Not much chatter from the Central Region..Thoughts?

I have to agree that I can't quite understand Godwin's slow start given the talent on that team. Can you give any details on how Reed Gragnani has been doing? He played with my son this fall and I'm hoping they'll be side by side in the MIF for the 'Hoos next year

I follow the teams South of the James more than North, but I haven't noticed his name in the boxscores too much. But then again, they didn't put many runs on the board in their first two games. I think they scored 3 total. But, I've seen him once and was impressed by his game...

Too much rain, too few games.....

Who have you seen so far? Anybody impress you?

Son goes to Patrick Henry. Have played & won 3 games so far:

PH 15 Henrico 5
PH 13 Maggie Walker 3
PH 4 LC Bird 3

Freeman, Deep Run & Godwin are next.

Correction on last score - PH 4 LC Bird 0

I am a Dale fan. Ya'll slapped us around in regionals last year. PH not being in RTD top 10 was a joke. PH is one of the 5 best teams, IMO.

I was looking at the Digital Sports Top Ten and here it is as of March 22:
1. Manchester (3-0)
2. Lee-Davis (3-0)
3. Deep Run (1-0)
4. Cosby (2-0)
5. Dinwiddie (4-0)
6. Patrick Henry (1-0)
7. Hanover (0-0)
8. James River (1-0)
9. Atlee (1-0)
10. Thomas Dale (1-1)

This isn't really a good look at all the teams because it was done soo early in the season and because of all the rain-outs so I take it as more of a pre-season poll with a couple of games. As of now I know Hanover beat Henrico 3-0 and Lee-Davis beat Atlee and I think James River lost too. I agree with most of the poll but I'll think there'll be plenty of movement throughout the season.

We should get a pretty good feel of the frontrunner in the Central after next week. Dale plays Matoaca on Monday and at Dinwiddie on Tuesday. The Dinwiddie/Dale game will be broadcasted live on the 'net on this site: http://www.terrysisisky.com/

The votes for James River are respect votes. That's nice, but as the season goes on, I would be surprised if they could stay in the top 10 rankings.

Heck, I saw where they got votes for the VirginiaPreps.com statewide top 10. Didn't make the top 10 but got honorable mention.

We'll see how the pitching comes along, I guess. I'll be pulling for them but I would think their best hope would be to get hot at playoff time.

James River beat a solid Dale team and was crushing Cosby today 10-1 before the rains hit. They will be a factor in the Dominion

the score was 10 to 5 and Cosby was coming back, thats why they play 7 innings, Thank goodness the game was stopped before it was considered a complete game, saw it happen to many times last year and it cost. They will replay the entire game. Don't think James River or Cosby is a top ten team

I don't think they replay it. I think it's suspended and will resume from where it left off.

James River missed a chance to put that one away. Unfortunately I think the rain just got too heavy and the pitcher could no longer grip the ball to throw strikes. From 10-1, he suddenly lost the strike zone, then the CF slipped and fell going after a liner for a bases-clearing double.

10-5, 1 out, man on 2nd, top 5th. Probably be played off when JR goes to Cosby, then they will start the regularly scheduled game immediately after.

BTW, same guy threw against Cosby today as against Dale. Zac Patrick, who never pitched a single inning last year. Quite a pleasant surprise!

Patrick did a great job against Dale. Dale was out front all day and never adjusted aside from a few at bats. Patrick and JR's defense did a good job of getting out of trouble that day. Dale left 9 on base. I'm not sure how JR will finish but I'm guessing that they'll get in the district tournament, at worst....

Games at Dale will be starting at 5:00 this year, not 4:30 as in years past. I've heard that the field is in pretty rough shape with standing water all over the place, including the IF grass. I would be surprised if Dale and Matoaca played tomorrow. Water standing on the IF grass is a bad sign. The field doesn't drain very well in the first place, so when it accumlates in the grass then there has been too much rain to overcome in most cases. But you never know. I am guessing that it will ppd to Wed. Why do you think I am a coach at Dale? Just curious

Usually the coach and AD try to make a decision around Noon. You could call Dale or check highschoolssports.net to see if the game has been ppd. If I hear that its still on, I'll try to remember to post it on here...

Game is ON for 5:00

Dale beat Matoaca 2-0 tonight. Helluva pitchers duel. Cullen and Ramsey went the distance for both teams. 9 hits total for both teams. Dale did their damage in the first with Green leading off with a 1B and driven in by a 3B by Cullen. Britt then doubled Cullen in for 2 runs in the first. That's all Cullen would need. Cullen struck out 10, giving up 4 hits and 1 BB. No errors by either team. Great game....

Dale usually struggles with Dinwiddie. Should be a good game tomorrow night....

Dinwiddie 8 TD 7 Error filled game for the Knights. Hopefully, it will be a wake up call like the early loss to Dinwiddie was last year

You are right, those 6 games will probably decide it. But, the rain might factor into this as well. If rain continues to back games up through the year and force teams into 3 game weeks, I would say Matoaca might have the upper hand with their deeper pitching staff. Dinwiddie and Dale have less depth past their top 2 guys. Hopewell is one team that may sneak up on people. They gave Dinwiddie fits a few weeks ago. Also, PG with Runion pitching might give one of the big 3 a game.

That's a pretty tough schedule. Dale plays Tucker, Clover Hill, and Manchester in Manchester's SB tournament

Dale plays Tucker today at 1:00. Clover Hill on Monday at 10:00 and Manchester on Tues. at 4.

Dale beat Tucker 5-2 today. Coach pulled up a 9th grade JV player, Gabe Togna, to pitch and the kid pitched a gem. 4 hits, 5 K's in 6 innings

That might make an already testy rivalry a little more intense. When did that rumor start floating around?

Manchester tournament is ppd today. Everything is moved back one day. Dale vs Clover Hill tomorrow at 10:00 vs Manchester on Wed at 4:00

Dale picked up another win today beating Clover Hill in Manchester's SB tournament, 7-1. Ryan Moore and Alex Welch combined on a 4-hitter. Dale plays Manchester tomorrow at 4:00. Looks like it will be Cullen vs. Hauser...

TD came up short vs Manchester, losing 6-3. Game was 3-3 after 4. Green, Cullen, and Burnette hit solo shots off of Hauser, but that was about it. Cullen had 8 K's on the hill. Hauser went 5 innings and had 4 K's. Chris Ayers hit a HR for Manchester. Manchester's lineup is hard to deal with. Hitters 1-7 can stroke the ball

TD huh? Good to see...I'm in Chester.

You guys are getting some good players coming up the pipe...keep your eye out. If they continue to grow and keep digging..give 'em a few years.

In fact I think 3 or 4 of the guys I coached last year ended up on JV this year...a couple others made the Byrd team.

Did you coach them in AAU or CCLL? I know that there is some hype about the kids now in 6th and 7th grade right now. But, of course hype is just hype sometimes. People at Dale were really excited several years ago about the group of kids that went deep into the World Series for their age group in CCLL. Those teams never lived up to their hype, didn't even make it to the district tournament once. So, you never know how well kids will progress. Time will tell

quote:

Originally posted by Papelbon:
Did you coach them in AAU or CCLL? I know that there is some hype about the kids now in 6th and 7th grade right now. But, of course hype is just hype sometimes. People at Dale were really excited several years ago about the group of kids that went deep into the World Series for their age group in CCLL. Those teams never lived up to their hype, didn't even make it to the district tournament once. So, you never know how well kids will progress. Time will tell

LOL...Coached 'em in USSSA and CCLL All Stars. Will hopefully coach 'em as 12's this year in All Stars where we hope to make an even better run than last year.

Yes, time WILL tell. The obvious things being growth potential, and if they keep working hard. No one can predict that.

The sad truth is that most of 'em won't play HS ball...but there are 4 or 5 that could do very well at the higher levels if they stay healthy and keep wanting it...

Anyone know if Hauser is throwing the Manchester-James River game on Thursday? I might play hookey if he is.

Also, Pap--

Those guys who went to the Pony World Series were lead by two sets of twins.

One set went to Manchester and ultimately gave up baseball altogether. They are now both on major college football full rides.

The other went to LCB and played very well, won many individual honors and got D-II rides for themselves. But it just goes to show, you can't make a winning team out of 1 or 2 guys.

The comment about Manchester having 7 strong bats shows why they have a chance to go far this year. True, they have the headliner in Hauser, but they are a TEAM from top to bottom. Maybe as good offensively as Cosby was last year.

I really like Cujas and little Ayers the best. Those two are a handful to deal with. I'm not sure who there #2 is (probably Morrison) but Hauser is a stud. Dale hit his fastball, but his slider is filthy. Most high school kids don't see many 87 mph fastballs, much less a slider with that velocity. He's gonna do well for VCU, if he doesn't sign pro. As for the Pony league team that has been discussed, I was really referring to the 6 or 7 Dale kids that played on that team. Only one of them ended up playing college ball (Ferrum)

NOT SURE YOU BOTH ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME TEAM THAT WENT TO THE PONY WORLD SERIES. I don't think there was even one dale kid on that team. The team that midlo dad was refering to included: Casey Wadkins, Jonathan Watson, Chris Hardee, Jacob & Joshua Karr, Cameron & Ryan Jude, Ronnie Shaban, Tyler Wilson, Josh Wilburn,Jordan Walton, missing 2 other kids can't remeber there names sorry.

Hauser will never be dressed in black and gold, he will sign, not sure how much. The old saying college is not for everyone.
He will do very well for himself. Throwing in themid 90's with a nasty slider, long and lean with pleanty of room to grow.

Yeah, I think we are thinking of different teams. The team I am talking about was made only of Dale and Bird kids that were '03 or '04 grads.

If you saw Hauser at 87, he was having a bad day. Typical for him is cruising at 91 with tailing/sinking movement, topping out at 93-94.

I have wondered about whether he would go pro, but I think his parents really want him to focus on school. For some reason he doesn't appear on draft lists as high as I would've expected, as he seems to fit the definition of "projectable". But the draft is still 8 weeks off, and a lot can happen in that amount of time. I don't care how much you love school, there is going to be a point where the money is too much to say no.

I said his slider was 87, not his fastball. His fastball was hitting 92-93 on the gun the day he pitched vs. Dale

Sorry, misread you! Glad to know he wasn't having an off day after all!

Though at 87 it was more likely a cutter than a slider. Hauser's breaking pitches are typically mid- to high 70's.