Skip to main content

15 replies

Tidewater Area- Who's #1?

CT Chris Taylor100+ posts
Just got back from watching Greenbrier Christian lose a tough game against St Anne's-Belefield, but despite the loss, I'd have to vote them #1 based on the depth of their pitching and the quality of their players up and down the lineup. That said, its tough to make a good comparison due to the fact that we rarely get to see them compete against the better teams in the area.

Maury may be the only unbeaten team left in the area so they warrant strong consideration as well. Its really too bad we cant see some of these teams square off against one another prior to region play and I'm not really sure why. Its done in other sports. Why is baseball different?

Besides, opening up play between districts could also eliminate some of the inherent inequities in the Beach District scheduling. With eleven teams in the district, teams play some schools once and others twice. Obviously those that play teams at the bottom of the standings twice have a slight advantage over those that must play district leaders twice. Why not have each school play other teams in the District just once and open up the remainder of the schedule to play other teams in the area? Not only could we create some fan-friendly marquee games prior to playoff time, but we could also give coaches the opportunity to develop some other players and give them a chance to see how they perform in game situations. Now, with every game an important district contest, coaches often don't want to risk giving untested players an opportunity. Any thoughts as to why this won't work?

"Character: How hard you work when no one is watching."

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

bob Ueckerbob Uecker10+ posts
I totally agree with your proposal to open up baseball scheduling. It is done in s****r, football, basketball, etc. so why not baseball? Does anyone know the reason baseball is different?


The stronger Eastern District teams would probably be the biggest supporters of such a chenge in that they would benefit the most by the opportunity to test their metal against some tougher competition from the Beach, Chesapeake and Penninsula before Regionals. That said, I agree it would also benefit the Region generally and high school baseball fans by setting up some great match-ups during the season. I'm sure players would support it.
Ace 45Ace 45100+ posts
GCA played very sloppy baseball today. We were very lucky to pull out a win against a very good HC team. It took all 7 innings to win 8-7. The sloppiness continued against St Anne’s and just couldn’t put anything together and took the 6-3 lost. Agree with Chris, it would be nice to play against our area public schools. I know my son has played with a lot of the kids out there and it would be fun to watch them go at it. Well, maybe in time things will change?? Small or big school, this area rocks with baseball.
N Nomadad100+ posts
Granby played Menchville today and lost 6-0,what made the game for us ,is that Granby kept it a close game.Not a bad showing for the Eastern against such a high ranking team.Maury has played well in the past against the beach and chesapeake districts,last year they gave the beach good games during the Beach Blast.Open the door to the same rotation as we have in the Regional Tournament during the season.Each district can still play their respective taems,but leave room for outside competition ,as well.Outside games should not hurt in district wins and losses for regional seadings?
Y 1943 yankees100+ posts
When I questioned someone with the VHSL, it was explained to me about the size of districts and the 20 game rule cap.
It would be great if somebody stepped up and took the reins to get the game cap increased. With the economy and some school districts talking of eliminating sports programs, now may not be the best time.
It is my understanding that in some places there is still no "school baseball", it is all legion leagues.
The immediate answer would be to have local coaches agree to stay in the area for spring break and have
4 opponents from tidewater. However, many coaches still want to face teams from other areas. And I almost forgot, the kids love to go south for spring break.
Not to long ago, the beach blast really was a tremendous tournament with teams from this whole area participating.
If you go to the VHSL website, there is contact information.
Where are the all of the teams going for spring break this year?
birddogbirddog500+ posts
Agree; a spring break tournament would allow better teams from the prep/private leagues to see how they stack up against the stronger teams from the public schools. Heading south may be a thing of the past for many programs with strained budgets. Also timing could be an issue as some of the privates take spring breaks before the public schools. At any rate it would be fun to play and watch!
CT Chris Taylor100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by 1943 yankees:
When I questioned someone with the VHSL, it was explained to me about the size of districts and the 20 game rule cap.
It would be great if somebody stepped up and took the reins to get the game cap increased. With the economy and some school districts talking of eliminating sports programs, now may not be the best time.
It is my understanding that in some places there is still no "school baseball", it is all legion leagues.
The immediate answer would be to have local coaches agree to stay in the area for spring break and have
4 opponents from tidewater. However, many coaches still want to face teams from other areas. And I almost forgot, the kids love to go south for spring break.
Not to long ago, the beach blast really was a tremendous tournament with teams from this whole area participating.
If you go to the VHSL website, there is contact information.
Where are the all of the teams going for spring break this year?


I agree that the 20 game cap rule is a bit restrictive, but as you said, its not likely that anyone will be able to get that lifted given the present economy. Even with the cap, there are 16 regular season games (assuming you play 4 games over Spring Break). IMO, if you can't play every team in your district twice, then just play each team once and then play out of District games with the remainder of the schedule. In the case of the Beach, you'd have 10 district games, 4 Spring Break games, and 6 out of District games
R RiverBaseball2410+ posts
Arizona has a cool set up where teams play their district opponents both games in the same week. This way, each team would have a shot at the other team's #2 pitcher. (makes some good sense)

In places like Alabama/Texas, they play single games on Tue. & doubleheaders on Fridays, the schools down there play 30-40+ games a season (which prepares the guys for the 50-60+ game college season). One trip for the bus, no more expense there.

I have been saying for some time that a combination of the two would be great. You play district opponents doubleheaders on Fridays, out-of-district on Tuesdays. This way you dont' have to face that team's one ace twice (making the other team prove they are deep enough to be a true champ), you get to play out of the district, & they guys get a lot more opportunities to prove their skills.

Another cool thing they do in AZ is double elim states with 16 teams in the tourney (they just don't have regionals). This way one flukey bad game doesn't end a season for a great team.
Last edited by RiverBaseball24
N Nomadad100+ posts
I believe this was mentioned before,but wether they come from Pony or Little League,more Pitchers must be developed.Fathers that coach would do better to spread the opportunities,their children wouldn't face tendonitis issues and then you could start to increase the total number of games played.Remmember we have a pretty short season.
C captainhasbeen10+ posts
Kids play plenty of baseball, guys. With travel teams, AAU, Legion, showcases, high school, etc., there is ample opportunity to "develop" pitchers. My problem with too much baseball is a lack of overall athletic ability in some kids. I would like to see more kids play other sports to give their "baseball" muscles and tendons a rest, and it gives them an opportunity to work on non-baseball related balance and strength. In the age of all of this baseball, even with pitch counts, we have more, not less, injuries. Developing arms is not a matter of starting earlier and playing longer. Many of the best pitchers at the high school level and beyond were better position players early on in their careers. It is not coincedence, in my opinion, that this is the case.
EH Emanski's Heroes1,000+ posts
How about until players reach 13 or so, everyone is a pitcher? Who cares how good they are at that level, everyone gets a chance. In practice everyone gets the same instruction and practice time, and maybe we'll see a few more pitchers develop.

Instead, kids are determined to be pitchers or not by the time they're 10 or 11, and if they're not a pitcher by then they never get another chance. This would force the development of more pitchers and might make for more exciting little league games (although the possibility of a walk fest would be the potential downfall). Instead of having one kid strike out 15 of 18 batters, make teams use more pitchers and give the hitters a fighting chance.

Like I said....at that age, who cares how good the kids are....it's supposed to be about having fun and learning the game.

Add Reply

Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Advanced Search
Advanced Search
Link copied to your clipboard.
×