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Baseball Tourney

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IAA Fan:
Guins have a nice win over Oakland, but fall to Wright State today. Will have play 2 games today. We play the winner of the Milwaukee vs. second-seeded UIC.

Penquin68:
I think you mean the looser of the game.

What happened to our two top pitchers from earlier in the season?  Colin Floyd and Greg Dunham.  They are none existent as of late.  No info in the newspapers as far as I see.  No release from Athletics.  Any idea? Are they hurt?

IAA Fan:
Yes, I meant the loser. It was Milwaukee and they defeated us 3-1 to eliminate us from the tourney. Floyd and Dunham have both been playing, Dunham came in both games yesterday, as did Floyd. Floyd averaged almost 12 strikeouts per game this year according to the logs.  http://www.ysusports.com/sports/bsb/2017-18/teams/youngstownst?view=profile&r=0&pos=
 
MLB programs have between 40 and 60 pitchers Some will try up to 100 in a season at the various levels. So the best pitching prospects are recruited very young (pre-college). With the influx of foreign pitchers, this has changed the game quite a bit and many colleges are now able to recruit good pitchers out of HS, but their are not enough to go around. The divisions do not mean as much at the college level, as it may in other sports. It may not be as cut-and-dry as an individual sport such as golf ... but a good pitcher in D-III has a good chance of being a good pitcher at any level.

The college game is so different than any other level. These guys have MLB power, with metal bats; Any contact with the bat and the ball goes for what seems to be miles. It really is a hitter's game. In 56 games this year, we had only 44 home runs and a batting average of only .246. While that may win games in the pros, it will not win games in college ball. That being said, we need to give this staff a couple more years to be fair. I would not mind seeing coach Antush involved with the program again.

IAA Fan:
I would like to go into more detail on the bats, as I know may people do not agree with metal having more power. Yes, if you used a machine to hit the ball, a wooden bat may actually carry the ball a bit further after a big contact. However, humans do not hit with that kind of maximum consistency and most players are not big hitters; so the speed with which the ball comes off the metal makes seemingly minor contact, quite major. Contact that might not normally carry out of the infield ...does so far more often (to the delight of friends and families of youth players everywhere). Hits that would be simple outfield catches with wooden bats, now go over the fence much more often.

Then there is the money. College coaches in the Southwest and South all can easily make 10's of thousands of dollars from Louisville Slugger and Easton (the two primary bat manufacturers). As can many coaches in the rest of the nation with CWS history. In short, Kids hit metal because parents like to see the action and Louisville Slugger wants parents to grab their bats off store shelves.

Penquin68:
I think 1AA has the facts incorrect.  Looked again at the box scores from the tournament this week and neither Floyd or Dunham pitched.  And as I recall they have not pitched for weeks.

As for the bats, they were scaled back a few years ago so that the current aluminum bats that are legal are near the performance of wooden bats.  A few years ago that was not the case, but a change was made.  Both the bats and ball have to meet a coefficient of restitution standard to be legal.  Coefficient of restitution is a measure of energy storage capability.  For example is you drop a golf ball from the height of your eyes, it will bounce back to a height of less than the drop height. If it came back to the same height it would have a coefficient of restitution of 1 and if it stuck to the floor it would be 0.  All the bats need to meet a standard of coefficient of restitution that is set by the NCAA.  Previous bats were getting so good that it was putting pitchers in danger hence the change.

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