The Podcast About Division-III Baseball

Latest Episodes:

Episode 67: 2021 West Region Preview (OMG WE'RE BACK) Feb 19, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 67 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. The coronavirus pandemic cancelled the 2020 championship season and will make the 2021 season the craziest and most unpredictable D-III season we've ever seen (and hopefully will ever seen). We begin with some broad caveats about how we will be covering this season and why it will be as challenging as ever. Then we preview the West.

ASC (at 11:00)
- Concordia (Texas) brings back all of their main dudes and even added an arm from a regional rival -- they could be one of the best teams in the country
SCAC (at 16:30)
- Trinity (Texas) is primed to be excellent again, hopefully lead by #SeniorYearRafe #5thYearRafe
- Texas Lutheran has more than enough coming back to compete with the Tigers
- Southwestern lost two of their biggest arms but may have the bats to stay around at the top of the conference
SCIAC (at 25:00)
- The conference that might be one of the least likely to play based on state restrictions/regulations...is looking now like they may be able to play some baseball this spring, so we'll see
- if they play, Chapman is obviously still the favorite -- defending champs!
NWC (at 30:20)
- We never know what to make of this conference but are encouraged that they've got schedules for this spring and we could see it being a wide-open race

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

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Episode 66: Mr. Monocle and Tales of an 0-0 Season Mar 31, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 66 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. The coronavirus pandemic has officially ended the 2020 championship season, but the show must go on. This week's episode features two special guests:

Justin Meekins, senior OF at Salisbury on:
- finding out the season was cancelled during the 7th inning of a game
- hitting a dinger in his final game and pimping it
- whether he will try to come back for a 5th year
- playing for head coach Troy Brohawn, former big leaguer, who apparently dominated Barry Bonds?!?!?!
- favorite moments from his D3 career (two epic regional pitching performances)
- of course, the monocle, and everything that came with it: the inspiration for the hair and mustache, where he got the monocle, taking the photo with the women's tennis team, pissing off the photographer, being on ESPN.com, becoming accidentally famous on campus, and so much more
Ben Owen, junior C at Wesleyan (at 34:25) on:
- rescheduling the spring trip last minute once stuff started getting crazy
- being on a plane when finding out their biggest rival's season was cancelled
- being in denial about the season actually
- having a teammate that might be coming back for a SIXTH YEAR
- and more!

Thanks to Justin and Ben for joining us and sharing their D-III stories.

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

Subscribe + rate/review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-podcast-about-division-iii-baseball/id1342691759

Episode 65: Goodbye, 2020 D-III Season Mar 16, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 65 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. The coronavirus pandemic has cut the 2020 championship season short. We delve all the madness of how we got to this point, what we'll miss about this season, and more. Topics include:

An obvious preamble about how you should all wash your hands and stay home, if possible, and how there are far more important things being affected than D-III baseball
A general timeline of how this went from a few Spring Break trips being cancelled to the entire season being done in about a week
The four D-III teams that never even got to play a game: Tufts, Wesleyan, Ripon, Western Connecticut
Which storylines are we sad we won't be able to see with the season ending now?
What does this mean for seniors and eligibility? How is it different for D-III players vs. D-I players? What kind of players could we expect to see back in 2021?
Shout out to the D-III hoops players who had the tournament cancelled right before the Sweet 16
Presenting the Small Sample 1st Team All-Americans (mostly West and South players, and we obviously left out a ton)
Who are our hypothetical World Series picks?
We are joined by our friend and senior LHP at WashU, Jack Besser, to give us an active player's perspective of watching the season crumble in a matter of hours

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

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Episode 64: Top 25 Reaction and Hypothetical D-III Golden Spikes Winner Mar 03, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 64 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is our first podcast of the regular season and features mostly discussion of the latest Top 25 poll, plus a couple other individual shout outs.

Top 25 chat (at 3:25), including but not limited to:
- Quick hits on all 25 teams (sorry for no timestamps -- we go in order from 1-25) in the latest poll
- Whoa, Jake's WashU Bears are no. 1, that's cool!
- How to judge teams against each other when some teams have played 10+ games (SCIAC teams) and some have played zero (Southern Maine)
- The super hot fire Babson/Trinity (Texas) series
- Slow start for some Mideast powerhouse teams
- The teams outside the Top 25 that we like the most (at 32:50) AKA show Concordia (Texas) some respect SHEESH (plus some NWC chat)
A discussion (at 39:45) of how 2020 Golden Spikes Award watch list finalist Luke Summers (RHP, Fontbonne) could win the Golden Spikes Award over all the obvious D-I contenders. What does he need to do? How many perfect games does he need to throw? Does he need to go viral? Does it even matter how many games Fontbonne wins? What other D-III players could win the Golden Spikes in this absurd scenario?

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

Subscribe + rate/review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-podcast-about-division-iii-baseball/id1342691759

Episode 63: 2020 Mideast Region Preview Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 63 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is our eighth of eight regional preview pods -- this one covers the Mideast region and its four conferences. Topics include:

AMCC
- La Roche (at 2:00) returns their entire pitching staff as they try to win a 7th consecutive conference title
HCAC
- Franklin (at 5:15) proved capable of competing with the big boys in the regional last year, but have a ton of arms to replace
- The HCAC always has a competitive middle of the pack, including (at 9:15) Rose-Hulman, Anderson, Transylvania, and Earlham
MIAA
- Adrian (at 10:45) is super mega-loaded, perhaps as much as ever, but will still need to prove it come regional season
- Hope (at 15:15) had a gaudy win total last year thanks to a poor SOS, but there's real talent present
NCAC
- Wooster (at 19:55) will continue to be known for their elite offense featuring two All-Americans, but their success will depend on the development of their young pitchers
- Denison (at 25:05) returns almost every starter in an excellent lineup, but will need to replace some key arms
OAC
- Heidelberg (at 29:15) returns a healthy portion of their World Series team from a year ago
- Baldwin Wallace (at 34:15) gets a potential All-American back in their lineup, but the offense may need more than that to score enough to compete
- Obviously this conference could go in any direction, as teams like (at 38:15) Otterbein, John Carroll, Ohio Northern, Mount Union, and even Marietta are capable of reaching the conference tourney and making some noise
PAC
- Washington & Jefferson (at 43:35) is fresh off their second World Series appearance in three years -- probably time to stop doubting them
UAA
- Case Western (at 45:00) is playing another crazy schedule, so don't be surprised if they get in again at-large with 22 wins!

We concluded (at 50:30) with a few other notable player shout outs, our player and pitcher of the year picks for the region, and our teams to beat. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

Subscribe + rate/review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-podcast-about-division-iii-baseball/id1342691759

Episode 62: 2020 New York Region Preview Feb 22, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 62 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is our seventh of eight regional preview pods -- this one covers the New York region and its four conferences. Topics include:

SUNYAC
- Cortland (at 1:15) is Cortland, so obviously they're gonna win a lot of games and play a ludicrous schedule
- Oswego State (at 6:05) is still the Lakers, so we made more Lakers jokes (but also they are legit and we should stop sleeping on them)
Liberty
- Rochester (at 9:35) impressed us a lot at the regional last year, and now look like the favorite to repeat
- Ithaca (at 14:30) is joining this conference from the Empire 8 but have a ton to replace after a huge graduating class
- Other teams (at 17:25) like Union, Clarkson, RIT are usually relevant in this conference race
Empire 8 (or uh, the Empire 4?)
- St. John Fisher (at 20:00) might have the most all-region talent returning of any team in the country, but now they're in a barren wasteland of a conference...should be interesting!
Skyline
- Farmingdale State (at 23:00) is always a rock solid bet to lead the Skyline pack
- Other teams (at 27:00) like Manhattanville, St. Joseph's (Long Island) and Old Westbury could be in the mix
CUNYAC (at 29:40) doesn't have its own auto-bid but maybe they'll win the weird split one with the NAC again!
UAA
- NYU (at 30:40) is finally playing a more respectable schedule, but will it be enough to put them in the Pool B conversation?

We concluded (at 33:20) with a few other notable player shout outs, our player and pitcher of the year picks for the region, and our teams to beat. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

Subscribe + rate/review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-podcast-about-division-iii-baseball/id1342691759

Episode 61: 2020 Midwest Region Preview Feb 21, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 61 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is our sixth of eight regional preview pods -- this one covers the Midwest region and its four conferences. Topics include:

MIAC
- Saint John's (Minn.) (at 2:15) has some elite talent at the top of their roster but have a lot of pitching to replace
- St. Thomas (at 7:30) is trying to get back to prominence before being unceremoniously booted from the conference
- Gustavus Adolphus (at 10:15) will certainly be in the mix
- St. Olaf (at 13:15) got a first place vote too!
NACC
- Concordia-Chicago (at 14:40) might have the best pitching staff in the region
- Aurora (at 19:45) has come on very strong lately
- Benedictine (at 22:30) has a sneaky strong SOS and will compete
UMAC
- Bethany Lutheran (at 24:55) made the tournament with a team ERA over 7.00...now what? More dingers, hopefully.
- St. Scholastica (at 27:25) will look to regain control of a conference that used to be entirely theirs
WIAC
- Wisconsin-Whitewater (at 29:25) has reloaded as per usual, with a couple truly elite bats returning
- Wisconsin-La Crosse (at 36:20) boasts two of the best arms in the region
- Other WIAC contenders (at 39:00) like Platteville, Stevens Point, and Oshkosh may struggle to keep up

We concluded (at 43:35) with a few other notable player shout outs, our player and pitcher of the year picks for the region, and our teams to beat. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

Subscribe + rate/review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-podcast-about-division-iii-baseball/id1342691759

Episode 60: 2020 New England Region Preview Feb 20, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 60 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is our fifth of eight regional preview pods -- this one covers the New England region and its seven conferences. Topics include:

CCC
- Salve Regina (at 2:00) is the class of this conference and boasts two of the best strikeout pitchers in the region atop their rotation
- Teams (at 4:50) like Endicott, Roger Williams, Western New England, and Nichols will need to have a lot go right to compete with the Seahawks
GNAC (at 5:50)
- The last 12 titles have gone to either St. Joseph's (Maine) or Suffolk...maybe this is the year a team like Johnson & Wales could break the streak?
LEC
- Southern Maine (at 9:15) lost a ton of All-Region talent and still is star-studded as ever; such is life as the Huskies
- UMass-Boston (at 15:00) has a whole lot of offense to replace but a deep pitching staff could still take them far
- Rhode Island (at 20:05) has emerged as a legit sleeper in this powerhouse conference
- UMass-Dartmouth (at 22:30) has some studs and Eastern Connecticut will certainly hang around
MASCAC
- Westfield State (at 23:10) will probably continue to run the show but there is some room for a team like Fitchburg State, Worcester State, or Salem State to contend
NECC
- Mitchell (at 25:25) returns most of their best players and are primed to regain control of this conference
- New England College (at 28:25) will need to replace a huge chunk of the squad that went on the amazing run to the super regional in 2019
NESCAC
- Tufts (at 32:30) has enough to defend their title, but a weak schedule means they'll have to win it again to get in
- Trinity (Conn.) (at 34:05) made us believers last year and might have one of the best players in the country
- Middlebury (at 37:30) and Williams should be solid
NEWMAC
- Babson (at 39:10) is losing some key contributors but should remain an excellent team playing an impressively insane schedule
- Wheaton (Mass.) (at 42:45) continues to be a Damn Good Baseball Team™ and has some exciting young talent on both sides of the ball
- MIT (at 47:10) cannot be slept on as the defending champs, and they have similarly elite talent to matchup with their NEWMAC rivals

We concluded (at 50:30) with a few other notable player shout outs, our player and pitcher of the year picks for the region, and our teams to beat. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

Subscribe + rate/review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-podcast-about-division-iii-baseball/id1342691759

Episode 59: 2020 Mid-Atlantic Region Preview Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 59 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is our fourth of eight regional preview pods -- this one covers the Mid-Atlantic region and its eight conferences. Topics include:

AEC
- Cabrini (at 2:20) is still a very young program but has put themselves at the top of this fresh new conference
Centennial
- Johns Hopkins (at 4:40) will have to replace their top four pitchers but might also keep hitting enough home runs for it not to matter
- Swarthmore (at 9:30) still has several key pieces in place from its 2018 World Series run, and may be the favorite again
- Other teams (at 14:30) such as Franklin & Marshall, Haverford, Washington (MD), and Ursinus will all need a lot of things to go right to contend for the conference title
Landmark
- Susquehanna (at 17:10) showed well in the postseason last year, and will look to defend its Landmark title
- Catholic (at 19:20) should be right up there as always
MAC Freedom
- Misericordia (at 21:30) is going for its 10th straight conference title, and we should all respect how good they are a lot more
MAC Commonwealth
- Alvernia (at 25:40) has an exciting arm returning but will need to replace some big-time hitters
- Hood (at 27:30) might not have the track record, but is right up there in this conference in terms of talent
NEAC
- Penn State-Harrisburg (at 29:30) found a new home and is about to put up some absolutely obscene numbers
- Other contenders (at 32:15) will be Keuka, Penn State-Abington, and Penn State-Berks (despite graduating Toby Welk #WelkWatch)
NJAC (at 33:20) -- before we get into the teams, we explain why the reality show-level drama in this conference makes us love it so much
- Kean (at 35:30) was already returning a lot of talent but has brought in some elite reinforcements as well
- TCNJ (at 39:05) is always reliably Very Good, and could totally win this conference again after its 2019 title
- Rowan (at 41:30) essentially graduated a D-III All-Star team but it's not like they don't have more good baseball players
- Ramapo (at 45:10) lost some key players to NJAC rivals but you can never count out the Roadrunners
- William Paterson (at 48:40) is a sneaky selection to crash the NJAC party with a lot of exciting offensive talent
CSAC
- Keystone (at 51:30) is always fascinating to watch, and might be an intriguing new addition to the Pool B race

We concluded (at 53:45) with a few other notable player shout outs , our player and pitcher of the year picks for the region, and our teams to beat. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

Subscribe + rate/review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-podcast-about-division-iii-baseball/id1342691759

Episode 58: 2020 Central Region Preview Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 58 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is our third of eight regional preview pods -- this one covers the Central region and its four conferences, plus, of course, DA BEARS. Topics include:

CCIW
- North Central (at 3:05) boasts one of the best catchers in the country, and a more experienced pitching staff than usual
- Illinois Wesleyan (at 7:40) might have an elite 1-2 punch with Nick Figus and Quinn Gudaitis, with more depth beyond them than usual
- Other contenders (at 11:55) like Augustana and Millikin usually compete
SLIAC
- Webster (at 15:15) is crazy loaded and primed for another World Series run
- Spalding (at 23:15) has made us believers that they are a certified Good™ program
- Other contenders (at 27:10) like Greenville and Fontbonne could stay in the mix
ARC
- Coe's (at 28:15) postseason run last year was impressive but now they won't be surprising anyone anymore -- these Kohawks are no joke
- Buena Vista (at 33:10) should still have a chance to defend their title
- Wartburg (at 35:45) used to run this conference but have been trending down
MWC (at 36:40)
- This conference is fairly wide open so we touched on all the possible favorites: Chicago, Monmouth, Cornell, Ripon
UAA
- WashU (at 41:00) graduated the National Pitcher of the Year and still might have the best pitching staff in the country -- is that good? That seems good.

We concluded (at 49:50) with a few other notable player shout outs , our player and pitcher of the year picks for the region, and our teams to beat. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to thed3baseballpodcast@gmail.com

Subscribe + rate/review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-podcast-about-division-iii-baseball/id1342691759

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