CPC conference baseball

any early predictions on who is favored to win the conference
davie, reagan, west forsyth ect....
any players to watch this year

 

I don't know that I have an early prediction just quite yet but I believe any of the following four will have a chance:

Davie
Mount Tabor
Reagan
West Forsyth

I don't believe that North Davidson or Reynolds will have a shot this year

Davie - Have been strong year in & year out....will coaching change have effect
Mount Tabor - Not sure how they will hit the ball but pitching should keep them in most games
Reagan - This might be there year to win the conference lots of experience...only question is coaching change good or bad for program
West Forsyth - Probably most talented top to bottom but unproven. How will they pitch, how will they hit

It looks to be a fun year for the CPC

 

A few more thoughts on the CPC

Davie - as always will be very strong and will be led by 4 guys who have already commited to play in college including NC State signee Matt Vernon and transfer Jeremy Walker. Not only did they lose their head coach but also assistant Marshall Canosa, who many in the program thought would move up but is now an assistant at North Davidson.

Mt Tabor - picked up a few more Reagan transfers this year and as a result will be a little deeper than in years past and consequently might be a little better offensively. Having St Clair at the top of the rotation certainly does not hurt.

Reagan - lost a few to Mt Tabor but the top 6 or 7 on this team can compete with anyone. Depth may be an issue but talent will not be and they will be there at the end.

West Forsyth - welcomes a large and talented junior class as well as 3 transfers. Their will be competition for playing time at every position and plenty of pitching depth as well. This team will miss the leadership, speed and all around ability of Gavin Culler who moved to Houston this past summer. If the young guys can prove it at the varsity level this will be a very good team.

As was said by Baseball 22 it will be a fun year in the CPC and ND and Reynolds are very capable of knocking off any of the four above but are probably a bit too young to contend this year. The season will be made more interesting this year because the schedule will feature the conference teams playing home and home games each week. This should certainly favor the teams with more and better pitching and will not allow teams to match up their best pitcher with the better teams.

 

A few more thoughts on the CPC

 

Who are the players to watch this year?
School, Grade, Position

 

West Forsyth's players to watch :

Hitting and Fielding:

Tripp Shelton - A junior who played last year on varsity at Short Stop. This kid has great fielding skills which impressed a lot of people last year. Hitting needs to improve a bit, but it's not bad.

Taylor Idol - A senior acquired from North Davidson. Didn't make an error last year at second base last year. Is just as smooth as Shelton if not more. Hitting is improving and having these two up the middle will be unstoppable.

Zach French - A junior who also played on varsity last year as the starting catcher. This kid can flat out hit the ball. Had 3 home runs last year. Struggled a little bit, but was clutch for the most part. Has a gun behind the plate, but struggles to help pitchers get calls.

Pitching:

Eric Sonafrank - A senior this year. Was the number one pitcher due to the injuries of Ian Walsh. He might have been the number one either way. This kid has great control and insane movement on his fastball. Throws about mid 80's and has like 6 pitches. He drops down from time to time which confuses the hitters. Had a solid performance last year and was used a lot.

Nick Bequette - A senior this year. Wasn't used as much as he should have been last year. Had some control problems last year, but never really got a chance to prove himself. He throws mid 80s and has a wicked curveball. Should be used a lot this year and will be a great help to this staff

Travis Holden - A junior who transferred from Forsyth Country Day. Throws mid 80s and has great junk. His addition to the team will definately make an impact on this staff.

Michael Bates - A junior this year. Throws mid 80s has good movement on his pitches and good control. Will more than likely be used in relief due to the pitchers above on this list, but will be a great help to this staff.

West Forsyth is no doubt the most talented overall team. CPC is a great conference though and anything could happen at anytime. Should be a great year in CPC baseball.

 

West Forsyth also has junior Nicholas Boyles who will compete for time on the mound. Nick threw a no hitter last year as a JV pitcher against Reagan and spent the summer and fall playing for the NC Baseball Academy. Along with Matt Pennington and outfielders Colin Ciminissi, Aaron Stamper and Nick Adams it is a deep and talented team.

 

CPC Predictions
1. Davie-a lot of key players back plus addition of Jeremy Walker on the mound
2. West Forsyth-junior class is going to have to step up and take on key roles-additions of Holden and Idol should help
3. Reagan-offense may be top in the league-kids play hard and well together
4. Mt. Tabor-St. Claire can beat anyone on any night if their offense can put up some runs-addition of Reagan players will provide depth
5. North Davidson-always play teams tough-lost some key players last year
6. RJR-always upset some top ranked teams-have some good young talent

 

Davie lost both pitchers from last year and the way the schedule is set up, the Walker kid can only throw one game per team. Same applies to St. Claire. West has the most amount of pitching debt, which is why I favor them to be at the top.

 

While I agree that West Forsyth most likely has the deepest pitching, I don't see them winning the conference unless they hit, which I'm not sure that they will. OK, so here's the predictions:

1) Reagan
2) Davie
3) West Forsyth
4) Mt Tabor
5) Reynolds
6) North Davidson

Everyone else....it's time to make your call