VHSCA 2009 AAA All State Baseball Team

WOW! This is going to be an interesting thread. UUHMMM? Menchville??? Maybe needed to be here? Did they win the AAA crown with the Gatorade POY on the hill??? Who exactly selected this?

Men with integrity that respect the game.

Congratulations to all these young men on a fine season.

UUHMMMMMM!!!!!!

I believe it was in the title of this thread.

"VHSCA 2009 AAA All State Baseball Team"

Virginia High School Coaches Association

Looking above on the list, I see 4 Manchester players and 3 West Springfield players and NO MENCHVILLE PLAYERS. I wonder how Manchester had 4 players on the all-state team and they did not even make the state playoffs. I am sure these 4 players are good but who did the voting. I am guessing that the coaches from this region had more votes than the coaches from the region that Menchville is in.

These awards from the district levels all the way to the state level are primarily politics. All of the kids on this list are very talented, but many of them get these spots based on reputation or where they're playing in college. Not trying to say that some of these guys don't absolutely deserve these honors (Taylor) but it's pretty clear there are several players whose numbers and not names should have got them on this list.

As I understand it, you can't be all state if you weren't all region, and you can't be all region if you weren't all district. And all district selections are made before even the district playoffs begin.

So, playoff performances have no bearing on all state selections. Correct?

Manchester went 19-1 in regular season. I'm not sure why Menchville's guys got passed over, but I can assure you, those guys from Manchester were very deserving.

On a happier and more appropriate note, congratulations to Chris Taylor (Jr.), son of HSBBW poster Chris Taylor (Sr.), who is the AAA Player of the Year.

And, if I heard right, on his way to UVA, too!

Menchville had three 1st team All-Region players. For none of those guys to make even 2nd team makes me wonder if another factor was involved.

A coach once told me only 1 or 2 coaches vote for the All-State team from each Region. It's possible the stats for the Menchville players didn't make it to the voters. If a coach or team doesn't send in the stats then the voters can only go by what they have in front of them.

Still, I think Ethan Carter deserved to be All-State. He finished with the second most career wins for any AAA pitcher.

Does anyone know which coaches were allowed to vote? Was any coach from the Peninsula district allowed to vote or were they excluded.

First off, this is an impossible task to pick the top 4 players in each position and the top 6 outfielders. There will always be legitimate arguments for players left out and players included.

From what I can tell no one, so far, really understands the selection process for the ALL STATE TEAM which is the primary reason folks question the selections. How are these players selected, what is the specific process? Who, what, when & where's. If we know it could "assist" in clearing the air....

If Menchville, or any other school for that matter, was not considered because stats were not submitted, that IS NOT acting with integrity. You are trying to determine the best of the best and therefore someone not submitting stats should not exclude a player.

At a district level, at least in the Commonwealth, all of the coaches lock down together and submit a player from their team for each position. Coaches submit stats to support their nomination. All coaches vote, coaches can not vote for their player and all votes are voiced in front of everyone, there are no secret ballots... The player with the greatest number of votes receives the honor. To me this seems reasonable and probably the best approach.

I "think" on a regional level the only coaches allowed to vote are those that won their district OR won a berth to regions through their district tournaments. If this is correct this excludes a lot of coaches and potentially a lot of players....

I have NO CLUE as to how the States selections are made..... But in my opinion it is very difficult at best to select 4 position players and 6 outfielders and say "they are the best" in the state without controversy. How many people contributing to this forum have seen every player mentioned play? Have you seen every AAA player in the state? Have those who prepared this list seen eveyone? If not, how can you be sure....

Congratulations to all of these players selected, I'm sure they are all deserving in some regard. But I'm also sure there are deserving players who are not on this list.....

Very Good posting Flying Dutchman, I was beginning to wonder if some people forgot to at least congratulate ALL of the boys selected. "On a happier and more appropriate note", I'm sure NO ONE can say that they were not deserving of the accolades with the seasons they had. Were there some deserving players left out? ABOSOLUTELY, but the process, broke or not, is the only one in the state year after year. If people have a problem with it then go to the source of the issue and change it!

How I was told by our High School Coach, follows along with how Flying Dutchman explained it, with a little more detail:

Districts:
All coaches, within their district, meet at end of season, before district playoffs and select 1st, 2nd, and HM teams. This is the only time that coaches meet before any playoffs before they happen.

Regionals:
All coaches, involved in the regional playoffs meet after completion and vote. The only players eligible are 1st team players from their respected district's honors.

States: (this is where the snafuu may be)
All coaches, involved in states and regionals, are to submit all stats up to this point of 1st team and POY candidates to their regional reps after states are over. The 4 Regional reps meet and vote on what they have in front of them that was supposed to be provided by the coaches.

So it sounds like if anybody has any issues with the selections made, they need to go to VHSL and vent their disagreements there.

BUT, in the mean time CONGRATULATIONS to all that were selected and WELL DESERVED!!!

No need to go to the VHSL and complain because the VHSL has NOTHING to do with all-state teams! They are chosen strictly by the coaches. IF you want to complain talk to your head coach.

All:

Just curious to see if SC called Carter and or VA called Taylor and said, "You'll only get to play here if you're All-State?"

Gents, these awards are good for moms, dads and the picture in the High School hallway.

FYI, Roger Clemens was 2nd team All-District his senior year and Brien Taylor was All-American.

Good point, SWBaseball!

SWBaseball you make a great point. I have not seen every player, but I have seen most. They are all great players and are very deserving. I know of one kid that only made second team all district and has FULL RIDE offers to 2 different D1 colleges. As a parent I would take the college offers over All State honors any day.
Political or bias as some may see the post season honors I have to believe the coaches are nominating who they think are deserving.

why would anyone think that there is not going to be bias, it is in everything, the work place why not baseball. Deal with it. If we did not have bias then how could those not deserving of the honors find something to whine about. The really good players and the parents of those players know and typically just go about there business not atracting attention. Congrats to those who got it and for those who didnot and the parents need a piece of paper to be reconginzed go to Kinkos and print one. Have a great day. Play Ball

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
On a happier and more appropriate note, congratulations to Chris Taylor (Jr.), son of HSBBW poster Chris Taylor (Sr.), who is the AAA Player of the Year.

And, if I heard right, on his way to UVA, too!

Midlo Dad- Thank you. It was a pleasure to meet you at Westfield and put a face with the name. We are of course pleased (and a bit shocked) by the accolades Chris has received this year. That said we also realize that there were MANY equally deserving players and we feel very fortunate. Chris is fully aware that many of these honors would not have been possible without the success of Cox baseball and, for that reason, a large part of the credit goes out to the coaches and to each and every member of the team. Hopefully Chris can prove himself worthy of the honor next year at UVA...hopefully Daniel will take it easy on him when they play the Deacs

Congrats to all - These boys have worked hard since they stepped onto a baseball diamond. Time to give them their due. To those who did not get the recognition, believe it or not, we in the stands and in the dugouts notice you.

Did Toulouse have that great of a year? Was it just politics? Just wondering, I thought he had a better junior season..