, DeSales 5, Endicott 5, Eastern Conn. St. 3, Wis.-Oshkosh 3, Rensselaer 2, Redlands 2, Clarkson 1, Rose-Hulman 1, Rutgers-Camden 1, Salem St. 1, Southwestern (Tex.) 1.

Below is how I see the Central Region this year. We'll see how it all plays out so I guess that I have a few favorites in the region that others (at least nationally) don't expect much from.

1. Webster (SLIAC)
2. Carthage (CCIW)
3. Wheaton (IL) (CCIW)
4. Wartburg (IIAC)
5. IWU (CCIW)
6. WashU (UAA)
7. North Central (CCIW)
8. St. Norbert (MWC)
9. North Park (CCIW)
10. Coe (IIAC)

Never been a fan of this poll as it is usually a recycle of the final 2015 poll, but it is a place to start the 2016 talk. (Central Region teams in BOLD)

Rank   Team (2015 Final Record)   Points
  1.   Cortland St., NY (45-4)   273
  2.   Wisc.-La Crosse (36-16)   270
  3.   Emory, GA (31-15)   269
  4.   Salisbury, MD (33-6-1)   265
  5.   Webster, MO (34-15)   260
  6.   Kean, NJ (35-12)   258
  7.   Rhodes, TN (33-13)   255
  8.   Southern Maine (32-15)   252
  9.   Birmingham So., AL (37-12)   250
10.   Linfield, OR (33-15)   247
11.   Wisc.-Whitewater (35-11)   246
12.   Wartburg, IA (33-14)   245
13.   Marietta, OH (29-18)   243
14.   Wisc.-Stevens Point (33-14)   241
15.   Shenandoah, VA (28-10-1)   240
16.   Pacific Lutheran, WA (32-14)   238
17.   Methodist, NC (32-10)   235
18.   Heidelberg, OH (33-14)   231
19.   Baldwin Wallace, OH (31-12)   229
20.   Texas-Tyler (34-12)   226
21.   Wooster, OH (36-9)   221
22.   Cal. Lutheran (32-12)   218
23.   Concordia Texas (31-12)   216
24.   Johns Hopkins, MD (30-13-1)   213
25.   Carthage, WI (30-15)   210
26.   Concordia-Chicago, IL (33-15)   208
27.   Trinity, TX (40-14)   206
28.   Frostburg St. (43-9)   203
29.   Mary Washington, VA (27-7)   201
30.   Alvernia, PA (35-14)   200
31.   Oswego St., NY (27-13)   198
32.   Randolph-Macon, VA (26-10)   197
33.   Amherst, MA (27-15)   196
34.   Misericordia, PA (31-13)   192
35.   Ramapo, NJ (33-16)   186
36.   Coe, IA (34-14)   183
37.   Ithaca, NY (20-14)   180
38.   Keystone, PA (33-14)   177
39.   Stevens Institute, NJ (29-14)   175
40.   Pomona-Pitzer, CA (28-13)   172
Also Receiving Votes: Whitworth, Washington-St. Louis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Adrian, Millsaps, Wesleyan (CT), Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, La Roche, Redlands, Bethel, Tufts, Endicott, Eastern Connecticut St., Salem St., St. Thomas (MN), SUNY Old Westbury, Saint John's (MN), Pittsburgh-Greensburg, Chapman, Rutgers-Camden, Scranton, DeSales, Rose-Hulman, St. John Fisher, Salve Regina, UMass-Boston, Rowan, Maryville, Rochester, Buena Vista.

Here is my top 25 this week:

1. Christopher Newport
2. Cortland State
3. Marietta
4. Trinity- Texas
5. Wheaton (Mass)
6. Western New England
7. Kean
8. St. Joseph's (Maine)
9. Linfield
10. St. Thomas
11. Whitewater
12. La Crosse
13. Salisbury
14. Stevens Point
15. Washington and Jefferson
16. Keystone
17. Shenandoah
18. Trinity (CT)
19. Bridgewater
20. Tyler (TX)
21. St. Scholastica
22. Pomona-Pitzer
23. Manchester
24. Misercorida
25. Illinois Wesleyan


Go ahead... hammer away at my rankings:)

Looking at teams with All-Region players coming back in 2013, my incredibly complex formula of 3,2,1 for hitters on the all-region squads and 4,3,2  for the pitchers (I value pitchers a bit more than hitters), here is what I have computed as a 2013 regional preview:

1.Wartburg/Wheaton/Chicago 5 pts
4. NorthPark 4
5. WashU/IWU/Coe/Central 3
9. Webster 2
10. Cornell/Elmhurst/Greenville 1

As usual, this means absolutely nothing but it did give some props to WashU and Chicago heading into the 2012 season. If form holds true, we should keep an eye on Wartburg, Wheaton and Chicago as teams looking to break into the discussion next year. Notably absent from this list is Carthage, St. Norbert, and Augustana... teams that generally fare well in the region.

Looking at what is coming back for each team and using a "complex" formula of 3, 2, 1 for all-regional teams for hitters and 4, 3, 2 for pitching (it is a little more important than hitting) here is what I have arrived at for an early look at the 2012 Central Region: (Note- so much can happen between now and February so this is just something to tide us over until then... it has been one day since the season ended and I am already lost).

1 IWU (9)
2/3 WashU/Coe(7)
4/5/6/7 Grinnell/Luther/Beloit/Wheaton (5)
8/9/10 North Park/UofChicago/Loras
11/12/13/14 Carthage/Webster/Buena Vista/Elmhurst
15 Monmouth

RETURNERS: (All-region team)
C:
Mike Nodzenski- Grinnell (1st)
AJ Nathan- IWU (3rd)
Stephen Williams- Chicago (3rd)

1B:
Kevin Callahan- IWU (1st)
Ross Donnan- Monmouth (3rd)

2B:
Chris Reynolds- Luther (1st)
Jonathon Erickson- IWU (3rd)

3B:
Jordan Jaenicke- Beloit (3rd)

SS:
Michael Goldfien- Grinnell (2nd)

OF:
Brandon Rogalski- WashU (1st) Regional Player of the Year
Nick Stein- Coe (1st)
Dave Wollak- Elmhurst (2nd)
Justin Zeller- Wheaton (2nd)
Jack Cinoman- Chicago (3rd)

UTL:
Trey Martin- Wheaton (1st)
Kyle Billig- WashU (2nd)

DH:
Bobby Czarnowski- IWU (3rd)

P:
Wade Morris- Coe (1st)
Alex Norman- Beloit (1st)
Kendall Paluch- Loras (2nd)
Nick Mehn- IWU (2nd)
Steve Kuligowski- North Park (2nd)
Stephan Bonser- WashU (3rd)
David Mueller- Webster (3rd)
James Stone- Buena Vista (3rd)
Augie Lindmark- Luther (3rd)
Danny Dahm- Carthage (3rd)

http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/NCAAChampionship/2009/Finals/2009AllTournament.html

OF Stu Beath Jr. The College of Wooster (Ohio)
OF Sean Karpen Sr. The College of Wooster (Ohio)
1B John Lequia Sr. Carthage College
P Dan Leslie Sr. University of St. Thomas (Minn.)
OF Matt McQuillan So. University of St. Thomas (Minn.)
P Mark Miller Sr. The College of Wooster (Ohio)
OF Matt Olson Jr. University of St. Thomas (Minn.)
P Matt Schuld Jr. University of St. Thomas (Minn.)
P Brandon Stone Jr. University of St. Thomas (Minn.)
P/1B Greg Van Sickler So. Shenandoah University 
3B Zack Vesco Fr. The College of Wooster (Ohio)

Interesting that they went with four OFs, no catcher, no Shortstop or 2B.

Please use this to keep everyone in the loop with the on-going conference tourney games. I fugured it would be nice to have ALL of the chatter happening in one spot since we all are interested in all of the conference tourneys.

Link to CCIW live stats for tourney games: http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/livestats/xlive.htm

This was brought up on another board... figured someone here would know. Has DIII ever produced a triple crown winner?

My first thought was Oshkosh's Tim Jorgenson in 1995, but I think he lost the title on the avg category.

Something to pass the time until the first pitch. I know Spence will get fired up that Wooster is above Marietta.

1. St. Scholastica .807

  2. Wooster .794

  3. Johns Hopkins .784

  4. SUNY-Cortland .776

  5. Marietta .775

  6. Chapman .751

  7. Eastern Conn. St. .749

  8. Carthage .747

  9. St. Thomas (Minn.) .746

10. College of New Jersey .738

11. Wisconsin-Whitewater .737

12. Salisbury .735

13. Emory .731

14. Wartburg .725

15. Wheaton (Mass. .720

16. Rowan .717

17. Wisconsin-Oshkosh .715

18. Ferrum .710

19. Augustana (Ill.) .704

20. Mary Washington .700

      Trinity (Tex.) .700

22. Wisconsin-Stevens Point .695

23. George Fox .6934

24. Alvernia .6928

25. Ohio Wesleyan .6927

26. Aurora .685

27. Dallas .679

28. Suffolk .670

29. DeSales .668

30. Illinois Wesleyan .667

30. Methodist .666



Enjoy!!

2007- BigPoppa's Central Region Rankings: (previous ranking)

1.(2)   Augustana (10-1) CCIW- Only blemish on their record is a 5-4 loss to Grove City in Port Charlotte, FL. The Vikings appear to be the cream of the crop in the Central Region right now. Their head-to-head battles with Carthage will determine their CCIW chances.

2.(NR)   Washington U (13-4) UAA- Their 10-1 record outside of the UAA is a nice addition to their impressive 13-4 start. Could be tough to beat in May.

3.(4)   Wartburg (8-4) IIAC- Looking for their 11th straight IIAC title. I have seen very little so far that would prevent them from achieving that.

4.(3)   Aurora (6-4) NATHCON- Big non-conference matchups with CCIW teams will determine their regional status this year. Should walk through the NATHCON.

5.(1)   Carthage (6-4) CCIW- Could a very dangerous team if they start hitting. An ERA in the 1.50 range should keep them in nearly all of their games this year.

6.(NR)   Concordia-Chicago (7-5) NATHCON- A nice start that could parlay into a conference title if the cards fall right for them. Tilts with Edgewood and Aurora will be huge for their regional status.

7.(6)   Webster (8-7) SLIAC- Currently on top of the SLIAC. Will need to get hot in the conference season in order to knock of Fontbonne, MacMurray and Westminster.

8.(NR)   Edgewood (5-4) NATHCON- Up and coming program in the region that surprised a few teams in the past few seasons. Look for them to be near the top of the NATHCON by the time it all finishes.

9.(NR)   Loras (7-3) IIAC- Off to a great start, but has not faced top-notch competition as of yet.

Any thoughts or reactions? Who did I miss?