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Today starts the tryout period for public schools, though I believe the private schools are already well into practices.  By the end of this week, we should see how rosters shape up.  Typically programs know their junior and senior classes already, but seeing how rosters fill out is always interesting.  Who's going to lean heavily on younger players?  Who in the sophomore class will make measurable varsity contributions?  Are there any freshmen who figure to be up there as well?

How does Hanover look as we begin the post-Dragum era?

Can anyone compete with Benedictine?

South of the river, I see ample pitching at Cosby.  Manchester has one arm out for the season, so I'm not sure how they look overall (though their # 1 is definitely solid).  James River has one strong arm at least, but some younger guys will have to step up to replace a D1 arm who transferred to Benedictine.  Do the heavy offenses at Thomas Dale or Prince George have enough arms to allow them to hang with Cosby and the rest? 

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For those not aware, Benedictine is freakin' loaded again this year.  The senior class includes Jamari Baylor (Louisburg commit), who may be the most talented player in the area this year, proven stud RHP Casey Green (Coastal Carolina commit), as well as Brett Cook (Tulane commit, back after a stint at IMG Academy in FL), who is not only talented but tough as nails.  West Point commit Jack Anderson (RHP/1B/OF) has come over from James River, while Jay Woolfolk and Brett Allen anchor a strong sophomore class.  Jack Hall showed HR power last year, and Matt Sylvia is healthy this year.  Those are just the guys that come immediately to mind -- apologies if I overlooked anyone.

I love going to Benedictine games.  Always going to see good baseball talent, and ... IT'S FREE!

Last edited by Midlo Dad

Here's what I know so far -- and I'll edit to add to this as new info comes to me:

Saturday, March 2 -- everything that I knew of got cancelled due to the heavy rains the night before.

Monday, March 4

4:30 Meadowbrook at L.C. Bird

 

Tuesday, March 5

5:00 Benedictine split squad at J.R. Tucker

Time uncertain:  Benedictine split squad at Hermitage

 5:30  Atlee at Colonial Heights (Note:  JV game, Colonial Heights at Atlee)

 

Wed. March 6

no games known

 

Thurs. March 7

5:00 Thos. Dale at Hermitage

5:00 Benedictine at Goochland

6:00 Maggie Walker at Lee-Davis

 

Friday March 8

4:30 Powhatan at Matoaca

5:15 Deep Run at James River (JV teams playing at Deep Run)

 

Sat. March 9

10:00 Atlee at Stafford (Note:  JV game, Stafford at Atlee)

11:00 Liberty Christian at Godwin

1:00 Riverbend at Clover HIll

1:00 Fredericksburg Christian at Trinity

2:00 Midlothian at Benedictine

 

Last edited by Midlo Dad

Two months ago, I asked if anyone could compete with Benedictine.  Well, the answer is a qualified "no." 

There have been some close calls, to be sure, but Benedictine won its 20th game yesterday, and is still unbeaten.

They're in all the national rankings at this point.  Perfect Game's list has them at # 14.  Like all rankings, if you keep winning, you move up every time someone ahead of you drops a game.  (That's about as scientific as it gets for those types of rankings where, for the most part, the ranked teams don't play each other.)

No matter how well your regular season goes, you end up in single-elimination at the end of it.  And at that point, anything can happen.

Case in point:  The 8-9 winner got to Casey Green early and to Jay Woolfolk late and took Benedictine into extras yesterday.  It got dark on them, so they're resuming today at 4:30.  Wonder how that will turn out?  This weekend's semis and finals would certainly get wide open if the Cadets fell today.

Wish I could've been there, but couldn't -- Benedictine did manage to escape its quarterfinal with a win, on a walk-off HR in the bottom of the 14th!

It'll be interesting to see if the stress this put on its pitching staff affects Benedictine this weekend.  It's scheduled to play Cape Henry Collegiate Friday at 4:30, with the winner of that game advancing to Saturday's title game vs. the winner of the 7:00 St. Chris-Collegiate semifinal.

We used to get greater participation in discussions, but it seems some have moved on and we have not had new folks come in to replace them.

But for fans, today is one of the more interesting days of the year.  The private school "final four" games for Divisions I and II are today at Shepherd Stadium in Colonial Heights.  I personally plan on seeing the Div. I games at 4:30 and 7:00.  No better way to spend an evening of what we can hope will be good weather!

I got to see Benedictine start out with some sloppy play, then catch fire to end up with a slaughter-rule victory in the semifinal Friday night. Jamari Baylor and Jay Woolfolk hit tremendous HR's, while Brett Cook filled up the stat sheet with 4 stolen basis, a single, double, hit-by-pitch, 2 or 3 runs and 3 RBI.  Brett Allen was key in relief, given that both Woolfolk and Casey Green were ineligible to pitch until Saturday.

The ambitious day's schedule pushed all starting times back, and then the St. Chris-Collegiate game fell victim to a late night storm and resulting suspension. 

I wasn't there Saturday, but I understand St. Chris won its semi going away.  The championship game was tight well into the game, before Benedictine got 3 runs late and won the state VISAA Div. 1 title.  An appropriate capper for an outstanding season.

Congrats to our Va. Cardinals players on the championship team!  Seniors Brett Cook and Jamari Baylor, juniors Jack Anderson and Matt Sylvia, sophomores Brett Allen and Jay Woolfolk.

We've got some Richmond-area teams still alive as we start the state championship tournament rounds.

Today (Tuesday):

Class 6 has Cox visiting James River, 5:00

Class 5 has Menchville visiting Godwin, 7:00

Class 4 has Midlothian traveling to Lafayette, 6:00

 

We are also fortunate to have the "final 4's" for Classes 5 and 6 at Glen Allen HS and Deep Run HS, respectively, this weekend.   The only problem is, if both James River and Godwin advance today, they'll both play at 2:00.  And on Saturday, the championship games are likewise scheduled to take place simultaneously at 12:30.

I suppose the early game times are smart in terms of increasing the odds of avoiding any possible late-day lightning or storms, and if there are rain delays, it does provide some hours to fall back to.  But c'mon, VHSL, would it be that hard to stagger the times a bit so that us baseball junkies could see more games?

So, no webcasts, that's confirmed.  (I e-mailed VHSL and they were kind enough to reply promptly.)

Playoffs at levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been postponed to Thursday/Friday, June 13-14.

At levels 5 and 6, today's semifinals have been pushed to 9:00 and noon tomorrow, with championship games at 6:00 p.m.  Godwin and James River both play at noon.  Godwin plays at Glen Allen, James River at Deep Run.

Midlo Dad posted:

So, no webcasts, that's confirmed.  (I e-mailed VHSL and they were kind enough to reply promptly.)

Playoffs at levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been postponed to Thursday/Friday, June 13-14.

At levels 5 and 6, today's semifinals have been pushed to 9:00 and noon tomorrow, with championship games at 6:00 p.m.  Godwin and James River both play at noon.  Godwin plays at Glen Allen, James River at Deep Run.

Midlo Dad, check this out.  There is a link at the bottom for live stream (after you click on the link below) and you may have to subscribe.  I was checking for any postponements for tomorrow, uh, later today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82MjKA2rHf0

 

Last edited by keewart

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