Who are the teams that should have a strong year this year?

Coach May: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

Well said !!!!!!!!!!

 

well said coach may...

however i know of at least 1 team who has been working on 2-a-days for sometime...i believe you are allowed to work with 8 players at 1 session and how you break that down is up to you....being someone who has fallen out of graces with certain hs coaches i could be wrong...i also know of other coaches who are working with pitchers and catchers the first part of Jan. when school reopens...as long as no more than 8 players are involved all is ok rule wise...also i know of 1 team a couple years ago who had 6 quality pitchers and couldn't find enough mound time for but 5 and two of those struggled because of a lack of mound time...unfortunatly no one will ever know how deep they could have gone in the play-offs because they got "sucker-punched" out of the championships...and 6 seniors from that team think the NCHSAA really suck...

being a baseball coach in NC is tough because the NCHSAA is only concerned with football and basketball,( proof being the expanded football play-offs and relaxed rules on off season practices)...but if you are waiting until Feb. 15 to get started working with players you are behind...hopefully you don't have your pitchers throwing too much in the pre-conference games..

i really think that NC hs coaches are handicapped because they can't work with the kids in the fall...not all kids play football...

speaking of McDowell,... the Taylor kid was overworked last year and i wish him the best of luck in the future...since Sterling Parker and Jake "Scoobie" William graduated they haven't had any solid pitching and hitting....look for them to turn some heads this season..Coach "Flea" Blake will have a team ready to play when the time comes...by the way...at the state games in Durham Bulls Stadium Sterling Parker hit a homer that almost cleared the catch fence above the "Green Monster" in left field....WOW..

 

I have to agree that South Caldwell will be the team in the NW4A to beat for the next few years. I had the opportunity last year to watch a kid from Hudson Middle (feeder into South) "throw" (I use the term throw because he wasn't pitching, he was simply powering the ball past the hitters) against a feeder school of Alexander's and this kid was touching 83mph as a 8th grader ( I watched it from a Stalker radar gun). He in a couple of years will help South tremendously on the mound, and from what I can remember at the plate as well. McDowell should be ready to unload on some people, and Freedom will be solid. East Burke I think will struggle, and AC Reynolds will be a mediocre team but should have unbelievable speed (they usually do). They just shoot themselves defensively in the foot year after year. ACHS will have a proven starting pitcher in Bryan Corbett, and Dustin Harrington will be the question mark (only a sophomore and how will he perform against varsity hitters). These two should also lead the hitting attack as both can go yard, and hit for average. Coaching wise, the edge as Playme said goes to Watauga as Hardee and staff will be head and shoulders above everyone in the NW4A. Parhm will leave his starters in for a while, and if he rides these young guys like he did Russell Reid then ACHS will find a way to beat them, but if he will not start the same kid against them everytime then he will beat ACHS. Playme is a very wise and knowledgeable baseball guru who is a tremendous asset to this site. If only his neighbors in Alexander County would have realized this, who knows where the Cougars woul dhave gon ein the playoffs.

 

8 man workouts

Baseball teams can still work in september and october. it is up to the players to get out there and get better for themselves and their teams. Coaches can work with up to 8 players, but again it is up to the players to work on their own as well. I know of a few teams that are currently working and have been since august (with the exception of november) and they will be at an advantage in the long run. The bottom line is that the players need to motivate themselves in order to get better.

 

I know on the Burke Legion roster last year East Burke had some sophs. on the team, though they didn't play much. Anyone know anything about them? What wasn't on the Burke roster last year was any pitching from Freedom. Anyone know of any pitchers on the Western side of Burke? Freedom should be able to put up some runs with Chapman and company, and they will have as much speed as AC if not more. And just remember in a couple years we will have the world series boys at FHS, unless they build these new high schools here in Burke.

 

With the exception of the "dead zones" coaches can work with 8 players a day and only those 8. Conditioning is not limited to just 8. Open field can be used but no coaches can be present when you have open field. We start our program in August and run it all the way up to the start of the season in Feb. This year we have 28 kids that started in August and are still working. What we do is have 8 different guys each day that work on baseball with instruction. The other kids condition every day each week when they are not on the field. We do not allow them to be anywhere near the field when we have the 8 on the field. The conditioning is running, lifting, plyos and speed agility work. We I started this program eight years ago I had 4 players that started and one that finished. The next year it was up to 8 and it continues to grow. Every returning player has participated with the exception of one. It can not be mandantory by rule. Coaches should provide every opportunity for players to get better. Players have to take advantage of those opportunities. But that does not mean that if your coach does not that you can use that as an excuse. Do it on your own if you have to.

 

I know for a fact that ACHS does nothing with its baseball players until after they return for christmas break. The coaching staff appears to be to "wrapped up" in personal business year after year. However, the do have a fall team that playme was involved with but I am not sure what happened there only he can answer that question. My point is, that if you dont have involvement like Coach May said than the results will not be there (ACHS can attest to that this past year). You had a multi-talented team that lost focus and got beat by a team that they probably would have beaten 9 times out of 10. Playme help me out here with the ins/outs of ACHS and the NW4A!

 

i got a comment on the NW4A conference, i agree on south caldwell,they will be stout, but freedom, r u kidding me, they havent had a decent team in years, last year not so hot so im not lookin for ne suprises this season.

 

Sorry A..don't even go there....i am just someone who fell from the "graces".and who and 1 time had a good thread called "Top of the 7th"..i know very little about baseball and how to play it...

Coach May hang in there...all the effort is worth the price you are paying now...more and more kids will see the benifit of your program and want to participate...you are doing something right :applause: :applause:

i'm telling ya ...don't give s. caldwell the NW4A yet....watch out for reynolds and watauga...Hamby is coaching post 29 not s. caldwell...besides he would get thrown out of too many hs games

 

...glad to have you back playme