There are no Lynches in terms of powerhouse teams in 5A this year, but there should be some very good competition. My money would be with Nolan, which seemed to turn things around last season under its new head coach. They only lost a couple of position players and bring back pretty much all their starting pitchers and their all-state catcher from a team whose only district losses were to Lynch.
As for Lynch, it’s a rebuilding year, for sure. New (but experienced) coach, plus it’s unrealistic to think you can pull up the entire JV squad and expect them to win district without any previous varsity seasoning. TCA could be interesting if they can build some more quality pitching to go with Hursch, and of course they always seem to find a way to be in the hunt. I don’t think it’s a big secret that Prestonwood and Grapevine Faith were big disappointments after being so highly touted moving up to 5A last year. Welcome to the new neighborhood. I keep thinking that John Paul II is going to rear up and surprise some of us one day.
All that said, in order: Nolan, TCA, Prestonwood, Lynch, Grapevine Faith, John Paul II and Dunne.