Final from Springfield today:

Western New England 9 ECSU 6.

WNE is on another one of their late season runs prepping for the post season.

Lefthanders, you should check some facts before posting. JConn not only played. He was FIRST TEAM ABCA ALL AMERICAN in 2006. He has a good idea of what he speaks.

Since WNEC has been in the CCC, they  basically broke their tournament into 2, 4 team double elimination groups and those 2 winners would play a single game on Sunday for the championship. This year, the CCC website indicates that a second game will be played Sunday if both teams have the same number of losses after game 1.

BobbyBeacon,
Your enthusiasm is very justified. UMB has had a great 2 weeks but the chip on your shoulder is so big that you can't seem to grasp what people are saying. You totally misunderstood the comment about no dominant team when discussing the strength of the NE regional. The meaning was that, no team had been dominant all year coming into the regional such as Trinity in 08 when they were undefeated coming into and leaving the regional on their way to the national championship. UMB was dominant in the LEC tournament and the regional and deserves congratulations for their efforts, but with 15 lossess during the year, could not be considered a dominant team coming into the regional. All of the NE posters hope they succeed in Wisconsin and bring the champioship back to NE.

I am not sure how three LEC teams make it this year with the other upsets in conference tournaments. Often one of the NE pool C teams gets shipped to NY, but this year Cortland will most likely get that Pool C bid. It seems to me that KSC will be the odd man out. I think ESCU  gets in and most likely will play at home with one of the other NE teams shipped to NY, which seems to happen every year.

Regarding why the run scored, the double play for a runner leaving a base is not the same as a force out on a ground ball. If the run crossed the plate before the out is recorded, then the run will count.

The other thing to remember is that the regional format is established by the NCAA and is the same for all 5 regions that are 5 team tournaments. John is right, in that the rain Thursday night changed the schedule and ultimately hurt RPI by first backing them up on the weekend and then secondly having Mondo come back on Sunday with 1 day rest instead of 2.  The other thing that turned the NY region upside down was the number of upsets. If things go according to seed then only 4 teams are left after day 2 instead of 5 and the remaining days then play different. When Clarkson upset Cortland and then lost to Farmindale on day 2 that caused the extra team and the additional games required for RPI. While the  team format is not great, I like it better than the old 7 team format the NCAA used where the 1 seed got a bye in the first round and played a second round game at the end of day 1 against a team that had already lost earlier in the day. It would be nice if we could get to all regionals being 8 teams but that would require more travel to fill in some of the regions with fewer AQs.

Congratulations to Farmingdale for earning the trip to Appleton. Coming back from losing game 1 and going the distance is quite an accomplishment. Well done!

Word,
One of the HBP came with bases loaded and forced in a run. WNEC had a run taken off the board in bottom 6 when long shot to center was run down by Wilkes with bases loaded and 1 out. Runner on first passed the runner on second for third out which negated runner from 3rd who had tagged up and scored. Would have been 3-2 with 2 on and 2 out. Mental mistakes like that can not be made during tournament time.

I would guess  DiTomasso goes in next game while Clarkson brings back their number 1 who was suspended for first 2 games of regional because of an incident in their league tournament.

Lets hope the bats wake up!

First game of the day is in the books. RPI takes down WNEC in a good pitcher's duel 3-1. The Bears now have the tough road to hoe getting ready for a 3:30 matchup with Clarkson. They will have to win that one, beat RPI tomorrow and then win again on Sunday to win the region.

Winner will play at noon on Saturday. Bracket on regional site shows final game now on Sunday if necessary. There will be three tomorrow, 2 Saturday and 1 on Sunday. I wonder why they don't change it so the loser of WNEC/RPI gets a little rest rather than have to come right back out in the next came. They could play Cortland and Farmindale at 3:30 and Clarkson vs WNEC/RPI loser at 7. Just my thoughts.

Looks like B.J. Thomas has made his way to Long Island. Just got text message that game is postponed tonight. On for noon tomorrow. Go Bears!

The host team ChipnDale live to dance another day as they crush Clarkson 19-10. Five out of 6 will play tomorrow. Word is back on a losing streak with his predictions, lets hope it continues in the next game!

When you look at the set up of a 6 team tourney with 5 left after the second day, this next game is huge.
The winner plays one game tomorrow and win or lose will be playing on Saturday for the trip to cheese land. The loser must win 2 games tomorrow to get to Saturday.

 
Game 1 goes to Cortland 3-2 after they score 2 with 2 out in bottom of the eighth. Lets hope Word matches yesterday's total and get only 1 right today.

Two days in a row Word has gone straight chalk..must have been a teacher at some point. I always like to erase the chalk and give my teacher's fits. Lets hope the Bears can play eraser for the second day in a row.

Who to start in the 1 v 8 game is often a tough question. You need to be deep to win an 8 team tournament and you hope your number 2 is good enough to beat the 8 seed. Last year it worked for Trinity as they held Keily out of game 1 and used him in game 2 against WNEC.