southeastern district

A little early for this. But since you're asking, I think that you could rearrange any of those top 4 in any spot. Do any of these teams have more than one top notch pitcher? Is there any one pitcher that will dominate?

Hickory's coaching is much better this past year. The development of the young talent has turned around 180 deg. They've got some really good young players coming up. And they'll have excellent defense behind their pitching in the spring.

great bridge has cooper and conner jones comeing back
western branch has johnsonbaugh and a sophomore
nansemond river has zach rice
hickory has ryan blake

but wasnt hickory jv like 11-7 last year!

Western Branch has senior Ryan Bennett who, with a record of 6-1, pitched almost 50 innings last spring for the Bruins. Bennett's sole loss was a complete game effort against a very strong North Broward (FL) team, losing 4-3 in the bottom of the 7th.

Nansemond River will most likely look to senior Tyler Brown who threw 50+ innings last year going 6-3 with hard fought losses to Hickory, Grassfield and South County in the state quarterfinals. Junior Zach Rice finished last season at 5-0 with wins in elimination games in the district tournament against Western Branch and regional tournament against Churchland. Senior Kyle Moore has looked very good in the fall and appears poised to make an impact on the mound in the spring.

Any of those four teams can finish at the top, but until someone knocks off Great Bridge how can they not be #1?

Well, looking forward to a competitive season.

true but great bridge lost alot!
the southeastern district lost alot of pitching!
i forgot about kyle moore pitching!

wbreporter,isnt shane johnsonbaugh coming back!

Great Bridge will be fine in the OF. Replacing Higgerson and Lee will be a question mark for them. They had a DP combo on the JV ready to move up but the SS transferred to Kellam.

If Great bridge is going to repeat they will need Conner Jones to be the difference in the key games.

Nansmond River will have the best offense in the district. Their pitching will be better.

Western Branch will be dangerous but not sure they will hit enough to beat out either NR or GB.

Hickory will need better in all phases if they are going to contend.

i herd brian beard is suppouse to the infield
they have a good freshmen 2n baseman!

plus connor jones pitched just as much as flaherty last year!

The other big change for 2012 is that ole Wiley won't be prowling the 3rd base coaching line. I am sure thier games will have a totally different feel.

It was always amusing to watch him call time, stomp 75' down the line, snatch a bat out a kids hands and show him how to bunt after they fouled one off. Good times!

A couple of our SED players in Ft. Myers Florida today:

The Canes Prospects scored 7 runs over the last 2 innings to take a 7-5 win over the Longshots Baseball Teal. 3B Charlie Cody (2014, Great Bridge HS, VA) led off the bottom of the 6th inning with a triple and was singled home by 1B Nathan Blaylock (2013, A.C. Reynolds HS, NC) to provide the lead and eventual winning run.

LHP Zach Rice (2013, Nansemond River HS, VA) threw the final 1 2/3 innings for Canes to get the win. The 6-2/175 Rice topped out at 85 mph with a 69 mph curveball.

i think the only ace i dont know is lakeland!\

nr-tyler brown
gb-connor jones
wb-shane johnsonbaugh may have a freshmen catcher]
hickory-ryan blake
grassfield-kolby white
indian river-roger hall
kings fork-? dombroski
deep creek-seth winslow

i did see the freshman catcher in jv for western branch he looks like he will be a good catcher they have another guy bobby barefoot but he may mostly play of!

So, we all know who the popular names are. Who, in your mind, that doesn't get much press here on this forum will make a big contribution next spring?

I'll give you a couple of young players from Hickory that I feel we'll be hearing about:

Jake Tandy and Spenser Carter. Both are solid, and clutch with the bat and both are exceptional defensively. Both play 3rd base but I believe that one or the other will be playing OF just to get them in the game.

i know both of those young men and their families very well. Both are good solid ball players that will need to make big contributions to Hickory this year if they want to close the gap on the top three teams.

Unfortuneately I don't think either will be better than their counter parts at GB, WB or NR this year.

I've seen the Barefoot kid from WB play all fall, he's a D1 outfielder, he has alot of upside, he should get alot of attention, Beard form GB is one of the best, where has all the pitching gone? alot of talent, few over the top great?

pilots, the district lost alot of pitching last year!

gb-andrew flaherty
wb-nick thompson
nr-josh howard
grassfield-jason ingrham
kf-travis cherry
lakeland-lost there ace [cant rememebr who]
dc-kam stewart
hickory-t.j. lighton

I believe David Waterfield was Lakeland's ace.

yes he was ty wb reporter!

is shane johnsonbaugh the ace this yr for western branch?

Pilots81 and ofs10,

The district lost a significant amount of pitching. Was Matt Outman a senior at Grassfield last year? If so, Grassfield lost their top two pitchers. Certainly, WB lost its top pitcher, and GB lost either its top pitcher or a very close #2.

I think Bennent is the #1 at WB this season. I think the overall quality and depth of pitching in the district will be down this year compared to past years.

Connor Jones emergence at Great Bridge was the reason they won last year and he should be the best pitcher in the district this year. If he is and wins the key games he will be the difference maker in the district.

A write-up on the perfect game website from sunday night at the 2011 WWBA Underclass Championship in Fort Myers, Fla.:

"3 Canes combine to 1-hit Aces Baseball
10/10/2011 9:03:56 AM

Canes Baseball RHPs Andy McGuire (2013, James Madison HS, VA) and Connor Jones (2013, Great Bridge HS, VA) as well as LHP Zach Rice (2013, Nansemond River HS, VA) combined to strike out 10 Aces Baseball hitters, limiting them to just 1 hit, in a 9-0 win. Jones and Rice each struck out 3 in 2 innings, while McGuire struck out 4 over the final 3 frames.

Jones showed a plus fastball, commanding the pitch well and throwing it consistently in the 85-87/88 range. He also threw a low-70s curveball.

Rice was 81-84, showing good feel and comfort throwing his 69-71 curveball."

While Zach Rice was credited with throwing 2 innings he only threw 1, striking out the side.

yep matt outman was a senior!

Ouch! That will put a dent in your pitching rotation. Hard enough to lose your ace, but to lose your number one and two. Hope the farm system is deep.

As for Bennett and Johnsonbaugh, don't know who will emerge as the ace, but teams need at least two good arms to compete.

So, the top 3 teams have 2 solid arms
GB - Connor Jones and Cooper Jones
WB - Bennett and Johnsonbaugh
NR - Brown and Rice (Moore in relief)

Everyone else has 1 and looking for another

quote:

Originally posted by ofs10:
i think the only ace i dont know is lakeland!\

nr-tyler brown
gb-connor jones
wb-shane johnsonbaugh may have a freshmen catcher]
hickory-ryan blake
grassfield-kolby white
indian river-roger hall
kings fork-? dombroski
deep creek-seth winslow

IMO i wouldnt say Kolby is the Ace of the staff at GF.

gf who has been the ace of fallball?

well i guy i dont think gets much press is stephen lorkiewicz a sr which got hurt for oscar smith game 4 last yr.

im not sure, mostly by committee. Stephen has looked good, Walker and Kolby have also started, AO hasn’t played this fall; I think Coach Todd is trying to determine that. Of course it’s hard to compare to the last couple of years of GF pitchers. I think coach Liebo does a great job with the pitchers, I anticipate them improving by spring.

what grade is stephen in?i have the roster from whos returning i dont see a stephen!and i know stamp isnt coming back!

quote:

Originally posted by GF:
... I think coach Liebo does a great job with the pitchers, I anticipate them improving by spring.

Liebo does a great job. Plus, having a quality catcher helps.

Problem for GF is that they gave up only 60 or so runs last year in district play and finished about 4-5 games off the pace. They lose all that pitching so will the hitting improve enough to cover the additional runs they are likely to give up? They will probably score a little better but not that much more.

my prediction would be grassfield 5th.

Just for yucks I went to the ancient posts from 2004 and if you change the players names this is almost the exact same conversation with the same schools.

Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same.

gf,how is grassfield looking in the fall?

Since its fall, I’m hoping we don’t have all our players. In a word - fair. It would appear our pitching is getting better but I would like to see more explosiveness from our bats. It’s tough to compare with the competition we are playing in the fall to the competition we will be facing in the spring. However, I understand we are playing Hickory (not sure when) which would give me a better idea of how we are doing.

i understand fall is different!because we are undefeated and 1 tie but it is fall but it is also good to see these boys do good!i think we will be on the uprise the next 1-2 years!we do have all our varsity players in the fall!have u seen yall's spring schedule yet?

i hope u will find out when yall will be playing hickory! maybe i can come watch!