Baseball in the Horizon League Tourney

[jetz]

Sorry I haven't been more active with the information here...I've been out on the road for two weeks straight between work and baseball.  We were starting to hit the ball really well (finally) over the past couple of weeks.  Coach Schmack had found a lineup that seemed to be finding its groove, and we finally got a couple of players hitting at the .300 mark.  This past week, we have had six players come down with severe flu symptoms.  Mahoney has been to the hospital twice this week and is down ten pounds.  Mahar, Losi, Haas are others affected.  That makes our bullpen very thin. 

We lost today because we only had four hits.  We had to abandon our newly gelled lineup for one that hasn't been used all year.  No excuses--we still need to hit against the league's worst pitching staff.  It just seemed like it was the beginning of spring and we were trying out new stuff again. 

To win this thing, we have to win against Oakland tomorrow.  Lundeen will pitch.  He's fine and I like our chances there, but it's baseball and you never know.  Past that, we will have to win double headers on both Friday and Saturday.  Then win the championship game on Sunday.  Tough task with a depleted staff.  It doesn't look like the guys who are sick (quarantined in a Mequon, WI hotel) are getting better anytime soon.  For starters, we need Lundeen to go about five innings tomorrow, have a big lead for the remaining pen, and pull him to save some for another day.  For starters.  Get your rally hats on, boys.  This is gonna be a tough row to hoe.

[valpotx]

As I was watching, I had no idea that we received 9 walks!!  How you score 1 run when you are given 9 free passes, is very much confusing.  In games like that, you usually see the team receiving that benefit with around 10 runs

[jetz]

Yeah we never got the big hit.  Like the middle part of the season, we left runners on base.  Late word from one of the parents says that all the sick guys are feeling well enough to head to the park for today's game.  Not sure if they'll play. 

[valpotx]

Well, hopefully some of them can pull off a Kirk Gibson and help us get a big W

[valpotx]

Fantastic outing by Lundeen, yet again, to keep our season alive for another day.  Still worried that we only scored 2 runs, to win 2-0, so hopefully the bats wake up tomorrow!!  Karch got out of a bases loaded situation with a close play at first to end the game.  That was getting scary

[jetz]

Youngstown just beat Wright State 7-1.  They seem to always show up and wreck the tourney bracket.  We play UIC tomorrow at 11a.  Foreman will start for us.  No idea who will start if we advance to the second game tomorrow.  We are into uncharted waters now with the pitching staff.  If we beat UIC, the second game will start at 3p.

Need to win a DH in each of the next two days, then throw Lundeen again in the championship game on Sunday.  Still a pretty tough row...

[LaPorteAveApostle]

WOW does that make you feel any better about yesterday?  YSU blitzes #1 WSU 7-1.  WSU WAS 25-4 in conference.  wow.

It all rides on Ellis Foreman tomorrow.

EDIT: beaten to the punch.  but do you dare throw Dalton again on 2 days rest after going 8 2/3?!?  120 pitches...

[valpotx]

I truly hope Dalton doesn't start again, as that can be hell on your arm.  If you throw that many pitches, he is probably good for 2-3 innings on Sunday.  Also, that doesn't make me feel better about yesterday.  Someone needs to beat YSU before they get to the championship game.  It would look absolutely terrible for our league, if they end up winning the tournament...

[valpotx]

Another gem pitched by Foreman this time, 8 innings of 0 run ball, with Karch closing out the 9th to win 1-0.  We live another game, because of our stellar pitching, and in spite of untimely hitting!  Hopefully we get both sides working against WSU at 3 pm! 

This game just goes to show you that giving up outs is not always the best solution to get a runner to second.  I think that I saw UIC do this 5 times today, and they even bunted with 1 out to get a guy to third, giving them 2 down.  Sometimes you just need to let your guys swing, if that strategy is failing so much...

[StlVUFan]

Another gem pitched by Foreman this time, 8 innings of 0 run ball, with Karch closing out the 9th to win 1-0.  We live another game, because of our stellar pitching, and in spite of untimely hitting!  Hopefully we get both sides working against WSU at 3 pm! 

This game just goes to show you that giving up outs is not always the best solution to get a runner to second.  I think that I saw UIC do this 5 times today, and they even bunted with 1 out to get a guy to third, giving them 2 down.  Sometimes you just need to let your guys swing, if that strategy is failing so much...

Careful, you're coming around to my way of thinking

[valpotx]

Haha, true!  Both Lundeen and Foreman have really saved our pitching these last 2 games, as we are going to need the entire rotation/bullpen to do well in order to go 6-1 and win this thing (after losing the first game). 

It's amazing how many times you see a guy make a great play on defense, and then get a clutch hit or hit a HR in their first AB.  This happened yesterday when Burns made a great defensive stop, then was the first batter in our end and hit a HR.  In this game, Hanson made a great play to backup an errant throw from SS on a double play ball, and threw out the runner trying to take second.  He then singled to shallow CF in his next AB. 

[valpotx]

Our inability to hit is going to cost us this game, as the pitchers could only keep us so close until the 6th.  We are down 7-0 after 6 innings, having been down 3-0 before that inning.  We are not getting on base, and when we are on base, not doing anything with them.  Too bad.

We will need some hitting next season.  We lose one of our top 2 hitters in Manning, but every other Senior is well below .250.  We only lose Webb and Karch in regards to arms, so our pitching will be in good shape next season, which can win you championships.

[valpotx]

We ended up losing 7-0, and YSU beat UWM 11-5.  Please, either UMW or WSU, beat YSU!  It would be the ultimate embarrassment for our league to be represented by the last place team from our conference, at 15-36 (6-17).  That could set our league back in regards to the recent progress we have made in being competitive against top teams, as shown by us in the last 2 NCAA tournaments .

[valpotx]

Absolutely pitiful that YSU just won the championship game over WSU 5-4.  WSU had the lead 2-1 in the 7th, and then 4-3 in the 9th.  A 16-36 (12-36 in the regular season, 6-17 in conference) team will be representing our conference in the tournament, and will have to be the 64th rated team in the tourney, unless some other major upsets happen.  Just sad....

WSU ended 35-22 (33-20 in the regular season, 25-4 in conference) was our only hope of having a winning record team play in the NCAA tournament after both UIC and Valpo were eliminated (had either won out).  It really sucks that they dominated the conference so badly for 29 games, and now we have our worst team in the NCAA.

[Pgmado]

I absolutely love the fact that Youngstown made it. I'm indifferent about the rest of the teams in the league and I think this is a good story. Not like it was a fluke. They beat four different teams, including best team in the league.

[valpotx]

Come on Paul, it is not a good story to have a team that won 25% of its regular season games, as our representative in the NCAA tournament!  That is over a 48 game sample, versus 4 games where they got hot.  They are going to get OWNED by whoever they play, and our conference will look like a joke.  I can't remember a team in the NCAA baseball tournament that had such a low win %, not even out of some of the worst leagues!  There have been plenty of teams with a losing record, but I have to think that YSU will represent one of, if not the worst winning % in NCAA tourney history.  I remember ESPN making a big deal out of a team winning 18-20 games a few years ago, now look at us!

[Pgmado]

Was just giving you a hard time about it Mark. Once Valpo got knocked out, I was indifferent. I will tell you that I'm definitely cheering for the Penguins in the tournament. Shock the world!

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Yeah, I gotta agree that this is pretty great insofar as it underscores the importance of the conference tourney.  (Obviously staying in the winners' bracket is key because only you will be able to have the pitching you want, when you want it, as opposed to everyone else scrambling.)

But as much as it denigrates the regular season, yeah, it stinks.  This is why the very existence of the conference tourney serves only to belittle what you spent the previous two months of your lives building.

[valpotx]

YSU gets placed in the Bloomington regional, and will obviously play IU.  I had guessed that they would be sent to a Southern tournament, but the selection committee decided to keep the worst team in the tournament in the Midwest to play the overall 4 seed in IU:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/10984464/oregon-state-beavers-get-top-seed-ncaa-baseball-tournament

http://i.turner.ncaa.com/dr/ncaa/ncaa7/release/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/baseball_d1_2013.pdf

I will root for YSU, only because they are from the HL, but they don't deserve to be in this tournament.  Yes, you will tell me that they deserve it because they won 4 in a row, but you know that they don't deserve it.  Funny thing is that their only other D-1 NCAA tournament baseball appearance 10 years ago, also came as the last placed HL team!! 

It's cool to see my MBA alma mater and previous 1 year volunteer coaching experience school (TCU), getting to host another regional!

YSU's coach believes that the last 3 weeks of the season indicate who they really are...BS, your team is not good, and you got hot over 4 games: http://www.wfmj.com/story/25612905/ysu-will-play-indiana-in-first-round-of-the-ncaa-baseball-tournament

[wh]

YSU gets placed in the Bloomington regional, and will obviously play IU.  I had guessed that they would be sent to a Southern tournament, but the selection committee decided to keep the worst team in the tournament in the Midwest to play the overall 4 seed in IU:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/10984464/oregon-state-beavers-get-top-seed-ncaa-baseball-tournament

http://i.turner.ncaa.com/dr/ncaa/ncaa7/release/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/baseball_d1_2013.pdf

I will root for YSU, only because they are from the HL, but they don't deserve to be in this tournament.  Yes, you will tell me that they deserve it because they won 4 in a row, but you know that they don't deserve it.  Funny thing is that their only other D-1 NCAA tournament baseball appearance 10 years ago, also came as the last placed HL team!! 

It's cool to see my MBA alma mater and previous 1 year volunteer coaching experience school (TCU), getting to host another regional!

YSU's coach believes that the last 3 weeks of the season indicate who they really are...BS, your team is not good, and you got hot over 4 games: http://www.wfmj.com/story/25612905/ysu-will-play-indiana-in-first-round-of-the-ncaa-baseball-tournament

I think your frustration is misdirected.  Upset winner YSU didn't let the conference down, the teams they beat did (especially WSU).  It's basically a repeat of what happened in men's basketball.

[jetz]

The HL is a one bid league that probably many think shouldn't even have the one bid.  No matter who is the tourney winner, none get national respect.  It could have been WSU, but no one would have expected them to win a game as we did last year.  Doesn't matter who goes from the HL.  I wish it would have been us, but if not, I'm glad it's YSU. Those kids have struggled for 4+ years, a lot of coaching changes, no support from their school, etc.  Good for them to taste the tourney.  I hope they win a game or two, but if they dont, no one will care in a week what the HL rep did.  We'll do our best to win it next year.

BTW, our best returning player and HL first teamer, Michael Morman, has announced he will transfer and play for Tracy Woodson at Richmond next year.

[valpotx]

I don't blame YSU for anything, but rather am just embarrassed that they are our rep in the NCAAs.

How did this Morman thing come up?  I fully understand that Woodson was his coach for his first 3 school years, but is he finishing his Bachelor's at Valpo and then just transferring for grad school, since he's been at Valpo for 4 years?  What sucks is that he has two years of eligibility left because of two medical redshirt years.  If it came up any other way, hopefully it has nothing to do with behind-the-scenes tampering.  I wouldn't think Woodson would do that, but I have been surprised before (our softball coach...).

[jetz]

No, this is totally legit.  Morman has one year of eligibility left, and he has graduated from Valpo.  He can go play his last year anywhere he wants.  He has other reasons for going to Virginia, but it helps that Tracy had given him two redshirts in the past.  It's just surprising that he is leaving after a successful year in the HL, but there are other people involved.

[valpotx]

Well good for him for graduating.  I have no issue with him having obtained his degree from VU, and then going to another school to play out his career near family/significant other.  Our website lists him as a Sr/So, so wouldn't he have 2 years, if he wanted to exhaust his eligibility?  The only issue I was worried about was that he was leaving without his degree to go play for Woodson, but since he is getting that, more power to him .

[Pgmado]

Youngstown.