2018 Baseball

[crusadermoe]

St. Louis makes so much sense as a tournament city in the same way it does basketball.  A Busch stadium contract seems not far fetched.

All of the schools are a half day drive from St. Louis and could bring fans just like Arch Madness.  The weather in May works well.

Ah...but in a logical world SLU would  join the MVC and make it a no-brainer.

[VULB#62]

St. Louis makes so much sense as a tournament city in the same way it does basketball.  A Busch stadium contract seems not far fetched.

All of the schools are a half day drive from St. Louis and could bring fans just like Arch Madness.  The weather in May works well.

Ah...but in a logical world SLU would  join the MVC and make it a no-brainer.

Great concept. Really great. Except, MLB and Cards have to cooperate — that's not that easy. Dbl elimination tourneys take time to complete. However, is there a minor league stadium in the STL area that could suffice and give the MVC the STL address and a home for the MVC baseball tourney.

[bbtds]

St. Louis makes so much sense as a tournament city in the same way it does basketball.  A Busch stadium contract seems not far fetched.

All of the schools are a half day drive from St. Louis and could bring fans just like Arch Madness.  The weather in May works well.

Ah...but in a logical world SLU would  join the MVC and make it a no-brainer.

Great concept. Really great. Except, MLB and Cards have to cooperate — that's not that easy. Dbl elimination tourneys take time to complete. However, is there a minor league stadium in the STL area that could suffice and give the MVC the STL address and a home for the MVC baseball tourney.

Gateway Grizzlies just off I-255 in the southeast part of the Illinois Metro East part of St Louis (Sauget-pronounced like the french do Saw-shzay). You can see Parks Downtown St Louis Airport from GCS Ballpark because only Mississippi River flood land separates them.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5665693,-90.1350053,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sF2siO-5IMEX9JhWpBjd-GQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5636314,-90.1248855,1024a,35y,270h,44.67t/data=!3m1!1e3 (that's the airport just to the west)

http://www.gatewaygrizzlies.com/landing/index

Also the River City Rascals in St Charles County. They are in the same Frontier League as the Grizzlies. The Frontier League includes teams in Metro East St Louis, St Charles County, MO, Evansville, Suburban Kentucky (Cincinnati), Normal, IL, Southern Illinois (Marion), Joliet, IL, Cleveland (Lake Erie--they host the MAC baseball tourney), Schaumburg, IL, Traverse City, MI, Washington, PA (Washington Wild Things--"I think I love you" When is Charlie Sheen Night?) and Crestwood, IL (Windy City Thunderbolts).

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8216621,-90.681426,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVHTlFZ3B-Fmq9Hz44VGyMg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8229609,-90.6801208,261a,35y,180h,44.93t/data=!3m1!1e3

http://rivercityrascals.com/landing/index

This webpage shows how to rent Carshield Field in O'Fallon, MO which seats 2,500 http://rivercityrascals.com/carshield-field/renting_-the_shield-

Sauget is easier to get to from downtown St Louis but it is an industrial area (home of Monsanto), flood plain, strip club and airport area.

O'Fallon, MO in St Charles County, MO is in a huge and booming suburban area.

[vu72]

Sprung for ESPN+ and am watching Valpo and Dallas Baptist.  The broadcast might as well be the Cards v. the Cubs.  Valpo now beating the Pitcher of the year, 4-1 in the 2nd!  GO VALPO!!

[vu72]

DBU on to their fourth pitcher.  Valpo leads, 7-6 still batting in the 7th!!

[VULB#62]

Please, please, please.........

[vusupporter]

Boom. 13-10 good guys. Let's do it again tomorrow.

[valpotx]

Impressive.  I might have to go to the Bradley game!  I let everyone in our DFW network/database know of the event, so hopefully you saw a decent amount of Valpo fans!

[talksalot]

The audio was pretty good... and it sounded like Valpo had a nice crowd (or they were right next to the pressbox)

Bradley won 14-2 yesterday... let's hope they got that out of their system... we went 1-2 in the regular season, in games at Bauer Field at the end of March.

Good Luck Tonight !

[vu72]

What a beautiful baseball field.  That looked first class all the way.  I doubt very much that their fans were expecting the new kids from Indiana to actually know how to play the game!  Good luck today!

[crusadermoe]

That's impressive.   Go Crusaders!

[valpotx]

We had a good showing this season, as we were in every MVC game, which is the 10th highest rated conference in college baseball (RPI).  In all likelihood, both Missouri State and Dallas Baptist make the tourney this season, regardless of who wins tomorrow's championship game.  If Bradley would have won the tourney, we had a chance at 3 teams.

[bigmosmithfan1]

I'm fine with the rotation system for baseball, though moving to a neutral site would match what most other major conferences do. You could easily take a financial bath on that, though, if you get a bad weather weekend or your bigger fanbase programs don't advance.

[VUGrad1314]

MVC gets two bids for baseball as Dallas Baptist will play in the Fayetteville Regional with Arkansas Oral Roberts and Southern Miss; while Missouri State will play in the Oxford Regional with  Ole Miss Saint Louis and Tennessee Tech.

[VULB#62]

We had a good showing this season, as we were in every MVC game, which is the 10th highest rated conference in college baseball (RPI).  In all likelihood, both Missouri State and Dallas Baptist make the tourney this season, regardless of who wins tomorrow's championship game.  If Bradley would have won the tourney, we had a chance at 3 teams.

You called it TX.  Now, what does VU BSB need to do in 2018-19 to be in the middle of the pack (or better).  Em Bauer Field will be rennovated, but players and coaching make the difference.  While at the MVC tourney, did you hear anything on the recruiting front?

[valpotx]

We have a great talent pipeline.  We were a couple key hits/outs away from victory in many regular season and conference tourney games.  Our kids will have learned a lot this season from those games, and we are positioned well for success next season with the team coming back.  I see a third place finish in 2018-2019.  They are always tight to the vest on recruiting in baseball.

[VULB#62]

We have a great talent pipeline.  We were a couple key hits/outs away from victory in many regular season and conference tourney games.  Our kids will have learned a lot this season from those games, and we are positioned well for success next season with the team coming back.  I see a third place finish in 2018-2019.  They are always tight to the vest on recruiting in baseball.

Why is that?

[vu72]

We are losing alot, 10 seniors I recall.  But, we do have key guys back in Dawson, Kapers, Tieman, Shaikin, Billinger and others.  Pitching is always the key.  If Tieman can turn inot "the man", much could change.

[valpotx]

10 Seniors lost, but many key contributors back.  You pursue a lot of people in baseball, so you really don't hear about them until they sign.

[valpotx]

Congrats to Scott Kapers for getting drafted in the 17th round by my Texas Rangers!  I would love to see him in a few years in Arlington, even though it would mean losing him at Valpo!

[vu72]

Congrats to Scott Kapers for getting drafted in the 17th round by my Texas Rangers!  I would love to see him in a few years in Arlington, even though it would mean losing him at Valpo!

So do you think he isn't back for his senior year at Valpo?  Does he go immediately to the minors?

[valpotx]

I would assume so, as you still get a decent signing bonus in that round.

[mj]

https://www.perfectgame.org/Draft/Signings.aspx?y=2017

This lists the signing bonuses from the 17th round in the 2017 draft. Looks like the average is around 100K. A decent amount of money but certainly not life changing.

[VU75]

Kapers signed with the Rangers Thursday.

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/BigTex612/status/1018991521209692161