NH High School Program

Salem has been to the Class L finals 3 years in a row! That's pretty good!

Keene and Nashua always seem to do well.

Londonderry has been pretty good nad Winnacunet always has a few guys going on to play college ball too.

goffstown competed well in the jump to class L a few years ago.woodsville has had some success in the past.nashua ,salem. as i think of teams it dawns on me it's not so much the program as it is numbers. don't get me wrong, good coaching has to be there to be consistent. but as we all know localy,athletes are not always there.some times you get a group of kids that just all click and can play.some times you get classes that have no real baseball players.you have to be a special coach to turn these kids into players in the short high school season we have here.i also question the work ethic of the kids, not all of them want to get better,for what ever reason. if you could get 7 or 8 kids that can play and work hard at it ,that's the best program.can't think of who has that this year........but i hope its portsmouth

20dad, who are those special coaches that you mention? What I mean is, who are the coaches that get the most out of their players year in and year out?

being politically correct,it would depend on what you mean by getting the most out of a player.some things that players get from coaches are not measured by wins and losses.the game has a boat load of life lessons as we all know.
who goes to the big tourney every year?ok almost everyone does but that isn't always based on coaching.stevey wonder could coach some of the big teams.and i don't mean that as a bash on coaching .but if you know nh baseball you know 4 or 5 good players with a couple of stud pitchers can take you along way.that being said you have the nashua coach, the hampton coach, souhegan,goffstown,i think the portsmouth guy does a good job.but it's a numbers thing the more kids in school the better chance of more baseball players.i don't care who the coach is you can't make greatb players in 2 months,so that being said the smaller class S schools that have the fewest kids that are there every year maybe those coaches are a little better?
it stands out in my mind that the hampton team seems to get better as the season goes on.i know every one is rusty the first couple of weeks they get out doors ,but they stand out more in my mind as improving as the year goes on.thats just how i see it.and let me say i don't think i have seen a bad high school coach.that makes it harder to point out the really good ones.

Good info 20dad. I agree that there are some really large schools in the state and there are some good sized schools...it seems like it is tough for the good sized schools to consitently keep up with the really big schools. I will say that I think the Seacoast has done a nice job the last few years in keeping up with some of the BIG boys.

yo yo yo,

I two believe that the Seacoast Teams have done a fine job turning the conrner in respect with keeping up with "Bigger Schools" in NH. Our numbers as far as population has been slowly catching up with the very fast growing areas such as Salem, Nashua, Loundenderry, Derry, Hudson, Goffstown and Manchester. The Seacoast teams have been well represented in the final weeks of Baseball and I strongly believe that they will continue to have a presence in the playoffs as time moves on. Just one mans opinion.

I can only comment on the talent and teams in class I. From what I have seen in the last three years from making the jump from class M to I is that the best talent in the state for this class is from southern NH. Hollis Brooklin, Pelham, Souhegan, Milford, ConVal...... just my oppinion. I have also notice that the level of talent has dropped off in the last few years in general. I think that talent comes in waves so we are due for some good ball players to make an impact in NH high school baseball.

coachc,
i am from portsmouth we will be in class i next year,i only really hear about the seacoast teams who are the top runners in class i?i know it changes from year to year and coach dods does a great job with souheagen but who else? just curious whats out there. good to here from another nh guy.

Isn't Pinkerton the biggest school?
Since the Nashua split, I would guess yes.

Nashua is always in the post season race and I would not say the same about Pinkerton?

My recollection is year in and year out Nashua sends the most players on to college.

I'm not from NH but I was wondering what numbers in enrollment are you talking between big , bigger and biggset? Also I think a good coach has ALOT to do with players going to college and playing at the next level. (JMO)

I haven't lived there for 2+ years but...

Schools are athletically divided into 4 groups, based on total student enrollment.

Class L = 1000+
Class I = 800-999
Class M = 600-799
Class S = <600

I believe Pinkerton Academy is close to 5,000 students. There are 21 schools in Class L, more info can be found at

NHIAA

class L large school was 1500 and over. it was changed 2 years ago to over 1100,we do have 2 private schools that petition to play up to class L,i think they have about 700 kids.i'm not sure how it breaks down as you drop in class.there was a proposal to make another class ,of the 21 or 22 schools about half are over 1500,half under .an xl class was talked about but never came to be.

Pinkerton has about 3,500 and is the biggest in the state. It's a shame their baseball program isn't up there with the Nashuas and Salems of the league.

20dad, this will be our fourth season in class I. Since we made the move the top 1-5 teams are always pretty good and well coached. The teams i see being strong this year are Milford, Pelham, Kennett, Monadnock, ConVal, Souhegan and PLymouth is always well coached. Oh ya cant forget Hollis Brookline

CoachC - Got to meet one of your pitchers at a camp at Clemson in December. Had a chance to speek with him and his dad briefly and to watch him pitch. He represented H-B well.

As for the Class L perrenial powerhouses, I have to believe the programs feeding the schools are a huge factor. Going all the way back to the 10 yr old Cal Ripken All-stars and up through Babe Ruth, when you get to the ststae competitions, you're seeing teams from Nashua, Salem, Keene, and Rochester. Nashua, Salem and Londonderry also have a pretty significant number of players coming out of AAU programs, since we had 10 to 12 AAU teams within a 90 minute drive. When my son made his freshman team at Pennachuck Jr. High (before the split), 80 kids went out for the team, 16 were rostered, and 12 of them were from AAU programs.

We expect both Nashua teams to contend in the Class L's this year, along with Salem, Londonderry, Man West and Central.

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when you get up to the ststae competitions..
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Let's try "when you get up to the state competitions..."

Sometimes brain moves faster than fingers....

chill
good point about pinkerton ,probably the biggest school not a pereniel power.coach at nashua does a great job getting kids into college.not just his own players either,you don't see that much.
kmom
i don't disagree totally with the feeder programs. when my oldest son played ll in portsmouth we had 2 leagues.30 kids on both teams. by high school ther were 4 kids still playing for variuos reasons.i don't really think of aau as a feeder program per say .we played aau but left town to do so as we didn't have that around.having said that i know aau has helped many schools,so maybe it can be considered a feeder.
in my experience the better players i know or have seen all played aau.do you think that was why they were good or they were good and thats why the played aau?i think to much.lol