Tri-9 Predictions

Always one of the state's best conferences should be loaded again in 2012. Not a lot of the star power as recent years (No more Rodon, Povse, Frye, etc.) but these teams just reload instead of rebuild.

One man's opinion:
1) Fuquay - Lots of offensive power, great coaching, great tradition, and a great home field atmosphere. Braswell is one of the top unsigned guys in the state and should put up bigtime numbers. Suggs (2013, NCSU commit) will be another bigtime producer. My only question is their pitching, which could be the next team's strength.
2) Middle Creek - Two of the conference's best pitchers will be on the mound for MC this spring. LHP Graham Edwards and RHP Jimmy Boyd. If these guys produce, it will be hard to score runs against the Mustangs especially on their monster of a field with the BBCORs. Offense could be the questionmark.
3) Apex - Much like Middle Creek, Apex will rely on pitching behind the work of RHP Keaton Oaks and LHP Matt Tenuta (NCSU signee). Coach Valder always has his team compete and sometimes play over their head which is a good thing.
4) Holly Springs - Who didn't they lose? No more Rodon, no more Manning, no more Byrd, no more Thorpe, no more Mackey, no more Sykes, no more Sconzo (or is he back?).. But they do have another Fortier. They have had a very good JV team the last couple of years who will be thrown into the fire this year as upperclassmen.
5) Green Hope - Coach Miragiliuo (sp?) always has his guys in the thick of the playoff hunt. I think they edge out LC for the 5th spot behind the work of LHP Will Gilbert (NCSU). They do lose Povse, Sondag, Adonna, and Colantino. GH usually does the little things right and plays with a lot of confidence.
6) Lee County - I really like LHP Nick Durazo but I am not sure they have the pitching depth or offensive depth to compete with the top few in this conference. Lee County being predicted 6th is not a knock on Coach Spivey's club at all, but more of a compliment to the league as a whole. Dillon Frye (NCSU) has been their go-to guy the last couple years and he is now wearing the red and white in Raleigh.
7) Athens Drive - First year coach will have his hands full dealing with the loss of Chris Williams (NCSU) and Ben Snotherly. Patrick Graham and Blake Seaton both return for senior campaigns and they are two of the more underrated players in the area. Same boat as Lee County.. They don't lack talent but I don't think they have the overall talent and depth that the top teams have.
8) Cary - Last year's interim coach is now the head coach. Makes it something like their 7th coach in the last 8 or so seasons. I like some of their talent but until some continuity and progress is shown, I still see them in the bottom two of the league. Sanchez is one of the state's top unsigned players who could put up monster offensive numbers. Pitching will be an issue as well as offensive depth.
9) Panther Creek - First year coach but he's a good one. Coach Hall will have his guys competing but they still lack the depth to compete in this conference. Thomas Young (Gardner-Webb) and Nathan Harris are two good arms on the mound, but offense is a major concern for me.

FV/MC/Apex/HS could be grouped in Tier 1.
GH/LC/AD could be grouped into Tier 2.
Cary/PC could be grouper into Tier 3.

As we all know, it's anyones game.

Thoughts?

 

Correction

Nick Addona graduated from Green Hope, not Holly Springs.

 

Fixed, thanks for the correction. I was thinking Sconzo (or is he a senior this year?).. GH will miss Addona as well.

 

I think there are two Sconzo's at holly springs, the younger one is a sophomore, and i think the older one is a senior, but i am not quite sure on the older one.

 

Cannot really argue with the proposed finish.

Fuquay is the favorite this season. They have the ability to score runs in bunches and have depth and leadership at the right spots. They also have probably the biggest home field advantage in the conference between their field and their fans.

The 2-5 finish will be Holly Springs,Apex, Middle Creek, Green Hope. Not necessarily in the order listed above. Athens may sneak up on a few teams.

Holly Springs has very little varsity experience returning but had a loaded jv team. This years juniors did not get much varsity time last season due to an absolutely loaded senior class. It will be interesting to see how quickly the team grows up.

Apex should have a solid 1-2 punch on the mound with Tenuta and Oaks pulling the load. Not certain if theY will put a solid enough defense behind them early in the season. However Coach Valder always over achieves late in the season.

Middle Creek should be sound defensively and have added pitching depth. If healthy Boyd and Graham will be a tough duo with a few other younger arms that will get some time on the bump. Will Coach Thompson be able to avoid a slow start out of the gate.

Green Hope is a tough one to figure out. Who will step up on the mound ?

It will be interesting to see how the coaches and programs adjust to new BBCOR bats. Which teams adjust their strategies accordingly ? The only team that will continue to see balls fly out is FV when playing at their smallish field.

The conference lost a lot of D1/D2 talent. Especially on the mound. One thing for certain after FV, the conference is wide open.

 

Will Gilbert was one of the conference's top pitchers last year and should be again this year as a senior for GH. Also, they have LHP Senior Keith Walsh who should see a lot more innings this year with the loss of Povse/Sondag. Walsh had a great summer for me with the Cary Babe Ruth team.