By Jim Dixon, D3sports.com
| Lynchburg will be looking for
their first regional championship this weekend. Lynchburg athletics photo |
The South regional is full of post season experience with four teams having made their last trip to Appleton in the past decade, Christopher Newport (2003), Salisbury (2011), Shenandoah (2010), Rowan (2005). The rest of the field, Lynchburg and Messiah, are looking to make the final round for the first time.
The teams battling for the regional title in Virginia are do not just have a past record of success, but have excelled on the diamond this year as well. Out of the six regional participants, three are in the top 10 in winning percentage and only Messiah is not ranked in the Top 25. Messiah is the only team in the playoffs with a sub .500 record but the Falcons swept through their conference, defeating regular season champion Alvernia twice. If a team takes Messiah lightly, they could very well find themselves in the losers bracket or heading home instead of Appleton.
South Regional schedule
Wednesday, May 16
G Time Participants
1 9:30am Christopher Newport
(30-7) vs. Messiah (19-23)
2 1:00pm Salisbury (31-7)
vs. Lynchburg (34-8)
3 4:30pm Shenandoah (29-11)
vs. #4 Rowan (30-13)
Thursday, May 17
4 9:30am Loser of game 1
vs. Loser of game 2
5 1:00pm Winner of game 1
vs. loser of game 3
6 2:00pm Winner of game 1
vs. Winner of game 3
Friday, May 18
7 9:30am Winner of game 5
vs. Winner of game 6
8 1:00pm Winner of game 4
vs. loser of game 6
9 4:00pm Winner of game 8
vs. loser of game 7
Saturday, May 19
10 10:00am Winner of game 7 vs. Winner of
game 9
11 2:00pm Winner of game 10 vs.
loser of game 10 (if necessary)
Favorite: The CNU Captains are playing on their
home field, and they will have a lot of support from the stands. As
the number one seed, it is no surprise that they are the favorite
in 2012 to come out of the South region this weekend. The Captains
will have the only sub-.500 team as their first game and if they
overlook Messiah, a stumble will open the door for the rest of the
field. Their cause was helped when powerhouse Birmingham Southern
was moved into the Central regional.
Most likely to disappoint: Shenandoah has the
championship round circled on their calendar every year. In their
last season in the USA South they finished second to Christopher
Newport in the regular season and again in the conference
tournament. With the arrival of Kevin Anderson at the helm,
Shenandoah has been a fixture on the national stage. The Hornets
will sting if they suffer another loss in Captains' Park.
Cinderella: Lynchburg is ready for the ball.
They are a solid team that rolled through the ODAC tournament. The
Hornets are ninth in the nation in scoring, as they take advantage
of the opportunities to get a run home when presented. They can
also keep the opposition off the boards with a pitching staff that
ranks 59th in ERA and a defense that is 28th best in the D-III.
Players to watch:
RP Ryan Fleischman, CNU (2-2, 2.00 ERA, 9 SV, 27.0 IP, 20 H, 10
BB, 31 K, .208 OBA)
OF Bill Root, Salisbury (.400 AVE, 41 R, 5 2B, 25 RBI, 67 TB, 21
SB)
OF Cory Nelson, Shenandoah (.329 AVE, 43 R, 21 2B, 6 HR, 38 RBI, 2
SB)
SP Mike Behar, Rowan (6-0, 3.21 ERA, 42.0 IP, 48 H, 14 BB, 20 K,
.293 OBA)
3B Dan Savage, Lynchburg (.406 AVE, 38 R, 20 2B, 2 HR, 48 RBI, 95
TB, 2 SB)
C Ryan Brown, Messiah (,343 AVE, 36 R, 15 2B, 7 HR, 32 RBI, 84 TB,
3 SB)