4A Playoff Bracket Chat

It's time to dissect the first round matchups. Fire away!

 

1st Round 4A West Predictions

East Rowan over Hopewell
North Forsyth over Independence
Davie over Grimsley
NW Guilford over Central Cabarrus
AC Reynolds over N. Meck
West Forsyth over Providence (Upset Special)
South Caldwell over West Meck
South Meck over Ashbrook

2nd Round matchups (As I see them):
East Rowan at North Forsyth
NW Guilford at Davie
West Forsyth at AC Reynolds
South Meck at South Caldwell


:allhail

 

The 1st round can be dangerous because some coaches try to be cute. They forget about playing one game at a time and hold their ace back for the 2nd round games....a big mistake in my opinion


Hopewell vs East Rowan---East Rowan- Cy Young looks like his namesake in this game

North Forsyth vs Independence---North Forsyth- this is a game that I am talking about. IF NF tries to save their ace, Robby Bray will make them pay

Davie vs Grimsley---DavieCounty- it will be McDaniel night Tuesday

NW Guilford vs Central Cabarrus---Central Cabarrus- they have flown under the radar all year. Now, you will find out who they are

AC Reynolds vs N. Meck---AC Reynolds- NM may be my cinderella team, but they have a very tough draw facing ACR opening the 1st round. ACR is one of the top 3 teams in a very strong western bracket

West Forsyth vs Providence---Providence- I love Coach Pope, but Providence is absolutely loaded in hitters and pitching. And they play with confidence

South Caldwell vs West Meck---South Caldwell- you have to admire what West Meck has accomplished this year despite the lack of competition in their conference. They have good players and good coaching...just not enough to face a Gragg or Bumgardner

South Meck vs Ashbrook---South Meck- it appears that SM has turned it up a notch. I hope they stay focused and improve their team chemistry because their season is coming to a close. Ashbrook, moving up to 4A, will have a tough time in their first 4A playoff game

 

East Rowan over Hopewell
North Forsyth over Independence
Davie over Grimsley
Central Cabarrus over Central Cabarrus
AC Reynolds over N. Meck
Providence over West Forsyth
South Caldwell over West Meck
South Meck over Ashbrook

 

In the east,

Cary could win their first round game @ Clayton. They have a pitcher (heading to UNCW next year) who is really throwing the ball well. They are also led by a senior SS (unsigned, but very talented... i'm hearing UNCP or Louisburg look most likely for him) and senior catcher (who is walking on at NCSU next year as a QB).

 

I think that Independence has a very good chance to upset North Forsyth. They hung in the toughest conference in the state all year and after facing Brey in two games this year he is tough to beat. He has a record of 36-6 (give or take a few) in his high school carrer and if the Patriots are hitting they are very tough to beat.

 

Referring to the West Meck-South Caldwell game...

About 3 of the guys on our team have hit off of Bumgarner in legion ball, and Junior 1B Stephen Mullis hit one off the top of the fence off of him. These guys are getting ready for this game and they're looking at it as the game of their lives.

The only thing that holds them back is complete lack of experience (only 2 Seniors that have played more than 2 years of Varsity ball). They have a lot of young guys on that team that will be in shock when they see the pitching, but there are a few of them that can hit. I know it's easy for everybody to say South Caldwell will win easily, and they might because I really don't know, but I think this game is going to be a lot closer than what most people think. West is probably putting Soph. Ian Sidebottom on the mound, and when he's on he's REALLY on. He's going to be huge in Charlotte by the time he's a senior. What most people don't realize about this team is that most of these guys have been playing together for years and years, they have the chance to do something really big for West Meck High School and West Meck baseball in general. In the past 2 weeks I haven't seen anybody want it as bad as these guys do.

Also, expect a HUGE crowd cheering for the West Meck side. I heard South Caldwell also has quite a crowd (might bring fans on a bus or 2 I heard), but as of late West Meck has almost had 2 home game sellouts.

But of course, no matter how much I don't want to...I still have to go with South Caldwell.

 

I know what you mean. Nothing against South Caldwell, but Charlotte can't help but pull for one of their underdogs. I think it will be close for 4-5 innings, but you can't overstate the importance of experience. A young player will have the eyes of a "deer caught in the headlights". They can't help it...it's just a lack of playoff experience; the bats are heavier, they squeeze them tighter and the ball always finds the player that does not want the ball to be hit to him...and playing South Caldwell is not the team that you want to play for your initial game.

But I'm pulling for the Indians and I may make it out to that game

 

It could be interesting, but it can't be the Indy team that played SM in the playoffs. That was not a good game by the Patriots.

But if NF is overconfident and looks ahead in the playoffs, they could be in for a surprise

 

I agree, that's the way they always have played against the "better" teams, even when I was there. We always stay close for maybe 4-5 innings and then it's over in the next 2 because our bats went dead.

In order for the Indians to stay with them at all they're going to have to play FLAWLESS defense, as they did against Catholic...but South Caldwell is a LOT different than Charlotte Catholic.

IF the upset is pulled off Tuesday night, it's going to be crazy over there off of Tuckaseegee Road...maybe a "rush the field" type thing.

COME OUT! We'd love to have you. I think some Charlotte High School Baseball fans should come and watch West Meck's young guns (Stephen Mullis-1B, Ian Sidebottom-P & SS, B.J. Bowen-P & 3B, Charlie King-Freshman pulled up to Varsity that played well throughout the Conf. Tourny, Daniel Long-2B). You'd also get a look at some under-rated seniors that play too (Brandon Reeves, Troy Lanham, Nathan Cyr)

I hope they don't disappoint me, and I hope that if they lose they lose a close game because most of the team has never seen anything like what they're going to face Tuesday night, only 2 or 3 of them have played against South Caldwell in legion.