Indianapolis, IN — After Goshen College
swept the University of St. Francis in a double-header Saturday afternoon
in Fort Wayne, the Leafs believed they might have had a shot at winning
the Mid-Central Conference North Division Championship.
League officials have since decided otherwise.
Posting a final conference record of 14-8 (.636), it appeared
that Goshen would have more than a puncher’s chance at taking the
North Division title following Saturday’s wins at St. Francis. Spring
Arbor University was the next closest contender, posting what appeared
to be a final record of 12-7 (.632) in league play, prior to a meeting
of head coaches Sunday evening.
At that meeting, it was determined that Spring Arbor would resume
play in a postponed game against Taylor University, where the
Cougars led by a 6-2 score in the top of the third inning on
Apr. 12. before rain
halted the action. It was not until Tuesday morning, however,
that league officials released information citing that Spring
Arbor was officially
the MCC’s North Division Champion, after “executive decision” ruled
the suspended game with Taylor as “an official” game. Spring
Arbor’s MCC final record jumped to 13-7 (.650) with the decision,
bumping Goshen out of a North Division title, a chance to play
for the MCC Championship and an automatic berth to NAIA Regional
competition.
With the ruling, Goshen will next take part in a four-team, double-elimination
tournament pitting the second- and third-place teams from both of the
league’s divisions in a possible three-day long event to determine
which team will acquire the conference’s final automatic berth to
NAIA Regional play. By NAIA bylaws, the MCC receives three automatic
berths to regional competition each year. With the league moving to North
and
South divisions this season, it was determined that both divisional
winners would acquire automatic bids to regional play. The remaining
bid would go to the winner of the second- and third-place tournament.
Goshen will now face off against Indiana Wesleyan University
in that tournament on Thursday. Game time is set for 2 p.m. (see complete
schedule below).
The Leafs will have plenty to play for at that event, as in addition
to the winner receiving the conference’s final automatic berth,
there is a good chance the runner-up team will qualify for NAIA
regional play as well. With the MCC being one of the strongest
conferences in the
NAIA Region VIII field this season, the possibility of an at-large
berth going to a fourth MCC team is one Goshen head coach Jayson
Best feels confident about.
“We have a very good chance of getting four teams into regionals,” Best
said. “Our conference has been very strong, and I think all of our
league coaches believe we’ll get a fourth team in.”
Though promising, that sentiment does not guarantee Goshen an
NAIA Regional berth like the MCC's North Division Championship
would have. In addition to Spring Arbor’s incomplete but “official” game
at Taylor, the Cougars also had outstanding games against Huntington.
Spring Arbor's double-header against Huntington College on Apr.
23 was postponed due to inclement weather, but was never played.
Had those games been
successfully rescheduled, Spring Arbor would have needed a sweep
over the Foresters to keep the North Division Championship. Through
the conference’s
tie-breaking procedures, Goshen would have ousted Spring Arbor
for the divisional title had the Cougars split or lost both to
the Foresters. Huntington finished with an MCC record of 14-8.
Mid-Central Conference rule states that teams “must play 85 percent
of schedule MCC games to be considered for conference tournament
play.” With
Spring Arbor playing 20 of 22 scheduled league games this season,
it more than qualified by that standard. Still, the league's
decision to abandon the unplayed Huntington-Spring Arbor double-header
leaves a sting to Best and the Goshen team.
“We got all of our (conference) games in,” Best said. “We
canceled four non-conference games in order to make up (conference) rain
dates.
But, all we can do now is try to play to our potential this week.”
Spring Arbor will now play Marian College (South Division Champion)
in a three-game series to determine the 2005 MCC Champion. For a complete
look at the MCC post-season schedule, and for continuous scores and updates,
visit the official site of the MCC here.
2005 MCC Tournament @ Indiana Wesleyan
All Games will be 9 innings
Thursday, May 5
11:00 a.m. — Bethel College vs Huntington College
2:00 p.m. — Goshen College vs Indiana Wesleyan
5:00 p.m. — Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2
8
:00 p.m. — Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2
Friday, May 6
4:00 p.m. — Loser Game 3 vs Winner Game 4
7:00 p.m. — Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 5
Saturday, May 7 (If Necessary)
1:00 p.m. — Winner Game 6 vs Loser Game 6
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 Head
coach Jayson Best
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