The conference reaches far and wide, covering just about every corner of the continent, but more importantly it gives these low-profile independents a home, a championship to play for and renewed enthusiasm.

2009 in a Paragraph:
Well, actually, this will be summed up in one sentence: The Great West didn’t exist in 2009, so there.

2010 in a Paragraph:
This is an interesting conference makeup. I mean, putting teams like New York Tech and New Jersey Tech in a conference called the “Great West” is like putting TCU in a conference called the “Mountain West”. Either way, it’s good to see these former independents finding a home in the college baseball landscape. There’s no automatic bid to the NCAAs or anything, but most of these teams have gathered together for the Independence Tournament the last few years anyway, so now it will have more meaning to it.

Favorite: Utah Valley

Contender: New York Tech, Northern Colorado

Darkhorse: North Dakota

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Utah Valley at NY Tech, May 7-9

Best Non-Conference Series: Utah Valley vs./at Southern Utah, Feb. 25-27 & Apr. 1-3

Hot Coach: None

Hot Seat Coach: None

The “You Gotta See” Player: 3B Jace Brinkerhoff, Utah Valley

Three Non-Conference Series Great West Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- Utah Valley at Arizona, Feb. 19-21
2- Gonzaga at Utah Valley, March 25-27
3- Northern Colorado at Utah, March 26-28

Three Bold Predictions:
1- Utah Valley will establish itself as the dominant force in this conference.
2- If UNC beats Utah in that series above, it will come back to haunt them in May.
3- More weekends cancelled here than any other conference because teams will cancel entire travel plans to save money instead of risk dicey weather.

.
.
- CHICAGO STATE (3-38)
2009 RPI: 294
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
Patrick Hernandez (.336)
Austin McDowell (.303)

The Good News:
The offense could be in much better shape, with the top four hitters all returning, including Hernandez, McDowell and the Carpen brothers, Michael (.297) and Jonathan (.270). And if experienced arms make a big difference, the Cougars also have the three most-used arms coming back in RHP James Tucker (1-11, 11.02), RHP Scott Balcer (0-8, 16.62) and LHP Gregory Day (0-2, 13.20).

The Bad News:
Well, that’s easy, just check out the stat sheet from 2009. On a three-win, 38-loss team, there are plenty of problems, including the astronomical 13.94 team ERA and .406 opponents batting average. All things considered, the .950 fielding wasn’t all that bad, but still needs a spit-shine, that’s for sure.

Schedule Note:
Their old Chicago Home.
From April 14th to May 16th, CSU will play 19 home games, including four of five Great West weekends against New Jersey Tech, Utah Valley, Houston Baptist, North Dakota and Texas-Pan Am. All of those weekends represent winnable games. For this team, that means a lot.

.
- HOUSTON BAPTIST (11-40)
2009 RPI: 284
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
C Johnathon Moore (.262)
RHP Hunter Scott (4-4, 6.51)
OF Robbie Buller (.297)

The Good News:
There are some notable arms coming back that should help bolster a huge movement to lower opponents scores. Weekend starters Hunter Scott and Tristan Gaines (1-8, 9.87) should help stabilize things. Moore is a solid backstop, committing just three errors last season. The HBU administration was able to get donations in order to get a new field turf playing surface.

The Bad News:
From 23 wins in ‘08 down to 11 in ‘09, that’s not a good sign people. Andrew Taccolini, who hit .460 as a junior, is no longer around for the offense to lean on, nor is Keith Brunson, the only pitcher on the staff that had an ERA below 6.00. The defense fielded at a .941 pace and will be without a lot of key pieces. The Huskies struck out 428 times in 51 games last season.

Schedule Note:
This is a sun belt school?
Despite their geographic location, the Huskies won’t play their first home game until March 16th, opening the season with 15 road games, including trips to UT-San Antonio, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Good thing this isn’t football.

.
- NEW JERSEY TECH (4-33)
2009 RPI: 297
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 0

All Conference Candidate:
OF Jeffrey Pizzi (.284)

The Good News:
Oh boy… I’m searching for some good news here. I guess you could say that there aren’t a lot of pitchers coming back from last year’s weak staff. Head coach Brian Callahan has incoming frosh Jeff Peterson will be a valuable two-way talent and he’ll have LHP Tripp Davis and RHP Mark Leiter to help turn things around. 1B Kyle McCarthy (.250) and 3B John Berner (.242) will hope to solidify the .950 defense.

The Bad News:
There is a lot to post here, but I’ll keep it brief. The offense hit just .232, the defense played at a .950 level and the pitching staff put up a nasty 10.78 team ERA. That’s it in a nutshell. It’s never going to be a good season when your opponents hit .384 against you. But considering the Highlanders won just four games last year, that’s expected.

Schedule Note:
Playing in the best facility in the Great West.
Another really good thing is that the Highlanders do have the luxury of playing in Riverfront Stadium, the home of the Newark Bears, an independent minor league team. So they’ll play 20 games in the confines of a great home facility.

.
- NEW YORK TECH (19-29-1)
2009 RPI: 223
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Mike Roth (3-1, 3.65, 2svs)
RHP Andrew Guarrasi (6-5, 4.36)
3B Effrey Valdez (.401-11-40)
SS Brian Smith (.361-7-30, 10SBs)
DH Christian Dienna (.348)

The Good News:
The offense hit .299 last season and has Valdez as its ringleader as a All American candidate and has three .348+ hitters coming back. All three weekend starters on the hill also return, led by Guarrasi, whose held opponents to .278. Preston Wasmund (2-4, 5.88) and Louie Bernardi (4-2, 6.39) will return to their weekend posts. Most important of all, ace reliever Mike Roth, the most effective pitcher on the staff, is back to shut down opponents. OF Jerry Smith, a base-stealing specialist, returns after sitting out all but six games of last season.

The Bad News:
Last season’s 4-15 start set a bad tone and needs to be avoided. The opposing batting average of .317 was pretty woeful and must be addressed. Losing Denten Neill was a vital weapon at the plate and on the basepaths, and will be missed. Though it’s good to have a senior-heavy pitching rotation, that also means it’s put-up or shut-up time for the Bears.

Schedule Note:
Here’s to hoping for a mild winter.
The Bears will host eight home games in the month of March, so you know they’re hoping that Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow so that spring will arrive early. Oddly, the final eight games of the season – in the warmest time of the college baseball season – will be played away from home, including Great West series at UNC and UT-Pan Am.

.
- NORTH DAKOTA (14-29)
2009 RPI: 277
Starters Returning: 8
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Indy Candidates:
1B Jake Magner (.393 -10-51)
OF Aaron Cook (.328-6-27)
SS/2B Andrew Gudmunson (.314-5-25)
RHP David Lind (4-3, 5.83)
LHP David Spies (2-0, 3.98, 2svs)

The Good News:
Moving from Division II to Division I last season, the Fighting Sioux (cool nickname) still won the same number of games in ‘09 as they did in ‘08. That’s pretty good for the confidence department. The infield has a lot of experience returning to the lineup, including Magner, Gudmunson and Josh Nelson (.297, 10SBs), along with a quality backstop in Andy Sadler (.273 -4-16). Look for the team ERA to improve its 7.17 ERA since all three weekend starters return in Lind, Brandon Baumgartner (2-9, 6.58) and Derek Bermaier (4-6, 8.71).

The Bad News:
Well obviously, the early season roadies that tend to become a grind wreak havoc on the team’s stat sheet. That’s why you get batting averages of .297 and ERA’s of 7.17. The arms staff doesn’t lose much in the innings department, but they sure as hell need to add more punchouts to their paltry total of 188Ks last season. Also, the opposition hit a healthy .321 off the Sioux arms corps last season. Dammit!

Schedule Note:
In a word, ouch.
The Fighting Sioux won’t have it easy by any stretch. They’ll open the season against national power Wichita State in the Sunflower State and then take on Mizzou, Oral Roberts and Nebraska, all on the road, before beginning Great West play on April 9th at home against Utah Valley. That’s pretty harsh on the won-loss ledger.

.
- NORTHERN COLORADO (18-35)
2009 RPI: 291
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
C Seth Budde (.370)
INF Adam Hilker (.286)

The Good News:
Well look at it this way, the offense hit .314 last season and has a lot of good bats coming back for this year as well. Seven players that went .295 or better last year return to the roster, including a trio of solid part-timers that will take on bigger roles in 2010, in Hunter Nolen (.361), Adrian Schenk (.338) and Tony Crudo (.310). There is hope that RHP Joe Sawicki (0-1, 5.95) will get full, healthy season, after starting just four games last year. That could help the arms corps immeasurably. Soph weekend starters Joe Willman (3-5, 6.79) and Cameron Tallman (2-6, 10.12) are both improving lefties that attack the plate in different ways.

The Bad News:
Two-way threat Kevin Sandberg was the biggest loss, with his .351 bat at the dish and 5svs on the mound. Damn. Fellow seniors Andy Mees and Erik Hegstad are also gone, taking .338 and .353 averages with them. The pitching staff was a woeful 10.23 in team ERA, so ummm, yeahhhhh, they need some improvement. Don’tcha think? Additionally, OF Mike Raudenbush hit just .252 last season – as opposed to the .371 crush he put on the ball in 2008. Let’s hope he reverts to form.

Schedule Note:
As tough of a non-conference slate as there is in the country.
What are the Bears doing here? Opening the season with games against New Mexico, Creighton, Sam Houston, Arizona, Nebraska and Utah represents a very difficult 19 games to start the season. Don’t look for any improvement on that 18-game Win ledger for this year.

.
- UT PAN AMERICAN (14-41)
2009 RPI: 296
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
2B/3B Abraham Garcia (.368-6-33, 13SBs)
2B/3B Jose Mendoza (.348)

The Good News:
Pan Am finished the 2009 season on an uptick, winning three straight games in the National Independents Tournament. Garcia and Mendoza switched positions quite often last year, showing good versatility, and were the top two hitters on the team. They’ll team with returning SS Andrew Perez (.299) and 1B Garrett Bivone (.261-4-41) to form what should be a solid infield. Friday ace Scott Wingo (4-6, 5.56) will be joined by last season’s mid-week starter A.J. Franco (2-1, 6.68).

The Bad News:
When the Broncos lost, their losses were huge. For example, of their last eight losses in 2009, they gave up double-digit run totals in seven of them. And they were ugly: 16, 11, 18, 12, 7, 28, 19, 25 and 18. Yikes! Eight of the 10 most-used pitchers on the staff last season have moved on, leaving a nearly bare cupboard for coach Manny Mantrana to build from.

Schedule Note:
Right the ship right away.
UTPA can go a long way to forgetting last season with it’s 16 home games in the first four weeks of the season, including winnable games against UT-Brownsville, Prairie View, Stephen F. Austin and Iowa. In the very least, don’t look for a repeat of last season’s 0-11 start. And talk about your home field advantage… the Broncos will host New York Tech in the final weekend of the regular season, making those Northern boys have to withstand triple-digit temps and 80% humidity.

.
- UTAH VALLEY UNIV. (18-35)
2009 RPI: 246
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
3B Jace Brinkerhoff (.433-5-39)
OF Billy Burgess (.381-8-42)
SS Jake Rickenbach (.322-7-43)
OF Chris Benson (.336-3-38)

The Good News:
With almost zero experience coming back last season, the newbies responded pretty well, increasing the win total and hinting at bigger things ahead. A bevy of big bats are back, including seven guys that hit better than .300. Benson had a great season in ‘09 after taking two years off for a Mormon mission. He had a school-record 23 game hit streak last year and teams with Brinkerhoff for a pair of potential All Americans. C/DH Sage Thorpe (.370) and 1B Goose Kallunki (.361) will step up to full-time duty this season. The .960 defense should get much better this season.

The Bad News:
I don’t know how they did it, but for the second season in a row the Wolverines return very little starting pitching. Only 21 of last year’s 53 starts comes back from a staff that had a pretty awful 8.25 ERA to begin with. The best returning ERA coming back? That would be returning weekend starter Brock Sargent’s 8.19. Other than that, a new 2B and rocket-armed RF must be found.

Schedule Note:
Going to three of the top four.
It’s going to be bright lights, big cities for the Wolverines as they will play in three of the top four most-populated cities in the country without even leaving the confines of the Great West Conference. They’ll play at Chicago State in late April (Chicago is the 3rd largest city, population-wise), at New York Tech in early May (NYC is No. 1, of course) and at Houston Baptist in the final weekend (in a bit of a surprise, Houston is No. 4 in U.S. population).