Meca 8 Conference Outlook

Though the conference doesn't get as much exposure playing in the same county as the tough SW4A, the top teams in the Meca 8 are quietly putting together VERY good years.

Central Cabarrus
14-5 overall, 11-1 in conference. Central is lead by some quality upperclassmen who have put together a great record this season. Justin Ridenhour, Kyle Baker, Justin Hatley, John Killian and Brad Hinson lead this team. They also have a quality group of underclassmen.

Hopewell
9-4 in conference play, Hopewell has impressive wins out of conference over both Providence and East Meck. After starting slowly at 3-3, Senior right-hander Andrew Cruse has dominated in his last 3 games, raising his record to 6-3. Jimmy Brown, Brad Gardner, Jeff Carter, Ben Beard and Dan Woodall lead the offense which has found it's stroke. This is a very dangerous team right now. This team is senior led and has learned HOW TO WIN.

North Meck
8-4 in conference play, North Meck has impressive wins over South Meck, Butler and East Gaston out of conference. This team is built on speed with 6 players running sub 7.0 60's. The offense is ignited by Michael Cavasinni with 26 stolen bases in 27 attempts. Dan Portone is hitting .519 and Matt Nossel has been driving in runs all season. The pitching is mainly sophs, led by Tom Porter (6-2) and Sam Pierce (3-1) with recent addition Zack Rosenbaum (2-1) anchoring the relief.

Independence
7-4? 7-5? in conference play, Independence has very good out of conference wins against Mooresville and East Meck. I don't know this squad as well, but they also have victories against both North Meck and Hopewell. Holt and Zac Farry provide the pitching. The other players they count on are: Bonnell, Rockett and McMahon.

Vance
Is a complete mystery to everyone in and out of conference. They have wins over Indy, North Meck and have twice beaten Myers Park....and they have also lost 17-0 in other games. This team is still very young and will get more consistent as they mature. They remain a dangerous team to face. Ryan Kirkman, Kyle Breece, Brandon Bishopp and Steven Leach lead this team.

Best of the rest
Rodney Quinn is a tough as nails conpetitor from Harding

The B's have it at West Meck in Beal, Biggs, Beam, Butler and Baughn

West Charlotte has no JV program and has the least amount of talent, BUT they may be the best coached young team in the state. This team is ready to play every game and, most importantly, THEY RESPECT THE GAME!!!! OBTW: Their catcher over there is "a beast" as the kids would say. Strong as a mountain.

 

Meca 8 Conference Tournament

To be held at Central Cabarrus High School

Teams and times to be announced after the conference completes regular season play on Saturday.

Monday's probable games:
Central Cabarrus vs West Meck
Independence vs Vance

Tuesday's probable games:
Hopewell vs Harding
North Meck vs West Charlotte

Wednesday's games: Semi-finals

Thursday's game: Championship

 

Games remaining this week that I know about:

Thursday:
North Meck at Harding

Friday:
Central Cabarrus vs Independence

Saturday:
North Meck at West Charlotte Rainout from earlier this week
Central Cabarrus vs Vance? Rainout from earlier this week

Hopewell also has 1 game remaining before Saturday is done.

 

Hopewell plays Harding on Friday night .... Tough back-to-back games for Harding to end the season. North Meck thursday/Hopewell on friday.

 

Harding's victory over North Meck thursday night propels Hopewell back into 2nd. North Meck has to wait on the results of Friday's matchup between Central Cabarrus and Independence before 3rd place can be determined.

North still has a game Saturday versus West Meck.

 

Hey MECA 8 FOLLOWERS

If this doesn't get you posting, then nothing will

I'm going to list some "All-Conference Nominations" ... the list will be much longer than the real All-Conference team will be. Let's hear some feedback.

Teams in Alphabetic Order:
Central Cabarrus
Ridenhour, Hatley, Baker, Brown, J. Killian, Hinson

Harding I don't know this team as well
Quinn

Hopewell
Brown, Gardner, Beard, Woodall, Cruse, Stage

Independence
Holt, Bonnell, Farry, Rocket, McMahon

North Meck
Nossel, Portone, Porter, Cavasinni

W Charlotte I don't know this team as well
Long

West Meck
Biggs, Beam, Butler, Baughn

Vance
Breece, Kirkman (Ryan), Leach, Bishopp

That's 31 names to start with .... can we pare this list down ???
Add to it ???

 

State Playoff outlook for the Meca 8 teams

The key to going deep into the States is having great pitching, because the teams you will be facing definitely have it. Here are may evaluations and key arms for the 4 contenders.

Central Cabarrus
14-5 overall, Central is a very good team. That's the key. They have good pitching (not great), good defense (not great) and great hitting (not good). They have played a lot of tight games this season in conference. In order to go deep in the states, they need one more arm in my opinion. They may give fits to any team that faces them, but may bow out after a first round win.

Brad Hinson, RHP (04), John Killian, LHP (03)

Hopewell
Hopewell has just flat gotten it together as of late. They started the season very rocky, but have come on strong. Their hitting, which was suspect early on is now grooving and they definitely have the arms. This is the one team in the Meca 8 that has the talent and arms to make a deep run. They can also be upset. Cruse is the closest thing to an over-powering pitcher that the conference has this season.

Andrew Cruse, RHP (03), Ryan Stage, RHP (04)

North Meck
At 8-5 in conference play, North Meck probably can't stay in the states long, but (depending on which team shows up), they can pull a first round upset. This team is so young that they have been inconsistent all year. They have the speed but the defense and hitting have been either very good or just average which can drive a coach (and an opponent) crazy.

Tom Porter, RHP (05), Sam Pierce, RHP (05)

Independence
Independence has good hitting, decent fielding and decent pitching, but the can be over-powered. The quality of the competition will probably mean a first round bow-out if they make it.

Drew Holt, RHP (03), Zac Farry, LHP (04)

 

5/8

Central Cabarrus beat Vance 9 - 5
WP - John Kilian
Justin Hatley 2 HR, 5 RBI's

5/9
Central Cabarrus beat Independence with 4 runs in the top of the 7th. 5 to 4
WP - Justin Ridenhour

Final conference Record for Central: 13-1 .... Way to go Vikes

 

West Charlotte beat West Meck 2 -1.

West Charlotte's final record in conference 4-10 ... season completed

 

Hopewell toppled Harding 12-0 to complete their season at 10-4 .... Great season for Hopewell ....

Harding ends up at 6-8 in conference play.