NCSCA Pre-Season Poll 2011

Hopefully the poll will get some conversation started. The NCSCA has posted the Preseason poll and there are some familiar faces and some teams that might spark some interest with their rankings. The next poll will come out on March 8th and every Tuesday throughout the season. Please visit the NCSCA website at www.ncfastpitch.org to view the poll. Enjoy the polls this year and let the discussion and the season begin!

Thank you,

Eddie "Pop" Rivers
NCSCA Board of Directors, Chairman

 

The Year of the Chelsea's ( White and Wilkerson ) in 3A and 4A ...................... Don't know much about 1A and 2A .... I believe North Iredell will make some noise with there returning players and a couple of HOT SHOT Freshmen to boot even though they lost their Coach and have a new coach at least they kept the Grass Mower ..Love Ya Stickwolf !!!!!!!! Just My

 

4A

Lake Norman made a big run last year and have to be a favorite this year as well.
Butler continues to get talent and will win their conference again.
AC and ND have to be at or near the top year after year with talent and coaching they bring.
Of course, don't listen to me as state wide HS ball is not a strength of mine. In other words, do not put any stock in me. haha

 

Speaking of Good ol Boy Polls

UNC jumped to 22nd in the USA Today Coaches Good ol Boys Club poll, but dropped out of the top 25 poll even further in the ESPN.com/ USA poll...more accurate..with only 17 votes.....this is after Kansas beats UNC... which KU was picked last in the big 12 preseason..and almost get beat by Buffalo? How do they play softball in 4 ft of snow.. ...and this is enough to jack them to 22nd in the coaches poll?...something smells fishy....

 

Hey Pops....since no one has jumped at the topic yet, I will pick up the gauntlet.

In the 1A classification, it is great to see East Surry and Midway at the top of the pack. Personally, I favor these 2 to battle it out for the 1A state championship this year.

In the 2A division I do not see South Lenoir sitting at #3 with so many schools with better pitching and more power sitting well below them. Don't get me wrong, Faith Turner has presence on that mound and South Lenoir has some excellent talent - Tyquilla Graham, ie - but I do not believe we will be seeing them sitting this high at seasons end.

The 3A classification caught me a bit off guard. Where is Triton? Where is Ledford? Ledford returns a strong cast of players this year, with Murphy still on the mound and a strong infield in Tilley, Green and Everhart. I expect to see this team fairly high on the 3A poll in the near future. While Triton has lost their ace pitcher in Candace Faircloth, we cannot discount their powerful offense which is still pretty much in tact from last year. Like Ledford, I expect to see them reappear in the top 10 at some point during the season.

The 4A gave me great pause, as I am fairly certain there must be a typo in there. Harnett Central ranked at 3 and Fuquay Varina at 10? Fuquay-Varina will make another strong run for states this year, and is the much better choice at #3. Harnett Central lost many key players last year, shaking up the core of this team. Last year they featured 5 pitchers on their roster in Pegram, Lane, Cotton, Benton and Spicer. This roster has notably shrunk to just 2: Spicer and Benton. Added to this loss is the loss of Harrelson and Williford. Not only has the mound lost breadth, but the entire infield that took them to Walnut Creek this year is gone. And when you assess the impact upon the offense - Lane, Harrelson & Williford the teams top offensive players - and it comes down to one word: OUCH. While there is still certainly talent on this team and some of the best coaching in the state, it might take more than sheer determination to rank in the top 10 very long.

Finally, :0) , for giving Western Harnett in the 3A classification the well-earned nod. Western returns after the loss of one Senior, Howington, with a large core of their key players. Seniors Womack, Womble (2010 Co-Player of the Year) and Holmes have led the offense and held down the infield the last 3 years, and Soph Hains, who pitched the Eagles deep into state play-off's, also returns as do Cameron, Holder, Prior and Williams. With outstanding coaching at the helm, Western plans to stay at the top of the polls throughout the season

 

Coaching ethics

My DD's travel team had an opportunity to play at UNCW this past weekend. We played a couple travel teams and a couple local high school teams. We had a great experience, but my issue is with one of the local high school coaches. As an opposing coach, I was quite disappointed with how the coach treated his h.s players. They were a great group of girls, played their hearts out, and all he did was scream and dog them the entire game. It was disheartening. Maybe it works for him??? I guess in all my years coaching softball, I can't imagine treating my team that way. I believe in giving the girls respect, guidance, encouragement and constructive critisizm. This team is ranked in the polls. I just wonder how long they will be in the top ten in their class. Any thoughts on this from all you old timers?

 

In response to the coaching ethics question. I don't think this is the place to be bashing other coaches, based on one experience against a coach. Coaches must adjust how they can coach based on how their players respond. Having a daughter on the coach's team that you are referring to, I will tell you that yes he is loud, he tells the kids the truth and does not sugar coat their abilities, but most of all, he cares about each and everyone of them both on and off the field. First impressions are often hard to over come, but I can say that you should not judge someone until you know them personally. In our county you have open enrollment at the high school level and can go to anyone of the high schools in the county. Four years ago, my wife was already making plans to send my daughter to another school, do to her experiences and watching this same coach's field manner. We live within 5 minutes of the school and would have had to drive 30 minutes to another school each day. We talked to some other parents and friends who said give him a chance. We decided to leave our daughter at the school she was districted in and she is starting her junior year in this program. She has been on the varsity team since her freshman year and has enjoyed every minute of it. I would say, and my wife would also agree, that the experiences with this coach and team have been nothing but wonderful. As far as staying in the preseason rankings, probably not. It won't be because of the coach, it will be because of the fact that they are rebuilding due to the loss of 4 starters from last year's team. They will rebuild and be back in the polls by the end of the season, barring injuries. I just ask that everyone be open minded, and not make quick decisions.

 

A surpise team to watch in the 3a will be Cox Mill. They had a good group last year and none were seniors.

 

What teams played this past weekend beside the Gators?

 

In our county you have open enrollment at the high school level and can go to anyone of the high schools in the county.

Wow, talk about loading some teams up.. That is a pretty good advantage. We have to stay in our district.