9-4

My Prediction for District 9-4A is:
1. Sherman - Appears to have the most returning talent.
2. McKinney - Best Pitching in the District - The Three L's (Lee, Lipka, Levins) are solid. Not much else.
3. McKinney North - Going to be s****** and tough to beat as always.
4. Centennial - Very young & inexperienced. Lost their best player for the entire season - Mossakowski
5. Frisco - May surprise a few and will be strong fundamentally.
6. Frisco Liberty - ??
7. Frisco Wakeland - ??
8. Dennison - ??

I would watch out for Wakeland, although they are moving up to 4A this year they have alot of returning players and they may surprise a few people in this district. Also Liberty is pretty s****** I do not think they will fair as well.

I do not have a dog in this fight just my opionion.

LHP,

I too have heard some good things about Wakeland and agree that they may be a good sleeper pick for one of the top 4 playoff spots in District 9-4A. It was just that I do not know much about the Wakeland, Liberty and Dennison Teams but would be interested in hearing from folks that have some insight. It sure seems to me that this is a down year for District 9-4A but am looking forward to the coming Season just the same. Only 35 Days till our first scrimmage game!

Centennial has 2 very good juniors. Maybe more. But I only know these two.
Kothera-c
Dzurisin-lhp
These two kids will shine this year.

Sherman has not been able to do anything the past 5-6 years in a relatively weak district, no reason to think that will change now. Pitching wins, nuff said.

PS - Ladd will just keep winning at North, and everyone will wander why....savvy my friends, savvy.

Ladd will continue to pitch well...
How you been?

quote:

Originally posted by The Beast:
Centennial has 2 very good juniors. Maybe more. But I only know these two.
Kothera-c
Dzurisin-lhp
These two kids will shine this year.

If Dzurisin and Badarack pitch the way they are capable of, Centennial could have a great year.

I anticipate they will.

Ol' Denison just not what they used to be

What are the chances that McKinney North can win their 6th consecutive district championship? It seems every spring that with the losses they had the year before, they don't have a chance, but they have continued to do so year after year!!

My guess is they'll give it a run for their money and just might do it agian.

OP

OP,

I agree that North will likely be competing for the 2009 9-4A District Championship as always however I do think they will fall behind McKinney and Sherman this year. North will once again have solid pitching however as I told Nico last night it will be nice not having to face North with either him or Matt in the line-up. Of course since North lost Nico Taylor 6'5" and Matt Lackie 6'4", North may be fielding the shortest line-up in District 9-4A. But those munchkins will play solid small ball with above average defense so McKinney and Sherman better not take them lightly or the #6th consecutive district championship just might wind up with the Bulldogs once again!

Badman,

You are so right about North having a very small team. Most of the team is anywhere from 5'6"-5'10". They know how to play the game though and I'll put Jim Gatewood up against anybody from a coaching standpoint, so they'll definitely be S C R A P P Y.

Let's don't forget that McKinney has shared the district crown with North the last 2 years. With the talent they have in Lee and Lipka alone, they will be the team to beat in my opinion. They are 2 of the top 20 players in the country for their age group. They will be a force to be reckoned with without a doubt.

I know nothing about Sherman. I know when Danny Florence was the head guy there, they were extremely competitive year after year, so I doubt much has changed.

North scrimmaged Frisco Wakeland before the playoffs started. We thumped them pretty good, but they were very solid and didn't lose much from what I can remember.

Too bad Boyd had to move up to 5A. They made things in McKinney much more interesting from a baseball standpoint.

It should be fun.

Louisiana Lafayette opens the season with a 4 game series against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Louisiana on February 20th. That's what I'm really looking forward to right now though!!

Good luck to everyone!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Old Pitcher:
They know how to play the game though and I'll put Jim Gatewood up against anybody from a coaching standpoint, ___________________________________________________

Gatewood..... Give me a break

Robert,

I knew you'd have something to say about that!!

OP,
Maybe we should stay out of the 9-4A conversations, it's not like we have any rights there any longer.

Robert,

Thankfully you and OP have supplied some input to the 9-4A Thread, otherwise this thing might have died. I am not sure why we are not seeing any inputs from parents that do still have boys playing in this District. It has been very quiet so far and I am kind of disappointed that we have not seen more inputs but hopefully it will increase as tryouts are just around the corner.

I think our boys names are on some lists there that still give us some rights......................

And, I have a senior nephew at North that I will be following.

McKinney, Sherman, Denison, & and Frisco all rich in traditions from long ago just watered down a little from a community perspective now with the increase in high schools.

And, now there are great inter city high school rivalries.

Both of my boys have played for Price and Gatewood, and I know they'll have a solid teams.

It won't be long before two of the district teams will be bucking up against Poteet with their shirts off and Highland Park and their newspapers in the playoffs.

Bless their hearts, that ought to get it going...........

Now, OP has an opening series with Nebraska to look forward.

Fun, ain't it?

Sounds like the first three spots have already been conceded to McKinney, Sherman and North(?). That leaves the four Frisco Schools and Dennison battling for the final spot......My crystal ball says:

McKinney
Sherman
Centennial
North
Liberty
Wakeland
Frisco
Dennison

FO,

Your last name is on far more 9-4A lists that my little family. Observer carries mucho weight round these pawts.

But they're very near each other on the most important list.....the phone book.

I know, I know....but I'm sending PSIII on a 9 hour solo drive shortly. Argh.

A tough few weeks ahead for PSIII.

Best wishes there, PDiddy.

I'll be watching.

Bump

LHPDAD...news has it that a former McKinney North Bulldog has now enrolled @ Texas State. I know you're pumped about that!!

Yes should be fun to watch the boys play together

OP -- that was my Howard rumor (I'm glad I didn't publish it) -- how quickly things change at times. I hope things go good for Matt & Bryant in....5 weeks!

I predict Mckinney and Centennial compete for first this year and Sherman doesn't make playoffs because of Wakeland. North always finds a way to get in there and ladd will make it happen.

Coach Cook at Frisco is easily the best coach there is. Do not be surprised if he pulls some magic out and gets the Raccoons to the playoffs this year again. Don't count the Raccoons out.

Something tells me you like Coach Cook.

It sounds much more than just like! Wow! Maybe a possible man-crush? It is going to take a lot more than magic. Maybe Harry Houdini has returned as an Assistant Coach this season! Good Luck!

I went up to the frisco Plano west scrimmage to watch the defending state champs and frisco surprised me. Blum and hubert both threw and hubert got taken out early. I think frisco might have actually won. With Scott cook coaching and strong seniors like gray and cook both hitting well. Also they have drew dyer and a sophmore coming in, I think Tyler sibley's little brother both who hit multiple extra base hits against west. I think frisco should be in the coversation, what do you think?

Chs we all know you like chs but they weren't solid playing prosper the only runs they got came off wind bombs

All I know is 9-4a will be very interesting to watch this year. It will be fun at the end to see who gets those playoff spots!!
Frisco played very well against the defending champs.

And yes bballfan frisco should be in the conversation in my opinion.

What do you know about the players I listed

I know that gray cook and dyer are returning starters with dyer being a 2nd team all district player last year as a soph. Gray and dyer should be the power for Frisco this year with cook and travis sibley being the consistency at the top of the order. Frisco should have a competitive lineup this year.

Ok any other players to watch out for

Ryan Adams should be great defensively in the outfield for the Raccoons. Also, Chris Cordova could be a pitcher to watch out for come districts. If he matures and learns to pitch at the varsity level he has great command and should surprise some teams. Brock Corum should be the starting shortstop and he should be a consistent hotter as well. Those three players are all juniors with this being their first year on varsity with the exception of Corum. The returning varsity players from last year are Gavin Gray, Austin Cook, Drew Dyer, Brandon Mitchell and Brantley Carroll. Tony Girard and Brock Corum were partial varsity players last year as well.

I meant consistent hitter.

I've heard of a couple of them how's brantley.c doing

Haven't heard a lot just know that he is the returning starting catcher. Do you know anything about Frisco that I don't?

They should have a strong defense with a strong starting lineup pitying can improve along with bench players but with x pro Anderson along with purl and cook who knows

The coaching staff is definitely there to mold a district champion team. If I were another team in 9-4A I would be sweating at the thought of playing the raccoons this year even though they are the underdogs and are getting no recognition at all.

My last word are predictions the four playoff teams will be mckinney,sherman,frisco,north

I could see that happening. Are those in order?

I am new to this site and I am just testing this out. I have enjoyed reading all these comments and plan to be on here frequently.

I have a question, is McKinney the only school in the district that plays all their Friday night games on the road? (The last Friday game is home, rest on the road)

Seems odd to me, not saying good or bad....

quote:

I have a question, is McKinney the only school in the district that plays all their Friday night games on the road? (The last Friday game is home, rest on the road)

Just checked Mckinney North schedule... we play all Friday night games at home. (Except the last one is on the road)

We ran into the same thing in District 5-5A. Northwest has 2 Friday night home games and Grapevine doesn't get any. That means other teams are getting 5 or 6 Friday home district tilts. Friday nights are the best attended games and usually results in increased concession sales.

Disappointing they couldn't find a way to balance that better, but scheduling is a b*&^%...I mean a bear and I wouldn't volunteer to do it.

I wouldn't volunteer to do it either :-)

Wait, don't they have computer programs that do all that for you?

Anyway, what a great district 9-4A. I believe this district will be very good top to bottom for 4A. (Nobody will go 0-14 or 2-12)

What happened? I sign up and post two comments and everyone bails. :-)

Anybody know who pitched in the Boyd vs. Frisco game? Must have been a good game, I heard it was 4-3 Boyd.

Everybody pitched in that game I think that each team had a new pitcher each innning.

There were alot of close games last night. looks like the race will be tighter than everybody thought it would.

Yes, I think any team can win on a given night in this district. It should be a great season with almost every team having a shot at the four playoff spots.

This district race is going to be so exciting!!!
Tuesday Games
Denison @ McKinney
Frisco @ Frisco Liberty
Frisco Wakeland @ Frisco Centennial
McKinney North @ Sherman

Any Predictions??

Ok, here we go....

McKinney over Denison
Frisco over Liberty
Wakeland to upset Centennial
North over Sherman

I agree on all except Sherman losing to North (I'm sorry because you are a North fan). Sherman is really solid and unless Ladd pitches lights out which he is capable of doing I don't see North winning. I wouldn't call Wakeland beating Centennial an upset either.

I have not seen Sherman play this year, but hear they are solid, my son has played with a few of the Sherman players during the summer. Hope it works out for North.
Wakeland has a solid team also, they will upset a few this season.

I think Wakeland is one of the better teams in 9-4A to be honest. I follow Frisco and they have played Sherman twice this year. I didn't get to go see the one at the Sherman tournament but Sherman looked really good Tuesday and so did Frisco. Sherman's best pitchers, Blalock and Powell, were solid and their lineup didn't have holes.

Sherman's best pitchers were solid????? Wasn't the final score 14-13 Sherman?????

their pitching was solid. there was just so many errors on both sides... and lots of bloop hits including 3 by myself haha

DD,

Just remember 3 bloop hits look like 3 line drives in the box score! A 3 hit night is still a 3 hit night and a very good night that is baseball. Who pitched for Sherman and Frisco? Did Blalock and Powell both pitch in that game for Sherman? Was the errors caused by the weather or just sloppy play. Our game against North had very good weather until the bottom of the 6th until about 2 minutes after Ty Crump hit a BOMB (Grand Salami) off one of the Titan Relievers. North scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th to erase a 3 run deficit. Crump's Bomb was still going up when it left the ballpark and may have landed in Sherman! After the Bomb, the wind starting blowing "IN" hard and the temperature dropped 10-15 degrees. The last few innings were tough to play as our game went into extra innings and the weather really changed.

i ended up having a pretty good night. 5-5 HR, 4 RBI's. Both Powell and Blalock threw. We were down 9-3 and came back, and the same wind came to our game. The errors were some sloppy but some were questionable.

DD,
Is Chris Anderson coaching at Frisco with Coach Cook?

Yes sir, he is our hitting and catching coach and has personally helped me a lot.

How about that Frisco Liberty Team off to a 2-0 Start. After receiving no love in this poll, those guys appear be off to a great start. As well as McKinney and McKinney North (both already 2-0), but no surprises there. Anyone have any details of the Frisco vs Liberty game?

I was not at the Frisco vs Liberty game but Tyler Durham was the winning pitcher for Liberty and Frisco had three hits. (1 was a HR) Score was 5-1, Liberty out hit Frisco 6 to 3...

Should be interesting tomorrow night when North and Liberty play.

Yes, should be a good game. Not sure who will pitch tonight but Lee pitched on Friday for MHS and Ladd pitched for MNHS on Friday as well.

I am nervous and not playing, hope the kids are loose! :-)

Any predictions?

McKinney High in walk off fashion.

I hope so!

I think MHS need start the game hot to win. Both are good teams and the pressure should be high. MHS is having a "Gold Rush" at the game. (T-shirt promo to hopefully put a big crowd in the stands)

Jordan Badarack throws 8 inning, 3 hits, 15k's in 4-3 win over Liberty. Great game

Anyone have the results of the Frisco - Dennison Game last Night? That is the only 9-4A Game that has not had the results posted yet.

It sounds like the McKinney vs McKinney North Game was also a great game. Congrats to Jake Smith on hitting another Bomb. The District Standings for 2nd-5th Place sure has bunched up. McKinney is looking very strong early on as expected they have some great pitching and now their bats are heating up. Hopefully Centennial can make a game of it Friday night as I expect it to be another good pitching match-up between a couple of very good Juniors as Lee vs Dzurisin/Nelson.

Justin Scharf and Matt Lipka pitched lights out Tuesday night. What a game. Mckinney came out on top this time. The rivalry game did not disappoint. The next Mckinney North/ Mckinney game will see a Ladd vs Lee matchup. Stay tuned.

Yes, both pitched very well and both teams played solid defense. (Levins pitched well also) It was a great game to watch.

Does anyone know if Scharf has always thrown with that submarine delivery? When he is ahead in the count he is as good as I have seen. (No way would I want to face that)

McKinney vs Frisco Centennial game has been moved to Saturday at 4:00

Plano East vs McKinney canceled for Saturday...

Lionpop who pitched vs Sherman?

For McKinney we started Levins against Sherman, Liss pitched for Sherman...

This district just got very tight. It will be fun watching to see who will pull away over the next three weeks...

Any opinions on how this district will shake out?

There are a few minor surprises but as most predicted this is a very tight race and in my opinion a very good district that will do well in the playoffs.

Sherman 7-2
McKinney 7-2
Frisco Wakeland 6-3
Frisco Centennial 6-3
McKinney North 5-4
Frisco Liberty 3-6
Frisco 2-7
Denison 0-9

Sherman vs Centennial tonight, then McKinney vs North and Wakeland vs Sherman on Friday will be big games in determining which four make the playoffs.

I guess I'll have to eat crow on my bold "Sherman won't be any good" prediction.

I do like the fact McKinney has Lee going VS. North and Sherman in the second half.

That being said, as the GREAT MHS Coach Price once told me, "this district will always come down to the last week."

I agree, Lee has only given up 1 hit in his last 2 starts. North and Sherman both have good pitching too. McKinney will need to do a better job of stringing hits together to win these games. (Getting the bunt down and doing the little things that win tight games)

This district will come down to the last week not only for who wins it but which teams get into the playoffs as well.

I take it you think North will win the district 7-2 PO?

Been hanging around for a while and thought I'd finally give posting a shot. 9-4A is really heating up, it should be a tight last half of district. In response to 7-2 PO, I agree that MHS has a tough schedule remaining and their games with North are always exciting and fun but I would think North will see Zach Lee on Friday. Not to take anything away from any pitcher in the district but from past experiencesof my son playing against him he is far and away the top pitcher in the district, probably was last year as a sophomore. I think North might have their hands full. But hey thats why we play the game. I'll be anxious to see the score friday night and good luck to all teams.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 7-2 PO:
When was the last time North lost three in a row at home? When was the last time MHS swept North in district? When was the last time North lost to MHS at home?
----------------------------------------------------
And.....When was the last time North didn't have Bolsinger, Appleby or Lackey facing MHS???????

The biggets surprise in 94A this year has got to be Wakeland. We have strong pitching, hitting and fielding.Our coaches are the best. Our first 4A outing had us up against Zach Lee and we handled him pretty good. Predictions are fine but lets wait to see how it all ends up. I predict big upsets on the horizon.

quote:

Originally posted by Dbrafl:
I predict big upsets on the horizon.

---------------------------------------------------
Boring!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is not a prediction, make a call. Denison over Sherman...um Liberty over MHS?
Any of the top 5 beating each other is definately NOT a big upset.

In the preseason polls some ranked Wakeland towards the bottom and that obviously was a mistake.

RobertS why would anyone at this point in time say Denison or Liberty over anyone. I mean come on.

Dbrafl,

Then what the heck would you call a big upset?????? Your words, not mine.

quote:

I didn't ask the question to antogonize.

OK then why did you ask the questions? I won't be able to help you with the answer until Friday night about 9:30..

I hope the answer to all three questions is 4-17-2009!

quote:

Originally posted by Robert S.:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by 7-2 PO:
When was the last time North lost three in a row at home? When was the last time MHS swept North in district? When was the last time North lost to MHS at home?
----------------------------------------------------
And.....When was the last time North didn't have Bolsinger, Appleby or Lackey facing MHS???????

North can never be counted out with the likes of Paris Jr. College signee Scharf and Ladd pitching.

I haven't heard anyone count North out on here. They are a very good team and the only way any team in this district will beat them is to play solid, fundamental baseball.

Like RobertS said earlier, the top five would not be considered a significant upset in any matchup among them...

quote:

Originally posted by 7-2 PO:

quote:

Originally posted by Robert S.:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by 7-2 PO:
When was the last time North lost three in a row at home? When was the last time MHS swept North in district? When was the last time North lost to MHS at home?
----------------------------------------------------
And.....When was the last time North didn't have Bolsinger, Appleby or Lackey facing MHS???????

Robert,

I didn't ask the question to antagonize.

Let me ask you the question this way, and maybe you can provide the answer. Did North ever lose three in a row at home, been swept in district by MHS, or lost at home to MHS before Bolsinger, Appleby or Lackey played with North?

----------------------------------------------------Sorry, not ducking the question, just been away from the computer. The answer is no, there was no North before those guys. North has only been around about 7 years.

Also, I'll be away from here all day Thursday, watching #1 son play Kansas Weslyan in a double header in Salina. See you Friday, here's to good weather.

There was a North prior to those guys. That was when MHS was 5A, North was 4A. They won their district by going undefeated. Pitchers were Laster, Torre, and Gunter. Lost in the 3rd round to HP and Kershaw.

I am always amused at the banter between those who think they know( but are blind to the forest right before them) giggle giggle

Good Gosh-a-Friday, McKinney has already swept North this year. Oops....that was in softball. Go Lionettes!

looking back at badman's post from early january. i hope he has the exacta on his prediction. he is going to be close.

It would be great if the bottom teams make it interesting and win a game against a playoff contender to knock them out and shake things up. Says the optimistic Frisco fan i know!!!

I just think it would be cool if Denison Frisco or Liberty were able to make an impact on the final results of the district and make things interesting!!

quote:

Originally posted by Outsider:
There was a North prior to those guys. That was when MHS was 5A, North was 4A. They won their district by going undefeated. Pitchers were Laster, Torre, and Gunter. Lost in the 3rd round to HP and Kershaw.

That is correct, but his original question was concerning a sweep of MHS over North. To sweep, one must play twice, like in district.The year North played in the Sherman/Denison district and MHS was 5A they didn't play twice.

To be exact..... The overall game count between North and MHS is North-8 wins( including the 2 playoff wins to determine the 1st seed in district) vs. MHS-3 wins

Actually, since you are trying to stir the pot.......It is 1-0, time to live in the now.

Changing the subject slightly- if the games tonight were to be RO, look at the brutal schedule for MHS next week. (Assuming the games moved to Monday night like last time)

Monday - at North
Tuesday - Centennial
Friday - at Sherman

Weather that storm and claim district champs, have a bad week and big trouble....

Hewhoisashamedtousehisrealname,
I would like to clearify my point. If you read this thread, it was about MHS's chance to sweep North. Because it has never happened, doesn't mean it couldn't. My argument was, because of how good North's pitching has been in the past, MHS has never swept North. Or even beaten them at North, ever. Not to take anything away from Ladd or Scharf, but at this stage of their HS careers, niether one is a Bolsinger, Appleby or Lackey. No doubt North has had the better of it to this point, but that is not what started this banter.