The Podcast About Division-III Baseball

Welcome to Episode 38 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. The regular season is in full swing, and there's a whole lot juicy D-III action to talk about. Here's what this episode includes:

• Top 25 spotlight (3:00)
  • checking in on each of the top 10 teams in the latest Top 25 poll plus a couple bonus teams from 10-25 (Piedmont, Denison, Wheaton (Ma.), Salisbury)
• Midseason awards -- this is a silly conversation since some teams have played 30 games and some have played 15 but we do it anyway because there are no rules on this podcast
  • Player of the Year candidates (at 17:35)
    • Toby Welk (Penn State-Berks) and Davis Mikell (Castleton) are on a different planet
    • Jake Martin (Trinity)
    • Cole Beeker (Swarthmore)
    • the Killer B's at Piedmont (Andrew Burden and Brady Ballstadt)
    • Noah Payne (Howard Payne but no relation somehow lol)
    • The East Texas Baptist dinger machine (Casey Combs and Seth Mikeska)
  • Pitcher of the Year candidates (especially dumb because it is so innings-based but we did our best) (at 22:23)
    • Expected contenders: Tyler Peck (Chapman), Danny Cody (Baldwin Wallace), Danny Serreino (Rowan)
    • Surprising contenders: Casey Brown (Pacific), Tyler McDonald (Monmouth),
    • Jake Dickmeyer and John Howard are awesome again
  • Rookie of the Year candidates (at 26:43)
    • It's Caleb Durbin's (WashU) to lose
• Shouts out to all the D-III alumni on full-season rosters (at 29:05)
  • We list them all, but some of our favorites include Tommy Parsons, Josh Fleming, Tanner Nishioka, Jake Fishman, J.P. Feyereisen, and OH YEAH THAT JORDAN ZIMMERMANN GUY
• Bias ball -- now we get to talk about OUR SCHOOLS (at 34:30)
  • 11 wins in a row for WashU as the Bears are scorching hot and Jake is feelin' damn good about that Pool B spot
  • Wooster's offense is mostly back to its normal rampant run-producing ways -- will they mercy-rule every conference game? (probably not but Jordan hopes so anyway)

...then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams.

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ.

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 38 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. The regular season is in full swing, and there's a whole lot juicy D-III action to talk about. Here's what this episode includes:

• Top 25 spotlight (3:00)
  • checking in on each of the top 10 teams in the latest Top 25 poll plus a couple bonus teams from 10-25 (Piedmont, Denison, Wheaton (Ma.), Salisbury)
• Midseason awards -- this is a silly conversation since some teams have played 30 games and some have played 15 but we do it anyway because there are no rules on this podcast
  • Player of the Year candidates (at 17:35)
    • Toby Welk (Penn State-Berks) and Davis Mikell (Castleton) are on a different planet
    • Jake Martin (Trinity)
    • Cole Beeker (Swarthmore)
    • the Killer B's at Piedmont (Andrew Burden and Brady Ballstadt)
    • Noah Payne (Howard Payne but no relation somehow lol)
    • The East Texas Baptist dinger machine (Casey Combs and Seth Mikeska)
  • Pitcher of the Year candidates (especially dumb because it is so innings-based but we did our best) (at 22:23)
    
    • Expected contenders: Tyler Peck (Chapman), Danny Cody (Baldwin Wallace), Danny Serreino (Rowan)
    • Surprising contenders: Casey Brown (Pacific), Tyler McDonald (Monmouth), 
    • Jake Dickmeyer and John Howard are awesome again
  • Rookie of the Year candidates (at 26:43)
    • It's Caleb Durbin's (WashU) to lose
• Shouts out to all the D-III alumni on full-season rosters (at 29:05) 
  • We list them all, but some of our favorites include Tommy Parsons, Josh Fleming, Tanner Nishioka, Jake Fishman, J.P. Feyereisen, and OH YEAH THAT JORDAN ZIMMERMANN GUY
• Bias ball -- now we get to talk about OUR SCHOOLS (at 34:30)
  • 11 wins in a row for WashU as the Bears are scorching hot and Jake is feelin' damn good about that Pool B spot
  • Wooster's offense is mostly back to its normal rampant run-producing ways -- will they mercy-rule every conference game? (probably not but Jordan hopes so anyway)

...then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams. 

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ. 

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 37 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. After completing our eight regional previews, this is our first podcast of the 2019 regular season, as 90% of D-III teams have started their seasons and we finally have some results to discuss! Our show this week is broken into a few segments, as follows:

• Top 25 chat (at 1:30)
  • Checking in on the dropouts: Misericordia, Babson, Oswego State
  • Welcoming the newcomers: Methodist, Birmingham-Southern, Wheaton (Mass.)
  • Piedmont is extremely fun and also really good (at 6:30)
• Rapid fire DO YOU BELIEVE IN THEM? with a few teams off to hot starts (at 10:00)
  • Concordia (Texas)
  • Huntingdon
  • Johns Hopkins
  • Washington College
  • Kean
  • Concordia-Chicago
• Notable individual performers so far (at 23:12)
  • Matt Steindorf and Connor Bailey at Willamette
• We Are Just Excited To Get Outside (24:50)
  • Discussing the extremely understandable but also hilarious nature of being excited to play baseball outside
• Wooster + WashU update (they're our schools which means we get to talk about them more, sorry!)
  • The Scots are only a few games in but Jordan is still optimistic and excited about the rest of Wooster's Florida trip (at 30:40)
  • Jake is hyped about DA BEARS after their hot start despite their hideous 7-2-1 record (ties are just so ugly) and freshman shortstop Caleb Durbin looks like the real deal (at 32:18)

...then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams.

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ.

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 37 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. After completing our eight regional previews, this is our first podcast of the 2019 regular season, as 90% of D-III teams have started their seasons and we finally have some results to discuss! Our show this week is broken into a few segments, as follows:

• Top 25 chat (at 1:30)
  • Checking in on the dropouts: Misericordia, Babson, Oswego State
  • Welcoming the newcomers: Methodist, Birmingham-Southern, Wheaton (Mass.)
  • Piedmont is extremely fun and also really good (at 6:30)
• Rapid fire DO YOU BELIEVE IN THEM? with a few teams off to hot starts (at 10:00)
  • Concordia (Texas)
  • Huntingdon
  • Johns Hopkins
  • Washington College
  • Kean
  • Concordia-Chicago
• Notable individual performers so far (at 23:12)
  • Matt Steindorf and Connor Bailey at Willamette
• We Are Just Excited To Get Outside (24:50)
  • Discussing the extremely understandable but also hilarious nature of being excited to play baseball outside
• Wooster + WashU update (they're our schools which means we get to talk about them more, sorry!)
  • The Scots are only a few games in but Jordan is still optimistic and excited about the rest of Wooster's Florida trip (at 30:40)
  • Jake is hyped about DA BEARS after their hot start despite their hideous 7-2-1 record (ties are just so ugly) and freshman shortstop Caleb Durbin looks like the real deal (at 32:18)

...then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening!

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams. 

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ. 

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 36 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is the final regional preview podcast -- this episode focuses on the loaded New England region. We start with the CCC (at 2:10) where the Western New England Golden Bears will look to repeat as champions with Salve Regina closely behind them. Next, it's GNAC time (at 8:55), as the Suffolk Rams will be going for their fifth straight conference title. Then it's time (at 12:25) for the not-so-little Little East Conference, home to two of the most talented teams in the country in UMass-Boston and Southern Maine. Next (at 19:51), we discuss the MASCAC, where the Westfield State Owls will likely handle business yet again. It's then time (at 22:08) to talk about the NECC, where the newcomer New England College Pilgrims will look to challenge Mitchell, the perennial favorites and defending champs. Then (at 25:00) we wade through the mess that is the NESCAC, where all the players will probably be MLB general managers someday but we have no clue who is actually gonna win the conference. Finally (at 31:05), we dive into the NEWMAC, where we love the Babson Beavers but they will be contested mightily by Jake's favorite baseball team of all time, the Wheaton (Mass.) Lyons. We conclude (at 41:30) by shouting out some other notable players and then picking our players and pitchers of the year, and our teams to beat.

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams.

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ.

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 36 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is the final regional preview podcast -- this episode focuses on the loaded New England region. We start with the CCC (at 2:10) where the Western New England Golden Bears will look to repeat as champions with Salve Regina closely behind them. Next, it's GNAC time (at 8:55), as the Suffolk Rams will be going for their fifth straight conference title. Then it's time (at 12:25) for the not-so-little Little East Conference, home to two of the most talented teams in the country in UMass-Boston and Southern Maine. Next (at 19:51), we discuss the MASCAC, where the Westfield State Owls will likely handle business yet again. It's then time (at 22:08) to talk about the NECC, where the newcomer New England College Pilgrims will look to challenge Mitchell, the perennial favorites and defending champs. Then (at 25:00) we wade through the mess that is the NESCAC, where all the players will probably be MLB general managers someday but we have no clue who is actually gonna win the conference. Finally (at 31:05), we dive into the NEWMAC, where we love the Babson Beavers but they will be contested mightily by Jake's favorite baseball team of all time, the Wheaton (Mass.) Lyons. We conclude (at 41:30) by shouting out some other notable players and then picking our players and pitchers of the year, and our teams to beat. 

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams. 

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ. 

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 35 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is the seventh of eight regional preview podcasts -- this episode focuses on the Midwest region. But before getting into the frigid tundra of the Midwest, we discuss the latest Top 25 poll (at 0:30) and which teams have surprised and disappointed so far. Then we put on our parkas and head north to the MIAC (at 5:03), where the historic rivalry between St. John's and St. Thomas has been interrupted by Bethel Royals and their comically good pitching staff. Next (at 13:50), it's time for the NACC, where Concordia-Chicago will have to reload after graduating a horde of talented seniors and fend off the Aurora Spartans for the title. We then head back farther north to the UMAC (at 20:10), where the Bethany Lutheran Vikings are fresh off ending St. Scholastica's two-decade reign of dominance and look ready to start a title streak of their own. Finally, we look to the powerhouse, but bidless conference of the Midwest, the WIAC (at 26:30), where Whitewater, La Crosse, and Oshkosh will duke it out once again for the precious Pool B bids. We conclude (at 40:52) by shouting out some other notable players and then picking our players and pitchers of the year, and our teams to beat.

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams.

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ.

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 35 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is the seventh of eight regional preview podcasts -- this episode focuses on the Midwest region. But before getting into the frigid tundra of the Midwest, we discuss the latest Top 25 poll (at 0:30) and which teams have surprised and disappointed so far. Then we put on our parkas and head north to the MIAC (at 5:03), where the historic rivalry between St. John's and St. Thomas has been interrupted by Bethel Royals and their comically good pitching staff. Next (at 13:50), it's time for the NACC, where Concordia-Chicago will have to reload after graduating a horde of talented seniors and fend off the Aurora Spartans for the title. We then head back farther north to the UMAC  (at 20:10), where the Bethany Lutheran Vikings are fresh off ending St. Scholastica's two-decade reign of dominance and look ready to start a title streak of their own. Finally, we look to the powerhouse, but bidless conference of the Midwest, the WIAC (at 26:30), where Whitewater, La Crosse, and Oshkosh will duke it out once again for the precious Pool B bids. We conclude (at 40:52) by shouting out some other notable players and then picking our players and pitchers of the year, and our teams to beat. 

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams. 

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ. 

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 34 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is the sixth of eight regional preview podcasts -- this episode focuses on the Mideast region. But before getting into the beasts of the Mideast, we have a brief discussion (at 0:45) about the first Top 25 poll of the season and why we should probably all just relax for a few weeks. We then begin our regional preview (at 4:00) with the AMCC, where La Roche is sure to reign supreme again with literally the entire lineup returning (!!!) and some elite pitching as well. Next (at 7:20), we head to the HCAC where we ponder just how repeatable the offensive juggernaut known as the Franklin Grizzlies could be in 2019, and why Earlham might be best suited to challenge them. Then (at 13:40) we head to the NCAC where Jordan does his best to suppress his Wooster bias while also objectively assessing a team that should definitely be one of the best teams in the country once again. Also, how will Wabash follow up their magical 2018 run? And can Denison stay in the mix for a postseason spot? After that, we dive into the outstanding OAC (at 26:00), where Baldwin Wallace and Otterbein look like a cut above talent-wise, but we are certainly done making the mistake of counting out Marietta (also Heidelberg and Ohio Northern are no joke). We then head (at 36:55) slightly north to the MIAA, where the Adrian Bulldogs will likely continue to dominate, despite losing D-III legend/friend of the podcast Tommy Parsons to graduation/pro ball. Our final conference spotlight (at 40:45) touches on the PAC, where Washington & Jefferson will likely return to the top of the standings after a relatively disappointing 2018. Finally, we touch on the two independent teams in the region. First (at 42:40), we discuss Case Western and their frustrating snub last season, the development of Rocco Maue, and why we still expect a lot from the Spartans in 2019. Then (at 48:12), we briefly touch on the newly independent Thomas More Saints, who are giving it one last ride in D-III before becoming an NAIA school. We conclude (at 50:00) by shouting out some other notable players and then picking our players and pitchers of the year, and our teams to beat.

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams.

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ.

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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

Welcome to Episode 34 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. This is the sixth of eight regional preview podcasts -- this episode focuses on the Mideast region. But before getting into the beasts of the Mideast, we have a brief discussion (at 0:45) about the first Top 25 poll of the season and why we should probably all just relax for a few weeks. We then begin our regional preview (at 4:00) with the AMCC, where La Roche is sure to reign supreme again with literally the entire lineup returning (!!!) and some elite pitching as well. Next (at 7:20), we head to the HCAC where we ponder just how repeatable the offensive juggernaut known as the Franklin Grizzlies could be in 2019, and why Earlham might be best suited to challenge them. Then (at 13:40) we head to the NCAC where Jordan does his best to suppress his Wooster bias while also objectively assessing a team that should definitely be one of the best teams in the country once again. Also, how will Wabash follow up their magical 2018 run? And can Denison stay in the mix for a postseason spot? After that, we dive into the outstanding OAC (at 26:00), where Baldwin Wallace and Otterbein look like a cut above talent-wise, but we are certainly done making the mistake of counting out Marietta (also Heidelberg and Ohio Northern are no joke). We then head (at 36:55) slightly north to the MIAA, where the Adrian Bulldogs will likely continue to dominate, despite losing D-III legend/friend of the podcast Tommy Parsons to graduation/pro ball. Our final conference spotlight (at 40:45) touches on the PAC, where Washington & Jefferson will likely return to the top of the standings after a relatively disappointing 2018. Finally, we touch on the two independent teams in the region. First (at 42:40), we discuss Case Western and their frustrating snub last season, the development of Rocco Maue, and why we still expect a lot from the Spartans in 2019. Then (at 48:12), we briefly touch on the newly independent Thomas More Saints, who are giving it one last ride in D-III before becoming an NAIA school. We conclude (at 50:00) by shouting out some other notable players and then picking our players and pitchers of the year, and our teams to beat. 

Click here to see our 2019 Preseason All-American teams. 

Follow us on Twitter @d3baseballpod (DMs are open if you want to reach us there) and @CespedesBBQ. 

Send us your best D-III stories or any other comments or questions to [email protected]

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