Hey Jmepop....Rivals just posted their Patriot League preview...looks like Lafayette is the team to beat (altho, we already KNEW that! ) followed by Navy then Army! Congrats and good luck this season!

http://collegebaseball.rivals.com/

Ooops...after perusing the site, I realize that Kent State is picked for their division too! Looks like alot of potential for our forum members this season!
http://collegebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=750502

Congrats to Lafayette and Kent State!

Hey - I peeked at the Big 10 and lo and behold saw that luvbb's son was picked for the pre-season All-Conference team

I know this is akin to the proverbial beauty pageant participant saying she "wants world peace" when asked what she hopes to attain ...but seriously, I am more happy to see Penn State listed as the Big10 team "on the rise". ...oh yeah...and I also hope for world peace!

Its nice to see Lafayette picked first but I don'[t put a lot of stock in the preseason predictions as they seem to be more based on last year than this year. I just can't wait to see what they can do this year on the field. Its not where you start.

It was nice to see the guys that did well last year get recognized and I was glad to see Joe B was selected.

Thanks for the headsup, as I hadn't seen the article.

jmepop - Hope Lafayette has an awesome year!!!

Kathy - That's great recognition of Joe! He's worked hard and deserves an awesome year of his own!!

The Army cheat sheet:

Army had what may be their best recruiting class ever. In addition to quite a bit of talent, these players are huge with 13 incoming freshman 6'1" or over and 7 of those 6'3" and over.

The loss of Hill and Dinga on the mound may hurt them however they have two solid starters being Senior Drew Clothier and Soph Matt Fouch both LHP's that work in the high 80's with excellent control. In additon, they will probably start two freshman who had very good showings this fall.

They are also returning the Patriot League player of the year in Cole White. Cole was also recently selected third team pre-season all American by the NCBWA.

Junior JP Polchinski, returns to play 3rd base, but looks like a new player having added what looks to be over 20 lbs of solid muscle since last season. Junior Tony Capozzi will move back to his natural at 2nd after filling in last year at SS, where freshman Clint Moore, an all-stater from NC looks to be the heir apparent.

Not that I would be biased or anything , but I'll pick the Black Knights of Army to win it.

Dan...I'm guessing I'll already know the "prediction" when Rivals covers CC and the Big South conference! Probably old news, but I just saw where Winthrops ace went down with TJ surgery a few months ago....that's got to hurt Winthrop's chances somewhat.

quote:

The Army cheat sheet:

Doesn't that go against their honor code?

Thanks for the update on Army. Sounds like an exciting spring is in store for the Patriot League.

Got me on that one!

quote:

Originally posted by luvbb:
Dan...I'm guessing I'll already know the "prediction" when Rivals covers CC and the Big South conference! Probably old news, but I just saw where Winthrops ace went down with TJ surgery a few months ago....that's got to hurt Winthrop's chances somewhat.

Kathy - Winthrop has taken a huge hit on multiple fronts. The kid you speak of was a first team All-American. They lost several of their star players to transfer and/or injury. I don't expect much from them but who knows

Keep your eyes on Liberty (new coach from SC) and VMI as well. People that know me know that I don't play the prediction game and my philosophy is very similar to jmepop's outlined above. I like the old Bill Parcell's line "You are what your record says you are" CC needs to get over the regional hump like Michigan did last year. I believe they have defined their success going forward in those terms. The Michigan/CC matchup in Myrtle Beach should be a great one. I'll be looking forward to the Michigan and Penn State matchup as PSU got the better of them last year.

CPLZ

I would be dissappointed if you weren't biased. I am hoping to make it up to West Point for the series against Army. I didn't make it two years ago when Joe was a freshman and I missed the first two and only home runs of his college career, one against Hill and one against Clothier, hope things go as well this year.

Army is always tough, although Lafayette has done very well against them for the past two years. I am sure your coaches will not let your guys forget that and I expect some very hotly contested games that weekend.

If we go I hope to meet you.

Good luck this season, except against Lafayette.

jmepop,

The better 7/8ths and I will be doing several road trips this year. We don't have the Lafayette series penciled in, but its the one I have circled to attend for a home game this year.

They meet for the last Patriot League series for both of them, so it will probably mean something.

Late April should be gorgeous at West Point, I hope to see you there.

http://www.pingbaseball.com/previews/coastal_carolina.php
Ping has CC listed at #19 nationally..here is their preview.

This poll shows some disparity with the one luvbb posted yesterday. Michigan bumped up 11 spots to #10 and Coastal bumped down 18 spots to #37. We were not even ranked or mentioned by them last year at this time so I still consider that progress

Several Big 10 teams received votes in this poll including Penn State. Kent State also received votes. This poll also bumps down Oregon State from the other poll and based on the last two years, the pollsters should have learned their lessons by now i.e., under-rating OSU.

http://www.baseballnews.com/polls/divI/currentpolldivI.htm

Seems to be some unexplained love for Penn State out there...I don't see the jump into the elite for them.

Army travels to Liberty in March for a series. Nick Schnabel is one of the new assistants at Liberty, fresh from serving three years as an assistant at Army.

There seems to be some ties between Army and the Big South Conference. Coastal's assistant Brendan Dougherty was at Army. Army's scouts routinely attend showcases hosted at Coastal.

RE: Penn State - they arguably were playing better than Michigan the last half of the season last year and clearly beat Michigan in their head to head matchups and the end of the season and in the conference tournament. Michigan was a Super Regional team last year so the respect shown PSU is based on the fact they did not lose a ton of guys and how they came on at the end of last year. Obviously, rankings can not win anyone a game but it is always nice to be recognized.

quote:

Seems to be some unexplained love for Penn State out there...I don't see the jump into the elite for them.

WOW...a list of top 40 with 51 additional teams meriting a mention. 91 teams total...hardly an ELITE list. But thanks for the put down anyway . Lucky for Penn State that they really don't need to "explain" to CPLZ the "love" given to them .

CD is 100% correct when he says, pre-season rankings and accolades don't win games, but it is nice to be recognized.

That list is fairly ELITE. The top 91 is the top 33% in the country. At least by that group's definition, it ia an honor to even receive votes in that poll. Frankly, I believe the pingbaseball poll is the one everyone ought to be paying attention to

More on Penn State:

They won 2 of 3 from North Carolina last year at Chapel Hill.

They won the season series from Minnestota, Ohio State, and Michigan (all regional/super regional participants last year) and advanced to the championship round of the Big 10 tournament. Minnesota knocked out University of San Diego a #8 national seed and Michigan defeated Vandy a #1 national seed on a walk-off game winning homer by freshman Alan Oaks whose Mom (grandslamfan) posts here occasionally.

Penn State had five or six kids drafted last year which I believe was an all-time record. luvbb's son was an All-Big 10 catcher there last year and led the team in hitting.

Thanks for "explaining the love" Dan! . However, I hate to deflate any of what you said, but PSU won 1 of 3 from UNC....but played them close in all three. I don't want to be accused of "padding" the stats .

Seriously tho, there are high expectations for the team this year. As I'm sure every team has high expectations coming into the season. But, talk is one thing, performance is another....hopefully the team will pick up where they left off last season.

I just have a hard time imagining why ANYONE would want to put a damper on ANY team's accomplishments. Especially in THIS forum. The OH/KY/PA/WV forum is known for it's friendliness and politeness amongst it's contributing members. Anyone who frequents this forum regularly KNOWS this, and we can thank Dan and Charlotte for the tone that they set!