Hickory High and the rest of the CVAC

I would like to have some info on the CVAC...especailly on Hickory, who are their big players this year? and will they face any competition?

 

Hickory is pretty much loaded. Those close to the program are looking at an undefeated season.:229031_ha There are no glaring weaknesses and the CVAC is kind of weak overall.

 

HHS

I heard Hickory was going to do well too Red Bear. Must be all that batting practice on Saturdays that HHS players take. I heard Coach Craft just sits there for hours after practice and lets the parents come out work in the batting cage with their sons while he supervises.:imagestor

 

I imagine it's a little more than that.

But hey, in baseball, you never know. That's why you play the game on the field. Somebody might sneak up on them and surprise them. Good pitching beats good hitting, right? There's certainly a lot of quality pitching just in the Catawba County schools.

I'm sure all of the coaches are preparing as hard as they know how, right?:imagestor

 

I think the CVAC will be much more competitive than people give it credit for. Red Bear is dead on with his comment about good pitching!

In regards to the 3A teams my take is:

Hickory
Definitely a tallented team with good pitching (Gibbs, Baker, Smith & Austin Johnson- a sophmore who thru a complete game against East Burke last Friday), probably better defense than last year (Patrick Shelton-gun for an arm, is doing a great job at SS) and top to bottom better hitting (yes they miss Wilson Boyd and Issac Harrow) lead by Boliek, Smith, Hilton (2 dingers in 3 games) and Baker. All that is good but the best thing about this team is they like each other. The comradary is outstanding! The other intangible in Hickory's favor is David Craft.

F.T. Foard
Any time Trent Rothlin, Ben Lilly or Andrew Wyatt is on the mound the Tigers will be in the game. You throw in Aaron King and they will be tough week in and week out. Brian Dice is an outstanding catcher with one of the quickest releases I have ever seen. Dice, Rothlin and Lilly (remember when he hit for the cycle in Legion last summer) are dangerous at the plate. Anyway Foard won't have to score many runs with their pitching staff.

St. Stephens
Any time Patrick Johnson is on the mound Saint will be a team to watch. If Tripp Tartleson can come on as a second starter they will have pitching. At the plate John Daly, Brian Litwin and Johnson can provide some punch. Saint will be young but Darrell Reese is one of the best coaches around and will get the most out of his tallent.

That being said the tallent is not limited to the 3A schools. Bandys has started 3-0 and Doug McCree is an outstanding coach with a great record. Word is though their #1 pitcher, who has signed with UNC-G has arm problems and may not be able to pitch for a while. Hibriten is 2-1 and was only down 5-3 in the 5th inning to South Caldwell before one of their outfielders was hurt running into CF and was taken off the field on a stretcher. West Caldwell lost a lot to gradulation but they always seem to be there in the end. That leaves Maiden, Bunker Hill and Newton-Conover who may struggle at times.

I guess if I was handicapping the horse race I would go with Hickory and Foard but I do not believe anyone will run the table and it's gonna be a fun year in the Catawba Valley!

 

West Caldwell has lost a ton of great players. We beat them today 18-0.

 

Know anything about Hibriten?

 

Hibriten is 3-1 after beating Bunker Hill yesterday, 7-6. They scored 6 unearned runs to come from behind. Jensen pitched a complete game. Hamby, the young man who was hurt against SC (he started the game on the mound and didn't give up a run and only 1 hit in two innings) has been cleared by the doctor but is questionable because of a deep thigh bruise for Bandys on Friday. It looks like they may have a pretty solid, scrappy team.

 

Well I am very close to this team and Coach Craft and I will tell you that wherever you got that information from, well never get anymore info from that person. This team may have practiced on Saturday these past two weeks but you are allowed to. Coach Craft has never been out their supervising while the parents come help their sons. Once again, whoever you may have heard that from-you may want to think twice from getting info from them.

 

Coach Craft and the Hickory program......nothing but class - just like his dad!