We’ve taken a look at how each of the programs in the North Coast Athletic Conference performed last decade. Now it’s time to crunch some numbers. We have year-by-year conference winners, cumulative winning percentage and more at the bottom. But before we get into the numbers, let’s hand out some Best of the Decade awards for the decade that was.
Disagree? Let us know who you thought was the best of the best in the NCAC over the last ten years on the message board.
Coach of the Decade
Honestly, I tried to make a case for some of the other great Head Coaches in the NCAC, but naming anyone other than Tim Pettorini as the Coach of the Decade seemed irresponsible. Instead I decided to adhere to Occam’s razor and agree that in this case the simplest answer was indeed the correct one. I shouldn’t even have to make a case on Pettorini’s behalf, but I will. He’s a legend in DIII circles. His 372 total wins in the decade was tops among all DIII programs in nation. His teams posted 30 win seasons in every year of the decade, won five NCAC tournaments and made seven NCAA Regional appearances. He also led his 2005 and 2009 squads to the World Series. Tim Pettorini has built one of the finest programs in the country and as long as he is leading the Fighting Scots they will be a major factor in DIII baseball.
Player of the Decade
A four-time All-NCAC selection and two-time NCAC Player of the Year, Ohio Wesleyan’s Drew Caravella wreaked havoc on NCAC pitching early in the decade. When the dust settled the Hilliard Davidson product would leave Delaware as the conference’s all-time career leader in hits (297), home runs (53), total bases (531), slugging percentage (.796) and RBI (293). If that wasn’t enough, he also set the NCAC single season record with his .534 average in his senior season. The 2002 ABCA DIII Player of the Year was a rare 3 time All-American including 1st team selections in his junior and senior seasons. After his senior season Caravella was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. While there were numerous All-Americans taking the field in the NCAC during the past decade, Caravella separated himself from the rest with his record setting career at Ohio Wesleyan.
Pitcher of the Decade
The truth is that I’ve been staring at stats, box scores, media guides and archived press releases for a couple hours now. In all I’ve spent twice as much time working on Pitcher of the Decade as I spent on the rest of this article combined. And the worst part? I’m no more certain of my answer than when I started. There are a handful of guys that are so close that it pains me to pick only one, but I will. Matt Englander was one of Wooster’s three pitchers to take home the NCAC Pitcher of the Year twice last decade. After going 7-3 and earning All-Region honors in his sophomore season, Englander went on to post two of the best seasons in Fighting Scot history in his junior and senior seasons. A combined 21-2 over those two years, Englander became Wooster’s only two-time All-American honoree of the decade. He was also the College’s only three-time 1st team All-Region selection on the mound. When your tradition is as rich as Wooster’s it’s hard to pick between all the great players to wear the Black and Gold. Throw in the great pitchers at Ohio Wesleyan, Denison et al and it’s easy to see why this process took so long.
Conference Winning Percentage 2000-2009
Wooster .873
Ohio Wesleyan .765
Denison .648
Wittenberg .534
Kenyon .443
Hiram .350
Oberlin .182
NCAC Regular Season Champions
2000 Allegheny (East), Ohio Wesleyan (West)
2001 Wooster (East), Ohio Wesleyan (West)
2002 Wooster (East), Ohio Wesleyan (West)
2003 Wooster (East), Ohio Wesleyan (West)
2004 Wooster (East), Denison (West)
2005 Wooster (East), Denison (West)
2006 Wooster (East), Ohio Wesleyan (West)
2007 Wooster (East), Ohio Wesleyan (West)
2008 Wooster (East), Denison (West)
2009 Wooster (East), Ohio Wesleyan (West)
NCAC Tournament Champion
2000 Ohio Wesleyan
2001 Ohio Wesleyan
2002 Wooster
2003 Ohio Wesleyan
2004 Wooster
2005 Wooster
2006 Wooster
2007 Ohio Wesleyan
2008 Ohio Wesleyan
2009 Wooster
NCAA Mideast Regional Appearances
2000 Ohio Wesleyan
2001 Ohio Wesleyan
2002 Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster
2003 Ohio Wesleyan
2004 Wooster
2005 Wooster
2006 Wooster
2007 Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster
2008 Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster
2009 Wooster
NCAA DIII World Series Appearances
2005 Wooster
2009 Wooster
Filed under: Division III
