2009 preseason NJCAA rankings- Joliet & Elgin

Does it give the complete raknings of all NJCAA schools or just the top 25, etc.?

Springfield College is ranked #11 - finished season last year one game from WS.

Saint Joseph College shows up at #31 in the initial division 2 poll . We expect the Puma's to make a great run at the college world series this year.

Led by a strong core group of pitchers, the only question is who will pick up the hitting lost with the graduation of several star players.

quote:

Originally posted by Sdawg34:
Saint Joseph College shows up at #31 in the initial division 2 poll . We expect the Puma's to make a great run at the college world series this year.

Led by a strong core group of pitchers, the only question is who will pick up the hitting lost with the graduation of several star players.

From what I saw, hitting shouldn't be too big of a problem...

I forgot about Springfield. I apologize. In my opinion they are the top D2 program in southern Illinois.

Good luck this season!

Any talk about Heartland or Rend Lake?

.

I don't know about Heartland, but here's some old news regarding Rend Lake...


Take a look!

Slide..

Springfield College has been good and getting better, fantastic coaching and program. Heartland is getting better by the day, Nate has done a great job and in that conference is also Lincoln Land who has 2 National Championships and Parkland who is a national powerhouse, they have a new coach and he will be a great addition to them.

Up North of course you have some of the top programs in the nation if not the top in Elgin and Joliet and South in D1 you have John Logan, Wabash, look at the players on those teams who move on to D1 or pro's?.

JUCO baseball in Illinois is very good.

I've met both Wayne and Bill and both have outstanding characters, which is important if you are considering growth from the high school to the collegiate level. My son chose ECC, so I am most familar with Bill Angelo but this is where it is very important for those considering the JUCO route to do their homework and not only consider their growth athletically into a baseball player but also the mental aspect where confidence and baseball smarts are developed.

I can say that choosing ECC was the best choice my son ever made. Coach Angelo and his staff developed his raw talent into what my son had dreamed of, playing at the DI level. I owe a great deal to this program.....

Buy hey, if ECC doen't fit, then there are many other choices in the northern IL area. If you're from this area, you don't have to travel south if you want to play great JUCO baseball close to home.
Just find the program that "fits". There are many coaches, and therefore, many coaching styles for you to evaluate. ECC just happened to be perfect for developing not only my son's baseball abilities but also his leadership/confidence abilities. Find the program that is right for you!

Anyway, good luck to all those young players looking for the right fit. Just be sure and not write off the norhtern IL JUCO's because there is some pretty good ball played here. Do your homework!

My son and I hope to get back to watching a few games at ECC but who knows..... I wish nothing but the best to Coach Angelo and ECC's search for more than just an appearance at Millington.

Mike

quote:

I believe the Puma's will still have their work cut out against defending GLVC Champion (Ranked #26) Northern Kentucky University. The Norse have won four (4) conference championships in the last seven (7) years and have some very talented new players to try an repeat. The beat up on the Puma's in last years championship which I think surprised many people, including themselves.

Mde5,

Agreed, both should be outstanding this year.
Ballermine will also be excellent with strengh at middle infield if they don't throw the ball around too much. There will be some tight games all season

Stayed in the same hotel as the NKU ball players at the Championships last year they were good guys.

JWeaver- I really respect your opinion, when did you see them hit? Did you play them in the fall?

SDawg,
You are right about the Norse players. Had several over for a BBQ during the WS Regionals in Crestwood. Great young men. They will be fun to watch, but so will St. Joe's.

Crestwood was a tough place for our batters in the regionals. Going in I would have predicted that one of the teams in our division would go to the World Series last year. Have you been to the park where they have the division 2 world series? NKU Coach Asalon is also a great guy! My son is Chase Sonen from SJC.

quote:

Originally posted by Sdawg34:
when did you see them hit? Did you play them in the fall?

Sdawg34,

I go to Heartland Community College. We played St. Joe's at your place during the fall.

Sdawg,
I went to the St.Joe/Norse games last year. I actually met and spoke with your wife at the concession stand. Mine played 3B last year during regular season and then 2B during regionals. Loved watching you guys play last year. Big fan of Wille and Reimer.

Sdawg and Windycity,
I agree about the close games in the GLVC and I am a little partial to the Norse since my son played for them for 3 years. He has now slid from a player to a coach, working with the infielders. He was lucky enough to be a apart of two conference championships while playing and hopes to be apart of many more while coaching.He has told me that if players play to their ability and work hard they have a strong team. We all know that can change very quickly though. Coach Asalon has changed up his schedule a bit this year. In years past they would play approx 10 of their first 15 games against top 10 teams....he has changed it a bit so they don't go to Florida and start against teams that have 10-15 games before they get there.

Ping Baseball just came out with their initial ranking for 2009. NKU #24,SJC #25 in nation. Nice little blip about teams also.

J.B.--- How have you been ? stay in touch once in a while .

Got word from Heartland that they are ranked 48 out of 394 juco's nationwide (all divisions) from PG Cross checker. Only other IL JUCO in top 50 is Wabash.

How is that possible when Springfield College is ranked #11 pre-season in D2 and Joliet and Elgin are #1 & 2...

It is a different poll. I compared the two, and there are a lot of similarites, but also plenty of differences. One is Baseball News, the other from Perfect Game.

Like college football pre season polls, they are guesses, and the season has to play out. Who knows what the criteria is. Who knows which JC's can beat who. My only point was to show Heartland is getting serious respect which is great for such a new program.

I just checked. As an example Howard, where it was announced Jo Jo Maldanado is going is #5 on PG and #7 from Baseball news.

You never know until they play the game. No matter what happens Illinois has great JUCO baseball from north to south.

TNHN11,

If my memory serves me correctly, the NJCAA poll is based on input from the coaches from member programs. Oftentimes, the pre-season poll reflects how the program finished the prior year coupled with talent loss/gain. I could be totally wrong on this but I believe this was how it was explained to me by a NJCAA DII head coach a while back.

I hope to get to a few JUCO games this year because you are right, it's pretty good baseball!

Yes any pre-season poll is based on that. No ranking matters the first pitch of post-season, you have to win no matter who your playing.

I see many JUCO games and it is great baseball

TNHN11,

The main point I wanted to convey was the NJCAA poll is based on the input from the NJCAA coaches. If anything, the pre-season polls put a target on you for all the other programs to shoot for. It can be a good motivator either way.

My son played JUCO ball so I have seen my fair share of games too. I have continued to follow JUCO ball on the internet but not much of an opportunity to see any games. Hopefully, that will change this year!

Yes you are correct, you have a Tenn Tech eagle head?, do you go there or your son?.

My son graduated from there. I just haven't changed my avatar and I really like there new logo(s).

Good school, I like their baseball coach alot.

For my son, TTU was the right sized school with good academics, in a good town (Cookeville), with a good climate, a re-building baseball program with good facilities in a great state. It was a good fit. I guess the bonus was the hiking trip we made to the Smokies during fall break of his last semester!

I will be down there in a few weeks to watch one of my former players play his first college game.

TNHN11,

Please let me know if you need any information about Cookeville, TTU, TTU baseball etc. for your visit.

You two get a room. Sorry to break up the love fest, but I have brand new polls from the NJCAA.

Div 1: No one from Il. Previously metioned Howard is 6th.

Div 2: Elgin 7
Heartland 10
Oakton 16

Div 3: Joliet 1

Pre season All-Americans (I only metion schools from IL. I don't know where the kids played HS.

Div. 1: 3rd team Logan Mahon Pitcher Kaskaskia
3rd team Juan Alvarez Infield Wabash Valley

Div 2: 1st team Randy Hoelscher Pitcher Springfield
1st team Brandon Adams Catcher Lewis & Clark
1st team Kevin Crane outfield Parkland
2nd team Ryan Juris Pitcher Heartland
2nd team Noah Wethington OF Black Hawk
2nd team Tyler Wiesemeyer OF Heartland
3rd team Lyle Seaman Pitcher Oakton

Div 3: 2nd team Mike Ray infield Joliet
2nd team Brett Velon OF Joliet

BIG..thank you very much, I am only going to be there a day and cant get into too much trouble in that time frame??? thank you

bballdad1954,

At least we were "kind of" remaining on topic which if you look at the prior posts were....not, including your earlier post. But that's pretty much the norm since the early days of this site. What led you to look at NJCAA since they're not very reputable sources when compared to PG or BN? Also, like was earlier stated, it's just pre-season "stuff" which just puts a target on you. It's nice but you have to live up to the perceived reputation.

P.S. It's not a love fest. I'm already married, thank you very much and very much in love. It's simply a fellow webster trying to help another webster. People like you ruin it for others trying to share information.

TNHN11,

Please PM me if you need any information. Sorry for "hijacking" this thread....

Mike

Baseball dad, you failed to mention Springfield ranked #6 and Parkland #14....that is strange kinda...

Big..I would imagine our posts have been just fine with the powers above. I will PM you if I have anything further.

I am sorry I missed thm. They are excellent programs and deserve to be mentioned. My bad. Thank you TNHN.

BigMW, it was a joke. They probably could have been pm's but I wasn't attcking your posts. I really wans't implying an extra marital affair either, since I didn't know either poster's ***.

Also, how do you know which poll is "more reputable"? Since half the rosters of these schools have turn over each year, all the polls are educated guesses. Do you have a poll of the most reliable polls?

It's kind of hard to miss 6 and 14, but I digress....

I thought it was maybe a joke, but since I don't post here regularly anymore, and you perceived animosity towards our "lovefest", I fealt it required a stern response.

Personally, I would put more credence into the NJCAA polls since those coaches have seen the players and/or programs (been ther done that) but what do I know.....

As I've already said, it's just pre-season hype, so thrive with the target on your back or get shot.....

I didn't handle through a PM because I researched and realized TNHN11 had some earlier problems with this technology..... Sorry for being so insightful....

I have figured out how to do it, LOL....I sent you one?, you should have received by now...I am getting better with computers etc...everyday...LOl..

Have a nice weekend...