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Which teams look strong, what are the early projections?

I know that Wheelersburg has a fine team coming out again this year. 5-6 superb players that are Juniors and Seniors.

Minford should be solid with a ton of Juniors and Seniors. Cook and Farmer lead the way on the mound. Last year they put together a nice run in the tournament before falling to Adena (who I believe was #1 in the state and unbeaten)

West has Alfie Bricker on the mound who has been tough to beat the past couple of years, even as an underclassman.

I believe the title will come down to Minford and Wheelersburg, with West and Valley fighting for the #3 spot. Never count out Valley as they made big improvements last year throughout the season and Schuler has the potential of pulling out a win over any team.

Thoughts?

I look for it to be a 3 way race between Burg, Minford and Valley. Then Waverly, Oak Hill and West. Although in the end I believe it will be between Burg and Minford.

I would give the edge to Burg in 08 in both the offensive and defensive categories as they only lost 1 senior and are solid 1 through 9 (even deeper). Pitching dead even with Minford although Burg may have a bit more pitching depth as several others can throw.

Minford is solid as well returning Farmer, Cook, Havens and Osche(sp?). Coach Martin will have them competitive as well.

Valley was fairly young last season and it depends on how much this team advances with Coach Schuler. He is a great motivator and coach. Valley is always competitive, especially the second time around. He will have his team ready every game.

Don't know much about Waverly although I'm sure they will be competitive. Oak Hill should field a solid team as they were pretty young as well and return decent talent.

In my opinion West is in too much turmoil. They have talent, but have no direction, stability or discipline. Bricker provides a strong pitcher and solid bat. Pitching falls off after that and will make it difficult for them to compete day in and day out. Just do not have the talent that the others bring to the table.

Burg will win again, too deep, too talented! (11-1)

Minford is always at the door step but can't get over the hump. (9-3)

Valley will be back at the top but can't compete with top two. (8-4)

Oak Hill was young, however they could fall to 6th if they don't get better. I believe they have some pitching coming back. (7-5)

Waverly could move up to 3rd if they get consistent and win the games they are suppose to win. (6-6)

West has some talent, but will they have structure? Seems to be the question every year with West! (5-7)

South Webster is a well coached team, but are playing in the wrong SOC!
(3-9)

Northwest will tell you they are great, but have not been since Hegarty left the program. They had a ton of seniors last year and still couldn't win. So they will continue to struggle. (1-11)

Burg has to replace one starter from last years team, Hill. Look for some stiff competition coming from a few JV players hoping to make the move to varstiy. Russell should be dominate from the mound once again this year and last year wasnt too bad with a 12-1 or 13-1 record. Wamsley has rubber in his arm and can throw on a daily basis. Elliott should fill the third spot in his sophmore year. He had a chance to get some work last year but should see more innings this year. Personally, I think the defense is going to be flat out tough because the kids can play more than one position well.

Minford has some good pitching with Cook, Osech and Farmer. The thing about them is they are great young men as well. Coach Martin has to find some players who can step up and give him some consistency over a course of the season. Look for Gaines to hava a solid year at 2nd.

Dean will have the Indians playing typical Valley baseball. Bucky made tremendous progress during his freshman year and summer ball. He too, is a class young man. Overall, I thought Valley made the most improvement from the start of last season to the finish, they just seemed to get better every game.

NW lost a boat load of seniors off of last years team. Detwiller and Powell will have a long year unless they can find some pitching.

Oak Hill should be improved over last year but they have not played in any 'big games' and that is a huge minus. I still think they are at least a year away from serious consideraton in the SOC.

SW needs to get with the program and get a feeder team to the high school level. For several years, they did not have a junior high team playing and that has hurt the high school program. After spending the summer with two fine young men, McAlister and Montgomery, they could make some noise in the SOC if the school would get serious about baseball.

West? Well what do you say???????? This team is loaded with question marks starting with the coach. As of now, no one is in place to even coach the Sider team. Bricker would have to be the ace but after that where do you turn? Last year, the team just went through the motions and got hammered. What little discipline they did have left with Coach Bennett when he moved to South Carolina. Hopefully, someone can come in and build a program at West.

Does Chris Rapp still teach in the West school system? He was the coach at West for about 10 years. He had solid teams who made some tourney runs.

YES CHRIS RAPP IS THERE AND DID A GREAT JOB WITH THE BASEBALL TEAM IN HIS TENURE AS THE COACH. IT WILL BE HARD FOR ANYBODY TO TURN THIS AROUND UNTIL THE PARENTS TAKE CONTROL OF THERE KIDS ATTITUDES. IN MY OPINION THE KIDS WOULDNT ACT THE WAY THEY DO IF THEY COULDNT ACT THAT WAY AT HOME. BUT WHEN YOU SEE PARENTS SCREAMING AND COMPLAINING ALL THE TIME AT GAMES HOW DO YOU THINK THE KIDS ARE GOING TO ACT.

I'd be shocked if Rapp put himself in that mess again.

I would hope that he wouldn't put himself in that mess again.

Yep... They sure didn't help the baseball program there. Coach Rapp provided a long term solution for West baseball if they would have provided the support he needed. Can't blame him a bit for not wanting to deal with the crap.

Confirmed. WEST is in search of a new baseball coach as Tyson Phillips will not be able to do it and Jim Bennett took a teaching job elsewhere.With the season around the corner any word on who is going to take this opening?

Alabama-

SW has had a Junior high team in place for the last two years and will see this kids this spring. Unfortunatly, it is sounding like there are not enough 7 and 8 grade boys willing to play. I've been told the coach was to have a meeting again to find out the interest. I'm sure if they have the numbers then they will play. Hopefully they will know by the end of this week.

bulkmove, I did not say they didnt have a team, I said for several years they did not have a jr. high program. This will be the 5th year of the 'outlaw' league. I sure hope Webster can keep enough interest in baseball to field a team, this is vital to the high school program because jr./sr. league baseball is just not enough. Thanks for the update.

has west found a coach yet?

Minford will win the SOC, on there way to a State Championship. To much talent.

Is Zach Haislop still at Oak Hill?

FalconFan wrote:Minford will win the SOC, on there way to a State Championship. To much talent.

I would suspect Burg will have something to say about that along with a couple other SOC 2 opponents.

I'm still going with Burg as the frontrunner since they return 90% of the District final team. All pitchers are returning with others adding to the pitching depth. Should have a solid 9 and depth on the bench.

Minford is talented, but I would put them at #2 mainly in comparison from top to bottom.

When Burg and Minford hook up it will be a pitching duel.

Right you are

wheelersburg will be soc champs for the 5th year in a row.

I see Minford taking the SOC crown this year.

The games between them and the Burg should be something to watch this year!

Heres an idea. Why dont we combine Minford and Wheelersburg into a baseball powerhouse called Burgford. Colors could be Red and Black. Im still thinking of a nickname.

It will come down to Minford and Burg again this year. Valley will also be up there, but dont see them winning the SOC.