| Linfield's Cole Bixenman was the NWC Player of the
Year. Linfield sports information |
By Ralph Turner
The West Region is noted for its balance and strong teams. Out of the West region, Chapman won the national championship in 2003 followed by George Fox in 2004 and with five West Region teams in the final regular season D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25, led by No. 5 Linfield, it could happen in 2011. The West Region tourney returns to Walt Driggers Field, McMurry in Abilene, Texas.
The other Top 25 teams in the West regional include No. 11 Texas-Tyler, which started the season with a 22-game win streak before hitting the meat of their schedule. The Patriots won the ASC-East and get a Pool C bid. At No. 12, Chapman finished the season strong by taking the series from Redlands, 2 games to one, on the last weekend of the regular season. No. 17 Trinity (Texas) earned the Pool A bid by winning the SCAC tourney back on April 24. SCIAC champion No. 19 Redlands won the bid on April 23 with 3 games to play in the regular season.
Favorite: Linfield. Head coach and former New York Yankee Scott Brosius leads his Wildcats back to the Regionals for the third time in the last four seasons. Linfield claimed the Northwest Conference automatic qualifier bid with 3 games to play after beating Chapman 3 games to 1 in their mid-April series in McMinnville, Ore.
Most likely to disappoint: Chapman, if for no other reason than they always expect to get to Wisconsin. This Chapman team is younger than most of the previous Panther teams who have made that trip.
Cinderella: Concordia (Texas). Led by head coach Tommy Boggs, the former Texas Ranger/Atlanta Brave, the Tornados were ASC-West co-champions, and then won the ASC Pool A bid over Texas-Dallas.
Players to watch
C Cole Bixenman, Linfield (.373 BA; 53 H; 44 RBI; .995
Fld%, NWC Player of the Year)
P Brian Rauh, Chapman (10-1; 1.88 ERA; 100.1 IP; 129 K; .186
BAA)
P Derek Johnson, Redlands (12-2; 2.48 ERA; 98.0 IP; 98 K; .224
BAA)
C/1B Kyle Felix, Trinity, Texas (.365 BA, 62 H; 13 HR; 124 TB;
.986 Fld%)
P Chad Sherman, Texas-Tyler (8-1; 1.49 ERA; 72.2 IP; 95 K; 18 BB;
.210 BAA)
P/C Collin Janssen, Concordia, Texas (.373 BA; 56 H;
25 RBI; 2-1; ERA 4.88 ERA 21 K)
P Colin Butschek, Concordia, Texas (8-3; 88.2 IP; 60 K; .291
BAA)