6A and 5A favorites for 2014

Not sure what level Western Branch is, but they should be a favorite regardless.  I would also think Hanover is a top team in any division.

Stone Bridge (Ashburn) will have two D1 pitchers in JB Bukauskas and Devin Perez. Behind them they have some solid arms.  They're line-up is young but has the talent to hit anyone.  I think they have the ability to sneak up on some people.  

Also Woodgrove (Roundhill) is a team that has a great rotation lead by South Carolina commit Kaleb Bowman and another talented pitcher in Matt Jeffries.  

I'll bite. The old Concorde is the same (6A), and although some quality talent graduated, the backfill is significant. And that division somehow always seems to be in the mix, e.g., Oakton's run last year. Oakton: they graduated 6 starting position players, but they have at least 3 quality starters (2 seniors and a junior) with extensive experience. Same with Chantilly: they have returning starters that can carry the squad. Someone out of that division is going to make a run.

I'm not sure I have a good grip on who's in what division.

But Cosby I know is 6A and I know they are loaded once again.

Isn't Douglas Freeman 5A now?  I would look for them to make a run.

I'll give it a whirl in regards to the Hampton Roads area (which tends to factor at the state level).

With the new realignment, the Southeastern District, which perenially has 3-4 programs who could contend in any given year...they are being broken up, and therefore you could see several of them move deep into postseason.

In 6A you have Western Branch, wih Grassfield as a potential qualifier.  Western Branch is loaded with position talent.  I believe they have seven committed or signed D1 kids, and others who have yet to commit.  Grassfield reutrns the majority of a roster that went deep into the Eastern Region tournament last year.

In 5A you have Great Bridge and Hickory.  Great Bridge lost Taylor Lane and Connor Jones, but the cupboard is never bare.  They have their own group of college prospects, to along with the best position player in the state of Virginia.  Hickory is also loaded with talent.  They have several D1 and/or college level kids.  They were upset by Grassfield in the district tournament last season.

In 4A you have Nansemond River.  They lost a top-flight arm in Zach Rice, but return a tremendous amount of young talent.  They have as many as five or six potential D1 kids (most of which are underclassmen), and a remaining roster which incudes several future college players. 

I'm aware of several individual talents at the Beach or on the Peninsula, but am not aware of any particular program that has a team of talent equal to the above.

As always, I could be mistaken! 

Also, I agree about Hanover, but yes they are 4A.  They have high class pitching coming out of their ears.  And the rest of that team is pretty stacked as well.  They'd have to be consensus pre-season # 1 in 4A I should think.

Do I understand correctly that 6A and 4A teams won't ever meet?

The 2014 season schedule has keewartson's team playing 6A to 4A teams with one 3A thrown in...which in prior years that particular school hasn't been able to field a Varsity squad.

It looks like from the VHSL site that there will be 6 playoff brackets,  with a "state winner" in each.   

They can meet in the regular season. Once the playoffs start, they are different divisions so they'd never meet in the postseason. I didn't realize they were now 4A...I'd have to agree with Midlo that they'd have to be the consensus #1. Anything can happen, and I'm not as familiar with non-Richmond teams, but looking at 4A I'd think the Hawks are the class of that group.

Midlothian HS is 4A -     and has to play Cosby 6A James River 6A Manchester 5A Clover Hill 5A HANOVER 4A Powhatan 4A and Glen Allen 4A etc

How is that for a 4A baseball schedule??

...has to?

You want to play the best competition possible, especially in the regular season.  The VHSL has a formula where you get points for playing larger schools (win or lose) which will help the smaller school's seeding for the (4a in this case) playoffs. 

(Having to) play better competition will have them better prepared for the post-season run...crystal balling here, they will be better ready for Hanover and/or Woodgrove!

pitchout31,

C'mon man!  Midlo has been playing this schedule forever.   The VHSL puts labels on  these schools (very old rivalries - Cosby, James River, Manchester, Clover Hill) and all of the sudden Midlo is playing a tough schedule?  If you're selling, I'm not buying.

My understanding is that there are still districts, with regular season district schedules and regular season district championships to be won.  And at least for now, the districts are the same.  So since you have a mix of classifications in the districts, you'll continue to see area rivals face off even if they are in different classifications. 

The playoffs are grouped by the classifications now, though.  And seedings will be determined by a points system that rewards playing larger schools, so you'll see coaches taking that into account when lining up their non-district games.

It looks to me that they have made the regular season irrelevant.  No automatic bid everyone is in conference tourney. Just playing for seeding and possible bye.  Its just a big one and done tournament with 20 warm up games.

pitchout31,

I appreciate your thought about taking on all comers.   That is the way it should be.  I've been following the Dominion District for almost 10 years and I've seen some crazy, crazy stuff in both the regular and post season.  My point is Midlo has been playing this schedule for a long time, and Midlo has beat these teams in the past.   I believe last year Midlo (Cumbea started on the bump) beat James River.   Why all of the sudden is this the toughest schedule, and why does it matter except in VHSL dream land?  Let's see how these teams perform, and not care so much about 4A, 5A, 6A classifications. 

BTW...I'll make a side bet Midlo beats a couple of these teams!     

The regular season is surely not irrelevant, as performance then will determine who makes the playoffs and who doesn't. 

Not to mention, any time the ump says "play ball!", you're supposed to get everyone's best.

But to the extent you're saying district standings no longer matter, you're on to something there.  To me it's only a matter of time until the districts are disbanded, so that teams can be left more free to line up opponents who give them the best shot at piling up points towards a post-season berth.  Surely local rivalries will persist, but I could see some of those becoming 1 game each year (alternating home/away each year) instead of 2, and others being dropped entirely.  E.g., would 6A Thomas Dale see any reason to continue playing 3A Colonial Heights?

In our area old eastern region there are no more districts in baseball. Everyone makes conference playoffs.

Yep.  What used to be the "Eastern Region", the various programs are playing their former district one time through, then their new conference twice.  This allows for seeding for the conference tournaments.

I think another piece that adds to this mess is that the VHSL gave each region, and its respective "class", the flexibility to put is own stamp on things.  ie, the 6A North Region may run its tournament and qualifiers differently than the 4A South, for example.  

To me, that makes no sense.  You can see this play out at present with football tournaments.

It always seems to amaze me that the Northern Region teams are never mentioned in these forums; particularly what was the old Partriot District. For the record, 3 of the last 4 years a Patriot District team has either appeared or won the State Championship;

West Springfield won in 2010

South County was in the finals in 2011

Lake Braddock won in 2012

Lake Braddock made it to the semi-finals in 2013

Give the Northern region there props.

I jumped the gun on this a year ago.  If I was a coach I would not play my conference opponents during the regular season if I was in Group 4 or 5 if I could avoid it.  I would try to find 20 games with Group 6 or the top teams in the next group.  How do games against privates work in to this?  In the Eastern Region it would be interesting to see Atlantic Shores or Greenbrier Christian swing by Great Bridge, Western Branch or Kellam.

On the other hand...a few weekend games against the Central and Northern region powers would make the Regular Season a little spicier too.  If I was in the Central Region might try to entice Lake Braddock or WB, GF or GB to swing by for games.

These kids played AAU/USSSA or whatever it is called now for years against each other.  Bring some of that to the HS level.  Oh and another thing....expand the schedule to 25 games. 

Grassfield. They have to be a potential qualifier.  They have lots of young arms. You need some luck too but check them out.

Of Course GB and WB too.

Agreed!  Northern Region teams are rarely discussed on these board - which tells me there aren't many NR folks on the boards.  (Or just not speaking up.)

The Patriot District is tough -so many of these teams are under the radar (or in the shadows of the prior year's successful teams).   In 2010 Woodson was something like the 6th seed in the district standings after regular season.  They lost in the region finals the year WS won states.   Last year - South County about run ruled Lake Braddock (prior years state champion) in the district finals - with no notice....under the radar all season but made a nice run deep into regionals.

Tough district and region.

its a tough schedule regardless of classification....And while Midlo has been playing those teams for a long time, its still a tough schedule!