Madtown Bomber

yeah from what I have heard his future is more in baseball then football.

Colby, do you know what the restrictions are put into place Serviceman? Is it the same as football? Cause if there isn't then that Jared Munde kid is a draftable kid.

Just got back from Millington, Tennessee and the Service Academy Spring Classic. Navy won the whole dang tourney by beating Notre Dame, Air Force, and Memphis. The 2 teams that were supposed to be good down there were rather suspect in their play in Notre Dame and Oklahoma. Memphis finished 2nd and have some real nice pitching. Here is the breakdown of the talked about players and the players that stood out. Navy: Jared Munde a senior outfielder had a flat out dominate weekend. He hit the ball all over the ball park and from what I heard hit Memphis hard down there today. He was the tourney MVP going 6 for 12 with 2 homeruns. One was an absolute BOMB! I mean it was smashed. At the time was the farthest college homerun I have ever seen. Notre Dame Jeff Samardzija a junior pitcher who is more know for his football skills as a WR on the Irish is a flat out stud on the hill. Watched him pitch against Air Force and he went 6 and gave up only a run. He wasn't on like I expected but threw very hard. Jeff Manship a junior pitcher was near dominate against Oklahoma this afternoon. Pitched beautifully. Only mistake he made was a 2 out fastball up to Aaron Reza with Rohlinger sitting on deck. Had 8 Strike outs in 5 innings. Doesn't throw as hard as Samardzija but has very good stuff. Matt Bransfield a senior outfielder was pretty good. He came into this tourney as one of the more talked about players but really didn't do to much. Hit some solid balls but not really any power. Memphis Memphis doesn't have a lot of draftable talent on roster right now due to the Age limits but they have some young pitchers that are going to cause a lot of problems down the line. Remember the name Scott McGregor who dominated Oklahoma in his first start. He his low to mid 90's from what I was told and had a hammer! He gave up 3 hits in 6 innings. Oklahoma Ryan Rohlinger a senior INF may have only had 1 hit the entire weekend but that one hit was a total smash job! Cleared the big scoreboard in LCF. It was smashed. I hope this reason doesn't hurt Rohlinger...Oklahoma's offense sucks flat out no two ways around it. He doesn't see anything to hit. Friday he didn't see one fastball and he hit everything hard but at people. Saturday, hit the one fastball he saw all weekend over 450 feet, and Sunday he saw 1 strike and he hit it to the wall in dead center. He walked 7 times and was hit with a curve ball in the back. He reached base 9 times for the weekend but he doesn't see anything to hit, nor will he until this team hits for him. Daniel McCutchen a senior pitcher, may have finally found his fastball. He was in the low 90's with great movement. Went the entire game for Oklahoma and in reality should have went only 7 but anyways he pitched awesome. 6 hits and 10 K's. Air Force and Indiana State don't really have real draftable guys. If you guys have any questions on specific guys let me know.

Excellent points Blazer! When you look at it like that you are absolutly right. I guess more then anything I might a little anti-UWM. It is just frustrating to me that they can't have a more productive team and I for the life of me can't figure out why they play at the field they play at. There are high school fields that are better then that place. I guess that is frustating for me. For arguement sake Blazer, look at the strength of the WIAC, and selected private schools from this state, do you feel that there are players on teams that UWM missed or that should be playing division 1 somewhere? I know this is a whole new debate away from the started topic but I look at Whitewater with the 2 kids drafted last year, Brady Endl the year prior and the other that signed an independent deal is the talent pool at Whitewater comaparable atleast last year to a Horizon League team? Just wondering you thoughts.

and on the subject of this later starting date, I was talking to a few people about this afternoon and ultimately this hurts the student athletes in this situation. It hurts their developmental time and also exposure to top flight competition. That article written was correct in saying there are definatly alternatives that were not addressed. Let the Big Ten leave. Their baseball programs for the exception of Ohio State and Minnesota stink. There are plenty of talented ball players in those states but they leave to go south because they can't recruit.

1. I did not know that was the case. I guess that makes sense. It is such a shame that Madison doesn't have a team now. It isn't a monatary issue anymore it is strictly a title 9 issue which is kinda stupid in this day and age. 2. Do you really feel like this would be a doormat team? Lets be fair and say that the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee's talent level is that of a glorified division 3 school? It would be hard pressed to say that UWM could have defeated last years Whitewater team. Plus UWM's facilities are horrible for baseball. I think kids in this state need a stronger altenative in this state than UWM. Granted the top kids will always head south like they should but these kids that go to UIC or Bradley or these small other division 1 kids need to be kept in state. It is frustrating to watch college kids like Zink, which I am sorry to hear about his injury leave this state to go play at a small northern division 1 university when we should be able to keep them in house. Whitewater could allow that or any possible alternative. I like you agree it is highly unlikely but just look at the possible team you could put together with the instate kids. with the already in college talent from Wisconsin... C Brandon Hall, Sophomore, Lake City CC, Brookfield Central High School. Committed to UW-Milwaukee if not re-drafted this year. 1B Tyler Beranek, Sophomore, Lake City CC, Waukesha South High School. Commited to South Alabama University. 2B Andy Becker, Junior, Concordia (WI) University, West Allis Nathan Hale High School. Left UWM to play for Doug Gonring and Willie Mueller. SS Grant Berkovitz, Sophomore, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Sheboygan North High School. Honestly should be at a bigger D1 school then UWM. 3B Ryan Rohlinger, Senior, Oklahoma University, West Bend East High School Rohlinger was 2nd team all big 12 behind Alex Gordon, the national player of the year. OF Tim Schlosser, Sophomore, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Oconomowoc High School Should be a division 1 player. OF Adam Rohlinger, Senior, Concordia University (WI), West Bend East High School. Older Brother of Ryan Rohlinger, injuries have slowed Adam down but his talent is still top notch. OF Joe Nowicki, Senior, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Thomas More High School. Led almost all hitting lists at UWM. DH Ryan Schweikert, Sophomore, University of Illinois-Chicago, Brookfield Central Reputation preseeds itself. Pitching Staff would be near dominate! RHP Kelby Mack, Junior, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Lodi High School Pitched very well at MATC. RHP Ryan Zink, Junior, University of Illinois-Chicago, Madison La Follette High School Anything else said? RHP Daryl Maday, Junior, University of Arkansas, Westosha Central High School Same as Zink RHP Jason Berken, Junior, Clemson University, DePere High School Can he finally stay healthy? RHP Dan Luczak, University of South Carolina, Kenosha Tremper High School Can he get a chance this year? RHP Travis Kempf, Sophomore, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Kewaskum High School Transfered in from UIC Probably missed others and maybe you feel that these players don't warrent it but I think that you could field a competitive team Big Ten, maybe even a tourney worthy team.

I was just listening to a baseball chat with some guy on Sirius Radio and he said that the NCAA, NAIA, and the National Baseball Coaches Association are finalizing an agreement that would push back the start date for all college baseball games to the third weekend of February and limit the number of non-conference contests a school can play so that Northern Universities can save money on travel budgets and to be competitive. My question is WHY? Are people honestly going to believe that pushing the start date back is going to start to make teams like Michigan, UW-Milwaukee, and Minnesota into being national powers? This is rediculous to think that is the case. What this agreement is going to do is rob college baseball fans and MLB scouts into seeing great non-conference matchups and seeing how top prospects perform against the best competition. Like how Rohlinger would stack up against Rice or Long Beach State. In my eyes that is a little better measuring stick then seeing Rohlinger stack up against Kansas State or the token mandatory blind sisters of the poor teams that come into Norman to make Oklahoma money. Just leave the season the way it is. It is already frustrating enough not to have a team in Madison but this would just throw me over the edge. Ok, I just needed to vent... On a side note, has anybody heard the talk about Whitewater exploring the possibilities of moving up divisions and into the baseball conference with Northern Illinois? I doubt it is true but have heard it wispered louder over the past month.

I flew down to Texas to watch the Classic at Rice with Oklahoma, Lamar, and the best college team name Long Beach State "Dirtbags." I got to see a bunch of highly rated players play and these are the impressions I came away with. Rice: Eddie Degerman was just great! Gave up only a cheap leadoff hit to the leadoff hitter for Oklahoma. Oklahoma is no world beater but they are no slouch either but Degerman was dominate! 10+ K's in 7 innings. Josh Rodriguez was ok. Seemed to be just marginal. Can hit to all the fields but swing was pretty long. Joe Savery can flat out swing the stick. He is intimidating up there and he can hit pretty much every pitch. He can drive the ball to all fields. Long Beach State: Jared Hughes looked pretty good. Lamar can hit a little bit. They are the same team that threw up a 21 spot on a Oklahoma team during opening weekend. Hughes has good stuff but he very robotic if that makes sense. He reminds me a lot of a Kevin Millwood type. I might be way off but when watching him in person that is who it reminded me off. Evan Longoria is by far the best pure hitter I have seen in the last 2 years of watching college baseball. He can flat out rake and he has suprising power. Definate top half of the first round material. Oklahoma: Ryan Rohlinger is by far the only top level talent on the team. He usually hits the ball hard. Has pretty good plate discipline. Plays outstanding defense. Daniel McCutchen has regressed so much. He was tabbed as a pitcher to watch but he might be doing a lot of watching if he continues to pitch the way he has. His pitches are flat and do not move. His off speed stuff is horrible. PJ Sandavol has some pretty good stuff. He shutdown a good Long Beach State team. Seems that he may move up the rotation if McCutchen keeps pitching poorly.

with the already in college talent from Wisconsin... C Brandon Hall, Sophomore, Lake City CC, Brookfield Central High School. Committed to UW-Milwaukee if not re-drafted this year. 1B Tyler Beranek, Sophomore, Lake City CC, Waukesha South High School. Commited to South Alabama University. 2B Andy Becker, Junior, Concordia (WI) University, West Allis Nathan Hale High School. Left UWM to play for Doug Gonring and Willie Mueller. SS Grant Berkovitz, Sophomore, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Sheboygan North High School. Honestly should be at a bigger D1 school then UWM. 3B Ryan Rohlinger, Senior, Oklahoma University, West Bend East High School Rohlinger was 2nd team all big 12 behind Alex Gordon, the national player of the year. OF Tim Schlosser, Sophomore, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Oconomowoc High School Should be a division 1 player. OF Adam Rohlinger, Senior, Concordia University (WI), West Bend East High School. Older Brother of Ryan Rohlinger, injuries have slowed Adam down but his talent is still top notch. OF Joe Nowicki, Senior, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Thomas More High School. Led almost all hitting lists at UWM. DH Ryan Schweikert, Sophomore, University of Illinois-Chicago, Brookfield Central Reputation preseeds itself. Pitching Staff would be near dominate! RHP Kelby Mack, Junior, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Lodi High School Pitched very well at MATC. RHP Ryan Zink, Junior, University of Illinois-Chicago, Madison La Follette High School Anything else said? RHP Daryl Maday, Junior, University of Arkansas, Westosha Central High School Same as Zink RHP Jason Berken, Junior, Clemson University, DePere High School Can he finally stay healthy? RHP Dan Luczak, University of South Carolina, Kenosha Tremper High School Can he get a chance this year? RHP Travis Kempf, Sophomore, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Kewaskum High School Transfered in from UIC

I think you are going to see the Milwaukee Brewers take a few of those project kids late in the draft this year. I know they have been getting a lot of heat lately for letting some of these kids slip through the cracks and atleast drafting a kid that they don't attend to sign anyways just to give them a good rep. Johnny Logan in the Milwaukee area is really beginning to deteriate. He was a heck of a player but no longer has the skills IMO to scout the area.