The NCAA has spoken their peace, the 48 “most worthy” teams in the country have been selected and the regional tournament slate is set to start on Thursday. There is a swell of usual suspects, along with some teams that aren’t exactly regulars to the extended postseason. I’ll take a quick stab at predicting each regional’s winner tonight, and then sit back and enjoy the battles that are sure to please.

West Regional

#2 seed CSU-Dominguez Hills is going to be the host in this, the smallest of all regional tournaments in the slate. UC San Diego takes on first time entrant Hawaii Pacific in the opening game here and should be able to take out the Seawolves (37-10) who will more then likely have the first game jitters. Once they get past Hawaii Pacific they’ll battle the winner of the #2 CSU Dominguez Hills and #3 Cal State Chico matchup. Chico State has the history, but the Toros (40-18) took three-of-four from the Wildcats in Chico earlier this year. I’m not sure who will come out on top here, but I don’t think either team will have the stamina to take out the Tritons. UC San Diego will win the regional and head the Cary for the second straight season.

Winner: UC San Diego

South Central Regional

In a showdown of the top3 clubs from the MIAA and the best the state of Texas has to offer in what is going to be one heck of a regional throwdown in Warrensburg, Mo. #1 seed and host Central Missouri (47-8) will no doubt have to rough up Joe Holtmeyer and the #6 seed Mavericks of Nebraska-Omaha (32-18). Should UNO advance they’ll have a tough road with limited pitching depth; but they’ll have to play the loser of the Emporia State (42-14) vs. Incarnate Word (40-16). Incarnate Word might be out for blood as they are here to prove a point after being denied a regional bid last season. This game should be a battle, with the bats of Emporia State trying to knock Cardinals ace Kirk Jewasko from their perch. I am gonna go out on a limb here and predict that UNO takes out Central Missouri, and then knocks Incarnate Word from the tournament. Emporia State meanwhile will have their hands full with an Abilene Christian (46-13). When the dust has settled I see Central Missouri making a run back through this thing, eventually knocking UNO from the tournament, but they’ll run out of gas when they have to face Abilene.

Winner: Abilene Christian

Southeast Regional

The Southeast has been extremely competitive in the past few years and throughout the history of the tournament. Las year saw red hot Belmont Abbey defy logic and win the whole darn thing as the #6 seed. I can’t see #6 seed Erskine (40-15) winning the whole thing, because they don’t have the pitching depth….but I can see them knocking off #1 seed and host Francis Marion (38-12) in the opener, especially since they have proven they can beat them. Once the Fleet dispatched the Patriots they’ll run into Georgia College and State (35-15) who I predict will fall to Mount Olive (40-9) in their opener. The Bobcats won’t go down without a fight and they’ll take out Erskine to stay alive. Meanwhile, the buzzssaw known as Columbus State (42-10) will be reveling in the fact that everyone else is knocking everyone else off. Catawba (40-11) has the bats, but so do the Cougars of Columbus State. I think the tribe of Catawba will be the first to exit the tournament….I just don’t think they have the arms. Francis Marion will knock them out of the tournament before knocking Mount Olive from the tournament…Mount Olive will win their first but then get bounced into the loser’s bracket by Columbus State. In the finals I am gonna take Columbus State over an exhausted Francis Marion club.

Winner: Columbus State

South Regional

Flip a coin on this one folks, this is gonna be a treat to watch for baseball fans. Southern Arkansas (43-8) should be able to start someone other then ace Hayden Simpson in their opener against Albany State (33-20). This means they should be able to get to the third round unscathed, handing Florida Southern (39-14) their first loss after their opening win over Sunshine State rival Rollins (38-17). Sorry Florida Tech (38-14), but you got a tough draw in opening win my favorite in Tampa (42-8). I think Tech will send West Florida packin’ after the Argo’s drop their opener to Valdosta State, but after that they’ll be out. This regional should come down to a rematch of an early season showdown in which Southern Arkansas took three-of-four on the road from Tampa. The Spartans have revenge on their minds, and they hand the Muleriders their second straight disappointing season by winning the toughest regional in the circuit.

Winner: Tampa

Midwest Region

The winner of the first game between Southern Indiana (43-12) and Indianapolis (34-20). I think the Screaming’ Eagles will be in the drivers seat, knocking Wayne State (32-18) out of the regional. Meanwhile, there will be a huge winner’s bracket final setting up between historic regional powerhouse Grand Valley State (34-14) and So. Indiana….but wait, here come Northern Kentucky (41-14), who is enjoying a record setting season. In the end the last team standing will be the Screaming Eagles, and another trip to the series for the storied program.

Winner: Southern Indiana

East Regional

In the east we don’t know too much about these guys, so the betting mans money is going to be on the traditional favorites: Franklin Pierce and ???. Okay, maybe Southern Connecticut State could be considered a traditional favorite, but one thing is for certain….this season they are THE favorite. Basically this thing will come down to the Ravens and So. Conn. I’m keeping with the historical favorite, another trip for the boys from Rindge, NH.

Winner: Franklin Pierce

Central Regional

N.M Highlands has been pounding teams all season, and they put to rest their poor showing earlier this season against Mesa State by winning the RMAC title and an automatic bid. But something tells me Coach Jones and his club could fall victim to the ghosts of RMAC past….namely Coach Hanks and the Mavs of Mesa State. Minnesota State-Mankato should be able to handle the Lopers of Nebraska-Kearney in their opening round game, but will they be able to get past Mesa? I don’t think so. Really, to me, unless someone gets hot this thing is going to be between Mesa and Highlands. Mesa hand the Cowboys a blow, but they can’t land the knock out punch. Jason Carr and company head east, where the grass is green and the altitude is…well, not Las Vegas, NM.

Winner: N.M Highlands

Atlantic Region

This regional has traditionally determined which PSAC team would earn the right to head to the CWS…this year will be no different. I can’t see Kutztown as the team that makes it; they just didn’t look like a Series caliber team earlier this season when I saw them play. West Chester? Probably, but they’ll have to get past the red hot PSAC Champs in the California, PA Vulcans. Special congrats to Seton Hill in making their first NCAA appearance. I’ll be in attendance for Game number 6 on Friday night, which should be West Chester and West Virginia State. I am going to go with the Golden Rams of West Chester. I know they are a solid club and I think they’ll come up big this weekend.

Winner: West Chester

In the MIAA The Mules of Central Missouri are headed to Omaha this weekend to battle host Nebraska -Omaha in a showdown of conference powers.    The Mule arms have been supreme all season long, with Brooks Martin (9-0  1.72), Alex Kent (7-0  1.14), Ryan Allen (6-1  3.42) and Matt Curtis (7-0  3.99) gving the Mule offense some peace of mind.  When they need to score runs this herd of Mules patiently executes, hitting .351 as a team and efficiently scoring nearly 10 runs a game.  In the other dugout this weekend will be Bob Herold’s group of gritty ball players, who, might not have the gaudy numbers that the Mules have, but are armed with one of the most dominant arms in D-II baseball in Joe Holtmeyer.  The regular season crown has already been decided, so for the most part the biggest thing to watch will be the Mules match up against Holtmeyer and also how UNO rersponds to playing a top 5 team.

     Another week and yet another no-hitter, this one seemed like it was only a matter of time.  Nebraska-Omaha So. Joel Holtmeyer (8-1  1.57) was sensational in Saturdays complete game no-hit effort against visiting Northwest Missouri State.  Holtmeyer used a blazing fastball to rack up 12 strike out, while issuing 4 free passes in the no-no.  Holtmeyer has been downright “Strasburgian” this season, striking out a D-II best 124 batters in just 68.2 innings pitched.  The 6′3″ 240 lb Omaha native is securing his status of one of Division II’s top prospects for the 2011 draft.

    I got a chance to see #13 Kutztown University travel to my home town to take on the Marauders of Millersville in a PSAC East showdown this past weekend.  Unfortunately for the Golden Bears they ran into a determined Millersville club who was fueled by the Senior Day ceremonies that were taking place.  Kutzwon, coming off a 21-1 pasting of the Marauders the previous day hardly looked the part of a Top 30 team, commiting numerous errors and being completely shut down by a solid pitching effort by Millersville So. Brooks Rothschild (3-1  5.45).  Rothschild was brilliant, and dazzled the vaunted Bears by scattering 4 hits during the complete game effort.

    Don in Florida probably the biggest showdown to date took place in Tampa, as the University of Tampa Spartans hosted Florida Southern in a much anticipated Sunshine State Conference match up.  I’ve gotta admit, I didn;t think the Spartans would but such a punishing and complete pounding on the Mocs, but it happened.  The Spartans put last weekends series loss to Barry behind them by pounding the Mocs 25-6 in the opening game on Friday.  Tampa scored in every inning but one, with Brade Roberts rapping out 4 hits and catcher Mike Blanke adding 3 hits while driving in 6.  The second game wwas complete opposite, with Tampe taking a 3-1 decision over the Mocs behind 8 strong innings from Josh Bowman.  The sweep was completed on Sunday with Tampa winning a 9-5 decision.  These two are sure to meet sometiime soon, as both are poised to earn bids to what is going to shape up probably be the toughest regional field in the country.

    Junior outfileder Kevin Pillar (.381, 5, 44) of Cal-State Dominguez Hills  came to the plate in Sundays game against UC-San Diego with an 0-for-3 next to his name.  The significance was that Pillar was riding a 46 game hitting streak, 3 shy of the NCAA record of 49 straight and 1 shy of tying the D-II record of 47.  Pillar promptly stroked a single to right to keep his incredible streak alive.  He’ll go for the record this weekend when the Toros host Cal-State Stanislaus in a CCAA matchup.  As a side note, the Toros dropped all 4 games to #1 UC-San Diego, who is the team to beat way out west.

       Catawba College (38-10) became the second team to secure a bid to the South Atlantic Rgional this weekend by sweeping through the Food Lion South Atlantic Tournament in Forest City, NC this past weekend.  The third seeded Indians opened the tournament by taking down Carson-Newman on Thursday 12-5.  They then dropped Tusculum 4-2 on Friday before the rains rolled in.  The festivities would have to wait until Sunday when they would complete the tournament unscathed by beating Lincoln Memorial 6-2 and then pounding Mars Hill 16-5 late Sunday for their second straight conference tournament crown.  In the finale, tournament MVP Ryan Bostian (.354, 5, 42) had 4 hits and drove in 6 teammates to pace the offensive onsluaght for the Indians.  Catawba sits and waits for a few weeks for the remaining bids to be awarded.  As discussed earlier in this blog the SAC is more than likely going to get just one bid this year, with the rest being goobbled up by the powerhouse Peach Belt to the south.

   Well, thats it.  The check back in Thursday night as things are really starting to heat up as the season reaches it’s peak in the coming weeks.

   Just one week after #23 University of West Florida Senior Kevin Johnson tossed a complete game , nine inning no-hitter #10 Kutztown University Senior lefty Nate Reed (4-2  2.79) threw a complete game, seven inning no-hitter against Bloomsburg University on Sunday.  Reed went the distance, striking out 9 while only walking 3 Bloomsburg batters.  The Golden Bears took the first three of the series, but fell in the final game of the series 3-2, dropping them into a tie for first place in the PSAC East with #17 West Chester- both teams are 14-6 in conference play. 

    Out West in the PSAC the only magic eight ball was wrong again for Mr. Mohr and his notoriously “off” predictions.  Coach Ditch and his Indiana (PA) University Crimson Hawks took care of business by taking 3-of-4 from the Vulcans of California (PA) University.  The Crimson Hawks dropped the first of four games Friday 3-1 and had their backs squarely against the proverbial wall.  A little adversity?  no problem.  IUP promptly ripped off wins of 10-2 and 9-0 befroe squeaking out the finale 9-8 late Sunday afternoon.  In that game the Crimson Hawks jumped out to an 8-0 leasd after just two frames, then found themselves locked in an 8-8 nailbiter only 4 innings later.  IUP would squeeze on run across the plate in the bottom half of the 6th, with 2 outs on a wild pitch.  After a rough 1.2 innings, Stephen Cooke settled in and retired the side in order in the top half of the 7th.  The series win give Coach Ditch and crew the tie-breaking lead in the PSAC West with a 15-5 record.

    To the Conference Carolinas Tournament, and the first automatic regional bid of the year.  After day two the tournament was completely upside down, well, almost.  Anderson University knocked off top seed Mount Olive 10-6 on Thursday and then second seeded Erskine dropped a game 6-3 to Pfeiffer College on Saturday, meaning the top two seeds were gonna have to battle it ou of the losers bracket for the automatic bid.  Meanwhile, upstart Pfeiffer was 3-0 after Saturday and sitting in the Championship round where they would have to be double dipped in order to be denied their first trip to the regionals since 2004.  Erskine meanwhile, won their first game, but dissapointed by losing their next two contests to Pfeiffer 6-3, and then to upstart Anderson 8-4.  The Fleet is down but certainly not out, they’ll have to impress the regional committe this week as they play games against regional hopefuls USC-Aiken and Georgia College and State.  Back to the tournament.  Mount Olive would knock out Barton 9-6 and then Belmont Abbey 15-1 to claw their way into the chamionship.  Down 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth of game one Bobby Leeper (.446, 12, 47) got in the hole 0-2 with runners on second and third to Pfeiffer releiver Luke Wilhelm.  Leeper would deliver the biggest of his 83 hits this season by lining the 0-2 offering up the middle, scorring Jackson Massey and Joseph Westbrook for the dramatic 5-4 walk off win.  You had to feel for the Falcons of Pfeiffer, as they were pitch away from accomplishing the unthinkable. The momentum from the come from behind win would give Trojan starter Sean Lydon (8-3  3.59) the energy he would need to take the hill for the final game on only two days rest.  Lydon was huge, showing the guts and grit of a champion in surrendering only 2 runs on 7 hits over 8.0 strong innings.  Lydon had thrown 75 pitches in his start against Anderson on Thursday, then came back to throw another nearly 100 more pitches in Sunday regional bid and championship clinching 7-2 win.

    We’ve taken a break from the Sunshine State for the past few weeks, mainly because we focused so much in them early in the season and the northern teams have started to get into the meat of their conference schedules. Well, it’s time to address probably the biggest matchup of the season: Florida Southern at Tampa in a clash of teams, with not only regional aspirations, but hopes of hoisting the trophy at the end of May.  Only a few short weeks ago the Spartans had firm firm grip of the conference lead, but a couple of slip ups over the past few weekends has lessened the stranglehold they once had.  The door is open for Coach Tyrell and his Mocasin brethren.     The strength of the Mocs is probably their pitching staff, led by Gus Schlosser (7-3  3.79), Tucker Pryor (6-1  2.92), Eddie Sipple (7-1  3.62), Max Russell (9-0  3.82) and Daniel Tillman (1-0  3.30, 12 saves).  The Spartans too have a very deep staff, and these teams are so evenly matched that its a good thing that baseball doesn’ have tie games…..well, sometimes.    I don’t know what to say on this one, other than I am certainly not making an prediction, but I’ll be eagerly awaiting the results and the jockying that this will do to the regional and national rankings.

    In Forest City, NC this weekend the much anticipated Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament will be taking place, and this could be a very, very good show.  On Thursday #1 Seed Wingate will take on Lincon Memorial, who managed to to squeak into the tournament by a game over Lenoir Rhyne.  #5 Tusculum, arguably the hottest team in the conference right now, take on Mars Hill; who enjoyed one of their best regular seasons in recent memory.    Adnt finally, the night cap will be Carson_Newman and Catawba slugging it out in a repeat from last weekends series in which Catawba took 2-of-3 for the Eagles.  Wow, what a lineup, I mean, really….flip a coin in any of these games.  Ive said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s a shame that this conference will more than likely get only one bid to the regionals in a few weeks…..a crying shame.

   I got alittle ahead of myself this week, but there are so many matchuos that I have been thinking about that I got excited a bit.  The next couple of weks are like some sort of holiday for me, as one-by-one teams punch their tickets to the post season.  The only thing that would make this thing better is if the NCAA could get this squared away with the bids.  The truth is, Division II baseball suffers by not following the same format that the Division I guys do.  In my opinion, we should bump this thing up to 64 teams, have more at-large bids to give teams like 31-7 North Greenville the chance they deserve; add super regionals like they do in the NAIA, Juco etc. and then hold the D II CWS in Omaha at the new stadium.  I am going to be writing a full article on this very idea in a few weeks.  Perhaps we can start some sort of “Division II Baseball Tea Party” and make some noise and try to put some pressure on the good folkls at the NCAA to make this tournament what it should be.

    The postseason has started, the Conference Carolinas top six teams will start their tournament to decide who will receive the first bid of the year to the NCAA tournament.  It should basically come down to Erskine and Mount Olive, who played for the regular season crown just a few short days ago.  We’ll focus more on the Carolinas South East regional rep in the weekend round up.  For now, we’ll try to focus on some conference games that will have meaningful outcomes.

    To the PSAC West we go, where the Vulcans of California (PA) meet the Crimson Hawks of Indiana (PA) to decide the West Champion.  Coach Ditch and his Hawks will have to take 3-of-4 from Coach Conte to secure the crown and the top seed from the West in the PSAC Tournament scheduled for later this month.  The Vulcans has their season high 12 game winning streak snapped yesterday in a 9-5 loss to Gannon, but have still managed to win 14 of their past 16.  Troy Handza (.405, 7, 38) has been ppounding the ball for most of the spring and is complemented by fellow slugger Sam DiMatteo (.374, 8, 37) as the two most dangerous hitters in Vulcan lineup.  The two are also the leading base stealers with Handza swiping 22 bags and DiMatteo adding a team leading 29 of his own to the mix.  The Vulcans are 104-for-120 in steals this season, but when the opposition runs they are equally as effective- as Vulcans backstops have only thrown out 6 runners all season…Ouch!  Tyler Zimm (4-0  2.97) and Randy Sturgill (6-1  3.12) lead a pitching staff that has a very mortal .281 BA against and a 5.24 era.  The good news for California is that they really only need two good starts to clinch this weekend.  The Hawks of Indiana will counter with an offense that features leading hitter Paul Bingham (.425, 2, 47) and long ball threat Kyle Striker (..346, 10, 38).  On the mound the Hawks haven’t quite had the luxury of having the consistency that Zimm and Sturgill offer California, and this could be the difference.  I have to go against Ping!baseball.com blogger Head Coach Jeff Ditch and give the nod to the Vulcans 3 games to 1 on this one.  Caoch Ditch, if it’s any consolation, my predictions have been pretty brutal all season…..so you have that working in your favor.

    There is still a decent fight going on down in the SAC, even after Wingate wrapped up the regular season crown last weekend.  Carson-Newman and Catawba are currently tied for 3rd in conference play at 14-7 apiece, and will play to see who possibly move up into 2nd place (currently held by Mars Hill at 15-6.  Mars Hill meanwhile will be taking on a Tusculum team that had underacheived early in the season but has won 18 of their past 21 games and is flying way under the radar.  The Pioneers can flat out hit; and Jared Richmond (.411, 19, 61) has been putting together one heck of a seasn down in Greenville.  The hitting has been contagious, as Sean Finucane (.400, 3, 42), Payden Houser (.423, 5, 29), Nate Grabowski (..414, 5, 31) and Sean Cotten (.394, 11, 62) make up a very formidable lineup.  Looks like my good friend Mike Corn, former recruiter for Tusculum and present day head coach at Columbia State CC, has done a good job with Coach Jones down there to get some really good players..  Arms,? they have a few of them too, lead by releiver Cody Stites (4-0  3.55) and Tyler Collins (4-1  3.79).  The Pioneers have had stronger and deeper staffs n the past, but I think Coach Jones’ club is coming together at the right time and could be the darkhourse in the tourney.  The interesting thing about the SAC is that,even with all of it’s competitiveness this spring, it very well could end up sending only one team to regionals.  It doesn’t help teams like Catawba, Carson Newman and Mars Hill when the neighboring Peach Belt is the “SEC of Division II college baseball”, and usually gobbles up the at-large bids.  This makes the SAC Food Lion Conference Tournament even that more intense, as it is likely that the tournament winner will be the only participant in the NCAA regionals.  It’s almost criminal for the SAC….it is criminal! Can you say exspansion?

    In Peach Belt play the Francis Marion Patriots can de-throne the UNC-Pembroke Braves with by taking the series this weekend, it what is “just another weekend in the SEC of Division II baseball”.  Every week you can count on there being a huge series in ths conference.  Pembroke is clinging to a narrow one game lead at 9-3 in the division over both the Patriots and the USC-Aiken Pacers.  The Pacers travel down to Savannah to face the Divisions last place team, the Armstrong Atlantic State Pirates.  There are still two weeks of conference games remaining, but not all of the schools will play during the next two weekends. 

    We haven’t talked much about the West Virginia Intercollegiate League this season, and for once we are going to in this segment.  Leading the Northen Division are the Griffons of Seton Hill with a 9-2 conference record- and 26-13 overall mark.  Fifth year Senior Pat Trettel (.462, 10, 61) been far and away the most notable player for the Griffons.  The senior signal caller is in the top 5 in the conference in nearly every offensive catagory.  Impressive Mr. Tettel, mighty impressive.  In the Central, Alderson-Broaddus is in firm command with an 11-3 mark and 21-11 overall record.  The Battlers have been, uh hum, battling all season long- and have put themselves in position to make some noise in the WVIAC tournament at the end of April.  Isn’t there still snow on the ground at that time in West Virginia?  Just kidding.  Sr. Ronnie Whitt (.407, 8, 33) is having one of the best two-way seasons in all of Division II.  Whitt is sporting a 7-0 record on the hill with a 1.88 era and 48 punch outs in 48 innings.  Finally, the Southern Division is probably the tightest race- with West Virginia State leading at 8-2 and Concord hot on their heels at 7-4.  WV State really put a dent in Concords division title hopes last weekend when they took 3 of 4 from the Mountain Lions.  The yellow Jackets have been less offensive this season then as in past years and have leaned on the arms of John Gale (3-1  1.35), Ryne Holstine (4-1  3.13) and C.J. Meadows (3-0  2.89).  Pitching is a good weapon to have, and there are several other Yellow Jacket hurlers that could be mentioned here.  WV State has been one of those teams that has been on the brink of making that CWS apperance, but just hasn’t been able to get by the PSAC’s finest in past seasons.

   That’s it for tonight.  It’s tough to work a 9-5, then get on here several times a week and blog about the great game of D II baseball.  I am trying my best to try to cover things, and as always, if you want coverage just email me at jeremy.mohr@pingbaseball.com  

   One last thing.  On a sad note to end tonight.  I went to my summer leagues team practice tonight, a new team I am playing with that has, really, a bunch of knuckle heads on it that I don;t know at all.  Well, I made the mistake of leaving my bp bat out after hitting my round and one of said knuckleheads decided he would take a few rips with it without asking.  After about three pitches the idiot tries to pull an outside pitch and completely cracks my bp bat that I have had since 2003!  All of my other bats are $70+ rock maples. Two lessons here.  1:) For me, don’t leave your stuff laying around, especially prized wooden bats….and especially when you have a bunch of idiots on your team.  2.)  If you don’t know how to hit with wood, use YOUR OWN bat!  Can you beleive this guy didn’t even apologize?   It’s gonna be a long 36 game season for me this summer…..I predict (in the words of Clubber Lang) “PAIN!”