3A Scouting Report: 2004 Season

Last season Coach Dease used Josh Horton as his closer. With Horton and Hargrave in the middle, it is without a doubt the best niddle infield combo in the state. Hargrave us a gutty, scrappy player that plays hard nosed. Anywhere else, he's the shortstop, cause he's that good. Horton is an exceptional player, boy, can he mash it. You have to understand that although they had younger guys taking on the pitching load, with Brett Braxton's (ECU) arm injury, they still had the talent to be very good last yer in the 4A ranks. Coach Dease's teams are always well prepared (We are members of the PAC-6, their former conference), and I believe they will continue to be successful in the 3A ranks. From what I remember, they have several solid pitchers that throw strikes and are able to change speeds. No doubt, they are in a tough conference the Five County 3A. Southern Alamance is a quality program, as well as East Chapel Hill, Southern Durham and JF Webb in Oxford. The coaches in this league are hard workers and no games are a given on any night.

 

Glad to see that someone in the know thinks the Five County Conference is tough - I thought perhaps I just had home-team-parental-bias!

-jda

 

:xyzthumbs......I'll tell ya, even the uninformed on the westside of the State knows the Five County Conference is extremely tough

 

Look for JMR to be weak again this season. They have very little pitching and will struggle to compete in a very weak conference. Last season they were a team that underachieved. They only won 3 or 4 games all season.

This points directly to the coaching staff. These coaches are part of a very large group that believes that if you can coach football then you are qualified to coach almost anything else and do a good job at it.

That has never been true and never will be true.

 

off-season soap opera

It has been said that:
Northwood's pitcher ineligible
Southern Alamance's best player transfers
One of Burlington Williams pitchers ineligible
Orange shortstop dislocated left elbow

Can anyone top these?

 

I would beg to differ on this topic. Travis Poole has done an outstanding job w/o very much talent since he arrived at JMR. He is very well prepared and very knowledgeable. If you don't believe me, just ask the folks at Parkwood if they'd like to have him back.

 

spacedawg-

I havent heard that unless it is a basketball injury. If so, then it could have a big impact on Orange although Hargrave is certainly more than capable of playing SS. Orange is good enough to be more than competitive in the Five County 3A, although this possibility would certainly even the playing field more.