NW4A Results

Hickory 11 East Burke

Hickory 11 East Burke 7

 

The Rockets finally got their bats going in a 15-2, five inning rout of Enka, banging out 4 homeruns. Junior Blaine Howell went the distance, striking out 8. ACR enters conference play at 3-1, with games next week at East Burke and then back home with Alexander Central...should be a very interesting, competitive season. This thread is great...up here in Asheville you feel kind of shut-off from the rest of the NW4A.

 

:xyzthumbs...this thread and forum is yours...keep on postin'

 

Conference Preview

AC Reynolds
The Rockets have a junior-heavy team anchored by the quality starting pitching of Sam Runion and Blaine Howell. This team hit 4 HRs in a recent game, so they must have some power. With only one senior on the roster this looks like an up and coming conference contender in 05 and especially in 06.
Alexander Central
The Cougars feature several quality seniors who have had to wait their turn to play varsity baseball. They should be hungry. They have a nicely balanced team with plenty of pitching and offense. The only question mark is their defense. Look for Kelly Mclain,Josh Bowles,Bryan Corbett,Justin Russell,Cameron Kerley and Dustin Harrington to combine for the conference's
deepest pitching staff. Al these guys can hit as well along with Travis Lackey.
East Burke
EB should get good pitching from Donovan Deal and Chris Watts, but their offense is questionable. Holding a very good Hickory High team to 2 runs bodes well for the pitching at EB. Casey Crump,Trey Bridgeman and Trey Hamby have productive bats, but the question is, who else?
Freedom
The good news is Pats have the best offense in the NW4A, the bad news is their pitching is questionable. Tori Conley,Alex Chapman,Coty Clark,Nick Lackey,Zack Daws,Matt Turbeville & Austin Attaway can all hit and will light up the scoreboard in 05. If Freedom can find any pitching from Tyler Hart,Andrew Tallent,Tyler Fulbright or Nick Lackey, they could be dangerous.
If not, look for a bunch of 10-9 games @ Freedom this year.
McDowell
Graduated their top two pitchers but Evan Miller returns as their new #1 and Austin Bartlett will close. After that things are sketchy on the mound, with Tyler Stanton,Larry Dixon and Justin Johnson in the mix. Pitching will definitely be the question mark at McDowell this year. On the offensive side things look much better. All-conference catcher,Matt Huskins returns with his .400 plus average and should be the go to guy for McDowell in 05. Outfielders,Casey Allison and Davon Gardner are two speedsters who can hit along with Seth Branch,Miller,Dixson and Johnson.
South Caldwell
The SC roster features 5 seniors,7 juniors and 6 sophs. They appear to have the best combo of pitching,hitting and defense in the league. Bumgarner is coming off a fantastic freshman season and has to be considered among the best lefty 07s in NC. Matt Gragg is probably #2 but they have several live arms on this team including sophs Poovey and Coffee. SC should have a formidable lineup with Justice, Bumgarner, Hardee and company.
Watauga
On paper, WHS shouldn't scare anyone. Only two players return with any significant varsity experience and neither of them pitched. This team is defined by three (out of only four seniors on the team) who have battled back from major injuries,Heath Holder (ACL),Brian Wilson(Tommy John) and Nick Geis(ACL). These are 3 gamers who can pitch,hit and play great defense. This team will also feature a freshman speedster,Eric Breitenstein leading off and Dalton Hardee who is a great situational hitter in the 2 hole.
Early on, 2b Devin Presnell has been swinging a big stick.
Despite not having any varsity experience, #1 starter Ryan Anderson has pitched in tons of high level, pressure-packed AAU games and he is extremely effective. polished for his age. The #2 starter,Logan Bailey is also a high-quality soph, who has pitching in his blood. The senoirs will fill out the pitching staff. Very sound defensive team with alot of intangibles like toughness,coaching and work ethic. Season success depends on the bats.

 

McDowell 0 East Rutherford 1.

Freshman Justin Johnson pitched for MHS.
MHS plays Alexander Central tuesday. Evin Miller will pitch for MHS.

 

South Caldwell 5
Watagua 4

WP-Bumgarner
Big for SC to go to Watagua and get an early win. It is hard to play up there this early.

Jv"s

SC 9
WAT 0

 

Rockets lose a tough one to East Burke last night 3-1, well pitched, well played game on both ends. Watts got the win for the Cavs..try to get back on track against the Cougars at home Friday...3-2 overall, 0-1 conf.


jv's..ACR 10 Cavs 2...jv record..4-1, only loss came after losing a 5-1 lead late at TC Roberson.

thanks for all the post, especially the team by team preview!

 

Parity in the NW4A ?

If the opening day of conference play is any indication, there may not be much difference between the first and last place teams in the conference this season. Lightly-regarded East Burke led by Trey Hamby and Chris Watts, handed AC Reynolds and their ace, Sam Runion an unexpected loss and Madison Bumgarner was pushed to the limit in Boone. Bumgarner pitched a gutsy complete game which included stranding a runner at third with no outs after the Pioneers tied the game at 3-3. Watauga was led offensively by sophomores Dalton Hardee and Caleb Martin.

Freedom doesn't open their conference schedule until Friday, but won two 7-4 games over West Caldwell and West Wilkes to improve to 5-3. The Pats have already hit 19 home runs in 8 games this season. Coty Clark leads the Freedom team ( and maybe the entire free world) with 8 home runs in the young 05 season. Yea, eight...that's not a typo.

 

McDowell vs. AC

Alexander Central won 4-1 over McDowell Titans. Cameron Kerley added two hits for the Cougars, while Corbett stroked a double.

Evin Miller threw 5 and 1/3 innings for the Titans. McLain threw the complete game for the Cougars.

The Cougars play Mt. Tabor on Thursday and AC Reynolds on Friday.

 

...incredible