Observer's SWEET 16 returns after 4 years absence

Geographics

I'm not 100% on this, but I would think that the only reason they would not have been on the list to start with would be that they are not in the normal "Sweet Sixteen" geographical area.

But all that being said, this team should be a real contender for the 4A state title.

 

That is absolutely correct.

But we may be getting off in a different tangent. I believe what tj actually may be suggesting is for the TBR posters to give their thoughts on a State "Sweet 16" or a Top 20 type poll, that would be inclusive of all schools.

or

A top 16 in the East/ Top 16 in the West...and let Raleigh be the dividing point

 

Braves, yes. What I'm saying is that "we posters" follow these teams nightly and we know who's hot and who's not. I would tend to believe what someone who actually follows West Stanly is telling me, or what someone who actually follows Mooresville is telling me,,, as opposed to a newspaper who hasn't ever even seen many of these teams ever play. The Charlotte Observer Sweet 16 is great, but its inclusive to the teams only in the Charlotte region. I would love to hear more about the mountain teams,,,, for that matter I can certainly give my 2 cents on Ragsdale in the 3A ranks because we scrimmaged them. I think Yankees is onto something in that I would love to see the TBR posters throwing out top 16 polls of their own. If everyone don't just get "homer" on us, and if folks will be honest, we will all learn much more about teams we're not familiar with in comparison to the teams that we ARE familiar with.

Taking the Observer's idea of a Sweet 16 for all classifications, how do other posters feel the top teams stack up against each other. Of course we would need more input from the East in order to include the eastern teams.

Yankees and myself have thrown out our own polls for this week. Don't just get on here and tell us who should be included, (although I appreciate that), but I'm more interested in seeing other's polls. How does others rate the top teams compared to my poll? Some have told me that I rated Independence too low,,,,, is the rest of my poll pretty accurate, if so we have a winner for this week.

Lets see some more polls...

 

Sweet 16

Well guys here is my poll.
1. South Caldwell
2. South Meck
3. Piedmont
4. Independence
5. West Stanly
6. North Meck
7. Hopewell
8.Hickory
9. AC Reynolds
10.Providence
11.East Rutherford
12. Ashbrook
13.Charlotte Christian
14.NW Cabarrus
15. Myers Park
16.West Rowan

 

DCL26...Just thought I'd give you some information you might not have known about this scrimmage. West Stanly was without 5 varsity players (basketball and wrestling) at the time of this scrimmage. 2 of those guys are pitchers, and could be a lot of teams #1 starters (8 wins and 3 saves between them last year as sophmores on varsity). West was also missing their #2 and #3 batters who both hit over .400 last season. With that being said, Independence only won the game 3-2, with the pitchers West Stanly had only giving up one earned run.
No disrespect to Independence, because they are a very solid ballclub with a great coaching staff, but a regular season match-up between these two clubs (with full squads) would be something to see.

...Don't know if you took this into account in your evaluation of who the better team was...but I'd have to say 5-0 West Stanly, who has already beaten previously #1 Charlotte Christian and #3 NW Cabarrus, should not get the "shaft" based on a scrimmage where they were w/o 5 varsity guys.

 

sweet 16

Rice14, I was there at the scrimmage. I know that they were missing Quan, Wil, Nathan and the Mcgarrity Brothers. I based my evaluation on what the returning players did against Independence. Now with being said, personally I don't think I am giving West Stanly the shaft. Charlotte Christian has lost three games up to this point, the Al Brown, Concord games West played very well. The Northwest Cabarrus game, West Stanly was clearly the better team. So, I think I have been honest in my evaluation, and once again this is my opinion. Please feel free to give us your sweet 16. West Stanly is getting ready to start RRC play beginning on the 14th. Barring any hiccups along the way, these are some games of interest for the Colts to prove that they are truly deserving of higher ranking Central Cabarrus 3/22, Forrest Hills 3/28, North Stanly 3/24, 4/4,
South Stanly 4/5, 4/11. Then on 4/19 Providence High School, Piedmont 4/26. Out of these teams listed the last two are in my sweet 16. If West Stanly beats these two barring any hiccups, then they have earned a higher ranking. Remember to be the best you have got to beat the best. Here my friend is West Stanly's opportunity to prove how good of a team they are.

 

See Charlotte Observer Updated "Baseball Sweet 16"

The Charlotte Observer published an updated Baseball Sweet 16 in today's newspaper (page 6C) as follows:

1. Providence
2. South Caldwell
3. Independence
4. Hickory
5. West Stanly
6. Unionville Piedmont
7. Gastonia Ashbrook
8. East Rutherford
9. Hopewell
10. Butler
11. Northwest Cabarrus
12. West Rowan
13. North Mecklenburg
14. Catawba Bandys
15. Indian Trail Sun Valley
16. Myers Park

More scores published this week showed losses for: Butler, Northwest Cabarrus, Hopewell, North Meck & Catawba Bandys (may not have been factored into the above rankings). The baseball season is very young and I'm sure the "Baseball Sweet 16" will change many times this year. Hopefully, the Charlotte Observer will continue to publish the list, as it makes things fun for the players, schools, and fans.

 

Top 10 Action

Gastonia Ashbrook visits South Caldwell tomorrow @ 4:30. Should be a good one!

 

How about West Stanly?

What do you guys think about this team?

 

West Stanly

I haven't been to all of West's games this year, so DCL26 may be able to give a better overview since it seems like he's follows West pretty regularly? But, here's what I think based on the games I have seen, and what I've heard.

West is absolutely deserving of their #5 ranking, and in my opinion, deserve to be higher. They beat Providence 6-0 in a early-season scrimmage. I know for a fact Providence's head coach was impressed and surprised, and he predicted West Stanly beating Charlotte Christian. I know CC has lost 2 or 3 games, but that should not take away from what West Stanly did. CC has 2 handfuls of D-I players, and West beat UNC-bound Bryant Gaines. 3A State-Runner Up NW Cabarrus also fell to West. Stand-out Kyle Seager was kept in check at the plate. West is now 5-0 on the young season. They have outscored opponents 33-5 with West's pitching only giving up 3 earned runs.
West has won 4 consecutive Rocky River conference championships, and they have an impressive 43-12 record over the past 2 years. Coach David Lee and his assistant (don't have the name) both coach the jv and varsity squads. Coach Lee is able to see what he has coming up, and he teaches these players what they need to know at the jv level, so they are ready when they reach varsity. I think this is a great idea for a high school program and it's seen in West's jv record over the past 2 years (i think they've only lost 4-5 games total).
From the 3 games I've seen West Stanly play so far, they are going to be hard to stop. They don't have any "superstars", but they have great team chemistry in my opinion. They play the game, they play it right, and they play it hard.