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This has been sitting out here for a couple days with no response, so I'll offer some thoughts. Before that, let me say that this isn't meant to be a complete list, as I'm not really in tune with all of the baseball in this area.
With that being said, I think Manchester will be a good squad, and they certainly should be as good as anyone when Hauser is on the mound. Beyond him, I really don't know what they have (this isn't meant as an insult, I just simply don't know).
Godwin seems set up to have another strong year, returning several key players from last season and having Buran transfer in. That gives them at least three D1 signees (Buran- Maryland, Gragnani- UVA, and Payne- South Carolina).
Cosby lost a lot of talent, but they'll still be tough on any given night, especially with Ackerman on the hill.
I believe Patrick Henry was pretty young last year, and they made a run to the regional playoffs. I know they return Stanley, Brewer, and Seay and possibly more.
James River should be considerably weaker, as they lost nearly their entire pitching staff to graduation or transfers. However, teams that have strong runs like JR sometimes get overlooked when they lose a lot of talent and it'll be interesting to see what kind of tradition they've left in place.
I would expect Hanover to be strong as usual, especially with Jacob Mayers on the mound.
Deep Run should push Godwin, especially when Orlan takes the ball.
I would also expect Atlee to push Hanover, as they have two strong pitchers (Farrar and Sandefur) as well.
My guess would be that Thomas Dale takes the Central, but that's really just a guess, as I'm very unfamiliar with the teams in that district.
As I said, this isn't meant to be a complete list at all. These are just some initial opinions on my part. If you made me pick, I'd probably take Godwin as the team to beat, but that's why they play the games.
With that being said, I think Manchester will be a good squad, and they certainly should be as good as anyone when Hauser is on the mound. Beyond him, I really don't know what they have (this isn't meant as an insult, I just simply don't know).
Godwin seems set up to have another strong year, returning several key players from last season and having Buran transfer in. That gives them at least three D1 signees (Buran- Maryland, Gragnani- UVA, and Payne- South Carolina).
Cosby lost a lot of talent, but they'll still be tough on any given night, especially with Ackerman on the hill.
I believe Patrick Henry was pretty young last year, and they made a run to the regional playoffs. I know they return Stanley, Brewer, and Seay and possibly more.
James River should be considerably weaker, as they lost nearly their entire pitching staff to graduation or transfers. However, teams that have strong runs like JR sometimes get overlooked when they lose a lot of talent and it'll be interesting to see what kind of tradition they've left in place.
I would expect Hanover to be strong as usual, especially with Jacob Mayers on the mound.
Deep Run should push Godwin, especially when Orlan takes the ball.
I would also expect Atlee to push Hanover, as they have two strong pitchers (Farrar and Sandefur) as well.
My guess would be that Thomas Dale takes the Central, but that's really just a guess, as I'm very unfamiliar with the teams in that district.
As I said, this isn't meant to be a complete list at all. These are just some initial opinions on my part. If you made me pick, I'd probably take Godwin as the team to beat, but that's why they play the games.
In the Dominion:
Talent-wise, Manchester is loaded. Offensively, they have Hauser, the Ayers brothers, Joey Cujas and more. I think they do have pitchers besides Hauser as well. The big question is whether their coach is ready to win a championship. Cosby may not have quite the talent but you know they will be in the mix at the end of the spring.
James River is still strong offensively. Only 11 or 12 innings of pitching experience return, though, and it's asking a lot for a whole host of newbies to win games. It would be a pretty decent achievement for them to make the district playoffs this year.
L.C. Bird got its act together the latter half of last year and in my mind is a contender this year, maybe # 3 in the district.
Monacan, Clover Hill, Midlothian -- who knows? I do know that Monacan is getting a new coach and word on the street is he's top notch, so things could start coming together there this year.
Talent-wise, Manchester is loaded. Offensively, they have Hauser, the Ayers brothers, Joey Cujas and more. I think they do have pitchers besides Hauser as well. The big question is whether their coach is ready to win a championship. Cosby may not have quite the talent but you know they will be in the mix at the end of the spring.
James River is still strong offensively. Only 11 or 12 innings of pitching experience return, though, and it's asking a lot for a whole host of newbies to win games. It would be a pretty decent achievement for them to make the district playoffs this year.
L.C. Bird got its act together the latter half of last year and in my mind is a contender this year, maybe # 3 in the district.
Monacan, Clover Hill, Midlothian -- who knows? I do know that Monacan is getting a new coach and word on the street is he's top notch, so things could start coming together there this year.
As for the Central: Should be a battle between Dale and Matoaca. Both return mainstays: Dale: Carter, Cullen, Green Matoaca: Kilbourne, Smith, Walker, Ramsey. Dale will need to replace some pop in the lineup and find a solid #2 starter, but still will be hard to deal with at the top of the lineup. Matoaca basically will be the same team as last year without Gwaltney and Richardson. Dale and Matoaca have had some wars the last 2 years, should be a dogfight again. PG, Col Hts, and Din will be expected to fight for the 3 and 4 spots.
Forgot to give my take on the region as a whole: I would put Manch, PH, Godwin, and Hanover in the top tier. 2nd tier Matoaca, Dale, Cosby, Deep Run, and Atlee
I will not name names, but I understand Cosby is going to lose a key player to an off-field issue and this could affect them, especially early on in the year until they bring along a replacement.
Wow....result of a school, a coach, or a parent decision?
don't ever count James River out. Talent wise they may not have the best talent but they did win back to back state titles, they were not the most talented group in the district much less the state. Look out. Midlo Dad has always talked them down like last year, playing possum.
Cosby rising junior class is similar to the there 2008 senior class that just graduated with 5 D1 senior class . They are young but very talented. Don't count them out. Everyone seems to be thinking Manchester but the question on them is Coaching, will he be able to blend the most talented group into a team focused? They have offense similar to Cosby last year.
Cosby rising junior class is similar to the there 2008 senior class that just graduated with 5 D1 senior class . They are young but very talented. Don't count them out. Everyone seems to be thinking Manchester but the question on them is Coaching, will he be able to blend the most talented group into a team focused? They have offense similar to Cosby last year.
Why is everyone questioning Manchester's staff? They have finished Top 4 in the toughest district in the area the last two years. Man beat JR last year. The only true stud he has had on the mound has been Blake and he didn't even gain momentum until the 2nd half of last year. Now, I agree, the pressure is on Coach and his staff, but I haven't seen anything in his past that points towards him not being a good coach. By the way, I have no affliation to Manchester, so my view is not biased in any way.
Last year I had questions about JR's defense and those turned out to be big concerns. The 9-error debacle vs. Cosby was ugly, ugly, ugly. But it also served as the turning point for the team, which played tremendously better down the stretch. I'm not sure they were the best team overall (which I believe was the case in 2007), but they were the best for the playoff run I guess you could say.
You've got to hand it to Coach Schu, 2 state titles in his first 2 years as head. He'll have to pull some rabbits out of his hat to get 21 outs/game this year. I'd love to see it happen, but people need to be patient. Losing Jake Matthews (moved to Powhatan) seriously hurt. This may be a rebuilding year as they bring some younger pitchers along for the future.
As for Manchester, I don't know if people are down on their coaches. It may be just another way of saying that people expect Lowery to find a way to make Cosby a winner. No matter what happens there, you kind of expect them to be there at the end.
You've got to hand it to Coach Schu, 2 state titles in his first 2 years as head. He'll have to pull some rabbits out of his hat to get 21 outs/game this year. I'd love to see it happen, but people need to be patient. Losing Jake Matthews (moved to Powhatan) seriously hurt. This may be a rebuilding year as they bring some younger pitchers along for the future.
As for Manchester, I don't know if people are down on their coaches. It may be just another way of saying that people expect Lowery to find a way to make Cosby a winner. No matter what happens there, you kind of expect them to be there at the end.
You don't know if people are down on Manchester's staff? Two posts in this thread point towards it. You said is their coach ready to win a title? Then flamethrower said that the question mark is for Manch is coaching. Now, your last statement about Lowery is right. But, comparitively, most coaches out there will fall short vs him. Coaching is highly important, of course, but in the end, the talent wins out. That's the case with River's coach, wouldn't you agree? I'm sure he's a fine coach, but superior talent won the last 2 state titles....
I question if superior talent had anything to do with a pitch hitter stepping into a pitch in 2007 regional, and or rain/complete rule in 2008. You must tip your hat to the team/coaches they certainly deserve the rings but hands down the cosby team of 2008 had the best talent, but I said earlier not necessary the best talent wins state titles with a one/done format. Manch coaches will have there work cut out for them, they seem very knowledgable, players win games and coaches lose them just ask any parent The past 3 years competing against the teams in the dominion district give Manchester coaches the edges, 3 time defending state champion ship district is nothing less than impressive. I didnot want it to appear there is a knock on the coaches, the bar is set high. Having Blake, the ayers, cujoes,morrision gives them 5 prospective D1 guys can they weather the expections that all are putting on ther shoulder. I think they can. There core group played on post 137 run to the legion world series.Cannot put a price on the experience those kids gained on the run.
Superior pitching, I should have said. You are probably right about Cosby having more overall talent last year, but JR had 2 big time D-1 studs pitching. Give those 2 to any coach in the Dominion, you probably get the same result. Helluva district to say the least
JR also went without one of those studs you mention for 3 weeks while he was out with an eye injury, and that was when the team had to find itself to gear up for the stretch run. The other stud went through a true pitching slump during the first half of the season before regaining his best form.
Having seen what a truly bad coach can do to strong talent, I would not underestimate the impact of JR's coaching staff on that team's success the past two years. Frankly Coach Schu has gotten precious little credit, being completely passed over for COY honors in that period which is truly ridiculous. Maybe if he were more strident or louder folks would give him more credit, but we prefer the leadership-by-example approach.
Still, IMHO it comes down to who's the strongest top to bottom, not just a few studs here and there. 2007 it was JR. In 2008 it was Cosby but the perils of single elimination hit them. 2009 it is no doubt Manchester, I just can't bring myself to rule out Cosby. Probably the two of them move on to regionals in any event, after which point as we know, in single elimination anything can happen.
P.S.
Walked into a pitch? Obviously you never saw the replay. How 'bout the balk that wasn't called just before that? It was a weird turn of events in what was the most dramatic game I've ever seen. But it seems something weird always happens when it's single elimination. Ask Oakton how they feel about the 2006 championship game!
Having seen what a truly bad coach can do to strong talent, I would not underestimate the impact of JR's coaching staff on that team's success the past two years. Frankly Coach Schu has gotten precious little credit, being completely passed over for COY honors in that period which is truly ridiculous. Maybe if he were more strident or louder folks would give him more credit, but we prefer the leadership-by-example approach.
Still, IMHO it comes down to who's the strongest top to bottom, not just a few studs here and there. 2007 it was JR. In 2008 it was Cosby but the perils of single elimination hit them. 2009 it is no doubt Manchester, I just can't bring myself to rule out Cosby. Probably the two of them move on to regionals in any event, after which point as we know, in single elimination anything can happen.
P.S.
Walked into a pitch? Obviously you never saw the replay. How 'bout the balk that wasn't called just before that? It was a weird turn of events in what was the most dramatic game I've ever seen. But it seems something weird always happens when it's single elimination. Ask Oakton how they feel about the 2006 championship game!
Have you guys heard the rumor about Hawkins, Brid's Catcher transferring to Trinity or Benedictine??
Have not heard. I know a couple of you picked them high in the district will this hurt there chances?
I think MidloDad liked them to finish 3rd. I think it'll be tough for them. They graduated 9 guys last year, including several pitchers.
Deal was their horse but I liked the Hendrick lefty. I think they had another young guy with promise as well. I was under the impression that many of their position guys were underclassmen last year, is that wrong? Losing the catcher would really hurt, though, as he was a tough stick.
what about midlothian, have not heard much talk about them?
Catcher is definitley gone for Bird, went to Trinity. Hendrick, Connor, Karl (big first baseman) are the returning mainstays. They'll be okay. I'm friends with the Midlo coach and he is excited about his returners. They should be in the hunt for the top 4. By the way, MidloDad, I got confirmation of that Cosby player you mentioned. Sad....
Manchester's head coach is a long time head coach. He was head coach at Hopewell for several years before moving over to the Lancers. Not sure of his exact number of years, but he's been a head coach for 10 + years. He's been around the block, he knows what he's doing.
I have heard that the Dominion is switching to a 6-team district playoff format. Top 2 seeds get byes. # 1 plays winner of 4 v. 5 game, # 2 plays winner of 3 v. 6 game.
That pretty much takes care of any worry any team might have about making the playoff cut. Since the district is only 7 county teams (plus Huguenot -- if they field a team this year, which they did not in 2008), only the last place team is left on the outside looking in.
That format heavily favors those who can scrape into the top 2, of course, and that may be the real reason for the change. If you win a 4-5 or 3-6 game, now you get to face a 1 or 2 seed with their top pitcher on the mound as your reward.
Assuming they keep the region bids the same way, the regular season champ and the tourney champ go. If the same team wins both, it's the tourney runner-up. So if 1 and 2 both win the district semifinals, then both go to regionals. So the 4-5 and 3-6 winners have to try to overcome facing a top team who is leaving it all on the field, using their # 2 starters. I suppose anything is possible but those are pretty long odds.
Bottom line, you have to finish 1st or 2nd to have a decent shot at regionals now. The days when you could finish 3d on the strength of one pitcher, win your semifinal with him, and then get into the regionals because the 1 seed beat # 4 team in its semi, are gone. As a 3-6 seed you would now have to win at least your first 2 games to advance, maybe all 3.
All of this puts a lot more emphasis on performance over the entire season, which sounds right to me anyway.
That pretty much takes care of any worry any team might have about making the playoff cut. Since the district is only 7 county teams (plus Huguenot -- if they field a team this year, which they did not in 2008), only the last place team is left on the outside looking in.
That format heavily favors those who can scrape into the top 2, of course, and that may be the real reason for the change. If you win a 4-5 or 3-6 game, now you get to face a 1 or 2 seed with their top pitcher on the mound as your reward.
Assuming they keep the region bids the same way, the regular season champ and the tourney champ go. If the same team wins both, it's the tourney runner-up. So if 1 and 2 both win the district semifinals, then both go to regionals. So the 4-5 and 3-6 winners have to try to overcome facing a top team who is leaving it all on the field, using their # 2 starters. I suppose anything is possible but those are pretty long odds.
Bottom line, you have to finish 1st or 2nd to have a decent shot at regionals now. The days when you could finish 3d on the strength of one pitcher, win your semifinal with him, and then get into the regionals because the 1 seed beat # 4 team in its semi, are gone. As a 3-6 seed you would now have to win at least your first 2 games to advance, maybe all 3.
All of this puts a lot more emphasis on performance over the entire season, which sounds right to me anyway.
I like this new format..do the other districts in the central region use this format?
Not sure but I think the Central and Capital might. The Colonial pretty much lets everyone in and let's the games against city schools serve as byes for the higher-ranked teams.
Except once in a while, you get a guy who throws a wrench into that theory, as Maggie Walker's Will Roberts did when he shut down Deep Run in the playoffs last year!
Except once in a while, you get a guy who throws a wrench into that theory, as Maggie Walker's Will Roberts did when he shut down Deep Run in the playoffs last year!
Central District is still just 4. I do know that its been talked about by coaches and AD's but the decision to go to 6 or 8 is still just an idea. I'm not exactly sure about the Capital, but I believe they are just 4 as well. At least, I believe they were still 4 in '08. I'd be for it in the Central personally....
any one want to make the predictions for those seeds in the dominion tournament?
Why not....
1-Manchester
2-Cosby
3-JR
4-Midlo
5-Bird
6-Monacan
1-Manchester
2-Cosby
3-JR
4-Midlo
5-Bird
6-Monacan
Rumor going around that Ackerman has resurfaced at Clover Hill? Myth or reality?
yes he is at cloverhill, well wishes, great success, not only on the field, in the class room & in all aspects & hope he lands with D1 program. Such a talent to have not landed anything to date. Any idea why?
Speaking of the capital district, at the beginning of the year I heard that Eric Mayers had gotten into some out of school misconduct and wasn't able to play but now I hear that he's hitting homeruns in scrimmages. Maybe it was all pre-season rumors but does anyone really know if he's in or out?
I don't know anything about those rumors, but he definitely played against FC on Saturday...and looked pretty good doing it.
quote:Originally posted by Emanski's Heroes:
This has been sitting out here for a couple days with no response, so I'll offer some thoughts. Before that, let me say that this isn't meant to be a complete list, as I'm not really in tune with all of the baseball in this area.
With that being said, I think Manchester will be a good squad, and they certainly should be as good as anyone when Hauser is on the mound. Beyond him, I really don't know what they have (this isn't meant as an insult, I just simply don't know).
Godwin seems set up to have another strong year, returning several key players from last season and having Buran transfer in. That gives them at least three D1 signees (Buran- Maryland, Gragnani- UVA, and Payne- South Carolina).
Cosby lost a lot of talent, but they'll still be tough on any given night, especially with Ackerman on the hill.
I believe Patrick Henry was pretty young last year, and they made a run to the regional playoffs. I know they return Stanley, Brewer, and Seay and possibly more.
James River should be considerably weaker, as they lost nearly their entire pitching staff to graduation or transfers. However, teams that have strong runs like JR sometimes get overlooked when they lose a lot of talent and it'll be interesting to see what kind of tradition they've left in place.
I would expect Hanover to be strong as usual, especially with Jacob Mayers on the mound.
Deep Run should push Godwin, especially when Orlan takes the ball.
I would also expect Atlee to push Hanover, as they have two strong pitchers (Farrar and Sandefur) as well.
My guess would be that Thomas Dale takes the Central, but that's really just a guess, as I'm very unfamiliar with the teams in that district.
As I said, this isn't meant to be a complete list at all. These are just some initial opinions on my part. If you made me pick, I'd probably take Godwin as the team to beat, but that's why they play the games.
And right out of the chute, Lee-Davis (unmentioned by yours truly) hammers Godwin (my probable #1) 12-1 on opening day. A few other scores:
Patrick Henry 15
Henrico 5
Cosby 10
Matoaca 3
Thomas Dale 13
Varina 5
Hopewell 9
Highland Springs 2
Benedictine 10
Prince George 8
Any other scores from the Central Region?
Tucker beat Freeman but I don't know the score.
Ackerman is able to stop any team he faces, but he is not pitching for COSBY, he returned to CLOVERHILL, which happens to be face Cosby on tuesday the 17th. Who do you think Coach Z for Cloverhill will throw? No doubt it will be Ackerman. Should be very interesting
flame thrower,
I made that post prior to it being public knowledge that Ackerman was no longer at Cosby. But thanks for keeping me on my toes.
I made that post prior to it being public knowledge that Ackerman was no longer at Cosby. But thanks for keeping me on my toes.
I am betting that Lowery will have them jacked up for Ackerman and Cosby wins going away. Props to Coach Lowery for having standards and sticking to them....
Well, apparently you know more about that situation than I do.
But bear in mind, a lot of coaches would hold a pitcher out of that game precisely to avoid that kind of ugly situation. There are usually 2 games each week, so it's not a hard thing to do.
But bear in mind, a lot of coaches would hold a pitcher out of that game precisely to avoid that kind of ugly situation. There are usually 2 games each week, so it's not a hard thing to do.