State Games results

Pro Scouts hung around for Wed / Thurs...I saw the Pro Scouts talking to several of the boys after their Wed "showcase". Most of the Pro guys didn't hang around after the first couple of days.

 

thats what i was curious about..
i know almost all of the players in the senior games have already committed and signed , therefore taking away spots for someone who could have used the exposure .
It doesnt really matter either way to me .

 

A couple more comments, Intimidator:

--I meant to say "rising Juniors & Seniors" play in the Junior Games. (06 & 07)

--The Senior Games are totally different. 160 (8 Regions x 20 kids) play in the Junior Games, but only 40 (20 x 2) in the Senior. These Games always involve kids who are signed or who will be drafted. There is no intent to 'showcase' talent.

--The best of the best make the Juniors & Seniors (reputation takes care of that before tryouts), but the last third of the team ican be a bit political. Coaches of the team take care of their players, which is to be expected. Unfortunately there are 3 or 4 kids in every Region who get penalized because of it. I guess that is just how life goes.

--Those who aren't selected for the State Games have an equal opportunity to make a name for themselves by playing Showcase. So over the long haul, they are not penalized.

--The umpiring in the State Games (from my pro-ump view) can be atrocious. We had a crew last year for 2 games that I swear were both over 60 & weak in judgment. It kept both teams (& the fans) laughing at their inept strike zones & calls.

 

I was fortunate enough to see 6 of the 8 teams this weekend and Region 5 was clearly the class of the Tournament. Addison Johnson is truely a pleasure to watch.

Region 7 also did very well considering they had 10 sophmores (rising juniors) on the roster. In the bronze medal game 7 sophmores started. Madison Bumgarner-South Caldwell d/h, Whit Merrifield-Davie County 2nd, Dustin Harrington-Alexander County ss, Zach Howard-Davie County 3rd, Greg Baker-Hickory RF, Trent Rothlin-F.T. Foard LF and Ryan Anderson-Watauga was pitching. Madison also pitched the final three innings to close the game. Madison, Greg, Trent, Ryan and Dustin all played on the same traveling team, the Catawba Valley Storm.

 

Substitutions

Most regions appeared to substitute in a pattern that shared playing time across the lineup. So stop making excuses. Congratulations to the winning regions for playing some great ball.

 

agreeeed...

"doNotRun"!

 

Interesting...Last year the Games imposed a 3 Sophomore max limit on each team. The college scouts were all complaining about watching Sophomores who were 2 years away. A couple told me the previous year that if the rule was not changed, most coaches were going to bypass the State Games.

So that rule was trashed apparently. By the way, Region 5 had 7 Sophomores on the team 2 years ago (2003) & finished 2nd. That year there were a total of 37 Sophomores of the 160 players.

 

07's at State Games

There was a major complaint of the coaches that not enough sophmores were chosen in the past but many were worthy of being taken, so that's why the rule was changed. If you saw alot of games this year, you would have noticed many 07's stood out especially Region 5 and 7. Zeke Blanton, Tyler Smith, Madison Bumgardner, Greg Holt, Zach Howard, Ben Bunting, Scott Ridlle were some who really stood out. Bumgardner hit a monster homerun and Holt hit two ( one inside the park) so the future looks bright especially in the Western part of the state.

Did anybody see any others who stood out?

 

Junior State Games

07's at State Games

There was a major complaint of the coaches that not enough sophmores were chosen in the past but many were worthy of being taken, so that's why the rule was changed. If you saw alot of games this year, you would have noticed many 07's stood out especially Region 5 and 7. Zeke Blanton, Tyler Smith, Madison Bumgardner, Greg Holt, Zach Howard, Ben Bunting, Scott Ridlle were some who really stood out. Bumgardner hit a monster homerun and Holt hit two ( one inside the park) so the future looks bright especially in the Western part of the state.

I know this is probably going to stir the pot, but that is what a discussion thread is all about, isn't it? The "Junior" State Games are exactly that - "JUNIOR". I believe the "3 sophmores" per region is a fair rule and should be followed. While I agree that there are certainly very talented sophmores, the fact remains that they will have their chance the next year, when THEY ARE JUNIORS. It is almost certain (let's say 98.9%) that if a player is chosen as a sophmore, they are going to be chosen again as a junior for that same region team the following year. When that happens, you basically are eliminating those spots from being able to be filled by other deserving juniors - in other words, it isn't a truly fair level of playing ground when tryouts come around. While I agree that there are some sophmores that are truly awesome, limiting it to three per team makes it a fair method. I believe that if sophomores work hard and are talented, they have more than likely been rewarded by making the varsity team during their school season -rather than playing junior varsity. I have been through the state games, and it was a wonderful experience for my son, so this is not a "sour grapes" issue. I just truly feel that the junior boys should have all available chances in this important opportunity before the verbal commitment date comes up on them in just a few short weeks after the state games have been conducted. The sophomores will have their chance the following year when these boys have moved on. I understand there was a major complaint by coaches about not being able to carry more sophomores. I also understand there were major complaints by scouts about too many sophomores. Like it was stated earlier by one coach, this is supposed to be about the players being showcased, not necessarily about the winning....That being said, give the scouts what they want - showcase the juniors (who are rising seniors and can start to verbally commit on July 1) by having the Jr. State Games rosters dominated by juniors. Limiting it to 3 per region in my opinion was a good rule. Okay, I said it, go ahead and fire away.

 

"I know this is probably going to stir the pot, but that is what a discussion thread is all about, isn't it? The "Junior" State Games are exactly that - "JUNIOR". I believe the "3 sophmores" per region is a fair rule and should be followed. While I agree that there are certainly very talented sophmores, the fact remains that they will have their chance the next year, when THEY ARE JUNIORS."

Very well put, Redbirdfan. There is nothing to add to this.