While attending the T-99 Lacrosse Showcase in Dallas last weekend I was impressed with the interest from many parents in “tactics” high school freshman can employ in preparing for the college recruiting process. My response was “plenty” and what follows are some suggestions and tips to jumpstart the college search for freshmen.

Build Your Information Base
Information is power and I suggest freshmen athletes and their families launch their college search by building a strong information base. Whether it means becoming familiar with NCAA rules and contact and evaluation time-lines, or understanding the important role of the NCAA Eligibility Center, this effort will become a fun family project that will grow more detailed and streamlined as the sophomore year approaches. A great place to begin your search is with the NCAA. Go to www.ncaa.org and become familiar in navigating this site, especially in the areas of eligibility and recruiting.

Measure your Self Awareness
When I begin advising prospects and their families, I always begin with an initial assessment to determine what their goals and dreams are and how the prospects “tick.” I developed 10 questions that have become very helpful in defining a prospects current position, while providing me with a general idea on how he sees the college experience potentially unfolding. I include questions in areas such as geographic location, size of school, level of play and social demographics just to name a few. My goal here is simple. I want these kids to begin thinking for themselves.

Look at a Diverse Grouping of Colleges and Universities
This assignment will be both educational and fun. It will provide families and their kids with an appreciation for different levels of athletic programs, while growing an appreciation and “gut feel” that will be specific to each institution. Try choosing 15 programs that are equally spread out between Division 1, 2 and 3. Do your best to stay impartial and this exercise will help you become a comparative shopper and an educated consumer. It will help you begin to develop that “gut feel” for doing an initial evaluation of a wide range of programs.

There is no “wrong” grouping of schools in this exercise. What’s important here is to allow our kids to dream and reach for the stars in an effort to begin creating passion and enthusiasm for what will be a very important life decision.

Attend a Few College Games or Practices
This might seem like a tough task considering the college and high school seasons typically overlap, but if you can break away from a practice or two or find a couple of weekend college games to attend, do it! This not only gives our sons and daughters a chance to see college programs in action, it grows awareness about college play that will help them begin to “size up” the level of skill that college athletes bring to the table, while providing prospects with a benchmark to reach toward in the future.

The college search for high school athletes is beginning earlier and the best prepared and better informed family will increase their chances in navigating the college quest with greater success and a higher level of confidence. That being said, I believe 9th grade prospects should be encouraged to jump start the recruiting process with an informed and educational approach that will begin to build a solid foundation for the future. Remember, bringing an educated, fun and enthusiastic approach to the college recruiting process is half the battle.

Tom Kovic is a former Division I college coach and the current director of Victory Collegiate Consulting, where he provides individual advisement for families on college recruiting. Tom is the author of “Reaching for Excellence”, an educational guide for college athletics recruiting. For further information visit: www.victoryrecruiting.com.

On Tuesday, even with the rain seemingly bearing down and needing just one game to finish the season, we ended up with 21 innings — in fact, 21 innings of well-played baseball.

I’ve now been to 10 Stagg Bowls, 10 men’s basketball final fours, one women’s basketball final four, a men’s lacrosse title game and now, a Division III baseball championship. And this was just the second time in the 23 Division III championships I’ve attended that the title was decided on the very last play of the game. (The other was the 2006 men’s lacrosse championship, an overtime win for Cortland State over Salisbury.)

The tournament was about what I’d expected, though I had never sat through an entire eight-team, double-elimination tournament before.

I want to make sure Mark Miller’s clutch pitching performance doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, and with more than 50 percent of people choosing his Tuesday line as the best of the day, I think the mission has been accomplished. But there were many other sidelights and notes from the long weekend in Appleton that merit mentioning:

Tuesday was a tense day, especially if you were a Wooster fan, apparently. Former Scots player Pat Christiansen, for example, stood in the stands and paced back and forth for the entire first game and most of the second game before taking a seat for the final couple of innings.

Was it just me, or did every bang-bang call at first base seem like a 50-50 proposition? I included a photo with this blog post of a call clearly missed at first — Wooster’s Matthew Pierce is safe because you can see he’s on the bag while St. Thomas first baseman Tom Wippler has yet to land. (The photo is crooked because he’s saving Dan Leslie’s throw from flying straight over my head in the right field bullpen.) Umpiring is inconsistent everywhere, this I know, and I wouldn’t argue balls and strikes, but it didn’t seem like close plays at first base were getting called correctly with any regularity.

In talking with the NCAA’s director of umpires, George Drouches, I learned that the eight umpires selected are taken one from each region, and while in other Division III championships events some pains are taken to make sure a neutral crew works championship games, the only precaution here is that an umpire doesn’t work behind the plate in a game involving a team he’s called games for before. But while Carlos Guzman (who worked the Mid-Atlantic Regional) wasn’t calling balls and strikes when Kean played in Appleton, he worked third base, and was involved in the most controversial call of the tournament.

After the first two days, Drouches told me, umpires were re-evaluated and scheduled for the final seven games, including the six-umpire crews for the championship games.

Carthage and Shenandoah should be given credit for having the best fans. In fact, Carthage had avid tailgaters, who were there when we arrived for the tournament’s opening game at 8 a.m. last Friday. Not that I was surprised: I’ve seen it before, when Keith McMillan and I traveled to Chicago a couple of years ago for D3football.com. Before heading to our 1 p.m. game, we drove by and saw some of the other stadiums in the area, including North Park, where Carthage was playing that afternoon. We got there three hours before the game. Brats were on the grill. The Carthage-Shenandoah game was the best of the tournament that didn’t involve St. Thomas and Wooster, so it was nice that it was played in front of the largest actual crowd.

I commented on yesterday’s blog post about the St. Thomas and Wooster players standing in line at the concession stand between games buying hot dogs, etc., for their pregame meal. But it wasn’t the meal of choice most days. I saw far more ice cream being consumed by players than any other food stuff. But the brats were my waistline’s weapon of choice.

St. Thomas and Wooster also had two-sport athletes play prominent roles this week. Ben Wartman, a D3football.com All-Region running back for St. Thomas, played catcher and started in the second championship game. We wrote about Matt DeGrand, who plays outside linebacker and threw the game of his life for Wooster in the win against St. Thomas. Also, Tyler Hadzinsky plays goalie and second base for Chapman and was an Academic All-American in both. I know these are not the only two-sport players at the tournament, but these were the ones that stuck out.

I was disappointed that there were only three radio crews among the eight schools, though I know that’s about par for the course. But the most interesting broadcast, in my mind, was Shenandoah’s, with a player on color (Bryan Claudio) who had done play-by-play for the team for some games online. We shared a press box room with them for one game and it was well done.

Chapman’s Wayde Kitchens told us he didn’t even bring his cleats to Appleton, but he didn’t tell us what his injury was. We found out after the tournament that it’s a tendon in his pitching arm that’s causing him trouble.

We’ll have more coverage still to come. Keep an eye out for the audio from the postgame news conference with St. Thomas, so you can listen to the coach and player’s first public reaction to winning Walnut and Bronze.

Well, at least the first one after the shouting and the piling.

Wooster is in the drivers seat today. The Scots are already in their dugout with St. Thomas still yet to arrive. Will it be Matt Schuld and McDowell in the first game, or will the Tommies keep him available in relief in the first for a possible second. Game one or two, the Tommies will need Schuld to pitch like he has all season for their second D-III Championship.

The Scots have their dynamic duo ready to go today but they might not need them. Sean Karpen, the favorite for the tournament MVP, is hitting the ball as well as he ever has. With a .373 team average (The series record is .407 - Marietta in 1983), it is not just Karpen who is slugging the ball. Add Stu Beath, Sean Swearingen, and Zack Vesco to those who have a tournament average above .400.

It is a rainy day for baseball, lets play one. Our prediction Wooster in one game

–NEXT UP: The Tommies (39-13) play Wooster (Ohio) (43-9) at 11 a.m. today and need a victory to force a 2:30 p.m. title rematch. Wooster is 4-0 at the national tournament and has outscored foes 39-9, including Sunday’s 3-0 win over the Tommies. The Scots can capture the program’s first NCAA baseball title with one victory. This is their second appearance in the title game, as they took second in 1997.

–FORECAST: From UST vice president Doug Hennes who’s been on-site all week in Appleton: “Today’s biggest unknown is the weather. After four sunny days in the Appleton area, we’re looking at overcast skies, a 70 percent chance of rain and temps in the mid to high 50s today. It started to sprinkle in the early-morning hours and the ground is wet, though no rain is falling at this time.” Rain is also in the forecast for Wednesday, so it’s unlikely the games would be delayed.

– WINNER: UST has beaten every team on their schedule at least on once except for one team. Wooster is the only team on UST’s schedule who is unbeaten against the Tommies.

–SURVIVOR: It’s the 115th day of the Division III baseball season since the Feb. 1 start of practices, and 86 days since the Tommies started their season with a March 1 Metrodome doubleheader. Of the 381 teams in Division III, the Scots and Tommies are the last two standing.

–AT STAKE: The Tommies need one win to post their second 40-win baseball season in school history, and two wins to claim the school’s second NCAA baseball championship. It’s the seventh time in 11 seasons that St. Thomas has played in an NCAA title game in baseball or softball. In baseball, they took second in 1999 and 2000 and won the 2001 title. In softball, they took first in 2004 and 2005 and placed second in 2006.

–TITLE TALK: In all sports, St. Thomas has 12 national team titles and has nine NCAA runner-up finishes, in eight different sports, all in the last 28 seasons.

–WORLD SERIES SLATE: The Tommies have been in the CWS in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2009 and now have a combined record of 14-6.

–POSTSEASON: St. Thomas is 70-36 in postseason play in the Dennis Denning era, including a 43-22 record in NCAA playoff games since 1998. The Tommies have played in the regional finals seven times and national finals four times.

–UPDATE: St. Thomas junior RHP Matt Schuld was announced today as a third-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, one of 17 Division III players honored. He has a 3.70 gpa in Financial Management. He’s one of four Division III players named both All-American and AcademicAll-American for 2009.

–PITCHING OPTIONS: Today, Tommie Coach Dennis Denning likely will choose among these four to start against Wooster — junior All-American RHP Matt Schuld, junior RHP Brandon Stone, sophomore RHP Kris Edwards or freshman LHP Bryce Gapinski.

–SCHULD: In four career NCAA playoff games, Schuld is 2-1 with a 1.95 ERA. Schuld is 18-3 in 24 career starts. He’s 11-1 overall this season and needs one victory to break a school record for seasons wins. He’s 8-0 this season vs. nationally- or regionally ranked Chapman, St. Scholastica, St. Olaf, UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh. He also beat Division I Minnesota as he allowed three runs in six innings of a 6-3 win. In March 2008, he threw sfive no-hit innings and six shutout innings vs. Trinity (Ct.) but allowed two runs in the seventh before leaving in a 7-2 loss. At the 2008 regional, he allowed two runs in 10 innings in an extra-inning loss to UW-Whitewater. He threw 168 pitches in the first 12 innings May 13 in a 17-inning win over UW-Stevens Point (three earned runs), then came back on two days rest and threw 120 pitches over seven innings (two earned runs) in an elimination-game win over St. Olaf.

–STONE: One of the surprise players of 2009, Stone worked just six innings in 2007 and 2008 but was UST’s No. 2 starter most of this season and is 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA, 44 Ks and 13 walks. He missed the regional with soreness but is feeling better. He retired all four batters he faced in a save vs. Minnesota; retired all three batters he faced for a save vs. Augsburg; and retired six of the seven batters he faced for a save in a May 9 conference playoff win over St. Olaf. That May 9 appearannce was his last outing.

–GAPINSKI: The freshman lefty is 4-0 in May and 3-0 in the postseason with wins over Carleton in the conference playoffs and St. Scholastica and Shenandoah in the NCAA playoffs. He’s 7-2 overall in 10 starts with a 3.32 ERA.

–EDWARDS: The righty is 1-0 with an 0.69 ERA in 13 innings this season (six appearances). He was 4-1 as a freshman at 2006 for UW-Whitewater before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He transferred to St. Thomas, sat out 2007 and 2008, and pitched just a few innings before he came on in the 13th inning in the NCAA regional opener vs. UW-Stevens Point. Edwards threw five shutout innings and struck out seven and the Toms won in the bottom of the 17th with a walkoff homer by Taylor Rahm. He pitched the final two innings vs. Wooster on Sunday night.

–POWER SURGE: The Tommie offense started slowly this postseason. In their first seven games of the conference and NCAA playoffs, UST went 4-3 with a .245 batting average, 35 runs, 62 hits, 18 walks in 71 innings. In the last seven games (six victories), the Toms are batting .303, with 50 runs, 77 hits in 254 AB, and 19 walks in 63 innings.

–ERA: St. Thomas pitchers come into Tuesday with an 2.02 ERA in 10 NCAA playoff games over 98 innings. The Toms have held opponents to four or less runs in 35 of 51 games this season and are 30-5 in those games.

–DEFENSE: The Toms have not made an error in six of the last seven games. On the season, their outfielders have one error combined in 231 chances. Senior 2B Louie Salmen has just three errors in 213 chances; junior 1B Tom Wippler has just two errors in 413 chances.

–GOOD MONTH: The Toms are 14-4 in May. They won their first six of the month, had a
2-3 mid-month slump, but have won six of their last seven.

–WHO’S HOT: Sophomore leadoff hitter Matt McQuillan has reached base in 13 of 14 career NCAA playoff games. McQuillan has hit safely in 22 of his last 24 games and he’s batting 13-for-30 in the last seven… junior Matt Olson had now reached base in 39 consecutive games, and in his last nine NCAA playoff games, Olson is batting .486 (17-for-35) with 13 runs scored. He’s 8-for-15 with seven runs in four games thus far in Appleton.

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Carthage and St. Thomas are up first. The pitching staffs are getting thin so load up those bats. Carthage showed us that they are capable of giving up the big lead and preserving. Will St. Thomas bounce back after last nights loss. We will know in just a few hours.

Wooster will be playing loose as they are assured at least one shot at the championship. Tim Pettorini will be resting Swearingen and keeping McDowell and Miller on the bench. For Chapman there is a sense of urgency. Win today or get ready to unpack those golf clubs for the Panthers.

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The Carthage-Trinity was the best game of the day. Carthage head coach, Augie Schmidt said that “it was the toughest 10-1 win he ever had.” The second elimination game had Chapman take a business like approach in sending Farmingdale State home.

Wooster and St. Thomas had the same playbook. Keep putting runs on the board and keep the other team off balance. These two offenses are on a collision course and we will see who emerges out of the winners bracket.

Three good games on tap for today with lots of sunshine. The wind is blowing in so any ball in the outfield will be help up. Kean gets Chapman in the early game with Carthage and Shenandoah fighting to remain one more day. Wooster will have their number three pitcher going against a pitcher TDB for the Tommies. St. Thomas Dennis Denning sent out his number four yesterday and has a host of arms to select from from.

With this years bracket, the winner of game 11 does not get a bye but win or lose, they will have already have secured a date in the Championship round.

Wooster and Carthage came the the closest but ended up being a blowout as McDowell settled down and Karpen heated up. Not even the Kean head coach had good things to say about their performance in a win against a very good Trinity team. Coach Keith Osik gave us our headline and that said it all about game three. The Tommies never let up against Chapman and winner of the quickest game of the night was never in doubt.

That was yesterday and for the first two games it is win or go home as all four teams will be fighting to extend their time here in Grand Chute. In out final set, winning will be more important to getting closer to the goal all had coming to Wisconsin.

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Wooster and Carthage are up first. With the delay in the regionals, the Carthage team have been catching up all week. School is out with all their finals except this one in the past. The Red Men had a good practice and according to Head Coach Augie Schimdt, ‘The guys will be ready to go”. Wooster looked sharp and relaxed in their practice and the our first game could be the instant classic the championship is know for.

Who could ask for a better matchup in game two with the previous national champions going head to head. Kean is focused and Trinity’s head coach, Bill Decker is “willing to give it another good try”.

Four our third game do we bet the “Farm” or will the Hornets sting. We will end up with regional favorite St. Thomas with Chapman.

It will be key to get the first win. Few teams make it all the way back. Ithaca did it in 1980 but that was in a four team regional. In Grand Chute, three teams made the finals after a third loss, Montclair State (2000), Cortland State (2005) and Emory (2007), but lost in the championship game.

Get out and see the games or follow the action from the links available on D3baseball.com.chester county hospital High School Directory high school football rankings
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Jeff Sackmann has put together a simulation for the D-III Championship at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/small-college-world-series-odds/

A fair ranking, although I would not make the list exactly the same, The biggest surprise is who ends up on top. Will this be the year that a Championship rookie takes home the Walnut and Bronze? This has happened in the past with Ramapo and George Fox, winners in their only appearance to date.

Tradition says. There are a long line of teams making their first trio going home 0-2. This is the past and we had Adrian doing quite well and Wheaton making a run, ending up just short.

There are records to be broken this year and the first in 2009 will be career appearances. Once they take the field, the Matt Pearson, Patrick Ohail, Tristan Phillips, and Wayde Kitchens will join past teammate, Kyle Redding, with their fourth appearance in the championship. This will bring the number of players with four appearances to 23.

Hope to see as many as I can. Don’t a stranger and introduce yourself to me at the ball park. I’ll be the one in my traditional hawai’ian shirt and yellow ball cap.

I am off to see a little practice and reacquaint myself with Fox Cities Stadium.

I drove home last night from the South Regional of the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament where I watched my son play in his last college baseball game. His team lost 11-7 in the title game. When I got home around midnight, I drank a beer before going to bed. Beer doesn’t taste as good when your kid’s team loses. I thought about how fast those four years flew by and how much my son had grown. He added an inch in height and thirty-five pounds in weight. He added five miles-per-hour to his fastball (but in my opinion, he lost some movement on it). He added enough whiskers to his chin to achieve “scruff”, and he added enough years to his age to get served at the local hangout using his own ID. He added several hundred friends to his Facebook page and several hundred words to his vocabulary—words like “grit” and “commitment” and “dependability”. He learned that “camaraderie” is not just about sharing laughs with your teammates (there were many) but also tears (there were some).

I got up this morning and did something I haven’t done in four years—cleaned out the trunk of my car. You see, we always took my car to the game.

The first thing I pulled out of the trunk was an old laundry basket that contained hooded sweatshirts, ear muffs and gloves, a blanket, some towels, and a yellow rain slicker that I paid way too much for at the University Bookstore because I needed to be standing at the fence for a double header in a persistent drizzle. We won’t be needing that gear in the trunk anymore because now we don’t have to go to games if the weather is bad.

I took out the folding picnic table and lawn chairs and put them away. It will seem really strange from now on to get that table out and put sandwiches on it and not have thirty-five dirty, sweaty, smelly baseball players line up to grab some food and act like it was the best meal they ever had in their lives.

I found a folder with several dozen MapQuest printouts to places like Collegeville, Pennsylvania; Danville, Virginia; Salisbury, Maryland; and Appleton, Wisconsin. I started to throw it away, then I thought, “No, it would be fun to go back to those places.” I recalled some lines from a Robert Frost poem about “knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back,” and I threw the folder out.

There were several large bags of sunflower seeds that never made it into the dugout basket. I think I’ll give those to the Little Leaguer down the street so he can start honing that particular baseball skill. I’m sure his mom won’t mind.

I found my white baseball cap with the blue jay on the front. It had been relegated to the trunk after a determination that its good luck value was limited to non-conference games at Homewood.

As I was about to shut the trunk, my neighbor spotted me and walked over. Finding me bleary-eyed and sniffling, he asked if I was okay. I smiled for him and explained, “Allergies.”