Predictions In 8-5A

funneldrill,

This query looks to be in your wheelhouse .

not much talk about 8-5a on here. from what i've seen, watch out for bowie. young team last year and they beat us once. im drawing a black on bowie's top pitcher but he can pitch. You know what martin will do, Duncanville seems like they graduate everyone evry year but "there is some thing about putting on a panther uniform for those kids." Not sure of lamar's experience. As for desoto, well they have a mix of young and older players and they do have that center fielder.

I do think that Desoto will be a force in district play. I also don't want to leave out Arlington High. They have a good mix of talent. Heck Cedar Hill could always enter into the mix.

Lamar will be have to rely on a lot of JRs. to fill out their pitching staff. They have a SR. # 1 and then need for some of the younger guys to step up. They did get a nice JR. transfer from a local private school that should provide a nice arm and stick.

Did the HS coach recruit the kid away from the private school? (I'm kidding!)

Finally some chatter south of I-20
There is some good baseball down here too. Martin's three levels have dominated this district the last two years. Duncanville always in the mix. Lamar made the play-offs last year but it was a tight squeeze with DeSoto and CH. a game or two behind. CH has a new coach with an impressive resume from west Texas that will be great for the LongHorns. Should be a fun season once again.

Lamar does have some play-off history. I think they have made it the last several years. They then get beat by Flower Mound, Marcus or Lewisville in the 1st round. I think that one of the play-off teams this season could finish with a .500 record or worse because of the balance between the teams. Should be some great baseball to watch.

LMF08,
Did y'all get a new field or just renovations? It'll definitely be a dog fight for the four spots at the end of the season.

Did a lot of renovations. Last year the backstop and netting was all brand new. Working on getting better lighting now.

LMF08. you have a pm.

My prediction on order of finish:

1.)Martin, 2.)Duncanville, 3.)Lamar, 4.)Desoto, Cedar Hill, Arlington, Bowie, Sam Houston.

2010 Dad...PM back at cha...I think. Still trying to figure this thing out.

man look at bowie burried down on that list. as for field renovations, people will be shocked to see DeSoto's new field. its supposed to look like a mini Duncaville. stopped by today since im in town for the weekend, and it looks like it'll be ready for start of season.

the lighting at lamar is really bad. home field adv, yall just gotta get a flame thrower and dirty the balls a lil.

quote:

Finally some chatter south of I-20
There is some good baseball down here too.

2010dad.......I thought you lived in McKinney!

martin, duncanville, cedar hill, desoto, bowie, arlington high, lamar, sam.

and my son plays for lamar!

Screwball, why do you think Lamar will not make the play-offs. They have a good pitcher coming back. Several starters are back. They really only need to find a solid #2, and #3 starter and they have options.

just an opinion lamar fan. from what i'm hearing the boys could care less. they do not feel like a team, they have a pitcher and a few starters coming back. they have not even had a single round of batting practice

making the playoffs is a different subject. being in the top four in this district only to go two and out in the playoffs is not something that i consider a big accomplishment. however, if lamar does it they have had a successful season?

Screwball, I understand what your saying. I agree that it is not a big deal to make the play-offs and go 2 and out every year.

I also agree with you about the players attitudes. I heard from a booster club member that it doesn't just appear to be the kids with that attitude. Again, this is just how it appeared to this member. Hopefully when baseball officially arrives the boys and coaches will be able to turn it on. I do think Lamar has the talent but you maybe right, they may not have the heart.

i know alot of the boys DO have the heart. they play select ball and are very competitive. problem does not seem to be the boys

as far as the playoffs go, they have watered it down so that is not a big deal. they might as well let everyone play

I am not a Lamar Parent, but I do see many of your players at CAB all the time and at least 4 of them did the winter work out program. They all seem to want to get better and worked hard at it. I also watched several of the players play select this summer, I feel they will make the playoffs and end up #2 in district!

1. Duncanville
2. Lamar
3. Martin

oh my.

Since I am not at DeSoto any more, and don't have a horse in the race, here is my take on everybody using last year's standings.

Martin - They have no experienced varsity pitching returning. A couple of guys pitched a little here and there, but the the 2 guys they leaned on all year are gone. Kaiser and Imhoff in the middle of that line up will be tough though. Their JV team lost only 1 game last year ( to my DeSoto JV ). They always have great depth and I know they will have kids step up. Plus Coach Culbertson will have them fundamentally sound and ready to play once district rolls around.

Duncanville - They return almost the entire starting line-up so scoring runs should not be an issue. The pitchers that return, their only district wins were against Sam Houston!!! Still, those kids will play up to the expectations that their uniform, and their coach, have.

Lamar - Sperry will anchor the staff. Whenever he pitches, they will have a chance to win. With Green at the top of the line-up and Lee and Buechele in the middle, the Vikes should be OK. Lee needs to step up in the #2 pitcher role. Look for the sophomore Arnsberg to be in the mix. Oh, the SS transfer will definitely help the defense.

DeSoto - All the pitching graduated. 2 good sophomores will be relied on. They led the JV team to a 2nd place 11-3 District finish. Kenny Gilbert is the man here. He will be an offensive force! Pitch to him and he'll beat you...walk him and he'll be on 3rd in 2 pitches! He will need help around him.

Bowie - Like DeSoto, they will have a new coach. They have a solid #1 in Stuckey, but have to find a #2. Defensively they should be OK and Poston should pace the offense.

Cedar Hill - Like DeSoto and Bowie, they will have a new coach. They graduated their best pitcher and 2 of their best hitters, but the cupboard is not bare. The catcher and CF are back and both can swing it, so can the 3b. Pitching wise, they will have a couple of soft toss lefties. Based on what I saw on the subvarsity last year, there is not much help coming this year.

Arlington - The Colts return pretty much their entire starting line-up. That would be pretty good right? Wait, it gets better for them...they also get back Zac Osman from Pantego. Zac will be the #1 they have lacked the last couple of years. Plus, he will hit in the middle of the lineup which should help the catcher out a bit. The CF, Seay, don't let him on the bases!!!

Sam Houston - Ahhh, my alma mater...sad days there for one of my former coaches Ronnie Powers. They do have a good #1, Blanton, but not much else around him. If he can throw strikes and get ahead in the count, he can keep them in some games. But not sure how the defense and offense will support him.

I like Arlington alot in this district, though not necessarily to win it. Martin, Lamar and Duncanville should be there. If they slip up, DeSoto and Bowie can make things intresting with them.

interesting observations funnel. i will have to disagree about a couple of your lamar players. i don't think the soph will be ready although he will be given the chance. (alot of people put too much stock on a name). also, lee could help on the mound but his bat was not there last year.

I think the SS transfer could end up being the #2 Pitcher or maybe CL.

Lee hit over .300 for them, so one would think that if has been working then raising that to the .350 range is not out of the question.

I believe the soph. is in basketball? He is a pretty good size kid. You are right though, it will take more than a name to get the job done.

Lamar graduated people in key positions. #2 pitcher is a question mark until someone steps up. Lee is probably the top candidate based on last year. Of course, that was last year!

Their JV was good. The DeSoto JV swept them last year, but both were hard fought close games.

On paper, Lamar "should" be one of the top 4 teams in that district. But, that's why we play the game on grass/dirt and not on paper.

Oh, I went out to see DeSoto's new and improved facility. It is awesome!!! It is a mini-Duncanville in regards to the seating, pressbox, and roof over the seating. The rest of the facility needs lots of work, but the new superintendent intends on bringing the baseball facility up to the same level as DeSoto's football and basketball facilities.

I am proud of the fact that I had a hand in getting that project off the ground.

Is Desoto's new field on the school campus?

Funnel, I also think your right about Lee needing to step in to the #2 spot. He is probably the most ready at this point. He does have the next most varsity experience as far as innings go behind Sperry of course.

lee must have come on strong at the end of the season. last stats i saw were low to mid 200 range.

JV didn't seem strong at all to me. they fell about at the end of the season. lots of in fighting. no coaching.

As far as the Lamar JV last season, I didn't think much of the coaching. The coach was ready to take on his new job and that is where his head was. This was just my observation. He was a nice guy and I think he truly cared for his players but he wanted to be their friend instead of the coach.

DeSoto's new field is in the same spot. Just getting a facelift.

They basically removed the old stands and pressbox and put in new stands that wrap around home plate with a pressbox built into the top of them.

There is a roof that covers the stands, though there will be some obstructed view due to the steel beams.

The backstop was taken down and replaced with a wall and netting.

A warning track will now go from dugout to dugout behind home plate.

A new 9 inning scoreboard will be in RF.

Still to come, new batting cages, new irrigation system.

I live in the Lamar attendance zone and know many of the kids that have played there. I also played in HS with the head coach and varsity assistant. I think they do a good job there. As for the JV coach, football was #1 for him. Also, football is #1 there (like most places) and if a kid plays football and baseball, football is the priority...period! That was always made clear to the JV coach.

funnel, I agree that football is king at Lamar.

Again, I liked the JV coach, he just didn't demand the respect from the kids that I hoped he would. They treated him like a buddy. I know there is a fine line between being the coach and friend.

You are correct about the coach/friend thing. I am there for my players. I consider myself a player's coach in that I try to create an atmosphere of fun for the game, love for the game and respect for the game. I will have fun with my players, but when I say it's time to get down to business, they know it. They know what my expectations are of them on and off the field.

They know they can come to my about anything, however, they also know that there are boundaries to that, which are clearly defined for them.

Anyway, I wish the Vikes the best of luck. Hopefully, we can meet in the championship of your tournament.

Good luck to you guys as well

After watching Lee pitch all summer and fall he is ready to be the #2 at Lamar. He increased his velocity to the 84 to 86 range and his curve is very good. The SS transfer (Arocha) may pitch in tournaments, but is a much better middle infielder than pitcher. Both Lee and Arocha are very good hitters who keep the ball in play, have good gap power and hit for average.

who did lee play for in the summer and fall? we never saw him at any of the tournaments or showcases.

I think at Lamar Sperry #1, Lee #2 and Arocha close from SS position. Ozzie son played with Arocha last year and this would be the same method Pantego used. Arocha can throw heat. Lee has a better curve suited for starting. If 1 & 2 make it through 5 inn - game should be over.

Nick Lee played for the Arlington Heat. Best splitter I've ever seen on a kid when it's working.

Lamar also has Drew Johnson that could step up and be their #2 guy. Seen him pitch a few times over the summer and he looked pretty good.

quote:

Originally posted by Old Pitcher:

quote:

Finally some chatter south of I-20
There is some good baseball down here too.

2010dad.......I thought you lived in McKinney!

OP,
I just might...trying to motivate the folks south of I-30.

You're real funny!!