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Post by actualfactual on Jun 10, 2018 0:07:53 GMT -5
Brendan King was named to the Eastern Division squad for the Midwest League All-star game nine days from now. His versatility seems to be one reason for the recognition. He has started one game, finished four and entered in "middle" relief as early as the second inning and as late as the eighth. His overall stats are just decent but two wins, one hold (no blown holds) and one save (no blown saves) in fourteen appearances may be the best way to view his contribution. I am not sure how the selection process worked but a lot of South Bend's opponents have faced him in different situations now, even though Brendan was called up after the season began.
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Post by actualfactual on Jun 3, 2018 19:29:49 GMT -5
I believe this is the third consecutive year the PL Champion has won at least one game in the Regionals. Did NC State go with Nebraska's 2017 (stupid) strategy and pitch someone other than their ace in game 1?
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Post by actualfactual on May 28, 2018 12:58:14 GMT -5
Justin Finan's first start yesterday for Traverse City (Frontier League) went well: six innings, one earned run. He had no decision but the Beach Bums won later, 2-1. Give Justin credit for perseverance. After some nagging injuries, he took last season off after college ended, worked hard on his pitching and fitness and got an opportunity to play in a good independent league. I can't wait to see if this pays off for him.
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Post by actualfactual on May 25, 2018 5:48:05 GMT -5
Nick Lovullo may be starting to get the hang of it in AA. In his last ten games, he's hitting .256, with only three strikeouts and three walks. This is an important year in Nick's pursuit of the dream so it's good to see better stats. He's our only pro playing in New England that I know of. Hopefully someone gets to see him play and can report back to the group? If the Seadogs have a late-season homestand I may be able to do that.
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Post by actualfactual on May 19, 2018 6:48:42 GMT -5
Jon Escobar's comeback is off to a great start in the USPBL. Three short relief appearances, 0.00 ERA, two wins. A talented pitcher who had issues with injury and inconsistency, he was definitely on the MLB radar while at HC. You never know. Hope this continues.
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Post by actualfactual on May 12, 2018 7:25:12 GMT -5
The Frontier League got going last night. The Southern Illinois Miners vs. Lake Erie Crushers featured two HC alums. Anthony Critelli had two hits with one RBI. Donnie Murray started and took the loss for the Crushers, though the worst damage occurred after he had left the game. Justin Finan did not pitch in the opener for the Traverse City Beach Bums, which is a good thing considering his team gave up eleven runs in a loss to the Normal Cornbelters.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 24, 2018 19:33:49 GMT -5
When was the last time you took a bus ride from HC to Bucknell? Oh, please. Talk about low probability scenarios! However, the last time the baseball team took a bus ride there, via Annapolis, they split. When Bucknell took the crappy ride from central PA to Worcester, they swept us. As I said, there is no reason to think the team won't try to finish third, or better. I hope they do. If they don't, I like their chances just as much from fourth. We'll play somebody on the road in the first round, unless we crush it, or fall apart. The likely first round opponents seem about equally tough. This year's HC squad has a winning record on the road and a losing record at home. Home field advantage in baseball, especially PL college baseball = no big deal. Three or four hundred people watching the game, with a few more cheering for or against you. Would it be nice for the FANS if a playoff series were at home? Hell, yeah!
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 24, 2018 6:06:25 GMT -5
You have the facts right. Here are some other facts: We split with Navy on the road but lost 2 of 3 at home. We lost our only game with Army so far, at home. HC has an overall record of 2 - 5 at home this year, 0 - 2 at neutral sites and 13 - 9 on the road. Maybe these stats reflect a small sample size but they also reflect the fact that home field advantage is not as important in baseball as some other sports. There is no reason D and the boys won't fight for third place but I won't be overly concerned if they don't get there.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 22, 2018 0:03:01 GMT -5
6-4 Final and we sweep ! big wins as it we need to keep pace with Bucknell for the 3rd playoff spot. Lehigh and Bucknell split today in Lewisburg and Navy has taken the first 2 games of their series from 1st place Army (last night's 4-0 win was in Fenway Park). I see little significance in being third instead of fourth this year. Army and Navy look about even. If you can't say which of those teams you'd prefer to face or predict where those teams will finish, fourth looks the same as third. The significance of today is the beat-down of one of the two weak teams. If we win most of our remaining games against Lafayette and Lehigh, we will make the post season based on that alone. Once in the playoffs, HC will be a scary underdog. Any team can win two games in a row with 3-4 strong pitching performances and timely hitting. Charleston Southern, Lehigh and now Lafayette have seen HC do just that. The depth we lack is much less relevant in a postseason environment where each round is best of three.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 21, 2018 8:21:54 GMT -5
The idea of reducing or forgoing donations to your alma mater for a period of time is tough love, not disloyalty. A significant percentage of donations go to endowment or long-term capital projects. In the short and intermediate term, classes will be held, faculty will be paid and buildings will be warm and safe, no matter what the dollar amount or participation rate for alumni donations may be. From what I read, the school already engages past athletic luminaries such as Ron Perry and Gordie Lockbaum to advise leadership on athletic matters. There's a new gym and a full slate of intercollegiate teams are fielded for men and women. Unless alums make a point of their displeasure with lack of athletic SUCCESS, I think the administration has the right to say they are doing enough and the school's historic emphasis on athletics is still in place. The scary thing is that the current administration may actually believe that.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 20, 2018 19:42:16 GMT -5
Four recent baseball alums are on rosters of independent minor league teams. Jon Escobar (2017-P) is listed with the Birmingham - Bloomfield Beavers of the United Shore Professional Baseball League. This is a recently established league in suburban Detroit. Donnie Murray (2015-P) moves from the USPBL to the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League. Donnie may square off against Justin Finan (2017-P) who has landed with the Traverse City Beach Bums and Anthony Critelli (2017-1B) who returns to the Southern Illinois Miners. The Frontier League is arguably the premier independent circuit for younger players hoping to sign with a MLB organization. Independent leagues get going just before or after Memorial Day. Good luck, guys!
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 19, 2018 20:05:12 GMT -5
Alums keep loyally giving while teams keep sucking. You fellows HAVE leverage beyond complaining in a chatroom, you know........ I hear people have seen fr. Borroughs at basketball games. Yeah, but he's from Georgetown, basketball central. His profile is low or zero at other sports. HC has been coed for almost 50 years. Shouldn't at least one womens team be decent? If I'm either the President or the AD, I probably think things are going okay, judging by how polite the complaining is. Until the historical 50%+ annual donation rate, among the very best in the country, drops to 40%, or 30%. Then, maybe I see the light.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 13, 2018 22:06:13 GMT -5
Pitching by committee against RI is a good move by D and it accomplishes three things: 1. A senior who isn't likely to be in the weekend rotation gets a start; 2. It provides a little more data in the search for the back of the weekend rotation and bullpen depth and 3. Everyone who pitched Wednesday should be available again for the weekend.
You never know, but next season should see a more traditional pitching approach, with the weekend rotation anchored by upperclassmen while some underclassmen being groomed for weekend roles get legit midweek starts.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 11, 2018 23:02:46 GMT -5
Brendan King was called up to the South Bend Cubs (A) today. Apparently he woke up in Mesa, AZ, flew to South Bend, and when the Cubs' starter struggled, Brendan was pressed into relief about four hours after his flight landed. In two innings, he gave up an unearned run on one hit, a walk and two K's. South Bend's bats woke up later and they won the game against Bowling Green, KY on a walk-off fielder's choice in the ninth. Congrats to Brendan on a cool way to start the regular season!
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 8, 2018 23:15:05 GMT -5
With no help from the weather in some areas, the full-season MiLB teams have gotten going. Mike Ahmed has started all three games for Tulsa (AA) with solid offensive production. Love to see that continue and earn him a promotion to AAA, which he reached briefly last season before getting hurt. Nick Lovullo saw action today with Portland in their third game of the season. He was unfortunately 0-3, with two of his outs against a strong Binghamton starter who threw six innings of one-hit ball. Nick has moved up through the Red Sox system quickly and will face a challenge earning playing time and hitting AA pitching this spring. All the best to him.
All of the other HC pros I am aware of are in extended spring training or waiting for the independent leagues to gear up after Memorial Day.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 8, 2018 23:00:41 GMT -5
Third place in winning % with the second-fewest losses in the PL is a good place to be right now. HC will be tested, however, with seven league games starting next Saturday. Beyond McGowan and Cronin, we're starting underclass pitchers who have been inconsistent. The midweek game against Army in ten days might be one to miss, assuming McGowan, Cronin and possibly Barlok will throw a lot the prior weekend and be unavailable. All this being said, if Lehigh and Lafayette continue to stink, some other team can stumble into the playoffs as fourth seed with a losing record. Even if that is HC -- and we should do better -- strong but not deep pitching could be a problem for any opponent in the 2 of 3 post-season format. Last year, we had decisive wins in the first game of each series. Then, anything can happen (and it did) in game 2. But we won!
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 3, 2018 23:15:17 GMT -5
Final rosters for MiLB full-season teams are due Thursday but some of our guys are set. After injuries in 2H last season, Mike Ahmed returns to AA Tulsa. This was expected. Congrats to Nick Lovullo on his promotion to the AA Portland Sea Dogs. Brendan King pitched four innings today in a Cubs scrimmage which was sort of a send-off game including all levels of minor leaguers. A blogger speculated this was to "stretch him out" in preparation for being a starter at short-season A Eugene, equivalent to the Lowell Spinners in MA. I couldn't find anything yet on George Capen. He was a late signee last year and one would think he would do extended spring training so the Mariners organization can get a better look at him. Assuming some success, perhaps we'll see George later in AZ Rookie ball or short season A Everett.
Anthony Critelli appears to be returning to the So. Ill. Miners of the Frontier League. Rumor has it he'll be squaring off against Justin Finan and Donnie Murray on other Frontier League clubs. Independent teams are more fluid than the affiliated minor leagues, so we'll see what actually happens when play starts in June.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 3, 2018 22:45:17 GMT -5
Be careful with all stats at this point in the season; the weighting of the marquee opponents we play in the first few weeks, compared to the straw men some other PL schools play requires some interpretation. My speculation is that our offense and defense will be middling in the PL this year. If you take out the Houston/Oklahoma games, our strongest opponents played in the earliest days, the numbers may show that already. I think pitching will be above average if key men stay healthy, with the team results being a blend of 2-4 excellent pitchers and inconsistency after that. Stats I am ready to hang my hat on? 1. Austin Masel with a BA over .300 BEFORE facing Lehigh creampuff pitching. 2. Pat McGowan's BA against of .159 over 34 IP. He's dominating when his command is at its best and keeping us in games when it's not. 3. Danny Barlok giving up just two runs in ten relief appearances. He has a fearless approach, with solid stuff and more experience than most of this young staff.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 2, 2018 22:21:13 GMT -5
The pitching is both exciting and scary. We have an ace and we have a closer. Neither of those statements was a lock last fall. I'd also check the box for second starter and long relief (although my man is a Freshman, so we'll see.) I think I see a third starter (also a Freshman.) After that, there has been no consistency whatsoever.
We're being helped at the moment by the new PL schedule. There were only three league games last week and the same this week. You can win a three game series with three decent starts and two good bullpen guys who can also eat some innings. It's nice that we swept a weaker team and can hope for 2 of 3 against Navy. The following weeks gets MUCH harder, though, unless more pitching depth emerges. There's a midweek game against Army. Our last midweek game was a blowout loss to an Ivy League team. No pitching depth. The following two weekends, HC is back to four game league series. If our fourth starter situation does not solidify, we're likely conceding one loss per weekend those weeks.
Given all the pitchers who graduated last year, including two with MLB organizations now, the team's pitching situation could have been a lot worse than it seems to be. That's why I say exciting. However, the number of guys stepping up or emerging can be counted on one hand. Depth issues we've worked around could bite us as league games get more frequent. A pessimist could say we're one injury away from the pitching wheels coming off. That's why I say scary.
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Post by actualfactual on Apr 1, 2018 17:15:43 GMT -5
I am happy for the boys, the program and coach D but really, D needs to let the game flow and come to him offensively. They won 8-0 today. The picture on the team website associated with the win is somebody bunting! As a manager, you've misjudged the game badly if you sacrificed twice to get to a 2-0 lead early in the game, as we did, and win by eight runs. D may be a credit to HC and among the best coaches at the school, but I'm afraid that says more about the state of HC athletics than him. A strong PL start is great but there is room for improvement in HC baseball this year along all dimensions, including the coaching decisions.
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Post by actualfactual on Mar 31, 2018 15:32:49 GMT -5
Lehigh lacked pitching depth last year. "Ace, no face" as they say in poker. We should not be trying to manufacture runs.
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Post by actualfactual on Mar 31, 2018 15:14:16 GMT -5
Probably a double steal on and the Lehigh coach has told his guys to expect HC to run like drunken sailors, despite team speed which is average at best. As I said, I am very sorry that the squeeze worked earlier.
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Post by actualfactual on Mar 31, 2018 14:30:32 GMT -5
D is a good leader, good recruiter and crappy baseball tactician. I am actually sorry to hear the squeeze worked, with a five-run lead, in the second inning. It will encourage him to do it again.
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Post by actualfactual on Mar 28, 2018 6:26:11 GMT -5
Navy traditionally plays one of the ten weakest schedules among D1 baseball teams. Rumor has it the coach gets a bonus if the team has thirty wins. If you play enough non-league games against the likes of Maryland-Eastern Shores and Chestnut Hill it makes that easier. RPI emphasizes wins against strong opponents and gives little credit for walkovers.
I think it's a shame for the Navy players that they don't take advantage of the school's location and schedule baseball powers like Virginia, Maryland, etc. but you get the behavior from your AD and coaches that you pay for.
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Post by actualfactual on Mar 25, 2018 19:26:46 GMT -5
I am not an alum but I grew up in the Boston area and always thought of Holy Cross as a sports-oriented school. I was at commencement in a recent year and Fr. Burroughs commented at some length on the breadth of experiences which can be had in college. He mentioned every positive college-related activity I could think of except for athletics. Upon reflection, I realized that I have never seen him at a single Holy Cross athletic event I had attended, spanning the last several years.
The school knows of me and has asked but I am not giving. Until leadership re-appraises the historical connection between athletic success and alumni loyalty at this college, I don't see changing my mind.
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