Commonwealth District 2009

Who are the stud frosh in the Commonwealth District this year?

B-Hawks08

I agree, Mt. View will be tough, most of their current seniors are 4 year letter winners, so they are experienced and should be ready. They lost some pitching in Brennan Huelse, but I do like the Jr. Jake VanHutton to go along with Haynes. I'm sure Coach Lopez has been developing his pitchers....

Colonial Forge lost a ton of talent, but I agree Coach Szakelyhidi always seems to replace graduates with top players. I also really, really like Garrett Marin (George Mason Early Sign), not sure what they have to go along with Garrett. You know Colonial Forge will hit.....

Riverbend - fairly young team, may only have 2-3 seniors on the team. But they do have some capable Jr.'s in Dustin Sparks and Nick Lacik. Travis Thomas should be tough. Coach Stimmel's a competitor.

Brooke Point - I know they were young last year, but I don't know about 4th in the Commonwealth... That would be a huge jump... Maybe you can elaborate a little more on their current talent? I'm assuming you are Black Hawks08 for a reason -

Albemarle - I agree, always strong...

North Stafford - lost Miller to graduation, that'll hurt.... Not sure who they have to fill his spot. They do have Casey Johns (Gardner Webb Early Signee) and Patrick Kuhn behind the dish. I like the coaching staff at North Stafford, they always seem to compete.

Stafford - as you've noted, new coaches. Lost Adam Lopez to VMI, who will replace him?...

Massaponax - I like Massaponax. Most of their key players are Juniors that have played at the varsity level since they were freshman, so while they maybe a little light on Seniors I think their Juniors have enough experience to compete. Not sure if they have the pitching to place higher than 3-4, but I don't think they will end up on the bottom this year.

I think there is some outstading pitching in this district, especially the first three team's that you list -- Mt. View (Kyle Haynes), Colonial Forge (Garrett Marin) and Riverbend (Travis Thomas). Honestly I'm not sure who will be the top pitcher, could be any of the three or could be someone that we are not aware of that has really committed themselves to improving over the last year.....

One thing is for sure, this is going to be a very exciting district to watch.

My Pre-season picks:

1.) Mountain View
2.) Riverbend
3.) Colonial Forge
4.) Albemarle
5.) Massaponax
6.) North Stafford
7.) Brook Point (Sorry)
8.) Stafford

Just like RedBird... I'm curious to know who the stud Frosh are, as well as even the sophomores. Every year, in every district, there's always one or two freshmen and a couple of sophomores that surprise everyone!

North Stafford has 2 stud Frosh, left handed pitchers that pitch in the 80's so assuming they are on varsity. They will probably finish season better than 6th with the talent and coaching.

BP team is young. They have 4 sophomores on team, 3 of them varsity last year. They did pull out a win against Mountain View last spring at Mountain View.
BP had very strong pitching that game with that pitcher returning this year. New pitcher at BP is Leo Sanchez. He will make a difference.

Stafford will NOT finish last as they are loaded with talent and have a new coach loaded with experience but good question, how's the pitching? Who can replace the pitching and bat of Adam Lopez?

All the teams in this district have their studs, some more than others like Mountain View, so it's going to come down to who has the most guts, team chemistry, good coaching and coaching decisions come game time.

Pat, thanks for the IM. I look forward to hearing from you guys soon!

North Stafford? What about the other sophomores at BP?

B-hawks - Thanks for the followup. I have never seen Leo Sanchez, but I've heard the name and I'm told he is a hard thrower who's capable of retiring batters. Was he at BP last year?

Pat - I TOTALLY agree that guts, team chemistry and good coaching will determine the final rankings. You may also be correct that Stafford will not finish last... I like Jordan Tackett and absolutely love watching Ryan Brown play, he can mash and has super speed... Is he committed? I still think pitching maybe an issue even with Tommy Harrison at the helm, but looking back at my picks, I agree Stafford will probably not finish in last.

I reserve the right to change my picks up until the first regular season game -

What are your pre-season picks?

I have no clue but since you asked...
1. Abermarle
2. Mountain View
3. Stafford
4. Colonial Forge
5. Brooke Point
6. North Stafford
7. Riverbend
8. Massaponax (sp?)

I chose Abermarle to win because I don't know anything about them, strengths or weaknesses. They proved to be s****** in their championship "fall ball" win against MV but both teams probably didn't have all their best players in the fall.
You would think they'd be tired from the long bus ride to Stafford but they don't seem to be.
All my picks may be way off but we'll see who came closest at the end of the season.
Anyone else out there who wants to put in their two cents?

The s****** was S******. I don't know why
it came out like that with all the ***.
Still getting used to the message board but I guess that was my computer acting up.

Nevermind..this word comes up in asterisks for some reason. It was a compliment to Abermarle to describe a team that never gives up!

Pat,

There are certain words that are edited out. s****** = s c r a p p y, right?

The best on the site is s****r = s o c c e r.

Pat,

MV lost all three to Albemarle last Spring. Regular season 7-6, 12-11 and in the last District game 13-3.
No doubt MV has to figure out what it will take to even the field against a tough Albemarle team.
I'm assuming the "fall ball" reference was to the District loss. MV does field a team in the Rappahannock Fall league, but I have yet to see any team from C'ville show up for those games.

Red Bird,
You guessed it correctly. I finally figured out the word was being bleeped (the part after the S)
GEEZ...

Mountain View scrimmaged Potomac High School in Woodbridge yesterday afternoon in a cold steady rain. All pitchers got some work
I had to go sit in the car sometime during the 6th inning, and they ended during the eighth, I think.
I'm too old and bloods too thin to take these cold rain games.
Mountain View opens the season at home in a non-district game against Woodbridge High School on Tuesday, 5 PM.

I should be warmed up by then.

Does anyone want to re-look at how the Commonwealth District is starting to shape up. Alot of people thought Stafford did not have a chance, guess what!! 7-1 overall and 5-1 District, not a bad start for Stafford. They have 3 GOOD starting pitchers in Daniel King (3-0), Josh Mellet (2-1) and Thomas Fowler (2-0). Awesome defense and GREAT new Coaches and a brand new ATTITUDE!!!

Stafford is off to a good start. I don't know if I would say no one gave them a chance though. I think what is more telling is that they are doing it without their best player, who is lost to injury.

Also not sure if I am ready to crown them District champs. Started out 7-0, then lost to Riverbend, who lost to Massaponax. The District is shaping up as anyone can beat anyone on a given night.

And, each team plays each other twice.....

I'm not crowning them either, not in this Conference!
I was just making an observation on their start. Loosing a pitcher of Adam Lopez's ability to graduation are tall shoes to fill, but he was about the only pitcher they had last year. Even Adam didn't win all his games due to a serious rash of errors by the defense. Daniel King was injured all last season along with a couple other pitchers with sore arms.
They have a new coach in Tommy Harrison, who has put the life back into this team!
It is a long season and all of these teams can beat each other at any given time!

Stafford indeed is off to a stellar start.

I'm not sure many people would have projected Stafford to do this well, but everyone knows pre-season picks are all for fun and mean nothing. You have to play the game......

I've seen Stafford play a couple of times and I really like the way they play the game - very fundamentally sound baseball with GREAT coaching... The games I saw they executed the hit and run really well and their defense is solid. They didn't try and do too much, just solid fundamentals.

The pitchers I've seen were lefty's that kept their team in the game and got the strike outs when they needed them the most... At this point, imho, they have filled the shoes of Adam Lopez, maybe not with one pitcher but three and that's what you need to win.

A lot of wins in the Commonwealth this year have been 1 run wins, not just for Stafford but other teams as well. I think North Stafford lost 3 conference games in a row by one run each. Riverbend beat Stafford by 1 run, Stafford beat Colonial Forge by 1 run, Massaponax beat Riverbend by 1 run Mt View beat Massaponax by 1 run and I'm sure there's more...

Lets not forget about Albemarle either who is tied with Stafford in first with only one loss. Not many people projected them to start off this hot....

The teams are overall very evenly matched, it's still anyones district to win and the second time around should be twice as much fun!....

Kudo's to the Stafford players and coaching staff for the great start.

Daniel has turned into the home run KING too ! Not bad for a guy that can't hit either. lol
Those Stafford seniors certainly paid their dues with the way the program was. The new coach has them believing and I am sure they are having a great time right now. They deserve it. Enjoy!

4/8 Commonwealth Standings

Stafford 5-1, 7-1
Albemarle 4-1, 6-2
Mntain View4-2, 4-5
N Stafford 3-3, 5-3
Riverbend 3-3, 5-4
Massaponax 2-3, 3-4
Col. Forge 2-4, 6-6
Brke Point 0-6, 0-7

Brooke Point defeats Massaponax 6-0

Junior Evan Houde took a no-hitter into the 7th inning, giving BP it's first win with a 1 hit shutout.

Brian Hudson had 3 RBI's and Houde went 2-3 with an RBI.

Finally something to cheer about at BP.

BOY, the "UGLY" stick came out and hit Stafford's defense last night against North Stafford. Stafford lost 9-2 in this District match up. North Stafford has a Freshman that everybody should keep an eye on by the name of Sean Kennedy, he is going to be special! Stafford had the right starter in pitching, but the defense seem to wait for this game to commit all the errors they have been avoiding. Well as they say, "You win as a team and loose as one", I sure they will get back on track.

I see that Spotsy had a good game against a new High School in their District, Eastern View (Spotsy winning 3-2). Alot of the kids on Eastern View I hear are the better players from surrounding schools, so it is no surprise they have started out pretty good. The only thing that went against them last night is that ran into Matt Houston who looks like he is have a great start for Spotsy, but that is NO SURPRISE!

Brook Point had a GREAT game against Massaponnax 6-0, due to the Stellar pitching of Evan Houde. He came one out from a "NO NO", boy when that kid is on he is one of the toughest pitchers in the District.

Riverbend took it to the Colonial Forge team 6-4, getting all their runs in the first inning with 5. Don't count them down and out though they always find a way to be there in the end.

Round two starts after Easter break, let's see what happens on the turn!

Evan Houde, pitcher from Brooke Point is turning out to be the team leader in more ways than one.
The defense backed him up last night which had been a problem in some of the other games he's pitched this season. The infield comprised of sophomores and the outfield did their job. Players hitting now.
Hopefully after the spring break they'll start creeping up in the rankings

COMMONWEALTH

Team Dist. All

Stafford 5-2 7-2

Mountain View 4-2 4-5

Riverbend 4-3 6-4

North Stafford 4-3 6-3

Albemarle 3-1 6-2

Massaponax 2-2 3-3

Colonial Forge 2-5 6-7

Brooke Point 1-6 1-7




BATTLEFIELD

Team Dist. All

Spotsylvania 4-0 7-0

Courtland 4-1 8-4

Eastern View 4-2 8-2

Chancellor 1-3 3-4

King George 1-5 1-8

James Monroe -- --

Caroline -- --

Alot of changes in the Commonwealth District with the past two days games.

Mountain View beats Stafford 7-5
Brook Point beats Riverbend 11-10
Massaponax beats Albemarle 14-4 (Monday)
Massaponax beats North Stafford 3-1 (Tuesday)
Albemarle beats Colonial Forge 7-3

Big Mix Up in Standings with alot of District games to go yet!!!

Commonwealth Standings as of April 29th:

STAFFORD 7-3 9-4
ALBEMARLE 6-3 10-4
MOUNTAIN VIEW 7-3 8-7
NORTH STAFFORD 5-5 8-7
COLONIAL FORGE 4-6 8-8
RIVERBEND 4-6 6-7
MASSAPONAX 4-6 8-8
BROOK POINT 2-7 3-11

Next week will be very exciting in the Commonwealth.

Lot's of district games still ahead.

Have attached the remaining games for the top four. It's really hard to say who has the toughest schedule, they are equally tough in my opinion. Stafford plays 3 games instead of 2 next week, but the one extra is a non conference game so it really shouldn't affect them overall.

No one should take the bottom four as given's, any of those teams are quite capable of spoiling it for someone and probably will.....

MT VIEW

Tuseday 5/5 – North Stafford v. Mt View

Friday 5/8 - Mt View v Massaponax

Tuesday 5/12 – Mt View v. Albemarle

STAFFORD

Tuesday 5/5 – Stafford v. Riverbend

Wednesday 5/6 – Stafford v Spotsylvania

Friday 5/8 – Stafford v. Colonial Forge

Tuesday 5/12 – North Stafford v. Stafford

ALBEMARLE

Monday 5/4 - Albemarle v. Brooke Point

Tuesday 5/5 – Albemarle v. Massaponax

Friday 5/8 – Albemarle v Riverbend

Monday 5/11 – Albemarle v. Charlottesville

Tuesday 5/12 – Albemarle v. Mt View

NORTH STAFFORD

Tuesday 5/5 – North Stafford v Mt View

Friday 5/12 – North Staffor v. Brooke Point

Tuesday 5/12 – North Stafford v. Stafford

One addition:

Albemarle faces Brooke Point at home (Albemarle HS) Monday night.

Hopefully, it will be one of those spoilers that you mention.

Black Hawk is that a makeup?

Wow, that really changes my outlook for Albemarle, that's 3 conference games in one week. Will take alot of picthing to get through those teams.

Brooke Point's found some sticks, they can certainly spoil the party....

Yes, a game that was rained out earlier last month.

quote:

Originally posted by Black-Hawks08:
Brooke Point defeats Riverbend 11-10

In a real thriller, BP pulls out a win in the bottom of the 7th. It was the night of the Quarterbacks as graduating senior Brian Hudson was player of the game with stellar play in Centerfield and the game winning hit in the bottom of the 7th.

Junior Gary Pisall and Sophomore Travis Cole added a Home Run each.

The Hawks play Stafford Friday night.

Soph. David Dilegge also added a bit - 4 for 5 with the game tie RBI....

This is going down to the wire in the Commonwealth:

North Stafford 5 vs. Brook Point 1

Mountain View 7 vs. Massaponax 1

Stafford 7 vs. Colonial Forge 2

Riverbend 14 vs. Albemarle 4


Standings as of May 9th:

TEAMS DISTRICT OVERALL

STAFFORD 9-3 11-5
MOUNTAIN VIEW 9-3 10-7
ALBEMARLE 6-5 10-6
NORTH STAFFORD 7-5 10-8
RIVERBEND 6-6 10-8
COLONIAL FORGE 4-8 8-10
MASSAPONAX 4-8 8-10
BROOK POINT 2-9 3-13

Stafford wins in 8th inning, Thomas Fowler comes in 4th inning with a 7-0 deficit to shut down Riverbend enough for Stafford to come back and tie game and win it in the 8th 2 out game winning hit by Daniel King. Stafford plays North Stafford tonight.

STAFFORD 9-3 11-5

Correction:

Staffords record is 10-3 12-5

Stafford is a great team and from what I've heard they have a great coach.
All that said, Riverbend should have had that game.
They have some talent on that team that sits the bench. May have had a different outcome...
I am happy for Stafford though. There is good team chemistry and really good kids out there playing.

You are absolutely right Pat, Riverbend by all rights should have won that game with the talent that Riverbend has on that team. With that said though, there is something about what the new Stafford coach has done with these kids, he has them believing again. They have that fire in them now that if you play them cries out BRING YOUR LUNCH!

Stafford wins the regular season championship with a win over Mountain View 10-5.

Congrats to the Indians.

Mellett(sp) pitched a great game and the Stafford squad played flawless team ball.
Kyle Angelet hit a 3 Run Bomb in the 5th.That seemed to take the wind out of MV's sails after MV had a 3 run 4th to make it interesting at 5-4.
Diven Pernia goes 2-3 with 2 steals and 3 runs scored for the Indians.

What a way to start off the District Playoff Tournament, 1st, 2nd and 4th seed go down in the first round!!! That's the Commonwealth for you.

Blackhawks came to play, Stafford didn't. A well deserved TEAM win for Brooke Point where everyone contributed on some great plays.

Cameron Tubbs, I heard was the STUD of the game for Massaponax against Mountain View hitting two homeruns for 7 RBI's, one of them a GRAND SLAM. Way to go Cameron!!!

Both games tonight should be very good.

Regardless of records, none of the teams should be overlooked. There is no "should win" games this year in the Commonwealth.

Looks like Massaponax was mashing against Mt. View. Congratulations to Cameron, that's what you call having a good night! From the Free Lance Star reports it looked like Mt. View did not pitch Haynes, Gernhardt or Van Hutton - why not?

Congratulations to Brooke Point as well, they just never give up.....

WHAT A DISTRICT PLAYOFF, IF YOU WANT GREAT DRAMA AND STORIES THE COMMONWEALTH DISTRICT IS WHERE IT'S AT!!!!

Brooke Point shows GREAT teamwork and "Never Die" attitude, Congratulations to all of the boys on that team. Keep it going and hope to see them in Regionals!!!!