Heidelberg tops regional favorites
| Heidelberg coach Matt Palm has Ricardo Lizano and
the rest of the Student Princes looking for their first baseball
championship. Heidelberg sports information |
In our eight regional previews we see four teams (Cortland State, Heidelberg, Shenandoah, UW-Stevens Point) returning to Appleton from their 2010 appearance, with the odds-on favorite being the Heidelberg Student Princes. One of two strong programs, Kean or Johns Hopkins, is predicted to come out of the Mid-Atlantic region. The three others (Western New England, Trinity (Texas), Buena Vista), if they make the final round, it would be their first ever appearance in the Championship.
With the first month of competition behind us, Buena Vista,
Heidelberg, Johns Hopkins, Western New England, and UW-Stevens
Point have yet to play but we have seen three of the four favorites
start out strong. Kean and Shenandoah are undefeated having
beaten top competition. In Shenandoah's case it was one of
our favorites as Cortland State was the the Hornets second victim
of 2011. Trinity (Texas) has a 10-1 record with only a loss to
Birmingham-Southern, who is playing their last season as a
provisional member of D-III and ineligible for the playoffs until
2012. It was only Cortland State who stumbled at the beginning of
the season, compiling a 1-3 record. Three years ago, the Red
Dragons had a similar start and set a program record with a 38 game
win streak.
For the next three months, we will follow the action through the
spring trips, the confernce action and playoffs, and finally the
regional playoffs on the road to Appleton.
Preview summary
Region - Favorite (highest ranked team in the preseason Top 25 if
not favorite):
New England - Western New England (No. 13
Mass-Boston)
New York - No. 4 Cortland State
Mid-Atlantic - No. 3 Kean or No 6 Johns
Hopkins
South - No. 7 Shenandoah
Mideast - No. 1 Heidelberg
Central - Buena Vista (No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan)
Midwest - No. 2 UW-Stevens Point
West - No. 20 Trinity (Texas) (No. 8 Linfield)
