The DII Report: Covering the bases – The first field of 56, projected
This week, we'll take a quick look around the DII baseball diamond, break down the Shorter Hawks after my third live look and take a stab at what the 2022 DII baseball bracket may look like.
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
Believe it or not, we are three weeks into the 2022 DII baseball season. Several key teams have yet to get started, so we are still awaiting the first DII baseball Power 10 rankings of the season. In this week’s DII baseball notebook, we’ll take a quick look around the division, examine the red-hot Shorter Hawks and take a look at what the DII baseball tournament field could look like come March.
Around the horn: Quick hits from the diamond
Mules take down nationally ranked Davenport
A program like Central Missouri rarely has to rebuild, but there are a lot of new faces in 2022. The Mules left the Houston Winter Classic with a 2-2 record, dropping a game to Augustana (SD), a team they will likely face again if they want to make it back to Cary, N.C.
This past weekend, the Mules looked much more like themselves. They squared off against nationally ranked Davenport and took the series 3-1. The bullpen has been very impressive thus far and the offense is starting to click despite familiar faces Donovan Ditto and Garrett Pennington off to slow starts. They open MIAA play against Northwest Missouri State this weekend.
Henderson State looks tournament Reddie
If you don’t appreciate that pun, you will appreciate how utterly dominant the Reddies have looked out of the gate. Not only are they 11-0 to start — they are 8-0 against Central Region teams. Henderson State has outscored its opponents 93-45 and is hitting .307 with 17 home runs. David Vilches is on a heater with a home run in three-straight games and eight in his last seven. The GAC should be a fun battle and Henderson State is establishing itself early as a team to beat.
A live look: The Shorter Hawks
(I will attempt to profile a team I watch in person to share video and thoughts throughout the season. I have seen Shorter three times now and have walked away impressed.)
Wes Timmons took over a Shorter team in 2016 that was used to losing seasons… a lot of them. After just one year, the transformation began and the Hawks were a .500 ball club. They burst out of the gate in 2020, but then the world stopped, and we were left wondering what could have been.
Last season, fueled by a slew of veterans, Shorter had a monumental season, making its NCAA tournament debut. Despite losing much of that talent, Shorter is off to a hot start sitting at 9-3 and opening Gulf South play with an impressive sweep of Delta State.
Ace Jonathan Pintaro is the man to watch here. Pintaro was the 2021 GSC pitcher of the year, posting a 2.93 ERA and 1.01 WHIP and 13.32 strikeout-per-nine rate. He’s listed at 6-foot-2 and is stocky, so he gets plenty of velocity behind his pitches. He has a pretty simple delivery that doesn’t use much effort and throws from a three-quarter-ish slot. His fastball and, what Timmons describes as a cutter and slider mix are his main weapons, but he has a four-pitch mix. He hit as high as 95 in his most recent start, a seven-inning complete game victory. Remarkably, he seemed to maintain that most of the way throughout.
At the plate, Jacob Pajer – NCAA.com’s first-ever DII freshman of the year – is picking up right where he left off. Pajer leads the team in hitting at .381 and already has three home runs this year. He has a smooth swing and a very sound hit tool and approach, using all fields to get on base. He and Norman Leon are an absolute nightmare atop the order with speed that can change a game. There is a lot of sneaky pop in this lineup, and the Hawks are never out of a game. Keep an eye on Justin Barnes. The sophomore is off to a hot start out of the gate and hit two triples in the same inning on Saturday.
The field of 56, projected
The 2022 DII baseball tournament returns to its normal field of 56 after the abbreviated COVID tournament of 2021. Throughout the season, the DII Report will take a stab at predicting what the bracket looks like.
The DII Baseball Selection Committee bases its selections on several important criteria, such as in-region record, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, RPI and Performance Indicator — just to name a few. With so many schools just getting underway this past weekend, most of those metrics mean very little right now.
Consider this first predicted field an exercise in fun. Most of it is based off preseason research paired with a few schools off to very hot starts, with some others off to very slow starts. That’s not to say there wasn’t any research. Top-25 competition and in-region wins weighed heavily this early in the season and when that was too close to call, strength of schedule was considered. However, those numbers alone are not entirely accurate come April or May when more metrics are available. This first prediction will also not be ranked, with the teams from each region listed simply in alphabetical order.
UPDATED AT 5:15 p.m. — (I went off the 2019 bracket and there has since been a change with a 7th team in Atlantic and Southeast and the eighth team removed from the Midwest and East. The field remains at 56. This has been adjusted accordingly below.)
Atlantic Region
Bloomsburg
East Stroudsburg
Glenville State
Mercyhurst
Millersville
Seton Hill
West Chester
(Atlantic note: These are a projection of the field, not a regional rankings, which means a Mountain East team needed to be present. Mercyhurst nor Slippery Rock have played yet, so neither has the numbers, but I expect both to be in the hunt. At 7-1, Glenville State gets the nod… for now.)
Central Region
Augustana (SD)
Central Missouri
Harding
Henderson State
Minnesota State
Northeastern State
Southeastern Oklahoma State
Southern Arkansas
East
Adelphi
Franklin Pierce
Goldey-Beacom
Le Moyne
Southern New Hampshire
St. Thomas Aquinas
Wilmington (DE)
Midwest
Drury
Illinois Springfield
Northwood
Quincy
Southern Indiana
Trevecca Nazarene
Wayne State (MI)
(Midwest note: Rockhurst has been impressive thus far and is right on the outside looking in. In a loaded region the Hawks will have their hands full, but could be a surprise.)
South
Florida Tech
Lee
Montevallo
Nova Southeastern
Rollins
Savannah State
Shorter
Tampa
(South note: West Florida and Lee were very close, but Lee gets the nod with a few more wins. West Florida hosts Shorter this weekend, so that series could shake up the region depending on the outcome.)
South Central
Angelo State
Colorado Mesa
Colorado School of Mines
Lubbock Christian
MSU Denver
West Texas A&M
(South Central note: Texas A&M-Kingsville is right there with MSU Denver. This time around it came down to SOS, and the Roadrunners have a good one.)
Southeast
Anderson (SC)
Columbus State
Lenoir-Rhyne
Mount Olive
Newberry
North Georgia
Wingate
West
Cal State East Bay
Chico State
Fresno Pacific
Hawaii Hilo
Point Loma
Western Oregon
Coming soon:
This week Bethany Bowman and I had head coach Jeff Gregory and hitter Michael Dansky on the DII Nation Podcast.
I’ll be at North Georgia vs. Catawba this weekend. Two historically solid programs… it should be a lot of fun.