Concorde District Predictions

LB should be strong

LB is in the Patriot.

I'd have to think that Westfield is the preseason favorite after returning both Thorpe and Hoover from last year's 20 win team. Centreville is up there as well. Ashooh may be the best pitcher in the NR, but their #2 (Bach?) will decide how far they go. As they showed last year in Regionals, they can beat anybody with Ashooh on the mound but they have to get a lot better when he's not pitching.

Also:

I expect both Robinson and Herndon to be improved under new coaches.

Chantilly will probably be a little down this year after graduating a lot of players but their coach does a great job and they won't be down for long.

Oakton should be better this year. They got a lot of younger guys a lot of experience last year.

Westfield will definitely have the pitching to go far. Centreville had a relatively young team that did well last year, and lost only a few players, so they'll be up near the top. Robinson lost a good core group of Seniors, but the new coach, Coach Farrell, will work wonders with the younger guys. Oakton will be in the mix, with a group of young guys who got a lot of experience last year, but I think they're one year away yet. Herndon will probably surprise some teams this year. Chantilly will be down a bit, having lost most of their pitching to graduation.

I suspect Westfield and Centreville will beat each other up, but Westfield is likely the preseason fave in the Concorde this season. Which is hard for a former Robinson guy to admit...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gr8day4bsbll:
Robinson lost a good core group of Seniors, but the new coach, Coach Farrell, will work wonders with the younger guys. QUOTE]

Bingo

I should have added, working the younger players is key to a program's future success. Instill the fundamentals and philosophies when they're in junior high. I believe this is what makes West Springfield successful.

I agree for the most part with everything said so far, but don't think any of the teams will be dominant throughout district play. Yes, Westfield still does have Thorpedo and Hoover but they are replacing a ton on offense in terms of Williams, Verbanic, McInturff, Reardon, Garifo (sorry if I spelled some names incorrectly). I definitely don't expect them to run the table in district play like last year. Centerville should be strong when Ashooh is on the mound and Bach is a legitimate number two option but pitching really hasn't been their issue the past 2 years, it's been their offense. If they can score consistently every game they will have a chance to be near the top of the district. Robinson is in a similar position to Westfield in my mind. They have solid pitching (mabye not to the level of Thorpe and Hoover) but have a lot of questions in their lineup with major losses in Kenah, Kuter, Del Buono, and McCloud. Chantilly, Herndon, and Oakton all should be strong competition. I don't see any of them winning the district but I definitely would not be surprised to see either of them get a win or two against the likes of Robinson, Centreville, or Westfield. They all still have strong stand out players (Dewitt, Impellazzeri, Willis) but the question will be whether their supporting casts will step up and make significant contributions. (again sorry for some of the name misspellings)

Centreville's offense was hurt last year by the early season injury to Cam Walter. Having a top slugger in your lineup usually helps the the guy in front and behind, so it will be interesting to see what they can do with a healthy Cam.

Chantilly has had two years of strong senior classes. It's time to see what the younger guys can do. They have some skills, but will now be on big stage. They lost most of their varsity innings on the mound and the foundation of 2008 and 2009 teams was pitching. We'll see.

Herndon has new coach. The last 3 years were filled with griping about the old coach. Hopefully they can all get on the same page and be the Herndon of the mid decade, as they start the new decade.

Westfield has a good pipeline. The names will be different and some new, but don't expect them to falter.

Oakton now in 2nd year of new coach. Not sure who they have to pitch.

Centreville- With Bach's commitment to VMI that should give him some confidence on the mound to make him a good #2, and I hear that they also have a good 3rd guy, Hample (sp?). But I won't be surprised if they still cant hit a Baseball.

Chantilly- Dont they have to replace 8 out of 9 starters, including their 2 starting pitchers? I have been impressed with their hitting from Fridy and Dewitt, its the others that I am unsure of..

Herndon- The only player I consider good is Impellazzeri.. I havent seen anyone to impress.

Westfield-Pitching will be solid, and hitting should be good as usual. Coach Welch always seems to know how to have his guys ready to play.

Oakton-I do like Willis, but where will their pitching come from? The only one I can remember is Taiyo Francis and he got touched up for 5 runs by Centreville last year, Cant count on that.

Robinson- Not sure how theyre going to reload after losing a load of talented seniors. I do look to Freer as possibly a premier pitcher and Rutger Floyd as a possible sleeper to be pretty darn good.

There you go, just my thoughts... Should be a good season though.

Francis is not at Oakton, I don't know what happened to him.