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.

Chantilly vs WB.   Thoughts?  Predictions?

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.

WB threw Rutherford yesterday, so Selby the likely arm today.

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!

Agree.   And I believe, as I have all season, that pitching is what ultimately gets a team this far.   All those teams you mention have/had very good pitching.

Congrats to Hickory High School on being 5A state champions in a hard fought game that went 10 innings.

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.