Chapman over Cal LU  8-6, but Chapman lost to San Marcos on Saturday. 

Chapman has a 3 game series at Dallas next weekend and with Redlands in 2 weekends......Chapman is 25-8 with 6 to go.

Regional rankings come out this week and we shall not have to guess any more, the NCAA "Regional Reviewers" will let us know what they think.   

Hey--

....with Linfield sweeping Geo Fox and having to win 2 of 3 from Pac LU next weekend to take the NWC for this year,

Where does the West Region Pool C team come from ??   SCIAC or NWC   or ASC ??  or  SCAC ?? for that matter.

Pomona-Pitzer clinched the SCIAC Championship with the Redlands loss to CMS today.

I had already put the remote control down until next weekend, but picked up the remote to the remote control in the kitchen....... that one is also now put away, and I am now out to do the Sunday chores !!!

Sunday wants to be some-other day (or "smother day") for Redlands.  Redlands lost to CMS  11-4, with Johnson getting a second loss for the weekend. 

Cal LU is down in the 6th by a couple of runs to Chapman 

The loss by Redlands clinches the SCIAC championship for Pomona-Pitzer (up by 3 with 2 to go).  Redlands with 4 losses going into a 3 game Chapman series will make it interesting (all games audio or live stats next weekend-- go to Chapman schedule and connect).

Pomona has next weekend to meet Cal LU in Thousand Oaks on Friday and Occidental at home on Saturday to finish the regular season.

Linfield has won 2 (so far), but Pac. Lutheran won their 3 games.  Next weekend for Linfield-- they have to take 2 of 3 from Pac. LU to win the NWC--------all this to ask "where will the Pool C bid come from ?"   NWC or SCIAC ?

Stay tuned to the new collegiate soap opera "As The NCAA Turns the West Region".  Conf. Standings =

                  conf     overall     next weekend
Pomona-Pitzer     22-4      28-8    [Cal LU and Occidental]
Redlands          19-7      27-8    [Whittier and Cal Tech]
Cal LU            18-8      25-12   [Pomona-P and Univ.LaV]
Univ. La Verne    15-11
CMS               14-12
Occidental        11-15
Whittier           5-21
Cal Tech           0-26

I will put the remote control down for div 3 baseball and leave the locker room for the next few days. 

WOW---- what a day.

Cal LU over CMS  7-2                Cal LU finished the weekend 3-0 / CMS  2-1
WhittierC  over Cal Tech  18-7     Whittier  1-2  /  Cal Tech  0-3
P-P  over U LV  14-10               P-P finished the weekend  2-1 /  U LV  1-2
OxyC  over Redlands  6-3        Redlands finished the weekend  1-2  /  Oxy  2-1

Any team can best any other team on any given day if they are playing great and the other team lets off just a little.  Redlands had 2 errors allowing 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th,  just a big OOPS.   (UR had 4 errors total in the game)

SCIAC
P-P  20-4
Redlands 19-5
CLU  16-8
U LV   14-10
CMS   12-12
OccC   10-14
WhitC    5-19
Cal Tech  0-24

We will see if this format [with the additional round robin at the end of the schedule] flies for next year............. nothing is guaranteed at this point.  The weekend is over, finally.

Look for revised rankings in both polls this week and I believe that the first Regional Standings Poll shows up on Thursday.............

The bus ride is a short one, and thank goodness there is no volcano ash to damage the exhaust system on the bus, out  !!!!

What a day.......

Cal LU  over  URedlands   5-2
CMS  over  P-P   11-1
ULV  over WhitterC    20-3
OxyC  over Cal Tech   15-5

We still have a tie in the SCIAC ---- for now !   I did not see the games but the Cal LU and Redlands game seems to have been a thriller with Redlands ending the game with the bases loaded..........  P-P was leading 1-0 at one point but ended up losing by a good hitting team.

Chapman lost to Linfield twice (Fri. and Sat. 1st game)  Chapman won the 2nd game 5-2.  Forth game of the trip between Linfield and Chapman on Sunday at noon.

I will hit the water and re-hydrate for Sunday Night.

Game one of the Round Robin:
Redlands (19-3) over La Verne    14-6
P-P (19-3) over Whittier               15-1
CLU  over  Oxy                               7-2
CMS  over  CT                              15-3

Saturday matchups:
Redlands and CLU    [audio @ 1pm]
P-P and CMS
LV  and Whittier   [livestats @ 1pm]
Oxy and Cal Tech

Sunday games:
Redlands and Oxy
P-P and La Verne
CLU and CMS
Whittier and Cal Tech

I do not know if someone is trying to get my goat with the comments about the split of the games between Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands.  If it is not split between the two teams how do you describe an outcome where one team won one game and the other team one two games?  A semi-sweep?  Or like one article headlined the wins by Redlands -- "They sweep the Hens"  and in the article it is noted that they swept the two games on Saturday........... I guess they could have "split the series on Saturday".......

If I remember correctly, PP was predicted to be a 4th place program, and here they are 10 weeks into the season, tied in the conference championship race, ranked on two national polls, and playing great team baseball.  Yes I am a huge Hens fan, but Redlands is a class program from the coaches to the players. 

Enough-- the games were really good games by both teams, better for the winners I am sure.  PP hit the ball hard all day Saturday; into double plays, into line drive-fly-ball outs -- UR hit the ball into the gaps for runs.  The pitching for PP had a few mistakes in both games that UR did not miss and UR pitchers did a good job of keeping their pitching mistakes to a  minimum.   That is the the glory of baseball, and we will see quality team performances on April 24th in the final meeting between these two teams.  The Champion will have to run the table to keep control of their own fate to the playoffs.  That is something neither team did the first time through the SCIAC games.   The gamble of a "C" berth to the playoffs through the NCAA selection process is something that no tam wants to take.

Best of luck to both teams over the next 3 weeks, a strategy-- hit it hard, go fast and turn left.   To those on the Message Board -- I have ice on the arm for one more day, because it is so cool !!!!!!!!!!! 

When I posted a split, I did not suggest it was split evenly, just not a sweep by either team.  I should have been more precise with the signs to the pitcher ----
                      split P-P with 2 wins, UR with 1 win. 

Pomona scored in 7 of the 9 innings, mixed up the speed on the bases (stole 3 bases) and Colvin pitched like he was on a mission.

I will shake off the pitch, I have re-called a new pitch and let's play ball again tomorrow. 

The weekend prediction is a split (PP and Redlands), and then the Conference championship will come down to the additional single game (April 24th @ Redlands @ 1:00pm) during the final round of conference games. 

This 4th game with each team is something new this year, but a schedule format they did use about 6 or 8 years ago I was told....  Do you think it accomplishes a finish to the season or just mucks up the schedule with 3 or 4 games that are not high quality and therefore "fodder" for the polls to massage the polls ? -- For 2010 it is a round robin series, match up the schedule with the pitchers; go fast and turn left as they say in baseball and Indianapolis !!!! ................... It will be more than interesting.

It has been noted that the SCIAC teams do not get out of the area, and budgets are certainly one consideration -- but the teams played 28 games in conference, that only left a dozen slots on the schedule for other teams (3 to Chapman for competition purposes, 3-5 to start the season and 4-6 over spring break).  I know P-P only has travel resources for alternate years and I would expect that the other programs are similar.

Consistent winning results in the polls and regional playoffs to take the W.S. will keep the eyes and ears of the voters looking over their shoulders to the west.

The catcher is tapping his glove -- back to work !!

P-P won the second game against Cal Lutheran 8-4.      23-5(17-1)
Redlands won their second game against Whittier also....   24-3 (16-2)

The sports journalists should plan to be at the games between Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands next weekend, the only story is who won !!!   

Last pitch............LA Mike

Friday
Pomona-Pitzer over Cal Lutheran   11-3
Saturday #1
Pomona-Pitzer over Cal Lutheran  6-5
Saturday #2
Just getting started............


U of Redlands has won the first two games over Whitter College

Back to the dugout........

Chapman 7 ---  Pomona-Pitzer 1 in the 7th.............oops.  Maybe a Saturday double header will bring the bats back for PP.  Waiting for a final report from the game and will post back when I can............
Still stretching, and getting warmed up.  LA Mike

SCIAC--

The revised conference schedule for 2010, has each SCIAC team playing each other four times ----- a 3 series-[game on Friday afternoon/DH on Saturday] and then a series of single games between all of the teams to end the season.  Seems like they are setting up for a tie breaker discussions right out of the gate.  That only leave a remainder of 12 games for out of SCIAC conference play. 

It may be a plus for Chapman to only play 16 games against the SCIAC teams as they play Menlo a bunch, and then do their travel games-- it is a bonus in post season play to have the travel experience and night games under your belt as you head to the regional games at the end of the season.   

I am going  to cut my bull pen short as I am just getting in shape -- footwork is the key.  More to follow over the next six weeks................LA Mike

The ABCA is a Coaches Selection and Poll.

The D3 is a Writers and Media Selection and Poll.

Different eyes I guess...........

It looks like the 2008 list was posted after the Championships were completed at the end of May.