Freshmen as Varsity Starters?

I just don't have much time committed to HS baseball now, but just interested some.
How common in 2010 is a freshman starting on the HS level?
I was thinking about my days back in the late 70's and it was very rare then.

 

Well, EOR, back in your day, they didn't even have freshmen in HS---they had Junior High Schools.

It is rare to find a contributing freshman starter. Some schools are stretched for players and talent, and they welcome all players to tryout--those schools are forced to play freshmen. But the stud freshman starter is very rare indeed. There are some sprinkled across the state. But usually the better the team, the less you will see of them.

 

In some areas we also have a lot of new schools opening up every couple of years, it seems. Take for example Union County...you had Weddington High school and then they opened up Marvin Ridge. A lot of up and coming players moved over to the new school from Weddington and started playing for the Mavericks. They had no Seniors, but were loaded with a talented group of underclassmen. Coach Poole at Weddington was filling some of his key roles now with Freshmen. This year they go ahead and open up Cuthbertson HS and Coach Poole loses several varsity players and coach M loses one that probably would have been in the starting rotation for Marvin Ridge to Cuthbertson. Now Cuthbertson has no seniors and four freshmen starters.
First of all, it's terrific to see what Coach Poole and Weddington have been able to do this year. They are really playing like champs and I think they have an opportunity to go further than we did last year. He also has a few freshmen players again on the team that have been contributing from day one. The Mavericks, again, are on pace to play for the state championship and first year Cuthbertson just came away with the South Stanly Championship and are 12 - 1 going into the second half of the season.
New High Schools are definitely a reason you see a lot of freshmen starting in our neck of the woods.
Question - Can you imagine what we could have put together down here in Union County if there weren't all these new schools opening up?

 

Nathan Hood (LHP/1B)

Whiteville High School has a freshman starter for their team. He plays 1B the majority of the time but his main focus is his pitching. He leads the team in just about every category for pitching. Believe me, you will continue to hear about this kid.
Oh, did I mention he is a left hand pitcher and left hand batter and he is already being recruited by one of the top teams in the nation!

 

I know of a few. Braves post is dead on. The better the program, the less likely.

A few examples.

Matt Orth is a freshman pitching for Southwest Guilford. He is having a good year and he is with a good team and a school that is always good. He's a lefty with 3 pitches and in the low 80's in velo. Shows promise. Time will tell.

Weston Wilson starts at 2nd for High Point Central. Not a powerhouse program but he's hitting in the 3 spot and holding his own at the plate and in the field. Weaker team in a program trying to turn it around with a new coach but the kid is batting 3rd. He can play.

My youngest son is a freshman and is usually the DH for Ragsdale. Plays some LF. Totally caught me off-guard. I stayed away from tryouts and all the practices. He came home one day with his older brother and told me he was starting at DH the 1st game. He pitches but not at a varsity level.

Another kid I like is a kid named Scudder at East Forsyth. Primarily a JV player due to EF's depth but a very good up and coming pitcher.

It's a big learning curve. Big difference between hitting varsity pitching and JV pitching. It's not so much the velocity but varsity pitchers hit spots, they seldom groove it. You get less good pitches to hit in an at bat. Varsity pitchers make less mistakes. Most JV pitchers are just trying to throw strikes. For a freshman at the varsity level when you get a fastball you better get it 'cause you may not see another. Freshmen struggle with change-ups and have to learn to pick up the rotation on the curve ball earlier. Like any other sport the game just moves at a faster level.

 

Texas Leaguer has is right. The eastern part of Union County (Weddington) has been split TWICE. Four years ago Marvin Ridge started playing, this year Cuthbertson started playing...again pulling a lot of talent from Weddington. Last year in the 1st round of the playoffs, Weddington went on the mountain to Watauga. They were loaded with Seniors and a stud pitcher. Weddington started 4 freshmen (C, SS, 2B, and LF). A diving catch by the LF, a 4-6-3-2 triple play, and a great pitching outing by a senior later....and Weddington knocks off Watauga. This year Weddington Started 3 sophomores and again starts 2 freshmen (3B, CF). Most of the games they lost last year were 1 run games. This year, they are on the winning side of the one run games. A coach would be hard pressed to keep any of these 5 off of a varsity roster even if the program hadn't been depleted by new schools opening.
Talent is Talent. The Eastern part of Union County is loaded with it. Had these two schools not opened up, they would almost be unbeatable. If your the best player for that spot, you deserve to play. Just because a player is older, doesn't mean he should be given the spot in the line up. Sometimes the "Better" schools do start Freshmen....and they're better because of it.

 

You Said It!

The younger (often times more talented) players are usually the ones that have been playing 100 games per year since they were 8 years old. They are (often) far more advanced than their "Senior" counterparts who (in some cases) haven't played nearly as much baseball growing up. It shows when the younger ones know the game better and have a better grasp of the fundamentals like baserunning and defensive play. Many of the High School coaches realize it and are putting the younger players in the game now! Some don't get it or don't want the flack they'll get from the older players and their parents. They'd say..... "they paid their dues and it's their turn to play."

You Said It! The Best Player deserves to play PERIOD!

 

You Said It! The Best Player deserves to play PERIOD![/quote]

I don't anyone disputes that. I think Superwright was asking a different question.

 

Not to be picky but this is the western part of the county and we have been split too many times thanks to Union County Public School System.

 

Chubbs is right...The Western side has been split. I hope we can go a few more years without splitting again. On the good side of being split....if they hadn't, there would be some really good players not getting any high school action.