Regional Picture Coming Into Focus

May 10, 2004

The only thing the Endicott baseball team knows for sure is that it has a game on May 20th in the NCAA, Division III, New England Regional Tournament. Everything else; seed, opponent, site, game time, is up in the air. Those questions will not be officially answered until May 16th when the Div III National Baseball Committee officially announces each regional bracket throughout the country. New England is a six-team double elimination bracket which plays from May 20th to 23rd.

Some other automatic qualifiying leagues have determined their champions and therefore other participants are known. In the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), Western New England College defeated Johnson and Wales University to claim the title and get into the NCAA's. In the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), Babson earned the title with a victory over Springfield. In the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), Amherst emerged over regionally ranked foes Trinity and Williams. The Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tournament is still in progress. Westfield State and Bridgewater are in the finals with Bridgewater needing to win twice if they are to win the title. The championship game from Sunday, May 9 is currently suspended because of rain and scheduled to be resumed on Saturday, May 15. Bridgewater is up 3-0 in the second inning, but Westfield had the bases loaded when play was suspended. The Little East tournament starts this week and will conclude on Sunday, May 16.

There is a chance that a seventh New England team can be selected by the national committee. If that happens, one team would be moved to another region to play. In the past New England has had teams shipped to New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvannia.

For the latest NCAA, Division III baseball news go to: http://www.ncaasports.com/baseball/mens