4A State Champ Predictions

Yep....it's always the case. I don't care how talented one's team is, without chemistry and leadership, they won't last long in the playoffs. Too many players trying to do what's best for them vs the team. You can see it in so many areas. Getting upset because the coach asked you to bunt to advance the runner. Terrible baserunning mistakes due to mental errors. Not picking up a struggling teammate. Guys in the dugout whining about playing time....etc, etc, etc.

 

THATA.........

FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :banginghe :banginghe :banginghe :banginghe :banginghe :banginghe :banginghe :banginghe :banginghe :banginghe

 

Addison has not thrown since they made the trip to wilmington....addison did not throw in any of the Metro 4A conference games....rumor is that he threw an abundance of pitches when they were playing in wilmington and then turned around and threw a lot in another game.....elbow problems are the rumors we are hearing in forsyth county....hopefully these are just rumors and nothing serious is wrong with Addison.....kid has a bright future!!!

 

From what I have seen in the East....

I would have to go with Wakefield. With flame throwers Dowdy and Quate and three others that throw mid to upper 80's, not to mention, Halford- power hitting shortstop, Quate gap hitter and solid hitting 1-9 as they showed today with 17 runs and homers from the #8 and #9 guys, they are very solid. Unless something gets unraveled with this team, they have the make-up to go far. Also, they have a new guy, Scott Tharrington, former pitcher at UNC and pitching coach at Louisburg College, basically running their pitching staff and has really made a difference compared to the great team they had last year. However, there isn't any tomorrows until you get to the regionals so they better make the most of the games leading up to the three game series.

 

I don't want to get anyone riled up, but if Wakefield's pitching is so good and deep, how did they give up 15 runs today?

 

From what I heard......

due to the suspended game last Thursday, they finished it yesterday against a very competitive Leesville Road High team and used three of those pitchers in a game they won in the bottom of the seventh. With two games left this week, they threw by the proverbial "commitee" today with plans of doing the same on Thursday to give some arms a rest going into the playoffs. Also, some subs that usually don't play, supposedly booted some balls around which led to a lot of those runs. Again, my previous post was that of the teams I have personally seen thus far this year and only my opinion of what I have witnessed. It should be very interesting to see how it all pans out!! I wish the best of luck to all of the teams competing for the state title!!

 

Greenville Rose is the only team from the BIG EAST that has a playoff spot as of 5-11-05. For those talking about a New Bern/Wakefield matchup in the 1st round, Conley will have to lose to Rose tonight in the conference championship game for that to happen. I also happen to think that Wakefield is probably the team to beat from the east, even though Rose has the best pitcher(Bullock), and the best hitter(Graepel) that I've seen this year.

 

While it's true that PHS was defeated by SM twice, SM has been defeated by East Meck twice this year also.

My point being, while SM and PHS are very good teams, it just depends on which team will show up. With East Meck, you just never know. Those guys (at times) are as good as anyone. Monday night against Myers Park was a good example, down by 6 runs in the third inning, Taylor Bryant comes into the game as a relief pitcher (hasn't pitched in two weeks or so) and shuts Myers Park down for the rest of the game and the team rallys behind him to win the game. By the way, Bryant was 3 for 4 with a HR and 2 RBI. Not a bad game.

SM just doen't seem to play to their capabilities when they play East. They get another shot tonight. Should be a great game.

Providence is just a dam good all around team. They're young also.

 

The East!

Though the west is very good, I have confidence that the teams are deeper out east. if ya consider the past cple of years (Indy and Myers Park) they each had 2 outstanding horses that they road into the finals but ultimately ran out of gas just short of the finish line. NMeck and SMeck appear the deepest on the hill but there, SMeck has been so inconsistent. Anyway, with the one and out format just pick one - anybody can beat anybody else on any given night from here till the end. At the conclusion of the best of 3 though some team out east with a long roster is gonna prevail.

 

I'm feeling a little bit of the Viking attack from North Forsyth...they are extremely talented and have a good chance...they are getting hot at just the right time...just watch out for them