2021 NL West Preview

And so, just one division remains.

With Major League Baseball starting in less than 24 hours, I've covered ground in five of the six Major League divisions, having worked my way from the east coast all the way out west now.

And so, let's tackle the NL West and conclude the series. Happy Opening Day, and good luck to your team!

2021 AL West Preview

Happy Opening Day Eve!

With the Major League season kicking off tomorrow, I have one day left to get this in. The past couple of days, I've gone through both East and Central divisions for the upcoming season, leaving us with just a pair of divisions to go today.

So before we tackle our defending champion, let's take a look at the American League West.

2021 NL Central Preview

We're halfway through Major League Baseball for the 2021 season, and with the West slated for tomorrow, it's time for me to get back to work and start the second half of the preview series for 2021.

Earlier today I attacked the AL Central, so this afternoon I'll swap leagues and attack my home division.

Let's look at the NL Central.

2021 AL Central Preview

Day two of my set of previews for the upcoming MLB season is underway!

Yesterday I covered both East divisions, and I'm working my way west over the next couple days. Since our champion came from out west, I'm saving them for tomorrow, which means I'm staying close to home today.

Starting things off, let's look at the American League Central.

2021 NL East Preview

Finishing up the first day of two-a-day's as we approach the start of the 2021 MLB season!

Earlier today I did my predictions for the AL East as I alternate leagues and work my way across the country to end with the division of our defending champion. Tomorrow I'll be in the Central divisions.

To finish today, let's look at the NL East.

2021 AL East Preview

You know we're getting back to some semblance of normalcy when you're looking at a Thursday start to the Major League Baseball season with a full 162 game slate scheduled. And since they're going all out on this... I figure I need to get back to my normal pattern as well.

Last year I didn't do a preview series for Major League Baseball because of the delay in the start of the season, then the quick start up to the abridged one. But with a full year coming up, I feel like I need to get back to my usual pattern. So each of the next few days, I'll look at two divisions a day, alternating leagues as I used to, finishing up with the division hosting our defending champion. With the playoff picture for 2021 up in the air, I won't go into Wild Card picks since my picks could be rendered meaningless in a month or two, I'll just go with record projections.

So, without further ado, here's my first look at the upcoming season.

Game Notes (WBK): Wheaton College @ North Central College (2/25/21)

Final Score
Wheaton 69, NCC 61

Game Summary
Dressing just eight players tonight, the Thunder (10-1) got off to a bit of a slow start while the Cardinals (2-9) built a small early lead and kept it the rest of the frame, leading 13-11 after the first ten minutes. Wheaton turned it into a back and forth affair for a bit, though the Cardinals would push their lead as high as six with 4:22 to play and led by four with about two and a half to go. But the Thunder closed the half with eight straight to take a 32-28 lead to the locker room. The second half couldn't have started any better though, as the Cardinals scored nine straight to retake the lead. Wheaton fought back and made it a tight affair the rest of the quarter, as we went to the final stanza tied at 48. But as has been the theme for most of the season, the Cardinals went cold in the fourth, with the obvious sign coming on the opening possession as a perfectly drawn play saw Bekah Foley wide open in the lane, but she missed a floater, and the Thunder followed with back to back second chance buckets. NCC seemed to stay right in it with a three a minute or two later. But the Thunder put it away with a 9-0 run, keeping the Cardinals off the board for nearly five minutes, and late free throws iced Wheaton's 25th consecutive win over the Cardinals.

Key Players

• Hannah Williams (WHE): 8-18 FG (2-6 3PT), 6-8 FT; 24 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 3 ast, 2 stl. Wheaton's best player lived up to the billing, even though she wasn't the most efficient in this one. But she played the full 40 minutes with her team shorthanded, and her biggest play was probably a three that really sparked the 9-0 run, doubling Wheaton's lead late and pretty much killing any shot the Cardinals had at coming back.
• Annie Tate (WHE): 9-15 FG, 1-1 FT; 19 pts, 9 reb. The reigning CCIW Player of the Week showed up again in this one, getting a bunch of great looks in the paint and led the Thunder in rebounding to help give them an edge in that category.
• Allison Pearson (NCC): 8-19 FG (4-11 3PT), 1-2 FT; 21 pts, 3 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl. Pearson was probably the main reason the Cardinals stayed in this one. While not the most efficient night, it was still a good one for her.

Key Stats

• WHE: Outscored NCC in the paint 40-26. I was a little surprised to see that the Cardinals outscored the Thunder on second chances (14-4), so this more or less washes it out, but when a majority of your points come from in the paint, you're doing something right. North Central played pretty good defense, for what it's worth, with the Thunder making some circus-style shots as well. This also notes that NCC missed some opportunities. Speaking of...
• NCC: 3-9 FT (33.3%). Take the missed layups from Foley and others, add in six missed free throws (including a 1-5 mark in the final quarter)... and that's your game. NCC has done okay in other games from the line, but they're a 61 percent team for the season. That explains a lot of why this team is 2-9.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ NPU 65 (8-3), IWU 63 (3-3)
• CRL 73 (6-4), @ AUG 64 (3-5)
• ELM 65 (3-8), @ CAR 62 (2-9)
• BYE: MIL (8-3)
• MBK: @ WHE 79 (10-0), NCC 73 (5-5)

Final Thoughts
I keep getting myself all hyped up for the Wheaton games, knowing full well I'm going to end up getting hurt again. The Cardinals haven't beaten the Thunder since 2009, and not at Merner since 2008, a game that I called on WONC way back in the day. But in a lot of these games, the Cardinals have been in it and just can't close the deal. And unfortunately, I think that was the case today. I continue to be impressed with this North Central team though, despite the 2-9 record. This is a good team with a lot of heart, and an invested bench group. There's been other rough years, but this is a year that I think with a lot of young pieces that will be back next year, this could be a dark horse team for 2022.

The Cardinals will get one more crack to end the long streak on Saturday out at King Arena, and given the shorthandedness of the Thunder, combined with the fact that this is a feisty Cardinal team, they have a shot to do so. Coming up this weekend for me though, the men will get another crack at a currently unbeaten Wheaton men's team.

Tuesday will likely be my final game of the year, though whether it will be a CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament game or a men's date against Elmhurst remains to be seen.