VHSL webcasts

Hanover starts Lyttle instead of Casey. 

Seen that kind of decision before and it's tempting fate.

 appreciate any updates, Midlo Dad.  Traveling this week.

Hanover runs the half steal play with 1st/3d 2 outs to score.  Lyttle has had runners on every inning but has managed to keep Sherando off the board through 4, including pitching around a 2-out error that put men on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs in the 4th.  Now b/4, Hanover up 1-0.

Hanover stretches it to 3-0 after 4.

Bottom of 4th, Cayman Richardson hit a hot shot that the SS could not handle, scored a hit, maybe should've been E6.  Szalay sac bunted him to 2nd.  Gregory then walked.  Denton fought off a ball just past the 1B to drive in Richardson.  Sledd then singled up the middle to score Gregory.

Zona hit a towering pop along the first base line.  It curved back from foul into fair territory and bounced.  Runners took off but ump had called infield fly for second out.  Throw went to third in plenty of time but no tag was applied so runner was properly ruled safe.  Could've been third out.  A walk loaded the bases with 2 outs so Hanover was close to taking advantage but Sherando 2015 LHP Whitaker was tough and got the K to escape.

Lyttle gets first out in the 5th but then yields 2 singles and is lifted, Hayden Moore comes on.  2 on, 1 out, top 5, still 3-0 Hanover so far.

Force out on grounder, WP advances runners, walk to load the bases.  2-out, 2 RBI hit by Sherando's Hayden Fox makes it 3-2 now going to bottom of 5th.

Still 3-0 top 6.  Denton on for Hanover, gets what I think is the first 1-2-3 inning for Hanover's staff.  Sherando down to its last 3 outs.

Hanover batting b/6.  Casey warming up, apparently will try to close it out.  If so, Hanover would have Casey eligible for tomorrow as well as all its other arms excepting only Lyttle.

Hanover 6th:

Gregory takes a curve to the body to reach.

Denton push bunts perfectly for a clean hit.

Sledd sac bunts, pitcher tries for lead runner, everyone safe.

Zona with a deep sac fly to RF, really the only ball driven deep so far in the game.  4-2.  Denton moves to third.  Pitching change for Sherando.  Mashad (sp?) in.

Pridemore bunts on safety squeeze; everyone safe -- bases reloaded.

Denton caught in rundown, initially called out at home, call reversed in favor of call of obstruction.  5-2.

Didlake rips a liner to shallow right, caught, 2 outs.

Shepherd walks, Richardson HBP, 6-2.

Szalay grounds into force play to end 6th.  Tough sledding now for Sherando.

With the greater lead, Casey sat down, Denton finished with another 1-2-3 inning, Hanover wins 6-2.

Hanover is a very fundamentally sound team and well coached.  Should be a great match up with Millbrook tomorrow.

Their gamble paid off, though it was nip and tuck there until the bottom of the 6th.  Now they have Casey fresh for today, plus Corley, Zona, Moore, Gregory and who knows who else fresh and totally available just in case. 

I understand Millbrook has gotten this far using a freshman and a sophomore as their two starting pitcher.  That is really impressive!  I think the freshman went yesterday so I guess that sets up the soph for a high stakes showdown.

This should be interesting. If Hanover overlooks the Millbrook team or thinks the youth of the team will not hold up in this game they are mistaken. These guys are well seasoned beyond their years. They win every way imaginable.

I was able to watch the game today and came away even more impressed with Hanover.  They do so many things well and know how to play the game.  Very well coached as well.

I don't think Hanover overlooked Millbrook at all.  They really gambled yesterday just to make sure Casey was available today.  That's a lot of respect right there.

Freeman beats Freedom, 7-0, behind a complete game shutout by LHP Daniel Lynch.  Logan Harvey threw out one base stealer (not even close) and nabbed another runner off first (took the leadoff man off first for the first out of the 7th) to help keep it a shutout, but the offense did enough to make it a cruise in any event. 

Jack Gerstenmeier got Freeman on the board with a first inning solo homer.  Wildness led to 2 Freeman runs in the 2nd and Travis Stackow's 3-run HR -- I think that was in the 3rd?-- pretty much wrapped it up as Lynch never really got into hot water all game long.

Congrats to Hanover. A very well pitched and coached game. They were what we thought they were. Impressive victory against a great team. Millbrook will be back and Im sure Hanover will be too in the future.

You can't make this up:  VHSL webcast dropped with 2-2 score, Chantilly batting bottom of 7th, runners 1st & 3d with one out.

Cosby had a chance to score in the 1st but Jake Huggins' line shot went right at SS with runners at 1st & 3rd, next man out, both runners stranded.  Chantilly took advantage of some early walks plus a hit to take a 1-0 lead, then made it 2-0 in the 5th when Cosby's relay of a potential inning-ending DP bounced away to allow a run in.

Huggins did single in a run in the 6th and Cosby got another to tie in the 7th when a bunt was thrown away.  But another bunt attempt with runner on 2nd was popped up, pitcher Easton Recto made a diving grab and then doubled off the runner who had take off for 3d. 

Chantilly got the leadoff man in b/7 to 2nd on an infield hit with a throwing error added.  After a sac bunt and an intentional walk, the webcast cut off!

Anyone know what happened from there?  Did Chantilly score the game winner, or is it into extras?

Chantilly won, leadoff single(throwing error on 3b) allowed runner to advance to 2nd. sac bunt to third, intentional walk, base hit through right side scores walk off win.

I'm told Chantilly got a hit to RF to win it, 3-2.

Indeed, it was a great game with Cosby using the bunt to get themselves back in the game in both the 6th & 7th innings.

Yeah, but a popped up bunt and a great play by Chantilly's pitcher might've won the game.

I saw Chantilly down in SC during Spring Break.  They played a very good Summerville team to an 8-7 loss.  They were solid defensively, and swung the bats really well.  The pitching that I saw was good enough to win, but certainly not overpowering.

I would think that WB should be favored in the game, but at this point in the season, they will have to play their A-game to win it!  I suspect that WB will have to out-hit Chantilly.

What's interesting to me is this:  When down in SC, I'm seeing Hickory, Nansemond River, Great Bridge and Grassfield all nearly dominate down in Charleston, against good competition.  That early in the season, it's hard to tell what that all means.  Hickory lost to Chantilly in SC, in a game that Hickory didn't play well.  Nonetheless, it's interesting to see that Hickory is playing for the 5A title.  Nansemond River lost to the eventual State Champion, in Hanover.  (In the closest game they played, mind you).  And, WB is playing that same Chantilly team that looked so solid down in SC, for the 6A title.

Now, in June, it all makes a lot more sense!  These are all really good high school baseball teams!

It's a wrap.

Congrats to both Western Branch, 6A State Champions, as well as Hickory, 5A State Champions.  Well done.

Congrats to both WB and Hickory and those GB softballers for repeating.

So for all those SED people that complained about the state setup for years this might underscore the reason why.  It is likely that Hickory would never have gotten out of the district in the old setup.  They probably would have finished 4th or 5th behind WB, GB, NR and maybe GF.  They would have had to play GF in a 4/5 game and then beat WB just to get a chance to play the winner of NR/GB for the final spot in regionals.  Probably wouldn't have happened.

On the other hand it would have meant that 2 of the 3 between GB, NR and Hickory would have stayed home too.  In a couple of season's no one will remember much what kind of battles there used to be in the old SED because now you play 20 warm ups to play the 8-9 games that matter at the end.  Hickory's win is the first to show that you do not have to be great in the regular season but if you are from May 15 until the end you can win a title. 

I wonder if you'll see coaches looking to use the regular season more like development games and develop that big wild sophomore kid in the bullpen by giving him innings in March and April in the hope he can give you innings on Memorial Day. 

The encouraging thing to me is how competitive these games were in the main.  It shows how even the different areas of the state are, at least among their respective top teams. 

Hold on to your britches!

1) Having experienced the outcome of the "power rankings" system, it will behoove more programs to win each game.  (Perhaps getting your subs a complete game while on Spring Break will be more difficult.)  While the regular season "doesn't mean anything", it kinda does, when it regards Power Rankings.  Inevitably, these new Power Rankings, while needing improvement, are going to play a role in the outcome of the postseason. 

2) I have already heard serious grumblings about continous mobility in the new VHSL alignment system.  While I cannot verify this, I have heard from people who know things, that the Suffolk schools may be in movement in 2015-16.  The new system is structured for such movement every two years.  2015-16 is such a year, so it makes sense.  Just in time for people to begin understanding the new alignment, don't be shocked if the makeup of the various conferences CHANGES AGAIN....and again...and again.  Lakeland HS may be coming to a town near you!  But not near us! 

Heels - I got it on the games piece, winning is the goal and teams will try to do that.  I was just putting out there that every game just doesn't have the pressure to win associated with it that the old district setup had for a league where you played 18 of 20 in district.  A bad two weeks and you drop 3 games and it means you probably lose a realistic shot at winning the SED district in the past. So while the games won't be throw away the pre conference games do afford more latitude for working in younger players with upside that you hope will help in the big games at the end. 

This setup is most teams play 10 or so games until spring break, come back and play 6-8 Conference games and on to the conference tournament.  With the teams being more spread out the demands of the conference tournaments are even less than the old districts. But if the wheel is going to spin repeatedly that doesn't make for any continuity either.  I hope this thing doesn't turn into a bus league where teams will spend 90 minutes on a bus to a game to play 2 hours and then ride back 90 minutes. 

Either way it won't be like it was where the regular season had a ton of weight on it.  All the best teams are likely to reach regional play and as Redbird says there will be good baseball at every level from there.   

There will be major shake ups in the conferences after next season. My understanding is that once they get things sorted out and most parties are happy they will got to every 4 years instead of every 2.

How?  This whole thing was driven by school size and I would not expect those to change dramatically. 

Luv,

While the actual realignment didn't take place until this year, the enrollment data that was used to create the new format was for the  2011-2012 school year, I believe. 

Since then, you have high growth areas throughout the state that have grown, and certain enrollments have shrunk.  One example I am familiar with, but can't comment on the actual outcome (because I don't know), is with the Suffolk schools.  I repeat, I do not know what is actually going to happen.  So let's play pretend.  

Let's pretend that two of three are moving up, and the 3rd may be moving down to 3A.  We'll say that Kings Fork and NR move up to 5A, and Lakeland down to 3A.  This is just one locale.  It could be that there are 6-8 schools per region that move.  The ripple effect of that is substantial.

If the above were to occur, what happens to the new "Ironclad Conference" 18?  Half of them would be gone, leaving only 3 schools.  Not so "ironclad", huh?!  Do they just join another 4A conference?  Does that create a rebalance of the other conferences to keep conference numbers fair and equitable?  The South would then have only 3 4A conferences.  Does that create a re-shuffling of the North to create more balance throughout the state?

It's a hot mess, I tell ya!  If you go to the VHSL site right now, you can get a feel for what's going on.  There are posted survey's from ADs and Principles across the state that are addressing the next re-alignment for 2015-16.

Without going into detail, they (the VHSL) could have accomplished their goal by realigning the state into FOUR classifications.  It would have required some change, but on balance, more rivalries would be in tact, the travel would be far less, less money would be spent, more money would be made, more people would get trophies, and the small schools in the SW would have been appeased.

If in the end the VHSL was going to assume the authority to order programs to move up or down as needed, then the whole six-level classification thing was neither needed nor wanted.

They could've kept just the A-AA-AAA setup and fixed all the problems with just the ability to mandate moves among the classifications.

Six layers is just too many.  And it eliminated a lot of perfectly wonderful post-season rivalries without sufficient reason for doing so.

And they are doing just that. Think on that for a moment. What if a school was put down or up, without meeting the enrollment population for that ranking. Just because a few schools don't want to play here or there.

I agree wholeheartedly with Midlo.

Personally, I believe in change.  Good change that is.  So, I'm not averse to a realignment of some kind.  (to 4 classifications, if that is what was needed)  HOWEVER, if change is going to be made, it needs to be better than what was in place previously.  The new alignment is not.

KISS-  Keep it simple stupid.

With so many moving parts, the new alignment will become a beaurocatic and logistical nightmare.  If there are a bunch of unhappy people today, give it another couple of years, when the musical chairs begin yet again.  It's not well thought out.

As an aside, I'm curios if they thought to go to a "Small School Division".  Meaning, they could have left 95% of the old AAA alone, and simply realigned the smaller schools.

The 6 layer classification is more of a good thing for football. With talk of Manchester and Clover Hill moving up to 6A due to enrollment size... Midlothian Football 4A, may have the unenviable task of playing a slew of 6A teams, in addition to Bird!

For some reason the schedule has not been released which is unusual..

I just hated the fact that we didn't get to see Cosby v. Freeman in regionals this year.  That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.  And I'm sure NoVa and the Beach had similar situations. 

The other thing is, winning a state championship is more special, depending on how many teams you beat out.  I don't mean to take anything away from those who won, but they overcame only half the number of competitors this year as compared to last year.  It's all watered down now.

The thing is....they already had 6 divisions for football under the old AAA system.

Much as I would've loved to have seen a Hanover-Cosby matchup as well, the reality is that Cosby (6A) is twice as large a school as Hanover (4A).  Even I don't think they belong in the same classification.  Not that they can't play each other during the regular season, but I'm not going to push them together for the playoffs.  Even if Hanover's personnel the past few years have proved that they could hang at any level, you can't expect that always to be the case.  You won't always have a Derek Casey, and eventually the numbers prove out.

Basically the VHSL has given us the schools' sizes.  All current 1A and 2A schools could've been pushed into A.  3A and 4A into AA.  And 5A and 6A into AAA.  Same program shifts, just fewer classifcations.

To be fair, even if you had a WB/Hanover single game, it wouldn't tell you much.  It certainly wouldn't tell you who the best team in the state is.  It would tell you who was better on that particular day!  (please see Western Branch vs. Woodside...unless you actually think Woodside is a better team)

Until the VHSL goes to a double elimination format of some kind, the best team will not always win the State Championship.  Having said that, I think that in no certain order WB/Cosby were the two best teams in 6A all year, and one of them won the title.  I think that Hickory showed that they could be one of the top teams in 5A throughout the year, along with Freeman and Stone Bridge (who were represented) and they proved as much in the tournament.  And I think that NR/Hanover were probably the two best 4A teams in the state, and one of them won the title.

NR played all three State Champions.  Amongst the three, I think that Hickory had the most explosive lineup, Hanover had the deepest and most talented pitching staff, and Western Branch had the most complete team, in all facets.  On a given day, any of the three could beat the other, but I would take Western Branch in a series.

I agree with you in general, but I think the base argument is still the wide variation in enrollment, even in your example.  If you believe that Hanover and Cosby should be in different classifications, then it's hard to argue how John Marshall, which is the smallest 3A school with 750 should be in the same group with Nansemond River, which is the largest 4A at 1468.  It's the same result as the aforementioned.

That's why I think they could've gone to four classifications and kept most of the old system in place, with minor tweaks around the edges.  While still shrinking the enrollment gap.

Funny part about Hickory is I am not entirely sure they are the best team on their own street.  GB while Ko'd by Kellam this year might have been a shade better than Hickory.

I give them credit, they played their best ball at the end when it mattered most and are a solid championship team.

Such has been the case for years in the Southeastern as well.  Nansemond River is one of four 4A schools that made up the district.  The remainder are/were 5A-6A.  Not to mention it is very baseball heavy with NR, Hickory, Great Bridge, Western Branch, and Grassfield, amongst others.   Please understand that every year there has been one or two teams from this group which are considered to be some of the best in the entire state, and they wouldn't even make it out of the district tournament!  Further, just this year, 3 of the above were/are Nationally Ranked at some point, and four of the five were considered Top 10 in the state in all classifications.  So, I get what you're saying.

By the by, Kings Fork, a perennial bottom-third program in the SED was one game away from the 4A Final Four.

Even still, I would have preferred expanding the regional playoffs to include a few more teams, rather than the system we have now.  

Just to provide some additional comments to Midlo's post, prior to this year, Hanover has always been at the AA level based on enrollment but opted to participate at the AAA level.  Since 2005, they have competed extremely well in the AAA division advancing to the Central Regional playoffs every year except two, and in each of those years they were one win away from advancing.  It's hard to say what the future holds, but if the past is a blue print for the future, I expect the Hanover baseball team will be able to compete at any level going forward. 

It would be very nice to be able to add a few more games.  The VHSL should allow for 20 regular season games, PLUS one tournament.  That would allow for those extra few games that you mention!  It would allow for teams to still travel for Spring Break, yet set up a "mini-regional" or two on a Fri/Sat. 

EX.  NR, GB, Cosby, Hanover in pool play to seed, with Championship to follow!

...or WB, Hickory, Madison, Lake Braddock.  (options are endless)

I think the top programs would spend the money for one night to do something like that!  This and similar formats have become very popular at the D1 college level.

Otherwise, the H.I.T tournament in Charleston is proving to be of similar ilk to what you are searching for.  Just this past year, Virginia was very well represented with NR, GB, Hickory, Grassfield, Lake Braddock, Chantilly, and Madison, amongst a couple of others.  (Pretty good group!)  Tough to do Spring Break in Virginia...the weather is super tricky, as you know.

Yep ...could get 75 and sunny or 35 and sleet.  HIT is exactly the thing I was referring to.  It would be nice to have something similar at the Beach and get to the games. 

I do like the idea of a weekend mini tourney but hotel costs would have to come from parents.  Plus the Bus costs probably need to be worked out.  I think there are rules on the transportation to official games.  Since most of the players on those teams probably played some travel ball it doesn't seem insurmountable.

I know the SED followers for years on this board have always thought the top half of the league was as good as any. 

I think it can be reasonably said that Western Branch was a Top 15 team in the State every year from 2010-2013 and never got out of the district.  They lost some very tough games to GB in particular that cost them regular season titles and then to teams like NR, GB and GF in the district playoffs that cost them the at large bid.

As Heels said Kings Fork never finished higher than 7th or 8th and I believe never won more than 6 maybe 7 games in any season until this year.  Deep Creek which has suffered in recent years nearly made regionals.  The point is that even the teams at the bottom that usually had weak records because they got beat 8+ times every year by GB, WB, NR, GF and Hickory really were not terrible teams. 

In my opinion the best part of the new system is that teams get to play schools that are their own size at the end.  That should mean that when matched on a level playing field over time the better team will win more consistently.  So for the KF, DC, LL contingent from the SED they get away from the monsters or most of them at least and get to play teams in their own weight class and seem to have something going for them...at least for this season. 

http://www.vhsl.org/doc/upload...%20and%202016-17.pdf

Very interesting.  Thanks for sharing.

Are they seriously going to move teams every year?  As opposed to, say, every three years?

I absolutely cannot stand this new alignment.  

I mean seriously.  Some of the conferences are almost brand new in their entirety.  Some will say that they like their new home, but I caution...don't get comfy...you may not be there very long!

Veto?

Hopefully they get it set, and then move to every four years instead of two. I feel for the coach's trying to get games. This past year because of the changes our school had to find 7 games to fill the schedule. It is only going to get worse. 

Some conferences went through the trouble (and presumably an expense) of naming their new conference, along with an official logo.  Perhaps, that too was shortsighted.  No sense in naming a conference, when the players are going to change like the weather.

The two most glaring changes to the new-new alignment is with Woodside and Nansemond River.  Due to others being reclassified, every opponent in Woodside's conference is across the water.  Likewise for Nansemond River.  Neither of the two have a single program from their old district nor their own CITY, in their new conference.

I have wondered since this move was set up if we'd get something totally different.  Since teams now have 10-12 games to play with as non conference instead of 2-5  if we will see teams roaming around to play different schedules.  Will there be games against Maryland or NC teams for example and not associated with Spring Break. 

Luv,

That's a great question.  One that's hard to answer with any consistency.  For example, Conference 18 has chosen to play a conference schedule whereas each team within the conference will play each other twice.  Therefore, there are 'X' amount of games outside of the conference.  In two years, Conference 18 will have a very different makeup.  Almost all of the conferences will have a very different makeup.  

So, what you'll have is a conference scenario, where everything has to be figured out all over again.  Will the new conference do it the same way?  Will the old conference try to maintain the status quo, with new players voicing their grievances?  Some play conference opponents twice, but some only played their conference one time through.  Some conferences will have 5 teams, others will have 8.  Some play a "district" schedule, some do not.  Some do at present, but may not in the future.

I found it interesting that some of the old SED have pretty much thrown their hands up and said "why bother" with the previous districts anymore.  On one hand, I totally agree.  On the other, perhaps including the old district as part of the scheduling is the only thing that keeps some level of sanity and certainty, for all respective programs.

This whole experiment is akin to traveling without a destination.  Further, you have no map, no NAV, and the locals are just as clueless as you are and therefore can provide no assistance.  Because they too are lost, and screaming for direction!  

Go Heels - Very true.  With an extra 6-8 games to play with some interesting games could get booked.  With the new alignment GB does not have to play WB, GF, Hickory, NR etc.  I would expect them to still schedule them at least once but will GB try to play more Beach and Norfolk teams like Maury, Cox, FC and Landstown or Privates like Atlantic Shores or GCA?  It will be interesting to see.

Maybe high school baseball is imploding... as some of the longstanding coaches and programs age... the coupling of this instability with demanding scheduling and less quality coaching available (and stable) ... and the lack of revenue / increased cost ... Maybe just maybe in 10 years, it will all be run by baseball schools(Dynamic/RBA/Braves, etc.) which have better coaching and a more solid infrastructure??

Think of the schools where baseball has become a mere shell of what it was, within the last decade or two.

Not a matter of whether HS baseball needs to compete with travel/showcase... It's a matter of mere functionality and perhaps money... and the shrinkage. Has the hassle and perceived lack of reward started to produce diminishing returns for those best suited to lead HS baseball programs?