Captain: Sam Hiller, #87
Assistant Captain: Zach Bauer, #17
Assistant Captain: Kevin Miller, #46
Mike Van Ermen, #6
Charlie Wilshire, #16
Colin O’Brien, #18
Thomas Rex, #10
Alex Acton, #72
Jonathan Harrison, #14
Riley Robson, #5
Andy Lieblich, #20
John Luzenski, #12
Jake Billhorn, #88
Sam Clark, #11
Nicole Halbeisen, #2
James Schneider, #25
Eric Paul, #9
Ian Childs, #19
Ethan Ettema, #4
Tim Burkey, #7
MSU’s Thomas Rex is a great catcher and is good on the opening rush. He’s a ball magnet and they will need him if they want to win Nationals 2013 in Kentucky.
The Spartans went 1-1-1 over the weekend at Bowling Green, with an overtime loss to James Madison 3-2 and a 4-0 win over Bowling Green. State brought 16 players, including some players with minimal time playing in varsity matches, yet they were still more than competitive. All 16 players got a chance to show off their skills as well.
MSU played JMU first after reffing the BGSU/JMU OT game, and the Dukes took the first point of the match quickly. In the second point MSU had some great catches, a couple huge headshots by Mike Van Ermen (MSU #6), and a fiery attitude which led to a point won for MSU. The Spartans jumped out quick to end the first half, but couldnt take out the remaining Dukes in time, as there were still around five JMU players left at the buzzer. In the second half, MSU took the first point in a similar fashion, and the two remaining JMU players stepped out purposely to stop the clock from running too low. JMU played fast and eliminated the Spartans, and after a balls over penalty against MSU they were able to take out the remaining State players. This led to an overtime point, Michigan State selected Zach Bauer, Colin O’Brien, Alex Acton, Mike Van Ermen, Charlie Wilshire, and Josh Brawley. They started quick, getting a 5 to 2 lead, but JMU had a couple clutch grabs and eliminated the last Spartan, leading to a Dukes victory.
Michigan State took out their frustrations of their third straight loss to JMU by dismantling BGSU. The Falcons didn’t have the arms to match up with MSU, and they also didn’t catch nearly as well as State. It was really the catching that got MSU the win, as they went on to win 4-0 very comfortably in a game that was never really close.
MSU is now done until Nationals 2013.
Colin was named the Assistant Captain for the Spartans’ tournament this weekend at Bowling Green, and is the first freshman in at least the last five years to serve as an AC for MSU. He has been an energy spark for State, and has played well.
The 2013 All Star Game will be played in Lexington, KY, as part of Nationals 2013. Each team gets four All Star players, and there are two captains on each team that will draft the players evenly. One team is the Brave Little Toasters, captained by Dan Shackelford (Kent #33-C) and Felix Perrone (WKU #76-A), the other team is the Monstars, captained by Zigmas Maloni (DePaul #68-A) and MSU’s own Sam Hiller (MSU #87-C). The four All Stars selected by their teammates for Michigan State are Alex Acton, Eric Paul, Kevin Miller, and Mike Van Ermen.
Alex Acton (MSU #72) is a three time All Star now, being one of the few players selected in every All Star Game. As a senior, he will likely be playing in his final Nationals, and he has shined in previous years. He has a deadly cross, is pinpoint accurate, and is a great catcher.
Eric Paul (MSU #9) is also a three time All Star, and is also a senior playing in his last Nationals. He has carried the Spartans at times with his power arm, great catching, and clutch play. As one of the top players in the league, Paul will shine as always in the ASG.
Kevin Miller (MSU #46-A) is a second time All Star, playing in the 2011 game as well. He’s grown from a catcher to a dangerous player in every facet of the game. He too is a senior, and is one of the captains for the Spartans.
Mike Van Ermen (MSU #6) is making his first appearance in an All Star game, but his play has been phenomenal all season. He’s one of the more dedicated players on the team, and has a great throw to go along with good catching and leadership. He is a junior, so watch for him to help lead the team next season.
Josh is nursing a sprained ankle currently, but he has a crucial part to play for the Spartans this year. He’s one of their best throwers, and brings energy and swagger to a team in need of some. Watch for Josh to be a critical playmaker for MSU at Nationals.
Alex played well and is developing into a solid player for Michigan State. He has a good cross and can catch most of the Spartans in practice, and had a good showing at the Michigan Dodgeball Cup. Watch for him to continue growing into a good role player for State for the end of this season and next season.
GVSU would win 3-2
Zach is an Assistant Captain for the Spartans, and is in his fourth year. Following some great play at the MDC, Bauer has played well in practice with his power arm and catching. His fiery passion for the game helps fuel the Spartans to victory.
The field for Nationals, specifically the opponents for State, are starting to be more clearer with Nationals only two months away. MSU’s stellar play so far this season has virtually assured them of at least a two seed in the pool play portion of Nationals, and could even get them a one seed. They are currently #3 in the Nation, despite only going 1-2-1 at the Michigan Dodgeball Cup in February. With the BEAST II yet to be played still however, they will likely be somewhere from 4th to 6th in the standings going into Nationals. The current projection is that there will be either five or six pools for Saturday, meaning MSU may be cutting it close on being that one seed.
It will likely come down to State or #6 Saginaw Valley for the last spot if there are only five pools. If State isn’t a one seed, they’ll have a tougher game first day than they’d originally expected. There are a clear cut top six teams in the league right now who are considered to be National title favorites, then there is a middle tier of teams that are considered dark horses. If there are only five pools, then one pool will have two of those top six teams in it, and that’s something MSU would prefer to avoid. Outside of their 4-0 loss to UK in the first game of the season, MSU is 3-4-2 against the other top teams in the country, with all 4 losses coming by one point. Against the rest of the competition they’re 7-0, giving up a total of three points.
If MSU does get a one seed, they will avoid playing the other top tier teams first day. While that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to sleep through Saturday of Nationals, it does mean that they’ll have an easier chance to go undefeated and have a top four seed for Sunday. If State gets the #6 overall seed, and thus ended up being a two seed, they will likely draw either UK, JMU, or Kent State on Saturday. While MSU has beaten Kent State twice this season already, they have improved greatly since they played last. JMU and Kentucky have both beaten MSU once this season. The Spartans had to go through that last year, when they played JMU on the first day and the loss to the Dukes threw them into the same half of the bracket as GVSU, CMU, and SVSU.
Potential two seeds that the Spartans could draw as a one seed include OSU, Maryland, WKU, and Towson. MSU defeated the Buckeyes 4-1 in Columbus earlier in the season and beat WKU at Nationals last year, but have never faced either Maryland or Towson. Central Michigan is also a potential two seed, but it would be unlikely that they would be placed in the same pool as MSU.
If the season were to end today, and there were no upsets in the pool play, then MSU would be looking at the #3 seed overall in the Sunday pool of the bracket. They would play the winner of RIT and one of the teams who hasn’t played a game this season, which would lead into a battle with likely SVSU in the National Quarterfinals. This year’s Nationals will be more hotly contested, and there is more parity, than the last few years. Whereas last year the case that the four best teams were in one half of the bracket could be made, this year there is no “clear cut” top four teams. There’ll be tough matchups for everyone starting in the Quarterfinals.