USA South Rated Nation's Top D III Baseball Conference

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:
You will see D3 rosters with transfers from D1's for many reasons, least of which is they "couldn't cut it."

Great point (as always), redbird. The point actually extends a little further -- there are plenty of guys playing D3 ball in VA who had offers to play D1 somewhere else, but who decided to go to those D3 schools from the start for many reasons...including: (1) opportunity to play and make a difference right away; (2) better academic fit for the player at the D3 school than at the D1 school; (3) geographic preferences; (4) financial considerations. There's no question that by not having active D2 and JuCo baseball programs in Virginia, the D3 programs in Virginia are stronger; that's what makes it so great to go watch games between RMC and Lynchburg, CNU and Shenandoah, VWC and W&L, and on and on -- it's great baseball being played by very good players, a number of whom no doubt could be playing for D1 programs if they chose to do so.

That's not to diminish the strength of the D1 programs or to say that a D3 team could, would or should beat a D1 team. My point is only to note that there are many reasons why a particular player might be playing D3 ball instead of D1 ball, particularly in Virginia, and as redbird5 said, "he couldn't cut it at D1" is not the reason as often as you might think.

I think it would have been more accurate for me to have phrased my point differently. How about this:

the drop off from DI to DIII here in Virginia is comparable to the drop off from one conference to the next.

the ACC is stronger than the CAA which is arguably stronger than the Big South which is arguably stronger than the A-10 and so on. The drop then to DIII could be in the discussion as not otherworldly but rather a more modest drop than one might expect.

That's probably much closer. The thing that non-baseball fans don't realize is that in football and basketball, you just won't have a mind-boggling talent playing D III, except for the very rare occasion like the Colts rookie Garcon this season. In baseball,there are guys that are late bloomers, under the radar types, and guys that simply didn't want to go 1000 miles from home, that could clearly play at the D I level. You can't compare a major D I football game to a D III football game as the talent level is light years higher, but you do see players in D III baseball with extreme talent.

Is the average talent level in a USA South baseball game on the same level as the average talent in an ACC or SEC game? No, of course not, but some of the kids in that USAS game could hold their own in the ACC.

As a CNU fan, I do have to tell you that at a Valley League summer game, a pro scout told me that Kenny Moreland could have pitched absolute shut down baseball against any D I in Virginia, without a doubt. And I guess that's why he's doing well in the Orioles' minor league system so far, advancing further at this point that a lot of pitchers drafted by the O's at the same time. (He signed as a free agent hours after the draft).

I watch alot more DIII than DI, but I would add this:

From what I have seen, DI pitchers generally speaking have more command of the strike zone and their pitches, and overall better control.

Hitters can hit, whether DI or DIII.

DI players are physically bigger.

I tend to agree with the size of the players in D-1 as compared to D-3.I was in Cary at the USA Complex and N C State was practicing on the field next to our game.Every player looked to be 6'+ and 200lb +.These were men. You dont see rosters like that in D-3 baseball very often if ever.That is not to say bigger is always better.Their are many very talented smaller guys in Mlb,but it does stand out when you compare rosters of D-1 to that of D-3.I have many friends that could have easily played D-1 Baseball but they were not even looked at because they were 5'-9" and 155lb.Right or wrong is another argument I'm not qualified to argue.