2013 Official All-State Awards

Because I love to play with data, I rearranged the Division 1 info to make it easier to see how many all-state players were from each team and what grade each player is in.  Two quick takeaways:  North losing a lot this year to graduation and Londonderry should be good again next year.

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NAME	TEAM	Position	Grade	Level
Tyler Brown	Alvirne	P	11	First-Team
Pat Emmanuelson	Alvirne	C	12	Second-Team
Mike Sirvydas	Alvirne	IF/P	12	Second-Team
Dan Brown	Alvirne	OF	9	Third-Team
Andy Lalonde	Bedford	C	12	First-Team
Corey Snell	Bedford	OF	12	Second-Team
Ben Philbrick	Bedford	IF	12	Third-Team
Jeff Lunn	Bishop Guertin	P/IF	12	First-Team
Eric Damphousse	Bishop Guertin	OF	11	First-Team
Shane Nowak	Bishop Guertin	IF	10	Third-Team
Josh Partridge	Concord	P	11	First-Team
Ben Bengtson	Concord	IF	11	Second-Team
Cody Ferns	Concord	OF	12	Third-Team
Braden Smith	Concord	C	12	Third-Team
Kyle Seawards	Dover	IF/P	12	First-Team
Aaron Denis	Dover	OF	12	Second-Team
Anthony Lupi	Dover	P	11	Third-Team
Ethan Joyce	Exeter	IF/P	12	First-Team
Tyler Grant	Exeter	OF	12	Second-Team
Henrik Barbin	Exeter	IF	10	Third-Team
Alex Parenteau	Keene	OF	11	First-Team
Lucas Luopa	Keene	IF	12	Second-Team
Mason Blanchard	Keene	P	10	Third-Team
Ryan Moloney	Londonderry	P/IF	12	First-Team
Jake Welch	Londonderry	IF	12	First-Team
Rob Del Signore	Londonderry	P/IF	11	First-Team
Tom Corey	Londonderry	P	11	Second-Team
Brett Evangelista	Londonderry	OF	11	Third-Team
Colby Joncas	Londonderry	C	10	Third-Team
Mike Ryan	Londonderry	IF	10	Third-Team
Jacob Boylan	Memorial	OF	12	Second-Team
Mike Gasper	Merrimack	C	11	First-Team
Matt Wojciak	Merrimack	P	12	First-Team
Taylor Black	Merrimack	IF	12	Second-Team
Devin Gillis	Merrimack	P/IF	11	Third-Team
Matt Fortin	Nashua North	C	12	First-Team
Kyle McCarthy	Nashua North	P/IF	12	First-Team
Mike Roberts	Nashua North	P	12	First-Team
Brendon Martin	Nashua North	IF	12	Third-Team
Spencer Maddon	Nashua North	IF	12	Third-Team
Nick Reed	Nashua South	OF	12	Second-Team
Connor Donahue	Pinkerton	P/IF	11	First-Team
Nate Rossi	Pinkerton	C	11	Second-Team
Matt Marchman	Pinkerton	OF	12	Third-Team
Joe Lemaneger	Salem	OF	12	Second-Team
Jake White	Salem	C	11	Second-Team
Alex Gray	Spaulding	C	12	Second-Team
Justin Jewell	Spaulding	OF	10	Second-Team
Jake Damphousse	Timberlane	P	11	First-Team
Jameson Collins	Timberlane	C	12	Second-Team
Patrick Mahoney	Timberlane	OF	12	Third-Team
Carmen Giampetruzzie	Trinity	P/IF	11	First-Team
Alex Currier	Trinity	P	12	Second-Team
Ryan Baldwin	Trinity	IF	10	Third-Team
Cam Hauze	Winnacunnet	C	11	Third-Team

Congratulations to the players and coaches who were honored by the NHHSBCA.  As Ironwill stated, "enjoy the debate."  I remember a few disgruntled posters last time around.

 

Here's some breakdowns for D1 All-State selections as well as some thought on the season.  In regards to All-State, I just started looking and here's what I found. 

 

1st team:

9 juniors and 10 seniors (including POY).

2nd team:

1 sophomore, 4 juniors, and 13 seniors.

3rd team:

1 freshman, 6 sophs, 4 juniors, and 7 seniors.

 

D1 totals:

1 frosh, 7 sophomore, 17 juniors, and 30 seniors.  

Twenty-five underclassmen give the fans something to look forward to in 2014.

 

# of players represented on D1 teams, the teams record, and my skinny.

Londonderry (16-4)  7.  Best team in D1. Coach of the Year, Brent Demas. Depth from 1-9 as well as pitching.  In a series, I would never pick against them, but it is only one game.  Revenge game tomorrow vs. Timberlane, who handed them one of their 4 losses.  Looking ahead, could see Pinkerton for the 3rd time at Holman...

North (13-7)  5 . McCarthy and Roberts tough 1-2 punch.  Offense has been up and down.  I'd have to call them explosive after seeing them come back against Merrimack.

Concord (12-6), Alvirne (11-7), and Merrimack (11-7) 4.  Only Concord remains out of these three.  Seeds 4, 6, and 7 went down yesterday. All three one-run disappointments.  Concord, looking to return to the championship, has Dover in its way followed by North or Exeter with Joyce on the bump.

Keene (12-7), BG (11-9), Dover (10-9), Timberlane (10-8), Pinkerton (8-11), Bedford (9-9) Exeter (9-9) (including POY), and Trinity (6-12)  3 Keene, Bedford, BG, and Trinity do not advance from this grouping. The Pinkerton turn around is the great story of the tournament.  Steve Campo's #13 seeded ball club has won 6 straight.  Timberlane, who have now won 9 of 11 after a very slow start, should be confident after beating the Lancers 4-3 on the road two weeks ago.  

Spaulding (11-7) and Salem (7-13) 2. Spaulding toasted Pinkerton last night as the Astros' victory helps them avoid the long ride to Keene.   Salem's tough, 1-0, loss to North last night ends their season

Memorial (4-14), Winny (6-12), and South (6-12) 1.  South only team of this grouping in the tournament as the #16th seed were blanked by #1 Londonderry.  Of the 8 games yesterday, it appears 6 were good ball games.

Central (4-14) 0.

 

 Good luck to all tomorrow.

Boy would I like to be a fly on the wall in the annual meeting where the lobbying efforts produce the above list.  Lots of great players with lots of great performances this year.  I managed to see many of these teams this season once, so the natural focus is on the pitching (hard to evaluate fielding talent in 7 innings).  So I took a closer look by position at the pitchers on the list to see how that all played out, as I felt this was a pitching-heavy league this year.

 

12 teams placed their "ace" on the list.  6 of those teams also placed their #2 on the list (2 on first team!), while Londonderry also placed their #3 on the team.  Teams that didn't manage to get their "ace" on the list: Bedford, South, Memorial, Central, Salem, Spaulding, Winni.  I saw Dolan from Salem, was very impressed with him in an early season game in Hampton. I understand he threw a gem in first round vs. North.  I saw the Spaulding kid struggle in an outing the first half of the year, must have had a few more of those games during their stretch of games where they leveled off.  did not see Bedford, South, Memorial, or Central aces.  Out here on the Seacoast I did see MacHardy from Winni several times and am shocked that he didn't get any love from the voters.  His 13 stikeout CG vs. Dolan was as dominant an outing as I saw all year, except for Joyce.  No disrespect for the second and third guys on the rosters who did get awarded, but I have to draw a corellation to the teams who didn't make the playoffs or who limped into the playoffs at the bottom of the standings getting possibly slighted.  Hauze the Winni catcher was second team last year as a Soph, had a better year this year and threw out runners all season long, and dropped down to the third team?  Central placed 0 players on the team and Memorial just the 1, yet Londonderry places 8?  Obviously not everyone who deserves it will be recognized, but fascinating to wonder how players from successful teams are deemed more worthy candidates than their peers with a weaker surrounding cast.  Nevertheless, congrats to all!

CONGRATS to all who made the selections.  I agree with Seacoast about being a fly on wall in that room while the lobbying efforts were being "forged." Personally, I believe that official score books should be brought into that room and not merely taken on the word of certain coaches doing their "lobbying" for their "fav" player and misrepresenting stats.  As much as that's going to rub certain people on here the wrong way ... is IS being done and is wrong.

 

In any event, I was surprised not to see Matt Morais on the list.  I know he started out real strong, was ill for a bit, and then was recovered?? Was hearing good things about him early on.

HeyLefty,

 

I missed that.  Matt was all-state the night I saw him. 

 

In the day an age of electronics, media-availability, and apps like Game Changer wouldn't it be cool if the home team was required to submit game stats to Game Changer.  I enjoy the way the Showcase League does it during the fall. Great the way colleges do it.   In high school basketball, the home book is an official, required part of the game.  Unfortunately, keeping baseball game statistics requires a little more than is demanded from a high school basketball scorekeeper. However, it could be done, but I guess it's just a dream of a guy who loves numbers.

Yeah, Matt was teammates with Alex for 3 years (13-15) and has developed into one of the best pitchers in the State, at least Top 10-12, imho. Perhaps he didn't play enough or pitch enough innings as a result to being hurt. Great kid!

 

I like that idea of the home team posting something.  Yeah, I realize that HS stats are generally kept by a player scorekeeper and are far from accurate, I understand that.  Giving your best friend a hit when it should have been an error here or there .... certainly happens everywhere. Again, I understand that.  Over the course of a full season, that might only change the over all stats a few points up or down.  However, for pitchers,  if a coach is going on record as saying a pitchers has, say, a 7-1 record ... he should have to say who the 7 wins were against.  Only take all of about 10-15 seconds. If that were to happen, and a discrepancy occurs, the opposing coaches should know who they lost to and speak up. Again, these selections are supposed to be based on performance and not "projected" ability or over hype

 

No, I am not a disgruntled parent by any means as I was accused of being last year.  Same issue as last year ... and the lies continue just no one is willing to step up and say anything.

I wonder about this process too.  Mine has been on the list two years in a row, so I don't post this with any hard feelings at all.  However, my son happens to play in D3 - there are 27 teams in D3.  Teams play maybe 9 or 10 other schools each.  More often than not, coaches are voting for or against players they have never seen, maybe never even heard of.  Not a great system, but I can't honestly say I have a solution.

I must say I was (very) surprised to see Carmen as a first teamer this year for Trinity.  This is not a slight on ability, as I am sure BC is a great evaluator of talent.  Looking at some games he pitched I assumed his stat line for the season was going to be stratospheric in many categories, sometimes to no fault of his own if the defense was indeed as poor as I had read over most of the season.  Extra outs leads to extra base runners, extra pitches and higher pitch counts and fatigue later in games, pitching from the stretch more often, and the runs, walks and ratios (WHIP, OBP etc) that is all part of the equation.  finishing the season giving up 9 runs vs. Londonderry, 9 vs. Pinkerton and 6 vs. Timberlane (all losses) led me to think that his stats weren't going to be first team quality even if all his other starts were pretty strong.  It certainly is to the benefit of the recruiting process at Trinity to have players recognized, and if there is funny business going on then the process needs to be revamped somehow.  voting on actual numbers, on actual performance vs. hype, potential, a scholarship offer or doctored stats is a shame.

 

The solution to this problem is pretty simple in my opinion.First and foremost Athletic Directors need to get off their collective butts and really monitor what's really going on. It's their duty to ensure quality coaches are around these young athletes for the right reasons, such as Honor, Integrity, Sportsmanship, and the biggest one of all RESPECT for the games they are charged with teaching these young adults. So many of these coaches really need to check their egos at the door! With that said, stats are not well kept at all in high school sports, baseball probably being the worst. In today's electronic world it's baffling to me this is still happening. The NHIAA should make it mandatory that all stats are kept and recorded by the home team, period! Both head coaches should sign the book to verify them. I know it can be done, I've seen stats entered by statisticians live,during the game , imagine that! For the players to be selected because they're "scholarship" bound is plain and simple B.S., it happens every year, this year being no exception! Let's start picking players for the right teams for the right reasons.

I don't see how Baseball is that different from other sports with respect to picking the team as controversy abounds in other sports too.

 

Perhaps they need to nominate, pick, and list 1-2 player(s) for each non-pitching position.  Then 2-3 starters, 2-3 relievers, and a closer. It's done that way in other sports isn't it? Won't happen though because every coach wants to see his player get their due. Also most pitchers are also position players, so where do you nominate that player?

 

Curious - just looking at D1 First Team- where in the "IF" do most of those dual position players play?  Why are there only 2 outfielders?  Are there any SS's?  3B? 2B? Lunn, Donahue, DelSignore, McCarthy, Roberts, and others? all play first.  Moloney does play SS, but it's not what he's known for. Perhaps Seawards plays SS, but could be an OF. I've seen Brown play 2B.  Not sure where Wojciak plays when not pitching. I saw G play OF against BG...  How Nick Reed isn't first team just shows the "respect" (or lack thereof) given to the voice of the coach of South in the process.

 

Part of the reason I see the baseball list as a farce is because they don't go positionally - they just pick players. Nothing against the players that were picked as they all are deserving of some recognition.  For me, it's the process.  Might be nice to know who is the best positional player as well.  When/if you get to college - you are generally either a pitcher or a positional player.  Kind of like the separation between offense and defense in football in college.

 

I'd love to hear the argument about which of the *3* catchers on the first team is the best (3 catchers and 2 OF's - go figure!). For the one game I saw the Winni catcher had some really good pop time and a cannon... Again perhaps another case of a coach with less voice than the others.

I do the scorebook for my Son's team and have probably 50 years familiarity with doing it.  Does this experience make me qualified to enter stats into the system and being infallible while doing it? Not a chance.  My interpretation of error vs. hit will probably differ from what a parent, or opposing coach, or even my son may see.  The only one I will discuss it with is my son, and I will bow to his decision on the matter.  Since moving to NH in 2002 I have only seen one High Schooler who could keep a decent book, so don't think there is one on every team.  Since there will never be uniformity in scorebooks then the individual usefulness of the books should apply only to the Head Coach and his program.  The Head Coaches in turn represent their program in the All-State selection process.  These 20 or so guys are well aware of the vast majority of the talent available.  They choose the players based on their observations along with the coaches presentations.  These guys know who they don't want to face in a crucial game, or who they don't want batting against them with the go-ahead run on third.      The system seems all right as it is, everything is in the proper perspective.  It is too bad that everyone (knowledgeable and otherwise) does not have their opinion count so they are not being recognized for their insight.   Notarizing scorebooks will never take the responsibility away from the Head Coaches, so just sit back and enjoy the sport.

Old Man....

 

Thanks for the perspective.  It is refreshing.  "Just sit back and enjoy the sport" is the best advice.

Just so it is clear, no college coach at any time ever said, wow you were all state. They know who is who, so get over whether they did or didn't make it,and if they did ,enjoy it for a week then realize it means nothing at the next level. Hard work and not a whole lot else will determine success or failure at the college level.

Hard to enjoy the sport when coaches are out right lying about stats just to get their fav player in. Politics and favoritism in sports with coaches does more harm than good ALL around and downright stinks! Play golf with the coach and buy him a beer and get brownie points ... no disrespect to the respectful coaches on here ... we know who you are and some of us know who is not.

I agree, college coaches in general don't care,  A player of the year type award might get you enough attention that they will come see you play, but after they see a kid play it becomes mostly meaningless.  For that matter, I've never heard of a college coach who cares one bit about a kid's batting average in high school either, probably for a lot of the same reasons already discussed in other posts.  Stuff like that might get them to come take a look, after that, I don't think it matters much.

Gentlemen,

 

I have been reading this blog all season, and its great to see so many involved with NH Baseball.  I am "One" of those 19 Division I coaches that took part in the All State Selection.  In my 7 years coaching I have attended multiple Division I, II, and III All-State selections as I have coached in all three divisions.  The process is slightly political, but for the most part I have seen Coaches try to be as fair as possible.  In my opinion, Division I is the hardest as you only see each team once.  Stats are never going to be legit, but I can tell you that in my program I make my players earn every stat.  I do agree that some coaches pad stats, but ultimately we do the best we can.  The process for choosing teams is done by closed ballot voting, and each Coach can list as many players on the board as he chooses for each team.  We do also take into account that every team should be represented.  I agree that may not be fair, but it has been done this way for awhile now.

 

I do agree that the process could change, and that is really up to the coaches and our association.  If you think the process should change, and you have new ideas than contact your coaches, or write more ideas on this forum as I will definitely take them into consideration when we meet.  For instance, I do agree that all-state teams should be separated by position, but that is difficult with players moving around to different positions.  Also, in Division I this wasn't the case, but if Coaches don't show up for the meeting then their players are not very likely to get on a team.  That is the Coaches responsibility and its sad that certain Coaches don't show.  South's coach didn't attend the meeting, but we still discussed his players.  In the other Division's....you don't show no one gets on.  I agree this is also ridiculous, as my first year coaching in Division III I had the best player and due to family obligations couldn't attend the meeting.  It has been held on a vacation weekend, but a motion was passed to move it so more Coaches could attend.

 

Ultimately, its never going to be perfect, but we could make it better.  Every year certain Coaches ask if we would like to make changes, and its up to us to come up with a better approach.  Favoritism will always exist, and lets face it, certain coaches hold more weight, and stats are sometimes all we have to go by.  With over 350 players to choose from...and  54 slots on 3 teams....errors will occur.  Thanks for the reading this year guys.

 

NH COACH

Coach,

 

Thanks for the post.  I appreciate your candor and your opinions on NH high school baseball.    

Me too Coach.  Very well stated, and it is reassuring to hear that the coaches do take it seriously, because I think a lot of players do too.

Hard to enjoy the sport when coaches are out right lying about stats just to get their fav player in. Politics and favoritism in sports with coaches does more harm than good ALL around and downright stinks! Play golf with the coach and buy him a beer and get brownie points

 

Nasty Lefty your post makes me think.  All season it seemed like the same 3 or 4 players on our team were getting guaranteed spots on the starting roster and never came off the field.  Couldn't figure out since one was definately not the best player on JV team.  He got more than 70 at bats had about .350 batting average.  Better than average player but just didn't get the amount of play time he was getting and fielding was average.  Then he shows up on all state roster ahead of a few seniors.  Coach must have fighted for him to get a spot.  I'm wondering if there is some favoritism going on here.  Are coaches allowed to fraternize with parents of players?  Is the coaching staff allowed to be paid in off season for batting instruction?  I wish ADs kept better tabs on their coaches so the appearance of this stuff wouldn't be out there.    

srbaseball15: Obviously you read at least some of the posts on this thread, but regretfully you seem to take the easier road and follow the disgruntled complainer rather than the good people who sincerely care about this sport called baseball.  Don't waste your time worrying about the other guys or how you interpret their method of success.  There is nothing wrong with working harder and playing your best, and if you do that you should sleep well at night AND will be a better person for it. 

Try to keep it civil. My dad hasn't said anything that isn't true, no need to be like that.

there are two sides to every conversation, this one is no different.  Is baseball supposed to be played for fun?  Absolutely.  I hope the kids are learning skills, making lasting relationships with teammates, and taking their game as far as it can take them.  At the same time, baseball is pretty serious for some of these kids with aspirations and abilities that can take them to the next level.  Some work on their game year round, and when the time comes they want to be recognized for their accomplishments.  When they play with members of other teams in the offseason, there is certainly a pride factor that comes with honors and awards, especially if you play for a team that struggles.  And let's not be naive in thinking that there aren't some benefits that come with first team all-state honors.  Coaches at the next level will absolutely take you a little more seriously and make the extra effort to evaluate you.  Lower rankings or even worse being overlooked in the ballot process is certain to cast doubt, though that can be overcome.  And like it or not, high school baseball is really a small business for some of these players, as a partial scholarship can equate to $100,000 over the course of a college career as well as assistance in the admissions process and a pre-season slot on the roster.  A near-perfect system that promotes fairness to the benefit of those that bust their humps and produce on the field is owed to these kids in whatever form possible.  Otherwise why go through the exercise at all?

Lots of interesting points being brought up and like the selection process I'm sure we cannot agree on everything. If you reread nh baseball coach's post - it's a process the coaches have decided upon and has set numbers for each "team". The coaches that read this site can make suggestions about improving the process based on our input, but in the end it's those coaches who decide about the "best" and "fairest" process. Picking "all star" teams has always been contentious - having sat through many meetings to decide the best way to pick youth all star teams, I know there's great arguments made from each side as to the "best" and "fairest" way.  Scaling that from a town to state wide process is quite difficult especially since coaches don't necessarily see everyone nor see them "at their best". Baseball games aren't filmed, broken down, and used to generate game plans like football and basketball.

 

Every year someone's favorite player (whether it be a coach's or a parent's) isn't going to make a specific "team".  While some say it's statistics others say its politics - probably a bit of truth to both sides of the argument. In the end there's 15-20% of the players being recognized.  We can say someone was missed and cite the "stats" as to why or "political reasons" for being overlooked. Tough to prove who's right and wrong. Some don't get as much opportunity as others and there are complaints, but do you go to practice every day and watch that too?  Sometimes there's reasons beyond what you think you see as to why a player doesn't get innings. I do agree that some players seem to get better and more opportunity regardless of their on/off field behavior - I don't think it's fair or right, but eventually that catches up with the player or coach.

 

It's easy to caste stones at the coaches, but remember they are out there and whether or not you agree with them or their system, they're doing a "job" they love. I doubt any of them will tell you they do it for the money.  I cannot imagine they don't know when someone is kissing up to them.

 

Baseball just happens to be a sport which every fancies themselves as an expert, but few want to put themselves in front of the "firing range". 

 

Let's congratulate those players that were named.  Some will go on to college to play, some won't.  Some not on the list are going to play in college, so not making the list means very little to a college coach.

Let's face it. Every year it is the same tired argument. I can only speak on the Division I know which is D1. No one can argue the 1st team. All year every kid on that list was talked about after their games on the "2013 Season" post . They were the #1 players on the year. There are no surprises.

 

2nd Team- Maybe a surprise or two but to be honest I only saw most of these kids one time. I know of most of them but not all.

 

3rd Team- Same deal. Maybe a few more surprises. Probably more room for a discussion as far as who made it & who didn't.

 

Take the 1st team out of the argument. Let's look at this from the Coaches perspective. There are probably several players on most teams that could be recommended for the 2nd or 3rd team. What makes one more deserving than the other. Maybe Coach thinks player "a" worked his tail off over the winter & improved his game so he pushed for him or player "b" played 100% every play, every ground ball etc. Every Coach is different & every Coach has their own set of "little things" they look at in players. I would give the benefit of the doubt that most Coaches have valid reasons for the selections that they recommended.

 

Congrats to all the players that did make it.

Just my two cents.  In defense of the coaches, these arguments are the same with every sport at EVERY level.  Can someone tell me the year that EVERYBODY was 100% happy with the MLB All-Star selections?  We know this has never and will never happen.  So if the very top level has the same issues, how can we expect high school do any better?

 

Do high school coaches fudge the facts at times in an attempt to do right by “their guy”?  Probably.  Are there worse things?  Definitely.  How about coaches who don’t care enough to show up at the All-State selection meeting?  Apparently, this happens, and it’s not isolated.  Maybe I’m naïve, but I can’t believe there would be one coach who would miss an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and accomplishments of any of his players. I know most of the coaches take this seriously, and I commend them for it.  I know you don’t get rich as a high school coach, but to me, when you sign up for this particular job, you are obligated to do as much as you can for these kids, especially the ones who aspire to continue to play this game.  I know some have downplayed what All-State means, but honestly, any recognition for a kid trying to advance to the next level, is a good thing.  If it’s true about South’s coach not attending, give credit to the other coaches who put Nick Reed on the 2^nd team. I'm guessing they didn't have to do it, but integrity wins on that front. That said, you have to wonder if this kid could have ended up on the first team had he had a coach who cared enough to go to the meeting and speak as highly of him as some of the other coaches did for their kids.

 

Apparently, there were other coaches who missed this meeting and have missed it in past seasons.  If attending this meeting isn’t a mandatory part of the job, then something is wrong.  If the athletic directors of the coaches who don’t attend this meeting are taking no action, then something definitely needs to change.

 

So I understand the bitterness toward coaches misrepresenting the facts to push their kid ahead of someone else who might be more deserving.  Is this wrong?  Probably.  But if we’re being honest, I’ll take that coach over the coach who doesn’t care at all.

I am going to have to say that some of these kids deserve to be higher up on the all state list and some kids deserve to be lowered. Reed had an amazing year and old gets 3rd team after making 1st team as a junior? Winnacunnet didn't make the playoffs but still had some kids with talent. MacHardy didn't have the best year on the mound but as the ace of that team he had his ups that were better than some of the other kids on the all-state list. Hauze who got 2nd team all-state as a sophomore who didn't even play in 4 of the games last year only got 3rd team after having a much better year this year. Heard he was 15/17 throwing out runners and batted .375. Then some pitchers who got the Loss to this team made it higher on the all state list then these 3 kids. I just dont get this all state selection thing at all and guess I never will.

"I am going to have to say that some of these kids deserve to be higher up on the all state list and some kids deserve to be lowered. Reed had an amazing year and old gets 3rd team after making 1st team as a junior?"  New HampshireB

Nick Reed made 2nd team as a senior.  1st team as a Junior.  2nd team as a sophomore.  That's a good career.  He also had a nice career playing in the GSBL fall showcase.  

 

Not sure, but I may have seen Connor McHardy pitch for the USA Mavericks last summer.  I noticed this spring that he is rated by Perfect Game as a "High Follow" possibly based on his performance at a PG showcase or tournament.  Going by that rating I expected to read about a lot of good starts and see him on all-state. I didn't so I'm not sure how he pitched this season.

 

I believe that there are 17 pitchers on the list.  I estimate that I have seen 14 of them throw.  I'm not sure I could remove any of them.

Nasty lefty..you are embarrassing your son..knock it off

Don't pretend like you know my son  ... whoever you are because those on here who do, know the truth from witnessing it and have already spoken to both of us about this and are in agreement something needs to be done.  Feel free to identify yourself.  Obviously, you are one of those who do not want hear the truth.  Ignorance is not bliss, when the truth is kept in silence. Hide inside your bubble. I sent you a private dialog if you'd prefer to continue telling me about how my son feels or doesnt feel and what I should do. Or, feel free to offer some kind of suggestion of how to get a lying coach to stop ... I'm at a loss.

Regardless of whether a coach is "padding" their players stats, isn't it really up to the integrity of the other coaches in the league to vote accordingly and select the best 18?

John, I appreciate that note. Nick Reed, hit .380, over 500 OBP and broke up 4 no hitters this year. Didn't slip a bit from last years performance, with very little protection in that line-up. From what I heard the "Freshman" coach was sent to this meeting to "lobby" for him. (Freshman coach has never seen him or met him). It is what it is. In the future I would love to see the system changed to keep politics out and just recognize performance. The NHIAA Keeping track of stats would be a good start. Also Agreed Matt M (B.G) should have gotten consideration.

The problem I have seen with some of these HS Coaches is once the season is over they shut it down too. There aren't enough of them following their kids playing Legion or Showcase in the fall, and the following year they have the same perceptions or misconceptions about these kids because they haven't been around to see the improvement occurring. Maybe another coach (Showcase) see's him at a different position and the kid flourishes. Many of them do off season strength/conditioning programs, throwing hitting etc. Some of the coaches just don't seem to care what happens after the season is over. It doesn't "Pay" like it but it really is a full time job. My HS coach used to be everywhere there was a Baseball game going on..  

I believe that calling the All-State list a farce, or a joke, or whatever words any of the disgruntled baseball fans choose to use is unnecessary and disrespectful to the coaches and all the student/athletes who dedicate their time teaching and playing.  Unfortunately, there are coaches, and perhaps players, who are more dedicated to the game of baseball, but that is for them to decide when they look in the mirror. I don't want to go to bat for them.  At the end of the day, they know who they are.

 

Compliments to SNHBBALL in speaking respectfully about his high school coach.  I know there are coaches who do not just collect the uniforms and head to the lake. They are excited about their player's successes and disappointed by their failures. They follow their players progress and encourage their continued participation and preparation in the summer and fall.  They are around and visible and there was nothing better for a young player to see their coach at a game.  We should be praising them. Without this dedication, basketball and football, and soccer would continue to rob baseball of its athletes. I have nothing against the 3-sport athlete, but as I look at the All-State lists, I see many names who compete in the GSBL Fall Showcase League.  Baseball success (and I know that success is always subjective) is requiring a 12 month a year commitment.  I know many kids who have made that choice with basketball and they exclusively bounce the round ball. 

 

Many of you are right, what position are some of these all-state honorees playing when two are listed?  Yes, there is one true outfielder.  I get it.  One outfielder, Eric Damphousse. He is good and, much to the disappointment of opposing coaches, only a Junior. Alex P. will also be around in  2014, but probably not in the outfield. He plays 1st or third and pitches.   Could he play outfield?  No question.  Kyle Sewards is a middle infielder is he not?  Probably played more at 2nd for Dover. Jake Welch is a middle infielder, correct. Regardless, we still question who's the SS, even mentioning Ryan Maloney as a kid who plays SS.  I've seen him play some 1st base. I don't think he made the list as a SS. Anyway, with no disrespect to the others SS in the state, but your POY is the best. Ethan Joyce is on the list. End of discussion.  I also see the statement, "Not sure where Wojciak plays when not pitching" and I wonder why we are worrying about that.  He is listed as a pitcher and you won't see the big guy with a bat until he gets drafted by the Mets.  Three catchers.  Call one a DH.  They all deserve to be on the list.

 

But as we continue to question everything, we simply do a disservice to all. I have empathy for all those who have legitimate complaints regarding a coach....there are good ones and not so good ones, but what is consistent is that it is almost impossible to get change through the social networks.  Go to your principal,  your superintendent, the Board of Ed.(maybe that only works in basketball.)

 

On another note, why not use this forum to discuss the NHIAA and the changes that COULD take place with the Baseball format. I have heard that the baseball coaches and AD's proposed a new format for the playoffs. The NHIAA didn't want to hear about it. Anyway, I'd like to see the state adjust and realign the division format and create smaller conferences inside the divisions.   D1 is too easy for the state....play everyone once, and you can have 2 extra games.   But D2 and D3 have already, unofficially, done that when you play multiple opponents twice.  I looked at those schedules and many teams only play 10-12 teams in their divisions (D3 has 27 teams I believe) and play approximately 6 of those in a home and home.  Sounds good to me.  The natural rivalries are there.  But that question is for those more in touch than I. 

Perhaps they should just choose players based on their batting averages and not worry about positions, then coaches wouldn't worry about nominating 1 IF, 1 OF and 1 Pitcher.  Seems that is what was done by some of coaches (or agreed upon in the meeting) except for the special treatment for the Londonderry coach who seems to have an undue amount of influence in NH baseball.  A shame the state championship pitcher never made the list. 

Hey Monkey,    You have no idea how much time the "specially treated" Londonderry Coach dedicates to his job as Head Coach at Londonderry.  One thing I am very proud of is that he doesn't go on these posts and whine like a little puppy when he thinks something is not right, he formulates and acts on a plan to get support and change it.  I have yet to see where you have amounted to anything in NH Baseball other than maybe pitching a decent game, or maybe whining to your dad about how you are being mistreated.  If you remove any vastly unqualified statements from your posts they would end up with only one short sentence.  Hot shot, who started the JV Tourneys, you must know, right?  While you're at it look up who started the LHS Pitching showcase which is well-attended by pitching prospects and numerous scouts. You may have attended it last year, although I doubt it. If you aren't sharp enough to recognize the coaches who care about NH Baseball and the kids playing in it, then spend less time in front of a mirror and grow up.

OK, Mike I agree farce is too heavy a word, but my thesaurus wasn't functional :-)... I also forgot to include Joyce who yes is a SS... Not being at a meeting is still not a reason to not pick a player though. Coaches know which players they don't want to face on the bump and they also know which players they fear in the order. They know which catchers to not run on (but inexplicably still try). I disagree with srbaseball15 about choosing based on BAVG (even if it was said tongue in cheek). My middle sons BAVG was negligible as he only pitched (he made 2nd team in his senior year)...

 

I believe the playoff format being discussed was a first round best of 3 so as to avoid the #16/15/14 seed beating the #1/2/3 seed because of 1 pitcher.  You think the coaches knew something before the season started?  You betcha and none of them wanted to see a successful regular season go down because 1 pitcher stopped them. The format was scrapped because of the fear of rain, need for rescheduling, and the havoc that brings (fields, umpires, working around proms, tests, graduations, etc.). I think it could have worked - use Tue -> Thu/Fri after Memorial day. Quarters on Sat/Sun, Semis on Wed, Finals on Sat. You'd then see which team had the deepest pitching staff. Pray for good weather of course.  Strange how 3 games a week during the regular season is "OK", but only 2 per week during playoffs is the norm. Still this year was better than last where we had 1 week between semis and finals.

 

I think you have hit on the "next thing" the NHIAA will try - conferences.  Football is going that way and I can see the same happening in other sports.  Although a small state, local rivalries would be great for each of the larger/major sports. Imagine 2 BG/Merrimack basketball games every year (twice the love).  In 3 Lond/Pink baseball games this year it was 4-3, 4-1, and 2-1 - that's the #1 team and #13 team in rivalry games.  C1: Lond, Salem, Pink, Alv, & Bedf... C2: North, South, BG, Merri, & Keene... C3:Exeter, Spauld, Dover, Winni, & Timby... C4: Memorial, Central, Trinity, Concord, & Goffs (get 'em back in D1 where they belong)... Could put Ports in C3 too as they are good year in and out... Windham might fit eventually as they are "on the rise" (both in numbers and talent).

"Perhaps they should just choose players based on their batting averages and not worry about positions, then coaches wouldn't worry about nominating 1 IF, 1 OF and 1 Pitcher.  Seems that is what was done by some of coaches (or agreed upon in the meeting) except for the special treatment for the Londonderry coach who seems to have an undue amount of influence in NH baseball.  A shame the state championship pitcher never made the list." 

 

Not making the list must have provided some strong motivation. Maybe he just came came up big when it counted.  That happens. Maybe the NHIAA should provide official scorekeepers for the playoffs and when it's all done, announce an all-tournament team.

 

In regards to Londonderry, let's start with their pitching..... 49 runs in 20 games, 5 in 4 playoff contests.  54 in 24 games, 2.25 per game.  That's impressive.  I'm not sure, but I would bet that's tops in the state, all divisions.  Coach Demas must be doing something right.  Influential?  If a coach doesn't vote for his players......... what happens.  

 

Maybe people know him, I don't, I know OF him......pitching showcase, freshman tournament in past years, JV tournament this year, 17-3 regular season, runner-up state championship.  I'm sure others can tell you more.  I bet he is around all summer watching games in Legion or Senior Babe Ruth.   I don't have Demas' resume, don't even know how long he has been there and in what capacity, but I seem to believe Londonderry has a history of good baseball.  I wouldn't call it an undue amount of influence.  

So the coach running the JV tournies and pitching showcase doesn't have too much influence?  7 players on all state should have blown every team out of the water and yet lost the state championship and other games were close.  Who allowed that team to get 7 picks?  Apparently friends like Old Man.