2024 High School Baseball Season

We are about a 1/4 thru our season here.  Frosh son is on JV and getting good playing time so far in his primary position. They are undefeated so far. New coach is really good, super passionate and knowledgeable.

It's been a while since my son's had a coach that showed emotion like this. He makes no secret he wants them to win and expects them to but he's right there with them to teach,  hold them accountable and back them up.

For us it's a bit refreshing some of the travel teams up to this point my son has been on the coaches would just check out and the players would not give their all.

I realize JV is not that serious but my son is enjoying it. I feel like in way HS ball is about being a team and how you can help your team. It's also been good for his development. In travel ball it seems that the players are more focused on their individual achievements within the game due to wanting to play in college and stand out.

Son's team is 6-2 so far, beating a couple of solid "big schools" and the games they lost were both by a run to good programs. He's had 3 starts and the boys won all three, including a league game over a team they hadn't beaten since 2016 (7-41 against them since 2000). Had a no-hitter going into the 6th yesterday in a rather sloppy game by our side. Won today, looking to win tomorrow and Friday! .

Finished last week 3-1. Our Friday starter had "one of those days" against a good team and they fell 9-7 (both teams will be the top seeds when districts roll around).

Today 2024 faced one of the top teams in Class 5 (his school is Class 3) and won 3-2. They are now 10-35 against that program since 2000, and have taken the last 3 games dating back to last season and are the only 3 wins the varsity has had since 2015 (he pitched 2 of them).

Son walked about half of St. Louis County today. Umpire was setup waaaay behind the catcher -- not sure how one calls a game from back there. Pics attached...

Update, son's team is 9-0 in District. Everyone is playing well.

Disappointing season here.  We continue to do the same thing but expect different results.  Overall 4-8.  Only 6 games left including 4 conference.  

Boys limped out of last week going 2-3. Played in a tournament over the weekend where they were out of pitching after the first game. Tough being a small school with a limited staff. Our star offensive tackle tossed a complete game shutout. Each year we wonder why we participate in this tournament given our small pitching staff. The competition is great, but the boys would like to play them when they have some arms available. Overall played well, just didn't win.

Tomorrow the boys take on a conference foe and  last year's Class 4 champs (they are now Class 5 and we're now Class 3). Opponent isn't the same team as last year, but still not to be underestimated. Son has the start tomorrow and is looking to help the gang get rolling again. Good luck to all your boys this week!

We have a few more weeks until its over and are undefeated. We are not in a competitive division so I am kind of amazed of the low level of play compared to travel ball.

We do have some good players. There are kids are on the bench that play travel and are starters on their travel teams. I am really proud of my son that he is starting in his primary position and hitting well.

Socially it's been really fun for him. Since this is our first year of HS ball we are all just trying to enjoy it for what it is.

Just an observation, in the beginning of the season there was a small chance that son could go to varsity this year as he was called up to practice with them a few times. He didn't get called up but they called up one kid who is pretty talented and he has maybe played like 4 innings so far on varsity.  I am curious as to why a coach would pull a kid up and have him sit. I know he's already got options at his primary position. Is it to groom him to be a starter next year?

@BB328 posted:

We have a few more weeks until its over and are undefeated. We are not in a competitive division so I am kind of amazed of the low level of play compared to travel ball.

We do have some good players. There are kids are on the bench that play travel and are starters on their travel teams. I am really proud of my son that he is starting in his primary position and hitting well.

Socially it's been really fun for him. Since this is our first year of HS ball we are all just trying to enjoy it for what it is.

Just an observation, in the beginning of the season there was a small chance that son could go to varsity this year as he was called up to practice with them a few times. He didn't get called up but they called up one kid who is pretty talented and he has maybe played like 4 innings so far on varsity.  I am curious as to why a coach would pull a kid up and have him sit. I know he's already got options at his primary position. Is it to groom him to be a starter next year?

It’s usually a just in case scenario. Varsity is all that matters in hs, but for the player, a year is 25% of their hs career. My son was pulled up at the end of freshman year during playoffs, and then again sophomore year. When we started to see that he would mostly be sitting, he asked the coach if he could play on JV unless they were going to pitch him that week. The coach agreed, and he had the most fun playing on JV. He got to pitch and play a position which never happened on varsity.  

I agree with baseballhs, but it could also be getting to practice with the varsity, getting acculturated to the way the varsity coaches do things, part of a long-term plan of the coach.  It happened to my son, he didn't play the first half of the season, then the seniors played themselves off the field, and he did field the second half of the season but didn't hit.  It was very frustrating at the time.  He was a starter soph year, captain by junior year, and they had an amazing senior season.  So in hindsight it made sense.

@BB328 posted:

We have a few more weeks until its over and are undefeated. We are not in a competitive division so I am kind of amazed of the low level of play compared to travel ball.

We do have some good players. There are kids are on the bench that play travel and are starters on their travel teams. I am really proud of my son that he is starting in his primary position and hitting well.

Socially it's been really fun for him. Since this is our first year of HS ball we are all just trying to enjoy it for what it is.

Just an observation, in the beginning of the season there was a small chance that son could go to varsity this year as he was called up to practice with them a few times. He didn't get called up but they called up one kid who is pretty talented and he has maybe played like 4 innings so far on varsity.  I am curious as to why a coach would pull a kid up and have him sit. I know he's already got options at his primary position. Is it to groom him to be a starter next year?

Practicing with varsity has more value than playing JV. My son played JV freshman year. It was a waste of time. The varsity coach was against freshmen on varsity. He wasn’t too fond of soph starters.  My son was the first soph varsity starter in four years.

The boys won a really tight game yesterday (2-0) that was very well played and pitched by both sides. No errors by either team! CubsSon went 6 to help deliver the win. Lost to same team today in a game rescheduled due to rain the other day.

Have two non-con this weekend.  

Need to sweep a team next week (possible...) and have another get swept (not happening) to win the conference.

Son's team are Undefeated District Champions. Over all score in district 123-19. First playoff games start Friday (Bi-District).

I've been waiting to reply here but feel this is the right time. This year has been an interesting rollercoaster of a baseball season. My son is a sophomore and just transferred to a new school this year (where he fortunately knows almost everyone on the baseball teams). He knew he would be on JV since he is a catcher and the varsity team is stocked with 2 of the best catchers in the area (both senior D3 players but no junior catchers). Through the first 10 games he was hitless and felt totally lost - then he found out he had a major vision issue (20/25 in the right dominant eye, 20/200 in the left). He got perscription Oakleys and said he never realized what he was missing. Since that date, he's 12-20 (0.600) with 4 doubles 6BB and only 2Ks. He said the game feels like it is in slow motion now and can see every pitch.

School record for wins (20). Won as  underdogs on the road vs our biggest rivals for the district championship!

Son got the final out on the mound with a comebacker with the tying run on 2nd.  Got mobbed and ran over to our crowd and led the cheers.

There are hundreds of valuable pieces of advice on this forum, but one is above all others......

ENJOY THE RIDE!!!!!

So exciting @DaddyBaller!! Congratulations.

Finished the regular season as conference champs in one of the top leagues in the state.  Regionals start next week.  It's a 4 team, single elimination tournament to determine the 8 that go to the state tourney with the same format.  I envy you states with Best of 3 configurations.

Son's team clinched the conference championship last night, our school hadn't won it since 2016. Got to do it on senior night in front of a big crowd. Will be the #2 seed in regionals. Been a great final HS season.

@Master P posted:

Finished the regular season as conference champs in one of the top leagues in the state.  Regionals start next week.  It's a 4 team, single elimination tournament to determine the 8 that go to the state tourney with the same format.  I envy you states with Best of 3 configurations.

Texas has a best of 3 format, unless both coaches agree on a 1 gamer. But a ridiculous number of teams qualify for the playoffs. In 6A alone it’s something like 128 teams (32 districts X 4 teams per district) that make the playoffs. In order to get to the final 4 a 6A team has to win 5 rounds of best of 3. That’s a lot to navigate and inevitably some really good teams get knocked off in the process. The final 4 is single elimination - which allows no margin for error after everything that has to happen just to get there. As a result of this format a lot of teams have a legitimate chance. 50 years ago an unheralded team from West Texas (that had 11 losses - twice the amount of the other 3 final 4 teams) beat a San Antonio HS (that had a first round draft pick at SS) in the semifinals and beat a Houston HS (that had the #1 overall pick in the ‘73 MLB draft) in the championship game to win the 1st State Championship in the history of that HS. That was my HS team. Nobody had heard anything about us and we were lightly regarded. But 5 of us went on to play in the SWC after HS. The #1 draft pick (who we didn’t face) was David Clyde, a LHP chosen by the Texas Rangers. Clyde was the most dominant pitcher I have ever seen. Google his HS stats - they are mind boggling. We watched him strike out 19 (in a 7 inning game) in the semifinal game vs Galena Park with a 95 mph FB (that was never straight) and a CB that buckled knees. Keep in mind the 95 was on the old gun. It would be more like 100 today. The State Tournament in Texas is more than worth the price of admission. You are like to see future big leaguers. And if you are fortunate enough to make it as a player, you will be facing off against incredible talent. It’s a very cool event and I highly recommend it even if you have no dog in the hunt.

Son's team won the Bi-district in 2 games. Area is this week Thru, Fri and Sat (if needed).

I wouldn't mind Texas going to the top 2 teams in the district go to playoffs. That being said, 3 of the 4 teams from our district are still in. The team that is out played one of the top teams in the state. They needed 3 games. The team had one good pitcher and used him to win the first game, game 2 and 3 went down him pretty fast.

Wow ...Texas playoffs are almost an entire new season...

32 teams in each class make state tournament in FL. Single elimination all the way. Have to win 5 straight in 12 days.

No room for a bad day.

@DaddyBaller posted:

Wow ...Texas playoffs are almost an entire new season...

32 teams in each class make state tournament in FL. Single elimination all the way. Have to win 5 straight in 12 days.

No room for a bad day.

You’re right about Texas playoffs almost being another season. It can be as many as 15 additional games and it takes 5 weeks to complete play.

We're single elimination here in Missouri, too.

Son's buddy is a really great pitcher for a not-so-great #5 seed vs a solid #1 seed in their district semis, and that team threw their #3. The #5 seed played its best game of the season and won easily 13-1. It was that team's sixth win of the season -- very happy for those boys (he's friends with several of them)!

Another buddy of his played a team they already walloped 2x, and lost 3-1. This team is really young and had a great run in the playoffs last season, but never seemed to get it together in 2024 and had a disappointing season. Still, most are coming back in 2025.

Son's team short-gamed the #3 seed in a 1-hit shutout, and he'll get the start in the district finals. Coach emptied the bench today and got everyone time in the field and at the plate. The other coach followed suit when it was 12-0 in the second.

Son's team are Area Champs. Moving on to the next round (Reginal Quarterfinals). This week's games are expected to be the hardest so far. We shall see how they go.

JV season is finished. Team won their divison. No playoffs or extra tournaments here. Only one loss in a really tight game. The weather was pretty awful throughout the entire season. Son had a blast and was the starter in his primary position. It was a goal he set out to achieve last year. He was extremely motivated and put in a ton of work on the side. He fell into a bit of a slump in the last few games but still ended with a decent BA and OPS.

I don't think the team got to see how good or bad they really were due to the lack of competition. There only 2 or 3 tight games the entire season.

I wish there was a way to match up the opponents skill level a bit better. It seems unfair to both sides.

I am going to miss the social aspect that comes from being around parents you have known forever. His travel team is a bit of an unknown as the winter workouts were held in a group setting and my son is jumping onto a well established good team.

I cannot believe he has only a few short years left and then college.... My son and his friends were just talking about how much they all missed little league lol. In our town everyone played even if you were a serious travel ball kid.

Good luck to all your sons in the playoffs.

The Boy's season ended today.  He threw the first regional game, 5.1 Innings, 1 H, 1 Unearned Run, 2 BB, 7 K's For a 4-2 win.

Lost the Regional final game 2-1 against a very tough team.  Tears were shed but that's baseball.  He finished the season with 39.1 IP, 66 K's in our state's biggest class.

He graduates Sunday then moves to campus June 1 to start classes and working out to get ready for fall.

Went and watched the local high school team, my 7th graders probable future team, in the playoffs. They've made the final 8 in the state so far, which is further than usual. Interesting there here is that the scheduling seems very flexible, so the HS team played a lot of very good teams that were out of their division, and ended up with a so-so record. They then beat the not quite as good division teams in the playoffs pretty soundly even though they were seeded near last.

Well HS season came to an end last Saturday. It took 3 close games. Last two were within 1 run. Overall a really good season. This years team broke a number of school records. We will only be losing 3 defensive starters and 1 part-time starter/DH. Looking forward to seeing them break some more records next year. One last year to watch him play in HS.

First summer ball team pre-season training day was Sunday. Good seeing son back at his normal position.

Found out yesterday son got "All District New Comer of the Year". Because he was not considered a started last season. Not to bad for playing in a position he has not played in since he was 10 (OF). I think it was an overall good experience for him. Now he knows he can play somewhere else then behind the dish, if the team needs it.

Our local neighborhood HS (that 2 of my 3 kids attended) has now made it thru 4 rounds of the 6A playoffs. This is by far the deepest run in the history of this HS. The community buzz is out of control. In the upcoming Regional finals they will face the #1 team in the state of Texas, who are also the defending state champions. I have seen this team play and they look like a college team. So it will be interesting to see how this series goes. Anything can happen in a 3 game series. Do you believe in miracles? Because it’s gonna take one.

@adbono posted:

Our local neighborhood HS (that 2 of my 3 kids attended) has now made it thru 4 rounds of the 6A playoffs. This is by far the deepest run in the history of this HS. The community buzz is out of control. In the upcoming Regional finals they will face the #1 team in the state of Texas, who are also the defending state champions. I have seen this team play and they look like a college team. So it will be interesting to see how this series goes. Anything can happen in a 3 game series. Do you believe in miracles? Because it’s gonna take one.

Been following lots of teams on GameChanger through the past 2 rounds of the 6a tournament.  I think your neighborhood HS was 4-4 in bottom of 7th.  Error on the SS ended that game (loss)?  The other team scored it as a hard grounder to CF.  Nail biter either way!

looking forward to game 2  

@TexasLefty posted:

Been following lots of teams on GameChanger through the past 2 rounds of the 6a tournament.  I think your neighborhood HS was 4-4 in bottom of 7th.  Error on the SS ended that game (loss)?  The other team scored it as a hard grounder to CF.  Nail biter either way!

looking forward to game 2  

SS made 3 errors that resulted in 2 runs scoring in a 5-4 walkoff loss. They used their best pitcher, who pitched well enough to win - but didn’t. FM is a good team that didn’t play well tonight and still won. FM HC is experienced and from his words in the post game      Interview it sounds like he has honed in on the weak areas and will now exploit them. I wish I didn’t but I think I hear a fat lady singing.

Well sure enough the clock struck midnight and Cinderella’s fairy tale season is over. What’s remarkable about it to me (a guy with a pretty critical eye) is that they got as far as they did. It’s the perfect illustration of the game being all about pitching. Other than 3 exceptional arms (all 90-95) they were an ordinary HS baseball team at best - below average defensively & struggled to score runs. It also serves as proof that very few HS hitters can hit college level pitching.

Son's HS career came to an end this weekend in Super Sectionals. We were the 2-seed, playing the 1-seed. Both team's aces were out, both having pitched complete games 2 days prior. Game was 2-2 going into the bottom of the 7th, their first batter hit a walk-off bomb. The only consolation is that the kid who won it for them is a P5 commit.

Our team started 5-7, then won 20 of their last 22 games. It was a very fun season & one I'll always remember. It was the furthest our school had gone since 2005, when they had a senior first round pick out of HS who was a 2-way.

The team that beat us lost handily yesterday to the team who's won 3 of the last 4 state championships.