Reflections on the 04 HS Season!

Let s shout out ah hmmmmm voice it!
Indy-what a GREAT cinderella story, great job by their fiirst year coach!!
South Meck-great, great run with 05 lookin good after "perhaps" a sub par 03??
North-King is gettin it done up their in Huntersville, no?
MP-What a great job by Les after all that he lost in 03!?
Waddell/Olympic-Future dominant teams in c lotte and the "new" conference alignment?!
Vance-alot of talent year in and uear out but? Who is and why is there gonna be a "new" head coach" their?
Hopewell-what is goin on up their?
West Meck-is the new coach coimng back has he brought a "new" revived team for 05?
East Meck- Coach G as solid as they come with a competitor eavery year look out for them in 05!
C lotte Christian-Nice lights great season AGAIN probably agin in 05 with a hoard of more transfers???
finish this up ya ll.........

 

"Hopewell-what is goin on up there?"

Hopewell had their problems this year. It began when it was announced before the season began that Sr. Walt Himes - a great kid who would have been the starting third baseman and relief pitcher with a good bat, would have to have TJ surgery and would miss the season. Then about a third of the way through the season, Ben Beard - Sr. starting SS, strong bat and pitcher - came up with a hurt arm, and couldn't play SS the rest of the year and was only able to again pitch in the last 2-3 games (his problem was in his catching arm). They tried several players but weren't able to find a solid replacement for Beard at SS. Couple these losses with several other minor injuries and pitching that never really met expectations and they had a subpar year, based on expectations. This depletion of the starting lineup was evidenced when they had their first ever 9th grade letter winner this year. Even their JV was jinxed. One boy came in who had a broke arm over the winter, 5 months in a cast, and just had the cast removed 2 weeks before tryouts. The starting JV 2B had his elbow and tendon fracture during practice. Just pulled lose and left his arm dangling during warmups. The starting JV 1B developed arm pains missed 3-4 games, and could barely throw the last half of the season.

Next year will be interesting. They have some good young players returning and moving up. The bulk of this seasons pitching is gone but rising Sr. Dusty White and rising Jr. Andy Oliver have the "potential" to step in and be better than the starters this year - it all depends on continued development. They also have a couple of solid JV pitchers moving up. Dan Woodall's - C/3B - bat will be hard to replace but they have bats 3 thru 9 back and a couple of excellent bats moving up from the JV. They need to replace the Catcher but have a good rising Jr. & rising So. catcher to pick from. Third is also open but they have a couple of returners and a couple of JVs that can play there. Play at SS must be beefed up.

It will be interesting to watch and see how things develop next season.

 

Coach G is gonna struggle, every year will see the program deteriorate (because of boundry line changes) both on an absolute and relative basis. The conference picks up Indy and Weddington, dropping Garringer and some other school if I'm not mistaken. Next year he has tater and schumer... after that its slim, slim pickins... don't believe it, then ck out the JV W-L record. My guess is that the program (competetively) is in a world of trouble and Coach G isn't long in the saddle (his choice).

Christian, you got it all wrong my friend: no x-frs next year. All the srs and jrs next year will have played varsity or JV @ CCS this past year and just about all of them have played together since their 13 yr old seasons. If you want to gage how strong they will be (or not) ck out the Mega-stars, Hurricanes & O's this summer!

 

Independence has 4 seniors graduating. The losses are major but not insurmountable. Zach Farry has been a major cog in the rotation over there and he will be difficult to replace. Jon McMahon behind the dish frames as well as any catcher in Meck county and has a strong arm (plus experience). Jeff Rocket is a big bat in the middle of the line-up.

They have a very talented core returning (Nicholson, Cooke, Bray & Bray plus others) but will need to move some guys around a bit to adjust for the losses.

Indy will contend for the conference title again next year. The JV is strong so this program looks healthy under Coach Coltrane for years to come. They will also be a force in the revised SW4A after reorg beginning in 2006.

 

North Meck doesn't have to reload until after next season. They have the core of their team returning, with only 2 starters graduating. All of the pitching is returning. The two starting seniors provided a big pressence with their bats in the line-up but there is enough talent in the wings to replace the lost run support. Defensively, they should improve with the added experience and with some of the rising JV players.

Behind the plate, Robert Proffitt continues to improve. He handled the staff this year as a sophomore and has been a two year starter behind the plate. Before he graduates, he may become one of the best defensive catchers in recent memory in Meck County.

The rising freshman class coming to North may prove to be deeper than the current crop of '05 graduates and there is some talent on the current JV squad, so the long term outlook at North is very bright.

 

Central Cabarrus was very young this season. At the end of the season, the entire starting IF was sophomores. They still played tough and made a good showing in the states, loosing to a quality West Forsyth team 5-2 in the first round.

Depth of pitching is a question, but hitting is NEVER a question over at Central. They will be ready next season and will have a team that resembles what North and Independence looked like this year ...mainly Juniors with solid varsity experience. 2006 looks to be the year they may jump to the top of the conference, but they will be a solid contender next year.

 

South Meck has 4 key losses that will be difficult to replace. I know that 3 players are college bound, so you can easily see the impact that that will have.

Kyle Shelton (UNC) at SS, Eliot Arrington (UNC-A) at 1B and Brandon Stafford (Greensboro) at C will all be moving on. Those are some VERY large holes to fill. Kevin Spain gave you that great Lefty arm out of the bullpen.

BUT South Meck has one of the deepest feeder systems in the city and all of their pitching is returning. They will be hurt, but only slightly. Look for them to repeat as conference champions. Next season is when I predict a deep run in the states for them. They have so much talent, it's hard to predict against them.

 

SM

Everyone thought this was the year for South Meck, and we all thought it was possible, but I am telling you now even though we had great senior leadership the Sabres have a great chance of being even better next year. They have a lineup of sophomores that will be coming up from the JV team that are awesome. Their pitching will be even stronger next year with TJ Worrell and Jonathan Ratledge at the helm, and Ryan Morris, Matt Layman to name a couple filling in. Wes Borden has awesome leadership on the infield along with the leadership of TJ and Jonathan, and Zac leading the outfield. The Sabres will be right there on top again leading the SW4A Conference!!! I can't wait to go watch the games and sit and relax next season!!!

 

Aww......we'll never see you You'll have your Tar Heel caravan traveling all over the country..just like the Woodard's.

 

Think again..

Well, with a 7th grader still at home who will not like going out of town so much someone will have to stay around to take him to Ice Hockey games!! So you might see me more than you think because you know the other half will be with Tarheels!! and I would not want to deny him! ha!