What's the experts' opinions on Hough's start.

Early pre- conference play consensus on TBR was that Hough would definitely be a factor in the I-Meck. They have not gotten off to a good start.
What's the story here? injuries, slow start, pitching, ???
I have not yet seen them play so I don't know; but this conference looks hard to handicap.

 

If you go back you will see where i wrote that Hough is talented but young. Hopewell, Mallard Creek, Mooresville, Lake Norman are both talented and has numerous two and three year varsity starters back. If all things equal i will always take veteran starters over rookie starters. Hough will win some games but they will have to take their lumps this year. Next year will be when they make that big jump.

 

Hough - where do I start - They are young, yes they have lots of pitching but the IMECK is full of great hitters. There are only 3-4 players that actually played varsity last year and only 2 on a consitent basis within the IMECK. When you look at who the opposing pitchers have been LKN - Taylor Thorobur(?) (App St), Hopewell - Hunter Conley (Lenoir Rhyne), North - Paul Leonard (UNC-Pembrook). We have faced everyone's ace which is great but young bats take time to get use to the great pitching of these Seniors. Hough will have its day. I truly believe there are great things to come from this group of guys. Once our bats come alive combined with our pitching it will be great. Hough played Providence great error down 3rd base line to decide the game, the North game was hard to battle back from giving up 5 runs early - no runs were scored by north after the 3rd inning - we had the tieing run at the plate.. Yeah Hopewell was a blowout but Hopewell has tons of talent (Michael Russell, Justin Hammond, Cody Strickland- just to name a few) and Conley was a beast, same goes for Taylor - LKN he pitched a beautiful game.

So yeah we are taking our bumps and bruises but we know that is what comes with a 1st year school with no seniors. We are excited about the rest of this year and the upcoming years. We are very optimistic because of the talent we know we have Jared Sobo, Nick Daddio, Johnny Piedmont, Blake Dueitt, Brandon Gragilla, Bailey Ober, -- i could go on and on. Coach Cochran has been smiled on his first season with talent and it doesnt stop with the Varsity players the JV is loaded.

 

I would agree with both of the previous posts regarding the Hough Huskies. In addition to the previous issues mentioned (No senior class, Faced very tough pitching in conference games thus far), they have also had defensive issues at times in the games I have seen. As we all know, giving any team extra outs is dangerous, but when you give teams the caliber of North, LKN, Hopewell, etc, extra outs, the 1 run inning becomes a 4 or 5 run inning really quick.
Two other issues, IMO, are at play as well. First, the lack of a senior class means a lack of older, more mature players, sure. But I think a more important factor regarding the lack of a senior class is the lack of experienced, mature leadership. A guy (or guys) that will get on a teammate (when it is needed), pick up a teammate having a rough night, and 'rally the troops' when things get tough. I think there are players on the team that are developing into that type of leader, but at this point in the season, I do not think they have that vocal player (or players) who gets the guys together and 'lights a fire' under them when things aren't going their way. Secondly, while this is a very talented group of young men, they all played at different schools last year (Some at North, some at Hopewell, some at other schools). It takes a considerable amount of time to build that team chemistry that the other teams in the conference already have (being largely attributed to players that have been in their respective programs for 3-4 years). As these players at Hough get more comfortable playing together and continue to gel, they will begin to have success and build upon it. I have been impressed thus far with Coach Cochran and the rest of the Hough staff as I have watched them go about their business (practices and games). This program will be successful as the players continue to learn and 'buy in' to the coaching philosophy. Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say...Hough will be fine, but it will take awhile. And I agree, the JV team is loaded with talent too - 8-0 so far after a great 5-4 win over the previously undefeated Mooresville JV (also a very talented group). And for the record - I'm definitely not an 'expert' - Just a guy who loves HS baseball and has an interest in the Hough program...