TBR-SW4A Honors 2009

WCLion

We need more pitching: McMahon, Little, Trosch, Butler, Lover, Overman, Siemeuik, Tresher, or Shealy would do nicely.

 

SW4A to College?

Just for kicks.....has anyone tallied the number of SW4A seniors that are playing baseball in college? I bet it's a pretty big number......

 

We told you the SW4A was a tuffff conference!

 

POY

You can debate the merits of position players all day long because this conference is filled with great players who are required to keep thier level of play high just to compete each day or they will get buried.

However when selecting the POY it should go to a player that competed extarordinarily in conference play and made significant contributions to his team that generally leads to a championship.

While Alex Wood has had an exceptional year and contributed to the success of Ardry Kell he had a loss against Providence and a no decision against Myers Park the number 1 and 3 seeds in the conference.

Therefore the nod should go to Tyler Zupcic. He has been exceptional all year but took his game to another level when Shaffer left the lineup due to an injury. He led Providence's offense for most of the year but over the past month he took charge by finding ways to getting on base, driving in runs and added power to the offense hitting five homeruns from the lead off spot not to mention flawless defensive play. He kept Providence in the hunt and eventually delivered on a conference championship.

 

I agree

 

POY vs. MVP

Player of the Year....Most Valuable Player

Not sure if there is a difference, but either Wood or Zups could wear the crown.

If you look down each lineup you see a mature, seasoned group of veterans at Providence led by Shaf, Zups, Smith, Askey, Lee, Clayton, and Casella...each of them had individual stellar performances at given points during the season. Arguably the best group of senior leadership in the state this season.

But, at AK, Wood has been the clear-cut leader among this group of talented players. Stetson and Pasut were outstanding at the dish and both made better-than-average plays all season in the field - BUT, at the beginning of the season would you have placed money on A-Wood clipping in at .600 batting average with sprinkles of home runs in the mix (game winning home runs even!)

We all knew he could pitch, but in my humble opinion, A-Wood's bat gives him the nod as Player of the Year.

 

Newcomer of the Year

Maybe there is a better debate in this category, but I nominate Ashton Lover as "Newcomer of the Year".

Lover, in bulldog fashion, put this team on his back several times this season and never let them down. He first raised eyebrows at the Marvin Ridge/Fort Mill/Ardrey Kell scrimmage at the beginning of the season.

Without Lover's bullpen and starter performances this season, AK would not be the team it is.

Great Job Ash!

 

SW4A Seniors playing in College

I will start the List:

The First Two I would Mention would be Zico Pasut (East Carolina), and Spencer Shuey (Clemson), who certainly could play baseball, but I believe are going to college to play football.

I am guessing on some of these, please help.
Providence
Ritchie Shaeffer-Clemson
Matt Lee-Wingate
CA Clayton-UNC-Ash
Tyler Zupzic-App St.
Alex Askey-Lenior Rhyne

South Meck
Casey Gebhardt-Francis Marion
Tyler Woods-Lenior Rhyne
Matt Youtsey-Piedmont College

Butler
Tyler Tewell-App St.
Matt Varnadoe - Limestone
Myer Park
Robert Balsley-Surry CC

Ardrey Kell
Alex Wood-Georgia
Ryan Stetson-App St.
Taylor Patterson-Francis Marion
Josh Case-Brevard

Weddington
Brad Collins-Gardner Webb
Danny Yelverton-Gardner Webb


I know there are more, please add on.

 

I still like Zupcic as POY because of his role in leading his team to winning the conference, but AWood has been equally impressive in leading his team. This is Alex's first full season in being healthy and he was able to show how dominating he can be. Even when he doesn't have his "A" game, he can still throw 1-hit shutouts. But what is just as remarkable is his bat. I teased Alex about being a "pitcher's" hitter at the beginning of the season. For those that don't know, Alex's HS batting history is non-existent. But he proved why pitcher's are a team's best athlete: ...the young man can swing the bat. He is arguably the most dangerous hitter on the team and has proved so with his .600 BA.

The leadership qualities both players have demonstrated can not be overlooked.

I wouldn't be surprised that they awarded each the co-player of the year.

 

South Meck's Tyler Wood---just committed to Lenoir-Rhyne