Drew will be one of seven
teams playing in the Landmark Conference this
spring.
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There will be a new look New York and Mid-Atlantic regions
this year. The formation of the Landmark Conference set the
dominoes falling with 17 teams changing conference affiliations. A
conference needs a minimum number of seven teams to get an
automatic bid. The MAC Commonwealth is the only conference that has
lost teams to fall under the limit where the Capital Athletic
Conference had a net gain of one program for a seven-team
conference.
After more than two years since its formation, the Landmark
Conference will begin its baseball conference schedule on March 15,
2008. The eight-member Division III conference includes: Catholic
University from the CAC; Drew University and the University of
Scranton from the MAC Freedom; Juniata College, Moravian College,
and Susquehanna University from the MAC Commonwealth, and the U.S.
Merchant Marine Academy from the Skyline. The eighth member of the
Landmark, Goucher, does not sponsor a baseball team.
The CAC sees the loss of Catholic to the Landmark but expands
with the inclusion of Wesley from the Pennsylvania Athletic
Conference and Villa Julie from the North Eastern Athletic
Conference. The NEAC will add Penn State Harrisburg, losing
Polytechnic and SUNY-Purchase to the Skyline. The Skyline will now
include Yeshiva (from the CUNYAC). Three teams are leaving the
Skyline. They are the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, now in the
Landmark; Stevens, moving to the Empire 8; and Manhattanville, now
in the MAC Freedom. The PnAC has lost both Arcadia to the Freedom
and Wesley to the CAC but maintain the automatic berth during the
two-year grace period.
In other regions, there have been few changes. In the New
England Region, St. Joseph (Maine) moves to the Great North
Athletic Conference, replacing Western New England which is now in
the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Milwaukee joins the Northern
Athletics Conference in the Central.