D-3 Regional At Large bids

mrmom,
I would encourage you to ask this question on the message boards at d3baseball.com.
They have some folks who really know this stuff.
The short answer is that in d3, at large is called Pool C and Pool B.
There are 3 Pool B bids which come from the schools who are independents or in a conference with not enough teams to be recognized for Pool A.
The Pool C is every other school which did not get an automatic berth, usually by winning the conference tourney.
In d3, travel cost and distance is everything, at least as important, if not more so than W/L's, strength of schedule/RPI. It is not the "best" 15 Pool C teams which get berths/invited. Money and travel play a role also.
With that said, there is some movement of schools out of region. Not a great deal, but some...perhaps 1 to as many as 3 schools in a year, but sometimes none.
In general, the Pool C's are not announced until the early morning hours on a Monday in mid-May, and, if selected, they will be playing at some location by Wednesday.

My school received what we were told was the last Pool C bid awarded in the country last spring. I had a final on the Monday and was up late studying the night before. I received a text from the shortstop, who was one of our senior captain, saying "We got in".

I took the test that Monday and my tests Tuesday morning, and left Tuesday afternoon for a team banquet at the Regional location. Our first game was Wednesday, and we played five games until we were eliminated in the semifinal game on Saturday afternoon.

Not sure how many bids are given out, although I'm sure infielddad is pretty much spot on.

Ironically enough, despite receiving a late bid like I mentioned, we were seeded #3 in the Regional. The #1 seeded team won the tournament and advanced to the CWS and the #2 seed eliminated us in the semifinal game in 11 innings.

Hello JH,

I have been reading your posts for a while and welcome a chance to have a conversation with you.

I have a "for instance" for you that I think will play out this season. Currently, Heidelberg is ranked #2 and Marietta is ranked #6. Not only are they in the same region, but in the same conference as well. Only one of them can win the conference tournament. I think it would be reasonable to expect the loser to get an at-large bid, especially if they both continue to play the same high quality of baseball. Now, would you want to have both of these teams playing in the same region? Probably not, but would it be fair to another region to put one of the top 10 teams in the country into that region? On a side note, wouldn't it be kind of crazy to have two schools from the same conference in the CWS?

OH BBMom- Good question. I think that this issue could be an interesting one to look at, but wouldn't necessarily occur with only Heidelberg and Marietta. In the SCAC, Millsaps and Trinity are consistent regional qualifiers, and Birmingham Southern will be as soon as their probationary period is uplifted. In the NESCAC you have Trinity and Tufts. The LEC has Eastern Connecticut, Keene State and Southern Maine...and UMass-Boston surprised everyone last year by not only coming out of the conference unscathed but winning the New England region as well and advancing to Appleton. SCIAC has Cal Lutheran, Pomona-Pitzer and potentially Chapman, who applied for conference membership this offseason. The list goes on and on in other conferences (I'm sure some Virginians will get heated at the lack of mention of Shenandoah and Christopher Newport, same with Wisconsin and Stevens Point/Whitewater).

As infielddad mentioned, I think a lot of the regional placement has to do with monetary limitations at each school. My school was one of three from our conference to get into the regional tournament last year, and we were all placed in the same regional (2 Pool C's and an auto bid from the conference tournament). Ideally, of course, the NCAA should distribute schools according to their rank and match up (similar to how Division I March Madness is done) and not focus on the geographic parameters of the schools involved. But, of course, because we play Division III ball and lack funding, that is nearly impossible. And for the record, I'm pretty critical of the NCAA usually, but I really don't believe this is their fault.

I think the importance of in-region scenarios is extremely evident with the fact that teams that you play within 200 miles of your campus are weighed into your overall "region record" by the selection committee. At least they're doing something...right, wrong or indifferent...to try to make the situation more justifiable.

If schools like Marietta and Heidelberg get split up, they could very easily end up in the CWS together like you said. And if they don't...it'll be one hell of a regional.

All good points JH! My son is a freshman at a D3, so I am just beginning to learn about the teams/conferences outside of our region. We played Carthage and Rhodes in Florida this year, and Adrian for our first Northern road trip. Three more schools that could be on your list. So far, it has been exciting and fun to watch the quality of baseball these teams are playing. I can't imagine what a tension-packed regional would be like!

I've been following along to your posts as well, and it obviously looks as though your son's team is out for an outstanding season. If they keep it up, they could be poised for a long run deep into the playoffs.

The regionals are great. I loved them not so much because of the level of play being higher, but because of the intensity of the situation. I've played on some showcase teams in the past and some pretty good summer teams, but none of those availed me of the opportunity to have the brotherhood that I felt during the tournament. Its a similar reason why I love March Madness so much...high quality athletes playing for nothing but the name on their jersey and the teammates that surround them.

Good luck to your son the rest of the way and if you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask. As a junior pitcher whos probably been through some similar situations that your son might find himself in, I will try to help in any way

Unfortunately, because of costs, the NCAA is not going to move teams in an effort to balance the competition in each Regional. In our son's senior year, the West Regional had 6 teams and all 6 were ranked in the top 25. The CWS winner came from that Regional.
When we first went through this in 2002, I thought it all seemed awfully unfair.
But, to be honest, over time I realized that even at the DI level, there are always teams and regionals where "fairness" is part of the discussion. I also realized the "fairness" part is minimized by winning.
As JH says, Regional competition is so much fun because of the intensity. Some know they could be playing college baseball for the last time. Some can taste Appleton. Some are fighting uphill from the first game. But it often is 25 guys battling together for very different reasons and at a very high level of play.

Great thread with great questions and responses. I think I saw a regional a year or so ago where Marietta, Wooster, and Heidelberg were all ranked in the top 20 and all found themselves in the same regional

Some of the best baseball anywhere is at D3 regionals and the CWS in Wisconsin. Everything JH says is true and more. I "watched" JH's game on live stats last year and almost punched out my computer screen when his teasm lost a heartbreaker in extra innings. JH pitched like an All-american in that game and may have set himself up for next level opportunities from that performance alone imho. When the games get to Appleton, many of them are on free video. Outstanding baseball and passion on display. Lasst year, my friend Smokey's son from Chicago won the national championship. It was a very emotional experience for all involved and there is nothing quite like it.

As I mentioned, the regional experience wasn't so much about the level of competition as it was about the team atmosphere.

We didn't expect to get a bid at all. In fact, we had already packed up our locker room and said goodbye to the seniors after the conference tournament. I was focused on my finals and then getting down to my summer team on the report date to get the next step of the baseball life started.

Our ace last year was 1st Team All-America and a 4th round draft pick by the Braves. We were the #3 seed, and the #6 seed was a team we'd played at their place earlier on in the season. Their coach is a former MLB player and obviously had a gameplan against our ace. Their approach, combined with a little bit of control issues, combined with some shotty defense, and we lost. It was his first loss of the year and we were absolutely shell-shocked. We were suddenly in the loser's bracket, and didn't have our go-to guy available until at least Sunday.

Our second game was against a conference opponent who'd beaten us three times during the season. It was a slugfest that involved six lead changes, but in the end we won the game 11-9. Our third and fourth games were against other opponents we'd never played before, and we had a great combination of timely hitting and clutch pitching performances to be able to pull those out as well.

By time Saturday rolled around, our confidence had been built back up. We were in the loser's bracket championship game against a team who we'd split with during the season. Their ace (who was ironically also drafted by the Braves, in the middle rounds) was unavailable.

As CD said, we lost the game on a walk-off single in the 11th inning, 6-5. The team that beat us ended up losing the championship round on another walk-off, and the team that won the region ended up losing to Smokey's team in the National Championship game.

Regardless if I'd thrown 0 innings or a perfect game in the regionals, the experience was second-to-none. I watched an interview with Huston Street once who said that the most fun he ever had on a baseball field was when he played at the University of Texas because all the guys were there simply because they loved playing the game. I think that playing at a competitive level in DIII ball takes that perspective to a whole different level, because truthfully, not a whole lot of players are going to move on to the next level. The game is pure, fun, and emotional.

I'd love for Smokey to chime in here as well. His sentiments were great to read throughout the CWS and certainly painted a great picture of how magical a winning run is at the collegiate level.

if you want to read spirited discussion on this topicc follow the D-3 message boards as plyoff time nears

Thanks everyone, my son's region has two top five teams...in the same conference...I was hoping they'd both possibly have a chance to move on but it sounds like one will probably not....

That's not to say another team wouldn't beat both!

mrmom,
That can happen and does.
Assuming that conference has a post season tournament, the winner gets the Pool A automatic bid.
If the second place team is nationally and regionally ranked and loses the Championship game, they are still eligible for and a strong candidate for a Pool C bid. The waiting is awful but it is worth it, as JH illustrates.
Now if that team loses early in the post season tournament, their chances drop, even if they are ranked nationally and regionally.
As JH pointed out earlier, the SCAC with Trinity and Millsaps have both ended up in post season play in the same years and it happens in other strong conferences too.

InfieldDAD, or anyone???

InfieldDAD had suggested going to the D3baseball message boards but I can't seem to find any message boards on the D3baseball site.

Please Advise

Here is the link:

D3 Boards

If you really want to drive yourself nuts; figuring who will make a regional can. You have W/L record, In-Region W/L record, Strength of Schedule and then when you think you have it figured out you have the intangible of "travel cost."

Watch the D3 Boards in early May, you will either laugh or cry.

D3 Tourney - so which teams have HSBBWers on them?

New England Regional at Harwich, Mass.
1. Tufts (26-7-1)
2. Western New England (38-9)
3. Wheaton, Mass. (29-10)
4. MIT (25-13)
5. Rhode Island College (21-18)
6. St. Joseph’s (Maine) (30-13)
7. Husson (29-15)
8. Bridgewater State (23-15)

New York Regional at Auburn, N.Y.
1. Cortland State (33-8)
2. Farmingdale State (26-15)
3. Keystone (32-10)
4. Brockport State (27-12)
5. Eastern Connecticut State (32-11)
6. Ramapo (30-12)
7. Clarkson (17-17)
8. Mitchell (23-9-1)

Mid-Atlantic Regional in Lakewood, N.J.
1. Kean (36-8)
2. Rowan (30-11-1)
3. Alvernia (35-7)
4. Misericordia (28-14)
5. Messiah (25-17)
6. Johns Hopkins (25-11)
7. Randolph-Macon (24-18)
8. Catholic (22-19)

Mideast Regional in Marietta, Ohio
1. Marietta (38-3)
2. Heidelberg (33-11)
3. Adrian (31-9)
4. Franklin (29-12)
5. Frostburg State (28-13)
6. Case Western Reserve (30-13)
7. Penn State-Altoona (28-11)

Central Regional in Bloomington, Ill.
1. Coe (32-10)
2. Carthage (30-10)
3. Thomas More (28-7)
4. Illinois Wesleyan (26-16)
5. Buena Vista (28-15)
6. Ripon (20-18)

South Regional in Millington, Tenn.
1. Christopher Newport (39-5)
2. Shenandoah (34-5)
3. Piedmont (31-13)
4. Salisbury (29-11)
5. Wabash (21-20)
6. Webster (31-11)

Midwest Regional in Whitewater, Wis.
1. UW-Stevens Point (32-8)
2. UW-Whitewater (32-11)
3. St. Scholastica (35-5)
4. Hamline (28-13)
5. St. Thomas (27-16)
6. Aurora (29-11)

West Regional in Abilene, Texas
1. Linfield (31-9)
2. Chapman (29-11)
3. Redlands (29-11)
4. Trinity (Texas) (33-11)
5. Texas-Tyler (33-6)
6. Concordia, Texas (30-15)

Mine play for Catholic. They play #3 Kean in their first game.

mr mom

try this.
http://www.d3baseball.com/landing/index

I am praying we can get more interest in this thread. Some of the best baseball in the nation is about to be played in this tournament and I am not sure some of our members appreciate that.

Lets get excited people

OK...I'm excited...

He's not there yet but Jr has sent his deposit to the University of Redlands and will be there next year...

GO BULLDOGS!!

quote:

Originally posted by Hawk19:
OK...I'm excited...

He's not there yet but Jr has sent his deposit to the University of Redlands and will be there next year...

GO BULLDOGS!!

That's what I am talking about!!!!! All the best to your son and huge congats on his championship senior season and MVP

Everybody knows Tigers eat bulldogs.


Hawk my son will be a Trinity next year.

Good stuff.. I see at least 3 Colleges that RR23JR has some communication with and has reciprocally shown some interest and notifying him about them qualifying. Exciting! I will be concentrating on the last 2 Regionals on the list.


Midwest Regional in Whitewater, Wis.
1. UW-Stevens Point (32-8)
2. UW-Whitewater (32-11)
3. St. Scholastica (35-5)
4. Hamline (28-13)
5. St. Thomas (27-16)
6. Aurora (29-11)

West Regional in Abilene, Texas

1. Linfield (31-9)
2. Chapman (29-11)
3. Redlands (29-11)
4. Trinity (Texas) (33-11)
5. Texas-Tyler (33-6)
6. Concordia, Texas (30-15



Good Luck to everyone!

Let's go Christopher Newport Captains! They appear to be the whole package-good hitting, good starting pitchers, and a solid bullpen. We'll find out soon enough as the South region looks loaded, and most likely CNU will play arch rival Shenandoah some more-they've already played each other 4 times this year.

Go Captains!

Very nice - some enthusiasm

BOF and Hawk19 - now you see why baseball is such a small world at the next level - very exciting times indeed

hokie - that should be one heck of a regional. I think the midwest will also be a barnburner.

quote:

Everybody knows Tigers eat bulldogs.

Hmmm...I guess tomorrow we'll know if this is a picture of a Bulldog going to a Bar-B-Q or just a Tiger with a pooper-scooper....



GO BULLDOGS

quote:

All the best to your son and huge congats on his championship senior season and MVP

Thanks. But his team carried him all season long...

Mideast region fan here, son is a freshman at Heidelberg. Even though this is their 4th consecutive trip to regionals, it is their first ever at-large bid.

As a Berg fan, I can tell you that Marietta is for real. Their pitching is unreal, and the heart of their batting order is almost impossible to get out. It is possible to beat them - we've won 1 of 4 meetings this year - but I don't see anyone beating them twice.

quote:

Originally posted by OH BBMom:
Mideast region fan here, son is a freshman at Heidelberg. Even though this is their 4th consecutive trip to regionals, it is their first ever at-large bid.

As a Berg fan, I can tell you that Marietta is for real. Their pitching is unreal, and the heart of their batting order is almost impossible to get out. It is possible to beat them - we've won 1 of 4 meetings this year - but I don't see anyone beating them twice.

You've got to have more faith than that. This is baseball. If we were to just decide them on paper, we might as well not play the games. I don't see Marietta being a lock although no doubt a tough cookie. Go back to Fresno State who went in as a #4 seed and ended up winning the national championship.

hokie - I am beginning to think the teams you root for are jinxed somehow (e.g, Baltimore, CNU)

I just checked and the number 6 seed Concordia Tx just beat the number 1 seed Linfield 5 - 2

There have been plenty of upsets mid-way through day 1 of the Regionals.

http://www.d3baseball.com/seas...hedule?date=20110518


The West Region has great pitching match ups during the two remaining games today between Chapman and UT Tyler and Trinity and Redlands. I believe each starter is 88-91 and at lest one can be 90-92.
Pretty good possibility all 4 starters could be drafted when they become eligible. The Trinity/Redlands game will have a video feed, too!!

Huge congrats to Case Western. Their first regional appearance ever against a perenial power in Adrian and they came away with an upset. What do you think about that Laura!!

It is good indeed they don't play these on paper

One of the very top, if not the top pitcher in all of DIII just finished a 2 hit shut out for Chapman in the West Region.
Only a sophomore, Brian Rauh, over 2 years, is 22-0, with an ERA under 2.00 and has 230 strikeouts in about 190 innings. Opponents batting average over 2 years: about .178.
Now comes the intriguing West Region match up of Trinity and Redlands. Most are picking Redlands based on their senior pitcher who is 12-2 this year, with both losses to Rauh, I think.

quote:

Only a sophomore, Brian Rauh, over 2 years, is 22-0, with an ERA under 2.00 and has 230 strikeouts in about 190 innings. Opponents batting average over 2 years: about .178.

Those are eye-popping numbers...

Heidelberg is starting to pull away... 9-3...

CD, I have never seen him.
The coaches at Trinity saw him last year in game 1 of the West Regional, a 4-3 loss for TU.
The kid can pitch...at any level of college baseball is what I was told.

Lots of upsets in the top 25 today...

Thus far, #2, #5, #7, #14, #15, #19, and #20 have been upset.

Catholic surprises #3 Kean 3-2

quote:

Originally posted by bcb3:
Catholic surprises #3 Kean 3-2

Trinity U lost 3-2. Had the bases loaded and no one out in the 8th...and only got 1 run.