SWAC (formerly Tri-9) Baseball

I have not seen much on the SWAC this season. Figured I would throw my predictions here and see if anyone else had any thoughts. Here are the current standings:
[FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]Green Hope 2-0 5-1[/FONT]
P[FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]anther Creek [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]2-[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]0 5-1[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]Holly Springs 1-1 5-1[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]Middle Creek 1-1 3-2[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]Apex 1-1 2-3[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]Fuquay-Varina 1-1 2-4[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]Cary 0-2 1-4[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,arial,sans-serif]Athens Drive 0-2 0-6
[/FONT]
My picks:
1 Green Hope
2 Fuquay-Varina
3 Holly Springs
4 Apex
5 Middle Creek
6 Panther Creek
7 Athens Drive
8 Cary

The first 3 teams seem to be the class of the league this year.

If Green Hope gets solid pitching they will win it because their lineup is very good and they have 4-5 guys that are extremely talented & college bound players. Pitching is certainly the big question mark for them, but there defense is great and they have lots of senior leadership.

Fuquay-Varina has 2 stud arms, 2 great hitters and another very good hitter. The lineup drops off quickly though and they need a catcher to step up to handle the 2 ACC bound arms.

Holly Springs has a solid lineup and solid defense. A D-1 arm at the top of the rotation also gives him the stud that every good team needs. I think GH and HS will be two of the most consistent teams in the SWAC this year.

I'd then put the next two teams in the second group that will be fighting for a playoff spot, with Panther Creek being very close behind.

Apex has two college bound starting pitchers and a couple of guys who are very good hitters. They have play two solid teams in the SWAC (MC & FV), losing to MC in the 7th and beating FV. It would not surprise me a bit if they finished in the top 3 of the SWAC.

Middle Creek is the only team with a new coach, but there is no reason to think they can't continue the success they have had over the past 10 years. No stud pitching but they may have the deepest lineup in the SWAC behind GH. They are very young though and are probably a year or two away from being at the top of the SWAC again.

Panther Creek may be in a group by themselves, but they are closer to Apex & MC than to AD & Cary. Another SWAC team with a D-1 arm at the top of the rotation. They have some good young players moving to varsity from JV after having some solid success at the JV level. We all know there is a big difference between JV and varsity however. They could definitely be fighting for the 4 spot in the SWAC before it is said and done.

Athens Drive & Cary are in the final group. I don't know much about them but do not see how they can get in the playoffs out of the tough SWAC conference. I will say on any given day they could upset a team in the top 6 and help determine who gets in and who is out come playoff time.

The SWAC has played for the 4A State Championship the last 3 years with Holly Springs winning it in 2011, Middle Creek winning it in 2012, and Fuquay-Varina losing in 3 games last year. It would not surprise me if one of my predicted top 4 makes a run towards the State Championship this year either.

 

Seems like you nailed it 411. The top two and bottom two seem at least somewhat set with the four in the middle fighting for the two play off spots.

 

Updated SWAC Stangings

1) Green Hope 5-0 10-1
2) Fuquay-Varina 3-1 6-5
3) Panther Creek 3-2 6-4
4) Middle Creek 3-3 6-5
4) Apex 2-2 4-4
6) Holly Springs 2-3 7-4
7) Athens Drive 1-3 1-9
8) Cary 0-5 1-8

After seeing all 8 teams play my opinion differs only slightly from 3 weeks ago. Green Hope is the class of the league at the halfway point of the season and looks like the only legit team that could make a run to the State Championship to keep the SWAC/Tri-9 run of playing for it all going. The rest of the SWAC is down from the past few years. FV has their worst depth in 15 years. Panther Creek has been slightly better than I thought, but still doesn't swing it much. Middle Creek is really young and inconsistent. Apex is the dark horse to me and is my surprise pick to make a little noise come playoff time, I think they sneak in the playoffs and have a chance to make a little run in the playoffs. I also think HS is better than sixth place. AD and Cary are what they are.

Here is my updated prediction:
1 Green Hope
2 Fuquay-Varina
3 Apex
4 Holly Springs
5 Panther Creek
6 Middle Creek
7 Athens Drive
8 Cary