Hitter of the week
Joey Grabanski- Concordia (NE): 7-13, 5HR, 12RBI, 1.692 SLG%, 2.292 OPS, Stolen base vs #5 Bellevue & #11 Oklahoma City
Pitcher(s) of the week
Marco Santa- Bethel (TN): No-hitter, 7ip, 2bb, 10k vs Cleary (MI)
Case Jaworski- Montreat (NC): No- hitter, 7ip, 3bb, 8k vs (RV) Warner (FL)
Touching Base- Week 3
In this edition of ‘Touching Base’ we take a bit of a harder look at the Cajun Collision and which team left an impression for better or worse.
LSUS has won 9 straight Cajun Collision games including being 7-1 in the 3rd year tournaments history against teams who are ranked or receiving votes. The Pilots had a bumpy start to the year going 0-2, and have since rallied to win 7 straight all in neutral site contests. Tested early and often we will see the Pilots play the other really interesting team in the RRAC when they matchup with LSUA this weekend in Shreveport.
5 teams shine at Cajun Collision along with LSUS 4-0 run there was a record 4 other teams that swept their way through Sterlington, Louisiana. They include: #1 Southeastern (FL), (RV) LSUA, Clarke (IA), and Missouri Baptist. SEU resume now includes wins this season over #2, #14, #16, and #23 this season, and there is no rest as the Fire welcome #17 Oklahoma Wesleyan who is 9-0 to Lakeland this weekend. LSUA bounced back in a major way after being swept by #23 Loyola, the generals picked up two ranked wins in the Cajun this weekend to bring their Top 25 record to 5-3. Clarke (IA) went 1-2 to open the year then they swept through the Cajun Collision not allowing an earned run and outscoring opponents by a combined total of 42-3 in Louisiana. At 6-0 Missouri Baptist is off to its best start since 2015 when the Spartans that year opened the season 10-0. This run includes two victories over top 20 opponents, a combined no-hitter at the Cajun Collision, and going 3-0 against the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Ranked teams struggle at Cajun Collision with the exception of #1 SEU and #4 LSUS who swept the weekend, all in combined ranked teams went 10-18 at the Cajun Collision. This is includes 1-3 showing from #14 Central Methodist (MO) and #23 Loyola (LA), as well as 0-4 weekends from #12 MidAmerica Nazarene and #19 Science & Arts (OK). Since winning the first game of the season #12 MNU has dropped 6 straight and will face further testing against #11 Oklahoma City and Doane (NE) this weekend. This early in the season from a big picture standpoint there’s no cause for panic, unless you care about being in the Top 25. The next poll comes out on March 8th, and those are always a mystery on how it will come out, but some major shake ups are likely coming.
- Robby Gutierrez