Does anyone know or think that there will be any high schools in virginia ranked in the national polls, also looking for opinions on is baseball better in Northern Va. or Va beach area?
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My guess is that with Marrs and Stadler back, defending AAA State champs, James River, will be nationally ranked
Baseball America and PGCrosschecker have more or less said they will include James River in their preseason rankings in 2008.
What they don't know is that outside of three returning starters (the two you named and one other), the team is very young and inexperienced. They will not have the depth they had in 2007, and it was that depth that got them their state title, not any one or two guys.
Cosby may not be in the preseason rankings, but I would bet they'll be contending for a state championship by the end of the season. They are very, very deep this year and I would think would be the preseason favorite in the Dominion over James River. Bear in mind that Cosby had no seniors in 2007, its first year open, so they return 9 experienced starters, 4 of whom are senior 2008 Division I commits.
If things go well for James River, the team could gel as the season wears on, and they could be the second Dominion team to make regionals. They will have strong pitching (if everyone stays healthy, knock wood!), so if they can get to the single elimination rounds anything can happen. But I would say any preseason national rankings for James River would be more hype than reality.
What they don't know is that outside of three returning starters (the two you named and one other), the team is very young and inexperienced. They will not have the depth they had in 2007, and it was that depth that got them their state title, not any one or two guys.
Cosby may not be in the preseason rankings, but I would bet they'll be contending for a state championship by the end of the season. They are very, very deep this year and I would think would be the preseason favorite in the Dominion over James River. Bear in mind that Cosby had no seniors in 2007, its first year open, so they return 9 experienced starters, 4 of whom are senior 2008 Division I commits.
If things go well for James River, the team could gel as the season wears on, and they could be the second Dominion team to make regionals. They will have strong pitching (if everyone stays healthy, knock wood!), so if they can get to the single elimination rounds anything can happen. But I would say any preseason national rankings for James River would be more hype than reality.
James Madison... will not be ranked, unlike the last few years. Im just putting that out there.
There is a chance that you'll see Paul VI HS in Fairfax VA w/ a preseason ranking. They finished the year w/ PG ranked #68 in the country. I also think based on history alone.....James River HS, Notre Dame Academy in Middlesburg VA and James Madison HS could also receive preseason rankings. What happens to all of them during the season, well, remains to be seen.
ok
I have heard James River and NDA should be somewhere in the mix, but wasn't sure of cosby, madison, lake braddock, south county, or anyone else.
Since I'm from the area with a bunch of good highschools previously mentioned I'll give my take. Madison as said before shouldn't be ranked they lost about 6 starters (inluding now senior jesse jeter quitting)all they have is Brig Tison and Colin Flaherty no pitching. PVI needs to be ranked, if they arent the ranker people are stupid, PVI is full of stud seniors and even some sophmores that are nasty. Lake Braddock being as good as they are shouldnt be 3 of their top 4 hitters left. Just my take.
I heard from a friend of Jesse Jeters that he is NOT quitting. He is not going to play in College.
I don't know anything about this Jeter guy, and for the sake of baseball in general I hope he keeps playing, but is this really quitting? I just think calling him a quitter is such a strong word, and maybe it's just a question of semantics. To me if the boy decides not to play next year, that's unfortunate, but the season hasn't started so at this point he hasn't committed to his team. If this player has simply lost his desire to play the game, to me it does make him a quitter. Again, this is all said without me knowing anything about the guy or his situation, so maybe I'm wrong.
Also, regarding some of the better teams in VA, wasn't Hanover really young last year? I seriously doubt they'll garner a national ranking, but they were a solid team last year, they're well coached, and I'm pretty sure they were relatively young as well. And Mayers name may have enough appeal to gain the team some national looks as well.
I have heard from various sources that Jeter is not going to play college ball AND because of that, was not going to play his SR year in HS.
Personally, I hope he plays this spring. We will find out in about 90 days when the VHSL allows first day of practice (of course, someone may be able to share if Jeter participates in any Warhawk "unofficial winter workouts"
)
With that said, EVEN if Jeter does play for Madison, the only way they would be ranked nationally is on "reputation" alone. They have lost many SR starters, and they don't have the pitching depth they have had in previous seasons.
Some Liberty district coaches are saying that Stone Bridge is the district favorite this year. However, I don't see them being nationally ranked at all.
Personally, I hope he plays this spring. We will find out in about 90 days when the VHSL allows first day of practice (of course, someone may be able to share if Jeter participates in any Warhawk "unofficial winter workouts"
)With that said, EVEN if Jeter does play for Madison, the only way they would be ranked nationally is on "reputation" alone. They have lost many SR starters, and they don't have the pitching depth they have had in previous seasons.
Some Liberty district coaches are saying that Stone Bridge is the district favorite this year. However, I don't see them being nationally ranked at all.
Kzone_3 are you sure your source is reliable, where are you (or him) from. I have probably the most reliable source there is... Pudge he said that Jesse doesn't go to workouts.
I have a very reliable source who says Jesse is currently declaring a lack of interest.
But he's a teenager and tryouts are still 3 1/2 months away. Let's back off and let him decide for himself when the time comes.
But he's a teenager and tryouts are still 3 1/2 months away. Let's back off and let him decide for himself when the time comes.
I'm not too sure of the validity of rankins as it is. They are subjective by the websites who rank teams based on information provided to them. For example, the USA Today ranked Calvert Hall out of Maryland 4th in the nation in their year end poll, yet Baseball America had them 31st and Easton had them 8th. Madison High School, who didn't even reach last year's Virginia State tournament was ranked by both Baseball America and Easton in their year end poll, but teams like Forest Park and South County were nowhere to be found. Will someone please explain Madison's ranking and Forest Park and South County not being ranked? Like I said, don't put too much stock in any national polls outside of maybe the USA Today.
In reality, it's simply a nice pat on the back for your program (team) to be recognized. If year in and year out you continue to appear on these national rankings, the advantage is that you'll start to see more and more scouts watching these kids play at their home fields. In my eyes, I hope as many schools as possible get a national ranking in the state of Virginia. The more schools ranked, the more people (scouts) will want to bring themselves to the great state of Virginia to eye witness all this baseball talent with their own eyes. The more visibility our players get, the better ! I just wish that everyone else saw it the same way as I do. I really could care less whether James Madison is 12th and Paul VI might be 45th, because in the end it brings scouts to the area to see both teams compete. If you were a scout and you were coming to the area and you had a chance to watch not one but let's say 6 teams in the metro area that have a National ranking, would'nt you go see all of them? I know I would arrange my schedule to see as many of them as I possibly could based on who they were playing ! Good luck to everyone this coming spring season and I hope we have as many teams and players nationally ranked as we possibly can.
MWR-VA
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I'm kind of skeptical of National Rankings too. Last year Madison was ranked very high and they had a very good team - but as someone already noted, they did not go far in the state tournament. I suspect the ranking do reflect some historical performance as the differences between the HS teams I see in NoVa are quite small. I would say that the usual teams from NoVa will be strong in 2008 - Oakton returns a bunch of starters, Madison will not be as strong as 2007 but will contend, South County and Lake Braddock will both field tough teams. Some sleepers might be Chantilly and Langley. Both have some very good pitching and will have improved from last year.
Chantilly is definatly a sleeper, but you should also be watching Westfield... Both snyder twin hitting 3rd and 4th and the rest are all seniors mainly, they should win the concorde and maybe get some national recognition.