All Northern Region Team

I predict the following Liberty players will be 1st team, All Northern Region:

McLean- Fitzgerald, Buckley
Stone Bridge- Bladel
Langley- Zarella
Marshall- Waizenegger

I think that Waizenegger plays for Woodson.

Also, I would expect to see McLean's Riley Beiro and Erik Payne be somewhere on the all-region team with Fitzgerald. Madison's Alex Jacquez may land somewhere, although Im not sure about the catchers in the other regions.

Not so sure if McLean's Buckley will crack the 1st team pitchers this year. He has been great for them for the last month or so, but he lost a couple of starts early. With the pitchers in the NR, more than one loss probably eliminates you from consideration this year.

Mike Kent and Bobby Wahl (both from West Springfield, Patriot District) have a strong chance of making NR 1st team as pitchers.

From the Concorde, John Colella from Chantilly has a shot, as does Ryan Williams from Westfield -- both also as pitchers.

hard to answer...don't know anyones stats...

Hard to say when you dont see players from outside your district. I would hope Beiro and Waizeneggar get recognized, they cover a lot of ground, and can hit.

My predictions from the Patriot District:

West Springfield: Renner, Wahl, and Kent

South County: Digby, Bondurant, and Miller

Lake Braddock: Derner and Lindemuth

TC Williams: Kilby

That's a lot of guys from one district making all-Region; not gonna happen, with three other districts in the region that have very solid players. No questions about Wahl and Kent, and perhaps Lindemuth and maybe Derner. Haven't seen Kilby play, so not sure about that one. But with plenty of very good players in the Liberty, Concorde and National districts, it's gonna be virtually impossible for 9 guys from the Patriot to make the all-NR team no matter how good a season they and their teams had. Plus, I believe that to be considered for all-NR, a player has to be first team all-district in his district; were all 9 of these guys 1st team all-district in the Patriot?

Yes, all 9 were 1st team all district or I obviously wouldn't have put all of their names up. I have seen all of these guys play and they all deserve to have their names put in the mix for All Northern Region Team. I've seen Chantilly, Westfield, Langley, McClean, Yorktown, and Robinson play, and the Patriot District has equal to if not better talent than the Concorde and the rest of the districts. I have yet to see better hitters than Renner, Digby, and Bondurant (Sophomore). I guess well just find out this Thursday who makes the team and who doesn't. It's also funny to see that you have an opinion on every topic...

I'd tend to agree with gr8day4bsbll, it would be really tough for all 9 to make it considering there are 56 kids to pick from(is that correct, 14 from each district). Although obviously I have a Patriot District bias, politics play a HUGH role in picking these teams...There are kids with great stats who get overlooked because of D1 bound players with reputations. I know it's part of high schools sports, but it is WRONG!

The Patriot District definitely has more talent than other Northern Region districts which is why it is very possible that we will see the majority of players on the all region team from the patriot district. I think Digby and Renner are shoe-ins, because both were in the running for player of the year. Digby deserved it just as much as Renner with his 7 homeruns and almost 40 rbi so he has to be named all region. Not sure how Bladel is doing this season but the first team outfield could be the 3 patriot district players (Digby, Renner, Kilby) plus Bladel, who was first team last year.

I think you guys will be in for a bit of a surprise when the all-NR team has guys from the Concorde, Liberty and National on it. It's pretty clear that if you've seen players from the other districts, you'd conclude that there's plenty of talent there as well. Taking nothing away from Renner (BTW, doesn't he play SS, not OF?) and Digby, since I've seen both of them play this season and have known both of them for many years, but there are players at least as talented as both of them in both the Concorde and Liberty districts. And patriotballer is right -- sometimes, unfortunately, it just comes down to politics...

As for me having "an opinion on every topic", don't we all? Isn't this board all about sharing our opinions? Nothing personal, bballfan1119, but your opinion is worth just as much as mine on any topic...that's what this is all about, after all...

Renner played shortstop last year but has played centerfield all this year.

quote:

I think Digby and Renner are shoe-ins, because both were in the running for player of the year. Digby deserved it just as much as Renner with his 7 homeruns and almost 40 rbi so he has to be named all region.

Other than pitching, the talk has been mostly about just hitting and homeruns. What players play the best defensively and also hit?

I like the way baseballer128 thinks...but gr8day4bsbll has many valid points. All 3 of those kids are big, strong and have live arms, all 3 are very good defensively. Kilby is only a junior and will get some CRAZY looks next year.

To answer golfballs question - Bondurant 3rd base 1st team, Forrer 2nd base 1st team - both are great defensively and can hit.

Kilby is getting looks from Navy so far.

To add to ball4's comments, Forrer is a great defensive player. He also has a ridiculous amount of triples, 8 I think? including a hr and 6 doubles. The kid can hit.

You're right about Navy, I have seen the coach at a T.C. game. He's looking at Ivy leagues as well because of his GPA that apparently is 4.3.

Sadly, it will definitely come down to politics but lets hope the stats are the only thing that matters.

Does Forrer play for TC? Kilby deserved better against WS, hopefully he learned something from that thumping...

Forrer does play for T.C. small, but he can play.

I'm sure he learned something, nothing good happens when you can't throw strikes.

One thing about National District players up for All-Region consideration is that it is easy for their stats to get inflated by the bottom half of their district (Jeb Stuart, Falls Church). Teams like Annandale and West Po were not pushovers for the top of the Patriot District.

Kilby got stranded on the mound by the TC Coaches for an ungodly inning - Not sure if he even pitches. Then they put in another kids that god stranded.

Those parents should be storming the Bastille with pitch forks.

WS pitching is unbelievable. Should be a good game tonight between SoCo's sticks and the great pitching.

The kid only had one outing prior to WS, about 5 innings, 1 Er and 3 hits against Annandale. Can't blame the coaches for letting him try to work out of it.

Can't wait for the 'ship tonight, should be a good one.

Can't blame the coaches? Really? 9 unearned runs for a kid that doesn't pitch in a District Tournament game? Who do you blame? the people at the snack bar?

Kilby is TC's best player...by far, why wouldn't you try to use your best player in that situation. He got them to that point, he deserves the opportunity.

to add to baseballer128's post on the 17th, both Digby and Renner made the 2009 Orlando National Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team. 14 kids were chosen from 16 teams with over 300 kids in the tournament.

Maybe one of the best - but clearly not a pitcher - with what baseballer said - one outing prior to WS? for a District playoff?

Would Luther leave a kid on the mound for 9 unearned runs? I think he pulled Frazier after 2 hits - and he was throwing strikes.

This kid was left in for 6 or 7 walks and 3 hbp's.

Would you put Digby on the mound for that? I don't think so.

I think Luther has more options, but I agree with you totally.

Clearly an injustice to Kilby and his TC team mates - and to WS looking to play ball instead of walking around the bases for the evening.

Anyway lets hope that tonight's game offers some great plays. Hoping to see Digby hit his 8th? 9th? and Wahl pitch heat.

Any word? Voting was last night I believe

Dont know the whole thing, but I know about the following:

Pitchers - Kent & Wahl (WS), Fitzgerald (McLean), Ashooh (Cville), Thorpe (Westfield)

OFs = Renner (WS), Beiro (McLean), Waizennegger (WTW)

3B = Bondurant (SC)
SS = Williams (Westfield)
1B = Payne (McLean)

Player of the Year - Toulouse (Yorktown) and Bladel (SB)

Coach of the Year - Welch (Westfield)

Here's the rest:

C = Zach Leach (Herndon), Alex Jacquez (Madison)
2B = Kyle Toulouse (Yorktown), Adam Forrer (TCW)
OF: Matt Kilby (TCW) also was named
DH: Charlie Morgan (West Spfld.)
Utility: Jonny Bladel (SB)

Congrats to the 1st team!

Congrats to everyone who made it.

What about Digby? Led the region in HR and had 30+ RBI didn't he? Snubbed.

Also, do all those players move on to All-State voting?

There were lots of snubs; happens every year. Not to take anything away from anybody on the 1st team, since they were all deserving, but as Patriotballer said a few days ago, "it's all political"...

Not all of them move on to All-State; that required a certain percentage of coaches' votes at the regional level. According to the list I've seen, the following move on to all-state consideration:

Leach (C, Herndon)
Beiro (OF, McLean)
Renner (OF, West Spfld.)
Waizenegger (OF, Woodson)
Kent (P, West Spfld.)
Fitzgerald (P, McLean)
Toulouse (POY, Yorktown) -- but not at 2B where he split the vote with Forrer

Thanks gr8day.

It's sad that this voting is all political... it would make sense that any kid with 30+ RBI and 7 HR would be named all region, even all state. Anyone have Renner's stats? Just wondering what the numbers are

Did Robinson get anyone, Michael Delbuono, Kuter? that's wrong.....Digby hit .404 ,7 homers and 33 rbi's. Coaches who fudge stats to get their players on the team are a joke...You know who you are, coaches who don't go to bat for their players or make deals to get other players on a 2nd team are garbage...Just because you made it last year or were 2nd team, doesn't give you a free pass for this year. I guess that's why high school coaches stay in high school. Just for the record, Woodson's kid hit .379 with 3 homers and 11 rbi's and it's on their woodson cavalier baseball website..Anybody have the Outfielder from Mclean stats...would love to know, I need more ammo to throw in a coaches face...

Patriotballer - Digby got hosed. Everyone knows it. Coaches tweek stats, or negotiate and make deals like moving SS to DH or Third base to Utility. But that is HS ball. Take comfort in knowing everyone knows he had a great season that few could match- Coaches know and the players know it.
Remember - there is know glory in receiving honors for something you know you do not deserve.

On the other hand, all the 1st team players were for the most part, excellent players - and unless you can attend everyone game, sometimes the stats do not tell the whole story - like can the kid run bases, dive for balls and turn a play for the out? the only thing that gets marked down is the out. Not the spectacular play.

Some coaches go to the extreme to get their players on, while others do nothing to fight for their boys. I'm not sure what is more frustrating.

digital sports has this woodson kid batting .437 with 22 rbi's, why does his high school webite have him at .379 with 11 rbi's and the Mclean kid batted .393 with 2 homers and 13 rbi...How is that even close to Digby's numbers..BTW, both those teams layed an egg in regionals and Digby went 2-3 with 2 doubles and 2 rbi's in front of his college coach..

Thanks ball4, you are a true baseball wiseman...

I have no idea what goes on in the coaches nominating meeting or selecting players for the all region team, but there are a few things I do know:

Stats listed on websites may not be "official". As far as i know, the "official" stats are not published. Please lead me to the VHSL site that publishes stats if I've missed that. Woodson stats are put there by a dedicated volunteer (who is not the holder of the official scorebook) and never were intended to be "official". Players and families enjoy watching how the boys are doing - you should be cautions about quoting them in an argument, though. If you want yet another set of stats, look at maxpreps.

I have found data from digitalsports to be spotty sometimes - and late in reporting.

I have not seen any record of fielding stats. My son noted that one of the players on the all region team made errors in each of the 3 games he saw him play. What does that mean? That a HS boy saw what he considers 4-5 errors in 3 games. That's it. He is not the official score keeper and he never saw the player play in the rest of his games - so who knows if this is a valid representation of his entire season? I see how my boy is surprised that the kid who made all of those errors made all region - but it is from my son's very narrow perspective.

Unless you see a player in many if not all of his games, how do you know if he regularly robs other's doubles or triples, throws out kids at bases and home from the outfield, steals bases in a flash, never ever lost his cool, rarely if ever makes fielding errors? The stats surely don't tell this story.

You can't hit runners in if they aren't on base - so individual players from different caliber teams should not be compared on RBI's. They are not responsible for whether or not the kid ahead of them hit the ball - just as they are not responsible for picking their place in the lineup.

Like someone said earlier - all of these boys are deserving of their honor. I am absolutely sure that others were left out for many reasons - life isn't fair. If something looks very out of place, it is certainly worth checking into - but please don't disparage another player.

I guess I'm bothered that it looks like a specific player is being focused on as "less worthy". That's just wrong imo. Better to focus on the process and method of how this team is chosen - what things are considered - are grades, leadership - heck I don't know... but to say one player is better than another... that would be awfully hard to prove without knowing the whole story.

Just a thought - some published stats may include out of conference games not considered in the official stats submitted for "all region". That would explain some things...