who's strong.....who's not

Who's strong: JH Rose. They are ranked #12 in the nation in the Collegiate Baseball/Easton Sports Poll. There are a bunch of other good teams, but Rose is the class of the lot right now.

North Mecklenburg is returning their WHOLE staff from last year. They have 4 pitchers that may top 90 this year, losing in the playoffs to State runners up, Myers Park.

These guys have pitching, batting and are arguably the fastest team in the state, anchored by State Games player, Mike Cavasinni, 41-42 stolen bases. I look for them to advance out of the West 4A

In the 3A ranks:

Ashbrook (Gastonia) returns their entire state championship team from last season. They will be a handful for other teams this year.

TC Roberson (Asheville) has the best '05 player in the state (and one of the top in the nation) in Cameron Maybin. He's also surrounded by a strong team.

The team to beat coming out of the west in 4A is Providence (Charlotte). They have 15 returning seniors, a slew of pitching, great speed and have played together for 5-6 years.

Their two lefty starters will tie most teams in knots.

With the exception of Brack Massey(now at UNC), the 04 Greenville Rose team includes several members of LLWS team that went to Williamsport. I know Hodges,Hardee & White were on the team. Anybody know if the others are still playing ?

Several others off of that team are still playing as well. Hodges will play the OF and pitch, Hardee could play any of the 4 infield spots but most likely first, White will catch and DH. Sam Byrum another LLWS member will be the 2/3 on the mound. Taylor Gagnon will see some innings as well but is currently the 2nd leading scorer for the top 3 bb team in the state. Mike Lilley will battle for time at 2nd base. Several members of the LL team play at other local HS or have commited to other sports. What a lot of people do not understand is that the other greenville team that year north state was most likely the top team Tarheel LL faced until the reached Willimsport. Now these kids are on the same team, Rose HS.

Two other teams to watch this year:

Coming out of the east, Wakefield (4A) in the CAP-6. They have two strong pitchers in Lewter and Dowdy.

Coming out of the west, West Rowan (3A) in the NPC. A strong hitting line-up 1-9, great fielding and very strong pitching.

Wakefield will be strong with that pitching. There are alot of quality teams in the area besides them though. Millbrook will also be strong in the Cap 6. And don't count out Wake Forest Rolesville. They have a new coach(college background from Young Harris JC) and some players returning also. Green Hope to me will be impressive with a good core of Seniors with experience. Should be very interesting. When you examine the teams in the Raleigh Area there sure are alot of impressive arms available. And as we know pitching can carry a team on any given day.