Division III (Class M) in 2011

I hope you had a nice winter GoGreen,

I got a chance to see Sam Bonifant play on his Granite State Showcase team. He should have a strong Junior year. Three of the final four teams from last year should be back. Winnisquam, Hopkington, and Somersworth. The fourth spot is up for grabs, Bow is the unknown, I agree Campbell has a great coach and is always tough to beat, but I think the have lost alot and will be very young. Farmington has a big lefty and returns alot of starters who have a couple of years of varsity experience.
Somersworth averaged over 10 runs a game last year, and are bringing back all but two starters. This team will score alot of runs again this year. they have another stud lefty Junior Josh Jaques who is just as good as their ace last year. I would have to say they are the favorite, as long as they don't face Jordan Cote in the championship.

I often see posts asking if players should play multiple sports. I am so glad my son has played the big three Football, Basketball and my favorite Baseball. Somersworth made it to the state championship in baeball last year and we had the time of our lives even though we lost.
This is my sons senior year and his baseball offers may have been better if he didn't play other sports, but we just won a semifinal game and are going to play in the state championship for division III basketball. Shot at the buzzer for the win is a memory I would not have wanted him to miss out on. Win or lose it has been a great year.

Go Green, whats up? Hopkinton picked up a couple of losses. Beat by good teams, or not playing good ball themselves?

Funny season. Lots of rust. Hopkinton lost to Campbell 4-7 (who has had the Hawks number for 7 or 8 years now...yikes!) and Kearsarge 4-6. Lots of close calls, and games could have easily gone either way.

Tonight the boys got back on track beating Raymond 16-1. McManus broke out of on unusual early season slide belting the team's first home run of the season along with a double and 3 rbi's. Centerfielder Frankie Beane continued his strong spring with 4 hits and 3 rbi's. He continues to show dangerous speed on the bases with 3 steals tonight. Bonifant picked up his second win of the young season allowing 3 hits over 6 innings and continues to hit the ball well. Jay White has pitched very well in a tough loss on Monday. He has hit the ball with authority in the early going and no reason to believe it won't continue. McCormick continues to be a threat at the plate with 2 hits tonight. So the Junior core is coming around. The pleasant suprise is that the Sophomores and Freshman are playing very well both in the field and at the plate. O'Keeffe at first is doing an excellent job in the field and seeing the ball at the plate (2 hits tonight). Auger at second is showing more confidence and will play a significant role in the Hawk's 2011 success. And my favorite guy to watch is Freshman Jake Nelson behind the plate. He has all the skills just needs the experience. Jake has big shoes to fill with the loss of graduating Jay LaBlanc but you can see his growth in each game. So maybe a little disappointing at 3-2 but no one is hitting the panic button yet. Can wait for Monday's game See you then!

Go Green,

Of the two teams that moved down from Class I last year who is better, Bow or Kearsarge? You guys had close games with both of them.

My bad, Kearsarge did not move down, It was Monadnock, sorry about that.

Hopkinton had their #1 pitcher in against Bow and thier #3 against Kearsarge, both games were good contests. I would say Bow is the stronger team. I also think Forbes is a top notch coach.

Somersworth @ Campbell tonight, should be a great match up. Campbell was scouting the Somersworth vs Farmington game so they should have a good idea of how to slow down the Hilltoppers offensive attack. They have 9 home runs by 7 different guys in four games so far.

pembroke academy is off to a great start at 5 wins 1 loss looking to make some noise in play offs playing good solid ball. pembroke wins today at fisher cat stadium against John Stark 6 to 3

big game on monday Pembroke vs merrimack valley not sure where they are in the standings but they are arch rival to Pembroke and they are always well coached

Campbell gave Somersworth a run for their money tonight. Pitchers duel between Josh Jaques (Somersworth) and Cullen Baker (Campbell). 0-0 ball game until the bottom of the 4th, Somersworth catcher Brody Horning hit a 2 run home run and thats all they would need as Somersworth went on to win 3-0. Great game to watch, I feel these two teams could meet again in the ship.

Hopefully two teams that play the game right will make it to the ship, Campbell is a great team.

quote:

Originally posted by baseballswagg:
Hopefully two teams that play the game right will make it to the ship, Campbell is a great team.

I love Campbells coaching staff, they always get the most out of their talent. Only two seniors on this team, mostly all freshmen and sophomores. This team is going to be at or near the top of Division III for a long time.

Campbell is a D3 school in the middle of D1 towns, so all through youth baseball the kids are playing against better competition come all star season. There's also a couple of aau programs whose goals aren't to win every game at all possible cost, rather they teach the players the game. You don't get to high school and just start being good... The coaches definitely benefit from the foundation... Their freshman group could be stronger, but 6 kids are going to and playing for BG and 1 is over at Pinkerton (family moved).

Have to jump on the Campbell bandwagon...The sophomores and juniors are contributing nicely, along with the #2 (freshman) starter Conor Sahlin. Nice composure and fastball. Cullan Baker's week last week? 2 wins, one starting and one relieving, 13 for 16 with 2 HR at the plate in 4 games, and a few walks mixed in. Good hitting team with only a few gaps in the lineup...could use more depth, but who couldn't. It's them, Winnisquam, and Somersworth...all boils down to who is pitching against who in the playoffs.

quote:

Originally posted by GoGreen:
Can Winisquam repeat? When Cote pitches they will win, but what about thier #2 and #3.
Is Somersworth the odds on favorite to take the title? Strong juniors returning with big bats.
Hopkinton may have the best 1, 2, 3, starting rotation but can they provide the run support?
Bow moves down to DIII, what will they bring to the dance?
Campbell is always strong, but did they graduate to much experience to be a factor in 2011?

Now that the regular season has ended, here is my try to answer the questions above.

Winisquam - When Cote pitches, they win. Their first playoff round will be a test for them.

Somersworth - Very very strong, but Hopkinton had them against the ropes before Cote dusted them. Can they make it to the finals?

Hopkinton - C- on the season. One winning pitcher and bats have just come to life. Which team will show up for the playoffs is anyones guess?

Bow - much better team than their record indicates. All season I kept waiting for the big upset. Just never came.

Campbell - Just as I said, always strong. These grown up Grizzles are tough!

My big miss was Berlin. I love these guys! They practice in the snow half the season and still play solid baseball! My sentimental favorites for sure.

Good luck to all the teams and the great kids that make high school baseball soooooooo much fun to watch.

Note to parents and fans; its just game and these are still kids. Lets teach by example and show sportsmanship in victory or defeat.

Go Green, well put and now I'll throw in my Dark horse, but it's not that much of a sleeper. Fall Mountain...very good team that made it to the final four last year losing to Somersworth 4-1 in the semi's. Should see Winnisquam in the second round, if Winni doesn't throw Cote, it could be an upset in the making. Solid team, always good defense and good hitting. They only lost four games and two of them were lopsided losses in a double header to Conant, does anyone no what happened on that day, the scores seemed odd?

Coach Curt. Huge congrats to you and your boys today taking down the Winnisquam Yankee!! Best of luck in the finals!!!

Thanks, Go Green

Next year is your year, I hope you guys take advantage of it.

Take Care. Curt

quote:

Originally posted by Coach Curt:
Campbell gave Somersworth a run for their money tonight. Pitchers duel between Josh Jaques (Somersworth) and Cullen Baker (Campbell). 0-0 ball game until the bottom of the 4th, Somersworth catcher Brody Horning hit a 2 run home run and thats all they would need as Somersworth went on to win 3-0. Great game to watch, I feel these two teams could meet again in the ship.

Baseballgood, John F and I all called this one. You could see Campbell getting better every week, even with the slow start to the season, you knew the cream would come to the top. Third time is the charm, it worked for Somersworth over Winnisquam, you never know. Good luck to both teams.


Coach Curt

Congrats to Campbell baseball for winning the Div III title today! Awesome job Coach Gorham and the Cougars.

congrats Campbell, this team really improved all year long. They are young enough, can they make a run at the Portsmouth win streak?

Both Campbell and Somersworth are fine teams with fine coaching staffs. Congrats to both and the very best to the graduating seniors wherever their travels may take them.

Looking forward to the 2012 season!

What a game. Was able to see both the Campbell and North games. Absolutely gutsy performance by Cullan Baker in shutting down the best hitting team in DIII. Key contributions by about 6 other (very young) members of the team in key spots and I don't think I've seen a team that plays that well as a team in a long time. Very deserving.