D3baseball.com Daily Dose

TWINE Notes #2 March 11th 2008

Looking back at Week #2–March 3rd to March 9th

Games of the Week

Eastern Connecticut vs Kean–Kean picks up the victory behind a strong pitching performance from Joe Bartlinski (7IP, 5H, 2ER, 13K, 2BB). Eastern had 5 errors which cost them, it should be noted that this was there first game and they have made only 3 errors in the next two games. This was a good win for Kean (after being swept by Manhattanville) but no need to worry for Eastern.

Wheaton vs Cortland State–Josh Simmons started his transition to a starter (21 appearances in 2007—all in relief) with a loss against Cortland State. A game where the two teams combined for 8 errors. Last week I mentioned that Wheaton, Cortland, and TCNJ would all be playing each other twice. Once through the rotation TCNJ is 2-0 and 5-0 overall. Cortland is 1-1 while Wheaton is 0-2

Toughest Week
WPI—St. Joe’s Maine (W 3-0 & L 10-7), Muskingum (W 5-4, L 14-7), Northland (W 9-1, W 12-6), Lewis (L 9-3), Misericordia (L 13-12), Thomas More (W 10-4), & Albion (L 4-3, W 9-6). The Engineers return to Worcester with a respectable 6-5 record. Staff ace Conor Fahey lead the staff with a 2-0 record (wins over St. Joe’s Maine and Thomas More). Fahey pitched 16 inning with a 1.69 ERA.

Looking Forward to Week 2–March 10th to March 16th

Games of the week

Many more games to choose from as many more teams are in action this week.

GNAC—Sunday March 16th, Suffolk vs Montclair State—If a GNAC team can score a victory against a top NJAC team they should be very happy.

LEC—Saturday March 15th, Keene State vs TCNJ (DH)—TCNJ is rolling (5-0) and will be taking on a Keene State squad fresh of the airplane from New Hampshire. Although the Owls would love a sweep, a split here has to be a good sign going forward.

MASCAC—Saturday March 15th, MCLA vs Rowan—MCLA seems like a team ready to break out in the MASCAC. They will be tested by a Rowan squad that already has a win against Cortland State and a double header sweep of MCLA’s conference rival Worcester State.

NAC—Wednesday March 12th, Elms vs Curry (DH)—A good test early for Elms. Curry returns a solid core that won the TCCC last year.

NESCAC—Friday March 14th, Tufts vs Lynchburg—Tufts breaks the mold of the teams going to Arizona or Florida and heads to Virginia to match up against Lynchburg. This will be a good test for the Jumbos as this will be their first game and it will be Lynchburg’s 19th.

NEWMAC—Saturday March 15th, Babson vs Amherst—Many felt that Babson had an argument to get an at large bid last year. That bid may have gone to Trinity, a victory against another NESCAC team may help the Beavers if they are in a similar situation in 2008.

TCCC—Sunday March 16th, WNEC vs Wheaton—These two teams split a pair of one run decisions last May in Norton, MA. This year they meet a few months earlier and 2,699 miles away (Yes, I did take the time to see how far apart Phoenix and Norton are, it is 2,699)

Toughest Week
Wheaton (including their entire Arizona Trip)—The choice for toughest week this week was not difficult. Wheaton is playing 10 games in Arizona and 8 of those games will be played against teams that participated in the NCAA tournament last year. Also their opponents averaged 31 wins last year. The schedule breaks down as below…

Saturday—TCNJ L 12-4
Sunday—Cortland State L 8-4
Monday—Monmouth W 13-6
Tuesday—Cortland State L 9-5 and Webster W 7-6
Thursday—TCNJ
Friday—Hope
Saturday—Montclair State
Sunday—John’s Hopkins & WNEC

The Lyons are off to a 2-3 start but it should be noted that they started 1-4 in 2007 and received the #1 seed the New England Regional.

Sorry for the delay in getting this up. I checked out two games between Brockport State and Kean on Sunday on a cold and windy early March day in New Jersey and my fingers just thawed out enough to type.

The season is finally settling in. For a month I have been watching the southern and western team play seeing a few teams from other regions start their season. Every region now is coming to life. There has been a slew of games in the Metrodome in Minneapolis giving the Midwest and Central teams an alternative to waiting for spring break. Last week two-thirds of the teams were in action and more this week. There are a few teams that will hold out until mid March but this week is the first real action across the board this season.

With many of the conferences in play, there are POTW for many. This must mean that the NCBWA Player and Pitcher of the Week will be announced starting next week if the past is any guide.

A glance at the latest D2baseball.com/NCBWA poll shows only one team that has started to play and not have a loss. This is No. 5 Johns Hopkins who started their season yesterday with a 13-2 win. Last week was one to forget for many of the top teams. No. 16 Marietta dropped 2 to No. 22 Piedmont, giving Piedmont enough support to make the top 25. No. 11 Kean stumbled against Manhattanville who needed late inning runs to secure their their wins against the defending national champions. No. 1 Chapman was able to keep their top spot and No. 18 Redlands was able to move up after Chapman defeated Redlands twice in three games. Adrian certainly got noticed and appear in the list of having received votes based on their victories against No. 9 Emory and Piedmont. Looking through this weeks top 25, the only team that played last week and did not lose was No. 8 Texas-Tyler.

The games to watch this week are with No. 12 Wheaton (Mass). They take on No. 13 New Jersey on the 8th and then have two games against No. 3 Cortland State on the 9th and 11th. Nobody has a tougher week. In the middle of the country the key match-up is No. 24 Luther vs No. 10 Wisc-Oshkosh. The UAA tournament gets going on Monday and continues through the following Saturday (March 11-15).

I hope everyone can get out and see a baseball game. Still snow on the ground here but spring is in the air.

New England teams are slowly but surely getting out onto the diamond this week. With the beginning of the season we present to you This Week In New England Notes (or TWINE Notes in the fashion This Week In Baseball’s TWIB Notes). Every Monday we will look at the week coming up in New England and the week that was.

What you can expect each week…

Looking forward to the upcoming week we will identify
· Region wide game of the week
· The team with the toughest week
· Playoff projections if the playoffs started today (starting in April)
· Conference games of the week

Looking back at the past week we will discuss
· The outcome of the games of the week
· How the team with the toughest schedule faired
· Who’s hot
· Who’s not
· Batting line of the week
· Pitching line of the week

Looking Forward to Week #1
March 3rd to March 9th
Games of the Week
No conference games of the week this week due to the slow schedule of games but there still are a few games of national interest.

Eastern Connecticut vs Kean @ Rutgers, Monday 2 pm, Live stats available through Kean’s website
A matchup of top ten teams that both made it to Wisconsin last May. Although they did not meet in the tournament last year Kean did pick up a 5-3 win in Mansfield in March. This game was close throughout and was one of two losses for All American Pitcher/DH Shawn Gilblair. Guessing at the starting pitchers in this game gives us a matchup of Joe Esposito for the visitors (4-3, 3.35 in 12 starts in 2007) and Andrew Cupido (4-2, 3.83 in 5 starts in 2007) or Thomas Paglione (3-0, 5.51 in 6 starts in 2007 and 0-0, 3.00 in 1 start in 2008) for the homestanding Cougars. If playing against a top ten team isn’t enough to get a team fired up Kean is also coming into this game with something to prove after being swept by Manhattanville on Sunday.

Wheaton vs Cortland State, Sunday 3 pm, in Arizona
Cortland State will be playing their first game of their Arizona trip (this will be Wheaton’s second) but Cortland State already has three games under their belt from a trip to Virginia in late February. These two teams did not play last year as Wheaton played their spring break games in the cactus league (AZ) while Cortland State played in the grapefruit league (FL). In 2006 in Port Charlotte, Florida Cortland slugged their way to a 10-5 win. Another interesting schedule note here is that Cortland State (D3baseball.com #2 national ranking, highest ranking team in New York Region), Wheaton (#14, second in New England), & TCNJ (#15, third in Mid-Atlantic) will be playing a mini tournament of sorts this spring. The schedule is set up so these each team will play the other two teams twice. Fans of the team coming away from these four games with the best record should be excited of what the rest of the season may hold.

Toughest Week
WPI (including yesterday’s games)—St. Joe’s Maine x2 (W 3-0 & L 10-7), Muskingum x2, Northland x2, Lewis, Misericordia, Thomas More, & Albion x2

Note: Most teams have yet to start playing a full schedule. Only Anna Maria, WPI, Clark, & St. Joe’s Maine are playing full schedules this week.

This is the first installment of this blog and does not include all the features. More will be added as more teams are playing. Looking forward to the actual games starting so we have more than just our opinions and projections (note: opinions and projections are still encouraged after the season is in full swing).

Our first regular season poll is out and we are working on making schedules available. Congrats to Mary Hardin-Baylor, Redlands and NC Wesleyan for appearing in the Top 25 for the first time. Come to think about it it is everyone’s first time for the regular season poll.

Pacific University in Oregon played their second tripleheader in four seasons, just the second school to have played two in their schools history. The Boxers played Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday as the two teams were forced to play after rain scrubbed a single nine-inning game that was scheduled the day before. Pacific won the first
game 5-2, but then dropped the second and third games to the Sagehens by
finals of 7-4 and 7-5. All three games were seven innings. Pacific’s other tripleheader took place on Apr. 4, 2005, when Pacific played three against Puget Sound.

Our games to watch this week has two games on the radar. The first is at No. 3 Kean where No. 9 Eastern Connecticut comes in to play the Cougars. The second, for a different reason is the game that never got played last year. Bluffton takes on Eastern Mennonite on the one year anniversary of the Bluffton bus acident.

A couple of other good early season games are played every day. Stevens plays No 3 Kean today. For a couple of up and coming teams, York and St. John Fisher square off on Thursday. Friday and Saturday No 1. Chapman takes on No. 19 Redlands. Linfield travels to No. 18 Pacific Lutheran this weekend for two key NWC games. No. 23 NC Wesleyan also has a key conference match-ups with Christopher Newport this weekend. Ozarks, off to their best start ever, will host No. 22 Mary Hardin-Baylor for a three game series starting Friday.

As I started to write this blog D3baseball.com was only 500 hits from hitting the million mark. With that total cut in half as I end my weekly report, I want to thank all those who come to read and participate in our online discussions. D3baseball.com would not exist if the fans did not support all the web sites in the D3sports.com family.

An exciting time where in the D3baseball.com’s home office. Just fresh into our second year, tonight the last regional preview gets posted, and the new weekly poll gets its start next week. Like everyone else who has snow piling up outside, listening to a game or two on the internet was a good way to spend a holiday weekend (thanks to Washington and Lincoln).

It appears that everyone in the South and West regions are playing and getting in their games. A few Mid-Atlantic and New York region teams are venturing into warmer climes to get a game or two in on the weekends. By the end of Sunday, 29 the teams who received votes in our preseason poll will have ventured on to the diamond to face a D-III foe. Eight of those teams were ranked in the Top 25.

I have neglected to give my picks for the championship round until now. I am expecting Eastern Connecticut, Cortland State, Johns Hopkins, Rhodes (yeah even with their slow start), Wooster, Illinois Wesleyan, St. Thomas and Chapman. Ever since there were automatic bids, the championship round included one team made their first appearance. Rhodes is my pick for this team in 2008. If you look at the collective wisdom of the top-25 voters, you will see a different list: Eastern Connecticut, Cortland State, Kean, Emory, Wooster, Carthage, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Chapman. We will only know in May who is right. Who are you favoring for the final tournament of the year?

Already nearly two weeks in to the season. There are game every weekend and on most days in the southern conferences. The ODAC, USA South and SCAC all have started with the non conference schedule with the SCIAC and ASC joining in. There are a few teams like Millsaps and Texas-Tyler who are undefeated and Hendrix, who has played the most games this season has started in a big hole 0-7.

Huntingdon turns in the first no-hitter of the season and it is hard to believe that Seth Kivett of Methodist has already hit five homeruns, especially on a team that hit only 7 last year and have already matched that to date.

D3baseball.com is one today. I have to thank everyone for checking in. This has been D3sports most successful launch yet and I hope more sports sites to come. I know this site will just get better. A season behind me has me already in mid season form as the D3baseball.com staff gets new content every day. Game reports will appear in between our regional previews that with today’s New York Preview gets us half way. One more on Friday and then finishing up the following week. This will be just in time for the weekly poll by the NCBWA and D3baseball.com to start for the first time.

I hope everyone a great 2008. I am looking forward to the Championships in May and I hope to see everyone there

The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) has named Norman and Terry Govoni Field, the home of Babson baseball, the top college division baseball field in America. The award, also sponsored by Turface Products, the country’s premier producer of field maintenance products, will be presented to Coach Matt Noone at the annual ABCA national convention, to be held in Philadelphia in January 2008. Joining Coach Noone in accepting the award will be the team most responsible for the supreme condition of the field, led by head groundskeeper Jimmy Lexander, co-worker Doug Pottle, and foreman Nick Butera.

INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 2, 2008) - The NCAA coordinator of new media communications Josh Centor has featured Plattsburgh State Athletics in the latest edition of Campus Connection The Double-A Zone (website is http://doubleazone.com/).

On today’s edition of Campus Connection, Plattsburgh State head baseball coach Kris Doorey shares an emotional story about one of his players, Brian Mehan. Brian is currently fighting a battle against cancer and is undergoing treatment in the Plattsburgh area. During our podcast, Coach Doorey discusses the impact Brian’s situation has had on him and on his players. He says it’s important to “put things in check” and offers advice for other coaches and student-athletes facing difficult life situations.

Click here to hear Centor’s interview with Coach Doorey.

As the article is published on D3baseball.com, I am putting the complete text here from Eric’s dispatch.

By Eric Smolin

I would like to thank all of the D-III Baseball supporters. The kind words and encouragement throughout the past 6 months have been extraordinary and have continued to motivate me as the upcoming season is approaching quickly. D-III ballplayers are going to start making waves throughout baseball; I hope you’re all there to continue with that support.

My baseball career went through several major obstacles. I was part of a Northeast-10 Championship team at U-Mass Lowell, as the starting left fielder and a dominant closer as a freshman. Unfortunately, I developed a stress fracture by the end of that season and my head coach was dismissed for unforeseen purposes and the assistants left soon after. The fall of my sophomore year, I was to be coached to by someone who I already had a very tumultuous relationship with. After the last day of fall practice, still not fully recovered from the stress fracture, the coach dropped the news that our baseball relationship was not on the same page and he cut me from the team I had already established myself at.

I decided that transferring would be my best option. Knowing that my arm might never recover to its full strength, it was time to find somewhere that provided me with a great academic framework, as well as a constantly competitive baseball team. Matt LaBranche, the Head Coach at Western New England College (WNEC), was absolutely the most pivotal figure in my decision to transfer. WNEC not only provided the Sport Management major in the School of Business, but it also had that “up and coming” team with new great facilities.

In the three seasons at WNEC, the team established new marks of wins in a season, captured two league titles, and participated in two NCAA Regionals. Several personal achievements I received included: League Tournament MVP, two time All-Conference Team honors, New England Region Pitcher of the Year, and 2nd Team All-American honors.

Fortunately enough, these team and personal honors attracted some scouts attention. The draft came and passed without my name being called. I can still remember the look on my parents faces when they thought my playing career was over. They contributed so much time and money to help me pursue every kids dream.

Six days later, I answer my phone to a number I’ve never seen before. What I heard on the other line I thought had to be some sick practical joke. Gene Schall, the Philadelphia Phillies Northeast Region Scout was that voice on the other line. Everything he said I just responded with “Yes” and “Absolutely”. He notified me that someone will be showing up to my house the next morning with a contract to play with the Phillies organization. He also told me that I should pack because my flight was hours after I signed the contract.

I found myself alone on a plane for the first time twenty-four hours after that phone call. I was going to Clearwater, Florida to play baseball for three months with newly drafted players and also newly signed free agents.

I got to my room at the Buena Vista Hotel, my new one star home for the next few months, and met my roommate. Travis d’Arnaud, the 37th Overall pick, and highly regarded high school catcher from Lakewood, California. I felt right at home with Travis. Having grown up in California, we shared similar interests and often had way too much fun doing nothing.

We arrived at the ballpark the next day and had to run through the standard physical and other medical work. We also had a meeting with the coaches about what was expected of us. We were informed that we had to wear collared shirts and khaki shorts or pants everyday to the complex. I soon realized that I needed to buy a few shirts, and a bicycle since the walk from the hotel was a little over a mile in the sweltering heat.

The next day, we met all of the players and coaches. This process is always interesting since everyone is trying to size themselves up. Travis and I immediately became friendly with Justin DeFratus, another California grown pitcher. Justin was known in the locker room for something called “The Face” which was somewhat monkey-like and might have been the ugliest face I’ve ever seen. I had the pleasure of seeing it everyday since his locker was next to mine.

We were all very similar, and loved the fact that we could delay the real world by at least a few years. We would go down to the pool, buy as many toys as possible and have a day of fun. Little kids knew we were ballplayers and were always trying to play catch with us. So we bought the toys to keep the kids occupied while their parents laughed and enjoyed that we were taking time to talk and play with them.

Over the next few weeks, more of the draftees were finally finishing up their contract negotiations. The group of guys got increasingly more ridiculous, as we were more comfortable with each other. The English speaking players began talking to the Spanish speaking players and helping them with their English. Obviously, we taught them how to hit on girls once we were secluded from the coaching staff.

Heiter Correa and Jesus Sanchez were the Spanish players I got closest to. Correa was Brazilian, trilingual and a horse of a 17 year-old. He was already consistently throwing low-90’s. Sanchez, a 19 year-old Venezuelan catcher, was part of the Bobby Abreu trade to the New York Yankees from the Phillies. Correa helped us teach the Spanish players common phrases and sayings to help them along in the upcoming seasons.

Travis, Justin and I were the few that stayed at the Buena Vista. We felt no need to find an apartment, plus the maid cleaning our beds and bathroom was an added plus. A few more players came in a couple weeks after we got there. Jacob Diekman and Jiwan “King” James were the two that meshed into the group.

Diekman, a southpaw from Nebraska, was the joker of our group. He was also the most successful being promoted to the Short-Season Williamsport Crosscutters to finish the season. Jiwan was a pitcher-outfielder out of nearby Williston, Florida. He declined a scholarship to Florida to play football to join the Phillies.

Surprisingly enough, I found myself with four highly drafted guys, no older than 20, that got significant signing bonuses. My signing bonus was minimal and I was so pumped when I received that check that could allow me to buy food for the months I was at school finishing my degree. I couldn’t imagine receiving a check that allowed me to buy a new $50,000 car. The monthly pay for everyone is much to be desired, and often is the biggest misnomer people have when it comes to professional baseball. Not until you make the 40 man roster do you actually see an income that you could live on.

Playing baseball for a living is tougher than people think. The game mentally grinds your mind. The first two months of the season, my arm was sore and I felt like I didn’t belong there. The final month, my arm revitalized itself and I began throwing lights out. My velocity reached a consistent 93, whereas it has been at 88 the previous two months.

The experience from all of this will last me a lifetime. I will go into Spring Training in March and try to reestablish myself and prove that we D-III guys belong. The success of Jordan Zimmerman, Jimmy Dougher and others has shown that the very best of D-III can compare with those of DI and DII.

I recently participated in an e-mail interview with Chris Preston, who writes for ESPN.com, about our sites and the state of small-college sports information on the Web. His piece was recently published and I wanted to point it out as a good discussion of where the sites have been and where they are heading.

Though the column inexplicably starts with the younger site — D2Football.com, the various D3sports.com sites are discussed in some detail.

Just one note: I didn’t promise weekly columns in other sports, just suggested that they could be possible. Anyone interested, let me know.