WNC Baseball: Wildcats weigh pluses, minuses of bye
Submitted by editor on Mon, 05/09/2016 - 4:03pm
As one of the top two teams in the Scenic West Athletic Conference during the regular season, the Western Nevada College Wildcats earned a first-round bye in this week's Region 18 baseball tournament.
That honor can have its pluses and minuses, according to WNC coach D.J. Whittemore.
"Having a bye saves a pitcher, which if you have to come through the losers' bracket is a good thing," Whittemore said. "But there is a huge negative: The other teams get out on the field and play a game before you ever get comfortable on the visiting field. They get a chance to get their hitters up to speed. They get a chance to get the nerves out."
Even though WNC's first-round opponent won't be determined until Wednesday afternoon, the Wildcats know they will play at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Morse Stadium in Henderson. WNC (38-17 overall) will play Salt Lake, College of Southern Idaho or Colorado Northwestern.
If they happen to meet Salt Lake, some of the Wildcats will remember that the Bruins beat WNC twice in last year's regional tournament.
"When you are the two seed staring down the barrel of the No. 3 seed, which in this case and, in fact, in most cases has been Salt Lake, it's a tough matchup," Whittemore said. "They aren't intimidated one bit."
Salt Lake (27-25 overall) meets sixth-seeded Eastern Utah in the tournament opener on Wednesday. Whittemore anticipates that the Bruins will save their ace for a possible second-round matchup with the Wildcats of Carson City.
"They, of course, as usual will save their No. 1 pitcher for us, taking their chances that they can beat No. 6 CEU with their No. 2 pitcher," Whittemore said. "This strategy has worked for them in the past. So, in reality, we get to face arguably the best pitcher in the league in Joe Barlow on Thursday after our guys have been idle for six days, while they get to play for the second day in a row on the same field. Not much of an advantage!"
League champion College of Southern Nevada is the only team in the SWAC that WNC didn't have a winning record against during the regular season. The Wildcats were 3-4 against the Coyotes, 7-1 vs. Salt Lake, 6-2 against Eastern Utah, 6-2 vs. CSI and 6-2 against Colorado Northwestern.
Since the teams are very familiar with each another, Whittemore said the smallest of errors may decide the outcome.
"It now comes down to execution," Whittemore said. "This should be a low-scoring game just like all the others we play against SLCC in the playoffs. The difference in the game will likely be driving in a run from third with less than two outs, possibly making a pitch with a runner in scoring position when you have a base open."
Fans can follow the Wildcats' pursuit of a Region 18 title by listening to Chris Graham's Ustream broadcasts. Go to http://wildcats.wnc.edu and click on the listen live link. Another option is to follow the team via live stats at www.sidearmstats.com/csn/baseball.
