By Travis Cross and Ralph Turner

Previews: || New England || New York || Mid-Atlantic || South || Mideast || Central || Midwest || West ||

The West Region is the subject of our sixth regional preview. Follow D3baseball.com on Twitter for updated throughout the season.

For the last five years, Chapman have emerged out of the West region for a trip to Appleton. Last year the Panthers showed some chinks in the armor as they started out slowly but with a strong finish, bested a tough region. The eyes of Texas, as well as the Northwest and Southern California are now on unseating Chapman. Texas-Tyler, Texas Lutheran, and Trinity (Texas) are looking to be the second Texan team and the first since Concordia (Austin) to play for the Walnut and Bronze. Mississippi is also well represented with Millsaps and Mississippi College, both title contenders in 2010. Linfield and Pacific Lutheran are the class of the Northwest while Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer are favorites in the SCIAC. Never forget Chapman but a sixth consecutive trip to Wisconsin will be their toughest of their streak.

New Faces:

Jared Holowaty, Whitman College: Jared Holowaty replaces Casey Powell, who resigned to take a coaching position at Seattle University. Holowaty, who won a NCAA Division III national championship at Eastern Connecticut State, was formerly an assistant coach and baseball recruiting coordinator at the University of Maine. His father, Bill, has been coaching at Eastern Connecticut for 41 years.

Eric Deovlet, Lewis and Clark: Justin Baughman resigned to accept a position with the San Diego Padres as a scout in the Northwest. Assistant coach Eric Deovlet will take over as interim head coach with a permanent coach being hired and announced before May 1st.

Tommy Boggs, Concordia-Austin: Concordia-Austin named former Major League Baseball pitcher Tommy Boggs their new head coach following the 2009 season. "Tommy's playing background in MLB and coaching background with Austin Slam, make him a great asset in terms of teaching and managing the game, as well as in recruiting the best student-athletes to Concordia," said Dan Huntley, Concordia Athletics Director.

American Southwest Conference (ASC) : The ASC preseason poll voted Texas Lutheran and Texas-Tyler to win the 2010 division races. The West Division hosts the Conference Tourney after a crossover best 2-of-3 first round series for the four top teams in each division. The Texas-Tyler Patriots narrowly edged the Mississippi College Choctaws in the pre-season poll. Texas-Tyler has just 2 starters and 12 lettermen from the 2009 team that played in the West Regional at Linfield. Coach James Vilade has a strong reputation as a solid recruiter, and will need to plug plenty of holes if the Patriots wish to repeat. The Patriots got a good start with outfielder Cody Jones (.560) who transferred from East Texas Baptist. Matt Sparks (0-0, ERA 3.89, 12 APP) is anticipated to anchor the rotation along Logan Chitwood. Mississippi College was ASC-East Co-Champs in 2008 and return D3baseball.com preseason All-American outfielder Bo Bell (.425, 13 HR, 73 RBI) and pitcher Tyler Seamen (5.31, 5-3) for their final seasons in a Choctaw uniform. The Choctaws have a very good in-region non-conference schedule, including Millsaps for three midweek games. The Choctaws open the season this Saturday and have the experience and talent to be playing when the title is decided in Wisconsin. The ASC-West is always a proverbial dogfight. There were quad-champs in 2008, but the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs returned to the West throne room by two games with a 16-5 record in 2009, after missing the "quad-championship" the year before. Texas Lutheran will be led by D3baseball.com All-American Brad Orosey (10-1, ERA 3.72, 88 K's in 92.0 innings). Also playing key role will be outfielder Ryan Nokelby who hit .405 in 2009 and has a career .380 batting average. McMurry was voted second in the pre-season poll will be led by 2009 All-Region outfielder (and McMurry football Air Raid QB) Jr. Jake Mullin. Dakota Smith is the pitcher to watch in Coach John Byington's second season as manager. McMurry will be young, as all teams seem to be this year in the conference. Three other West Region teams deserve recognition for three second team pre-season All-American awardees. Hardin-Simmons will be led by DH Reagan Dixon (444.BA and 34 RBI). Mary Hardin Baylor will return outfielder Joseph Villegas (.465 and 72 hits). The final ASC second teamer is SS Javier Arrieta for Sul Ross State. Arrieta batted .461, had 70 hits, 17 HR and 51 RBI's.

Northwest Conference (NWC) : It doesn't get much better than the 2009 NWC regular season. George Fox won three of their last four to force a one-game playoff with Pacific Lutheran, then continued their hot streak upsetting the Lutes to earn a NCAA sponsored, all-expenses paid trip to Linfield, OR. The Bruins lost to Chapman in the regional championship game then said goodbye to two ABCA All-Americans after the season. They'll return Chad Jones (8-2, 2.17 ERA, 7 SV) who led the team in wins, ERA, and set the school record for saves in a season. The Bruins will also see Taylor Hunter (.358, 1 HR 22 RBI) back to pace 2009's top ranked offense. It's not all about George Fox's 2009 season, though, as Pacific Lutheran fell only one game short of postseason play and return four All-NWC players. Pitcher of the Year Robert Bleecker (9-1, 4.59 ERA) will be back to combine with fellow senior Trey Watt (6-2, 4.12 ERA) to form a formidable 1-2 punch. A young Linfield team will look to utilize home-field advantage in the regional, which they will be hosting for the second consecutive year. Linfield will be led in 2010 by All-NWC Reese McCulley (8-0, 3.07 ERA), Cole Bixenman (.383, 9 HR, 53 RBI), and Zach Boskovich (.385, 5 HR, 35 RBI). Count on another tight race between a maturing Linfield squad and Pacific Lutheran team looking to prove they can be one game better in 2010.

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) : With a 19-2 conference record and an All-Everything first basemen, one would think Pomona-Pitzer would be the runaway SCIAC winner in 2009. Not quite so. Pitzer finished only two games ahead of Cal Lutheran thanks to a late-season series win that cemented the Sagehens' second SCIAC championship in three years. Heading into 2010, Pitzer loses 4 of their top 5 hitters and will look to James Kang (.404, 4 HR, 37 RBI) and Nick Frederick (.348, 11 HR, 44 RBI) to fill the void. David Colvin (8-0, 3.17 ERA) will lead a staff that sees only 23 starts (12 by Colvin) return from last season. Cal Lu will be hot on their trails looking to improve on a school-record 32 wins and will be lead on the mound by Chase Tigert (9-2, 3.57 ERA) and Greg Gelber (9-2, 3.04 ERA), who held George Fox's top-ranked offense to one run in last year's regional. At the dish, the Kingsmen return their top two power threats in Paul Hartmann (.385, 12 HR, 46 RBI) and Jordan Ott (.361, 12 HR, 50 RBI). Looking to upset the two favorites, who both received playoff births last season, will be La Verne who will welcome back three 1st Team SCIAC hitters in Jon Hattabaugh (.368, 9 HR, 51 RBI), Victor Pinado (.420, 7 HR, 34 RBI), and Mike Surina (.396, 6 HR, 40 RBI). The big question for the Leopards will be a pitching staff that will see only 41% (139 2/3 of 340 1/3) of their innings from last year's pitching staff back on the diamond. That might be a good thing, though; La Verne had a team ERA of 5.45. Expect a two-headed race between Cal Lu and returning champs Pomona-Pitzer with La Verne playing the role of spoiler.

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) : Millsaps (34-10) had 10 seniors on last year's team that contributed to a number one ranking in the Top 25 and their appearance in the 2009 NCAA Playoffs. The most of the starting line-up will need to be replaced but the anchor will be D3baseball preseason All-American and 2009 SCAC offensive player of the year Will Hawkins. Hawkins could see time at both first and third base as the Majors makeover their team. The major's pitching staff returns a pair of All-SCAC selections in Boomer Hudson (2.10, 6-1)and Aaron Williams (4.11, 7-3, 4 CG). Millsaps will have to hold off a talented Trinity (Texas) team. The Tigers return eight returning starters with first baseman Evan Jones (.374, 15 2B, 43 RBI), and catcher Kyle Felix (.399, 9 HR, 47 RBI) providing the offensive firepower. The Tiger pitching staff is highlighted by Noah Solomon (1.94, 5-1, 59 SO), the reigning SCAC pitcher of the year. Joining Solomon is Mike Panozzo of Houston (4.25, 7-1) and Clint Robertson (2.80, 4-0, 3 SV). "The Tigers will have a strong defense and a balanced hitting attack," head coach Tim Scannell said. "The expectation of this team is to play with a high energy level. Rounding out the west division of the SCAC is the defending SCAC champion Hendrix, Southwestern, and Austin. Last year's Hendrix made history by becoming the first men's team in any sport to win a SCAC Championship.

Independent: Chapman has been the West's representative in Appleton for the last five seasons and eight of ten dating back to 2000. It's remarkable how any team, much less an independent with no automatic berth, can reload year after year. That being said, 2010 spells the dawn of a new day for the Panthers: no returning All-Americans. As trite as that may sound, Chapman has returned at least one All-American a year since 2005. If you're paying attention at home, you may have noticed that's also the last year the Panthers missed the playoffs. Chapman loses its #1 and #2 starters, closer, and 75% of its infield but has reloaded with a freshman class that should contribute from day one. Returning four-year starter Ryan Prechtl (.315, 7 HR, 34 RBI) will help returning Independents' Student-Athlete of the Year Tyler Hadzinsky (.376, 3 HR, 36 RBI), who represents the sole returning infielder. A trio of freshman pitchers and junior transfer should contribute to a pitching staff that sees only 47% (206 of 436) of their innings back from last season. Chapman has done it before and they can do it again, just figure it to be done a little differently this time around.