The DII Report: An updated look at the projected DII baseball championship bracket
Welcome back to The DII Report newsletter. Each week, we will delve into the world of NCAA Division II sports, focusing on the teams and student-athletes to watch. Be sure to check out the DII Nation Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube for more insight on the world of DII sports.
THE DII REPORT
It is March and if you have followed me for any length of time, you know the next few weeks are incredibly difficult for a DII national beat writer. This Sunday is selection day for the DII men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, and I will be appearing live on both selection shows (here at 10 p.m. ET and here at 10:30 p.m. if you care to watch).
That means this week will be a shorter newsletter, so I hope you’ll forgive me. But don’t worry, there are still some juicy baseball notes below.
A live look: North Georgia Nighthawks
(I will attempt to profile a team I watch in person to share video and thoughts throughout the season. I have seen North Georgia twice now and have walked away impressed.)
The North Georgia Nighthawks had some holes to fill this season, but thus far, have looked good in doing so. Head coach Tom Cantrell has been one of the best in DII baseball for some time, and with his track record, there was no reason to expect the Nighthawks to stumble very much out of the gate.
The two pitchers I have watched thus far are a large reason why North Georgia has been so good so early. Friday-night started Cade Heil and Saturday-night starter Pierce Williams are exactly what you want atop the rotation. Neither are 100-mph fireballers, but instead work the strike zone quickly and efficiently.
Heil is a 6-foot-3 righty that has a nice three-pitch mix, highlighted by a sinking fastball. He touches the high 80s, but he also pounds the strike zone. In his opening day start against nationally ranked Lee, Heil landed 27 of 37 pitches for strikes through the first three innings, landing a first-pitch strike on all but two batters. Getting ahead and dictating the at-bat looks like Heil’s strength.
Williams is a 6-foot-1 lefty with a little more pop in the catcher’s mitt behind his throws. He has a very smooth delivery that creates easy velocity, and like Heil works quick and is extremely efficient. If my numbers were right, he landed 73 of his 114 pitches for strikes (65%) in a complete-game shutout against Catawba. His command didn’t waver at any point, and while he didn’t hold the velocity for all nine innings, he was only hit hard in one inning.
Both pitchers pitch to contact and luckily, they have a solid defense behind them. North Georgia is third in DII in fielding percentage and the Frost brothers – Connor and Riley – are impressive up the middle while Crews Taylor is a vacuum in centerfield. Nik Levensteins has settled in nicely as a weapon at third and is swinging a big bat as well.
Jake Arnold has also been impressive. He’s listed at 6-4, but he looks bigger in the box. He has gotten off to a hot start with the bat, but his performance on Feb. 23 was eye-opening. He was expected to throw some innings in relief this year, but he was called upon to go deep in a 17-inning marathon against Catawba. Arnold went 6.2 innings, allowing one hit and striking out 12. He looks like he is going to be a major impact weapon on both sides of the field this year.
Week 2: The field of 56, projected
The second DII baseball championship bracket projection sees the regions rounding into much more familiar form. Like last week, until more teams start playing regularly (some have yet to even start), each region will be listed in alphabetical order, not rankings or seedings.
As a reminder, this is a projection of the bracket. That means in some instances, these regions can vary from the NCBWA regional rankings each week. Why? Those rankings are a vote of the top teams in each region. That is not how DII brackets work, though. Every conference must be represented in the bracket, and sometimes, in regions like the South for example, a conference can utterly dominate rankings… but not necessarily the bracket.
In case you missed the note last week, DII regional size is determined by regional access. This season, both the Atlantic and Southeast move from a six-team to seven-team format, while the Midwest and East decrease from an eight-team to seven-team format. The field remains at 56. (All games through Thursday, March 3.)
Atlantic Region
Cal (PA)
East Stroudsburg
Glenville State
Mercyhurst
Millersville
Seton Hill
West Chester
Atlantic notes: Bloomsburg dropped out this week despite going to 5-2. The wins were against non-DII competition and Cal has been impressive, not only off to a 5-1 start, but also 3-0 in-region. Slippery Rock is still on the radar, but The Rock open this weekend. Glenville State is impressive: The Pioneers swept thee MEC/PSAC Challenge, including big wins over in-region rivals Mercyhurst and Millersville.
Central Region
Augustana (SD)
Central Missouri
Henderson State
Minnesota State
Northeastern State
Southeastern Oklahoma State
Southern Arkansas
Washburn
Central notes: After dropping two of three against Southeastern Oklahoma State, Harding drops out of the top 8 this week. That opens the door for Washburn, which is undefeated in both conference and regional play. Henderson State is still undefeated at 14-0, but Central Missouri may have the No. 1 spot here: A win over Northeastern State on Thursday opened a big Central Region battle.
East
Adelphi
Franklin Pierce
Molloy
Southern Connecticut State
Southern New Hampshire
Queens (NY)
Wilmington (DE)
East notes: This region is totally up for grabs. Three new teams debut (Molly, Southern Connecticut and Queens) while tournament regular St. Thomas Aquinas is the first out. There is too much uncertainty here to make much projection, but it seems like this is the Penmen’s region to lose.
Midwest
Ashland
Drury
Illinois Springfield
Northwood
Quincy
Southern Indiana
Trevecca Nazarene
Midwest notes: This is one of the deeper regions and teams like Grand Valley State and Wayne State (MI) just missed. Despite being 4-4, Quincy hangs onto the last spot having played one of the tougher schedules so far. Drury’s 10-0 start has been a pleasant surprise, but Southern Indiana starting off 5-1 against the ninth toughest schedule in DII is quite impressive.
South
Lynn
Nova Southeastern
Rollins
Savannah State
Shorter
Tampa
Valdosta State
West Florida
South notes: This region, per usual, is ridiculous. Nearly every team has played against a .500 record or better. Tampa looks like a steamroller again, not simply sweeping Florida Tech – a top-8 team last week – but by scoring 38 runs in the three-game series. Nova Southeastern is out to an undefeated start and the two square off next weekend. Montevallo falls out, and I can see that being an unpopular choice, but: Shorter has played a tougher overall schedule and is out to a 6-2 start in the GSC as opposed to the Falcons 0-3 start. West Florida is 7-5, but an impressive 5-1 in the GSC and has played the 19th-toughest schedule in DII to start. The metrics simply lean towards both for the time being. Remember, this is a tournament projection and not a ranking — Savannah State holds tight as my top team in the SIAC right now.
South Central
Angelo State
Colorado Mesa
Colorado School of Mines
Lubbock Christian
MSU Denver
West Texas A&M
South Central notes: There is no change this week— the only region to stand pact — although St. Edward’s is knocking on the door. MSU Denver has played an infinitely tougher schedule than both St. Edward’s and Texas A&M-Kingsville (the first two out here) and have a top-25 win under its belt as well. Though all these games are through Thursday, Lubbock Christian defeated Angelo State Friday night in a series that will have a large impact in this region.
Southeast
Columbus State
Lenoir-Rhyne
Mount Olive
Newberry
North Georgia
North Greenville
Wingate
Southeast notes: More teams were considered for this region than any other, showing how deep and strong the Southeast Region has become. North Greenville bumps Anderson (SC) this week, but it was close. Mount Olive is hanging in just above Anderson thanks to its strength of schedule, but the Trojans can’t afford any more big losses with three to regionally “ranked” opponents thus far.
West
Cal State Monterey Bay
Chico State
Concordia (CA)
Fresno Pacific
Hawaii Hilo
Point Loma
West notes: There was a lot of movement in the Wild West. Many of these teams have already faced off against each other, allowing for this region to see many risers and fallers. Azusa Pacific and Northwest Nazarene are still struggling to find consistency, but both have played two of the toughest schedules in DII. Point Loma has as well and are now 13-1 and a combined 7-1 against NNU and APU, the two teams expected to compete for the West Region title. Right now, this region is anyone’s ballgame.
Drury women’s basketball coach Amy Eagan joins The Nation
Despite taking a recruiting trip and prepping for the GLVC tournament, Drury Panthers head coach Amy Eagan joined myself and Bethany Bowman on the DII Nation. She talks about her time as a record-setting DII student-athlete with Truman to becoming head coach of the storied Drury program. Take a listen, and don’t forget to follow our Twitter page @DIINationPod.