CVAC Baseball

Who are the favorites this year?

 

i would say hibriten and patton would be the favorites this year.

Hibriten returns just about everybody from the tri-conference championship team last year. they've got good pitching, play small-ball very well and they've got that swagger that kinda irritates other teams, but represents their confidence in each other. Coach Henthorne will have those guys ready to roll i'm sure

Patton's kids have one more year of maturity under their belts. speiss is scary at the plate and fine is a very good catcher behind the plate and at the plate. they've got plenty of other good players in their junior class as well. If they can get consistent pitching they'll be right near the top.

there are a few teams that will battle it out every week.

Hickory has very good pitching with hammons and barnette and branson christopher could have a big year at the plate. on top of that David Craft is still the coach and that's worth a few wins right there.

Saint lost a lot from the plate and the mound last year with McEachern and Litwin going on to bigger things. they'll be very solid defensively and consistent through the lineup. if they can find some pitching from the young staff they'll be dangerous. new head coach Chip Watts brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the field and the team will definitely mirror that demeanor.

Bunker Hill may surprise some people who don't know much about them. They have a couple of young POSSIBLE stud arms and some good sticks in the lineup. Coach Curtis always puts quality on the field and this season will be no different.

Unfortunately for the rest of the conference coaches Marcus Greer will no longer be in the opposing dugout when they go to Fred T Foard. Coach Greer is such a class act and will surely be missed. Coach Vogel does have Landon Isenhour, Tyler Mckinney and one of the Bradshaw boys back. that's some athleticism for sure. the tigers, like many of the other teams have holes to fill in on the mound after losing Chad Rothlin and Andrew Wyant, both D1 pitchers this year.

Maiden has all around stud Justin Sizemore, the scariest hitter in the conference, in my opinion, but he will miss a little time early with a broken hand from basketball season. Coach Ellis also has a few athletes and the Blue Devils have shown signs of improvement each of the last few years.

Bandys has a guy that I would hate to pitch to in JW Laney, but i can't remember what else they return. it's never easy heading down to Catawba, but it's always fun being around Chopper.

West Caldwell lost the athletic Gordy Hendrix and i'm pretty sure the Jenkins kid that pitched is gone as well (don't quote me on that one). The warriors are under new leadership as well and they always hit well at home with the short porch all the way around.

Coach Nunley has continued to turn out improved teams at Newton for the last few years and they always find a way to scare some of the teams at the top, evidenced by their win over Hibriten late last season. the CVAC should be wary of taking this team lightly at any point in the season.

as always the CVAC will be one of the tougher and deeper leagues in western NC. it will be very hard to predict night in and night out.

here's to hoping the weather stays this way from here on. less than 3 weeks until 1st pitch. CAN'T WAIT

 

Patton will be hard to beat this year with legit talent, but I wouldn't overlook any of the teams in the CVAC. A lot of people on the other boards are discounting Maiden, but I think they might be a team to watch. They are returning most of their starters and looked very solid in the second half of last season. Attitude and heart may be the key for them. At the very least, CVAC baseball should be exciting this year.

 

now that i have looked at what teams have coming back i'd say the top five will go like this:

1. Hickory
2. Hibriten
3. Patton
4. Foard
5. Maiden
6. Saint/Bunker Hill
7. Saint/Bunker Hill
8. Bandys
9. Newton
10. West Caldwell

the reason i put Hickory at the top is for the simple fact that Kurt Hammons will dominant the league this year pitching. i'm not sure if Hibriten will be able to hold off the tornado offense as they do not have a true dominant pitcher. granted, Hibriten will be able to hit but i take good pitching over good hitting anyday. Kurt always seemed to come up big last year for the Tornadoes. I expect great things out of him this year. Hands down he is the best pitcher in the league.

 

Patton, great hitters on this team

 

my crystal balls says

Hibriten
Patton
Hickory
Saint (sorry batsandballs29)
Bunker Hill
Foard (sorry to the foard players)
Maiden
Bandys
West Caldwell
Newton


Hey batsandballs29, do you have anybody to watch your back when the tigers and indians play, we do not want another incident like in jv basketball

 

easy now. men grow up over time my friend...haha

actually i will be in the JV 3rd base coaches box this year. little bit of a change, but looking forward to it.

also there's no need to apologize. your assessment is based on reality. when you lose the talent we have over the last couple of years you're bound to take a step back.

that being said, we've still got some good ball players in the program and if our arms can surprise a little bit we are going to be ok.

like i said, the CVAC is one of the most competitive leagues in the west and i don't see that changing this year.

how's the boy doing down in SC? when do they open up?

 

How big a gulf do you think there is between the top three teams and the rest of league? Looks like the CVAC will be competitive, but I don't think very strong top to bottom.

 

He's doing fine, matter of fact he called today to see why i had not answered your post, he lurks on tbr all the time. They open friday against george mason.

 

You've done a great job in raising a smart young man S-E-O...I love 'em

and wish him great success this year. I expect an autograph when he gets his first rookie card.