Originally posted by shockfan89_
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1. Nothing I can provide statistics to back up but it just seemed like the quality of baseball was down overall this year. Perhaps a misperception on my part. Maybe it is just that the parity in college baseball continues to build which is not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe the top is not quite dominant and the middle is stronger. Maybe the BBCOR bats have something to do with that.
2. Having Dallas Baptist play a shadow MVC schedule this year certainly helped that MVC's RPI.
3. The MVC had a lot of Senior and Junior experience on most teams this year.
Bradley 8 Srs + 10 Jrs
Creighton 13 Srs + 9 Jrs
Evansville 3 Srs + 10 Jrs
Illinois State 9 Srs + 11 Jrs
Indiana State 10 Srs + 9 Jrs
Missouri State 7 Srs + 9 Jrs
Southern Illinois 4 Srs + 12 Jrs
Wichita State 5 Srs + 4 Jrs
Of course experience isn't always worth a lot. Creighton is an interesting case in that it went from 1st to worst with the most upper class experience on their roster.
I haven't analyzed in detail how much of this experience were key players but I think it is pretty clear the Shocks fielded the least experienced team in the league this year. Of the 5 seniors only Josh Smith and Don Lambert were key fixtures in the lineup. Kevin Hall and Mitch Mormann started the year as key players but gradually faded into role players. Drew Rainey was a non-factor.
Among the Juniors Johnny Coy had a very good year and has gotten better as the year has progressed. He will probably move on to the pros next year and will definitely be missed. Ryan Hege was unable to stave of Tyler Baker at catcher. With Tyler hitting below the Mendoza line that tells you something about what the Coaching staff thinks of Tyler's catching skills. TJ McGreevey had his moments, good and bad. Aaron Rea was not a key player.
The only sophomore I am concerned about losing to the draft is Cale Elam.
It will be interesting to see if the MVC can sustain this level of play as they cycle through these upper classmen. If the Shocks can just get the normal amount of year-to-year improvement and add some quality recruits to the mix then the next couple of years look to be on the upswing for the Shocks. Whether the MVC overall stays strong remains to be seen.
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