Baseball soc 2

[twoboys-02]

Who wins soc this year.

[jujubean]

SOC 1...Notre Dame
SOC2... Northwest
SOC3...WB or Valley

[NW97]

Northwest with a new coach may not be in title contention this year.

[jujubean]

I'll rethink my Northwest prediction. But not based on a coaching change. They have been horrible the last several years against WB, Valley, West, SW, Waverly and Minford. Maybe 2-34 against them in the last 3 years (I think). So there are 12 losses potentially off NW's record. The fact remains that they just aren't very good, but neither is this new league.

Oak Hill lost a ton of talent
Symmes Valley only won a handful of SOC 1 games last year
Western has never been known for baseball
Eastern...nope
South Gallia, don't know if they won 1 or 2 games last year.

I'd say the new SOC2 is a crap shoot. Pun intended.

The SOC3 will be a sum beach every night.
Wheelersburg returns everyone minus 1, but many that didn't play will as seniors to add depth
Waverly still has solid pitching and JHurd.
Valley still has pitching and most of their bats back
Minford may be a year away but has a solid core
Solid young talent for SW and West will be an improved group by tournament time. The potential loss of the older Tipton's bat will hurt, but still should be enough there to win some games.

BTW West could have had Cassidy, Phillips, Kingery (ND) and Powell, McNeil (Valley) on our future HS team. But that's the last time I'm going to beat that dead horse.

As for SOC1, I'm guessing ND just because they normally win it...maybe Green. Have no clue about NB, Clay, East or St Joe.

[Baseball_Dad]

jujubean that’s a nice run down from what I remember about the league. How will the new conference schedule affect SOC 3?

I have yet to see the matchups but I have heard it is 2 games a week. I bet someone will be fortunate enough to throw their best in all big games.

[bunt pirate]

I'll rethink my Northwest prediction. But not based on a coaching change. They have been horrible the last several years against WB, Valley, West, SW, Waverly and Minford. Maybe 2-34 against them in the last 3 years (I think). So there are 12 losses potentially off NW's record. The fact remains that they just aren't very good, but neither is this new league.

Oak Hill lost a ton of talent
Symmes Valley only won a handful of SOC 1 games last year
Western has never been known for baseball
Eastern...nope
South Gallia, don't know if they won 1 or 2 games last year.

I'd say the new SOC2 is a crap shoot. Pun intended.

The SOC3 will be a sum beach every night.
Wheelersburg returns everyone minus 1, but many that didn't play will as seniors to add depth
Waverly still has solid pitching and JHurd.
Valley still has pitching and most of their bats back
Minford may be a year away but has a solid core
Solid young talent for SW and West will be an improved group by tournament time. The potential loss of the older Tipton's bat will hurt, but still should be enough there to win some games.

BTW West could have had Cassidy, Phillips, Kingery (ND) and Powell, McNeil (Valley) on our future HS team. But that's the last time I'm going to beat that dead horse.

As for SOC1, I'm guessing ND just because they normally win it...maybe Green. Have no clue about NB, Clay, East or St Joe.

I’m pretty sure the Hurd boys at Waverly were West Portsmouth kids as well? Maybe I’m wrong.

My best guess for the league(s):

-ND, Green, ISJ will be top 3 in SOC 1. Don’t know enough about them to determine an order… But do know enough about them to be pretty confident they’ll be at the top. From what I’ve heard ND has the most pitching of the group.

-Best guess for SOC 2 would be NW, OH, SV as the top 3 teams. Don’t know much about Western. SG has always been a team who has struggled to win a couple games. Eastern may surprise some people. Playing in (the old) SOC 2 for a number of years will serve them well as those kids have seen a lot of good pitching. My pick would’ve been NW but heard best player may have left? SV always a good program, I expect them to improve from a down year. OH lost Sams who was a stud on the mound and had a nice bat to go with it. New coach at OH as well… Not sure who they have coming back but they lost a couple more solid pieces. They do return one of their top arms (Davis?).

-SOC 3 should be a really good conference. I’ve got a little more knowledge of these teams watching them last few years. My pick is Wheelersburg, not because I’m a homer… But because they were close to a final 4 trip last year and return 8 of top 9 with more depth behind that. Bockway, Conn and Darling to name a few of the bunch. I expect their pitching behind Conn to take a step forward this year as well. I know the Estep boy had an injury in the fall but was told he will be able to play. Minford will still be very good (Wheeler, Cronin, younger Borland lefty on mound). Lost a few pieces (I think Crank, older Borland, older Queen off top of head) but have plenty of bats left and young arms that will be better. Valley still very good also. Good, young arms and bats to go with it. The group they lost to graduation will hurt, but they have enough talent and depth to stay at the top and beat anyone. They’ll have two hard throwers at top of rotation in McNeil and Powell and one of the better hitters in league Tate Queen. Waverly will be good enough to play with anyone on a given night. They lost quite a few players I believe and losing Boles takes away their ace on the mound. They still have both Hurd boys as mentioned above and other young guys who were waiting their turn. They’ll play good ball. South Webster lost top two arms on mound in Martin and Lower. That will be a big question mark for them as to who they’ll turn to for pitching. I know they started a slew of freshman and sophomores last year and those kids did well. So I’m sure they’ll need those guys to step up and take the ball. Not really sure what to expect from them. West was a team I expected to take a huge jump this year with new coaching staff and top two arms returning. Heard the other day and read on this thread same thing… that the Tipton kid dealing with an injury and they may not have him to pitch this year. They still have the Fike kid who is very capable on the mound. Not sure what they have around those guys but I do expect a more competitive team this year.

Baseball is right around the corner. Should be a fun season!

[Baseball_Dad]

That’s a good run down as well. But as someone who follows Valley, I think Rideout would be the other pitcher besides Powell. He has pitched and played really well the last two years. That’s not discounting McNeil at all. Rideout has been a good player for two years. They also return a top notch catcher in Copley, if he’s playing. He was really good last year. I don’t think he gave it up because of basketball.

[bunt pirate]

That’s a good run down as well. But as someone who follows Valley, I think Rideout would be the other pitcher besides Powell. He has pitched and played really well the last two years. That’s not discounting McNeil at all. Rideout has been a good player for two years. They also return a top notch catcher in Copley, if he’s playing. He was really good last year. I don’t think he gave it up because of basketball.

I apologize for blanking on Rideout and Copley. Those are two of the best on that team and I went blank on that. I agree Rideout is an all around great player and brings a lot of experience to the pitching staff and I think he’s junior? Copley one of the best bats in conference from what I saw the last few years. Also, I think Rideout and Copley both caught for Valley as well? That’s a nice 1-2 punch behind the plate.

[art_vandelay]

Nice rundowns fellas. Burg the obvious favorite with an entire lineup of seniors, but Valley and Minford will be right there with them as always. League is strong from top to bottom which is good to see.*

[Alitown]

That’s a good run down as well. But as someone who follows Valley, I think Rideout would be the other pitcher besides Powell. He has pitched and played really well the last two years. That’s not discounting McNeil at all. Rideout has been a good player for two years. They also return a top notch catcher in Copley, if he’s playing. He was really good last year. I don’t think he gave it up because of basketball.

I apologize for blanking on Rideout and Copley. Those are two of the best on that team and I went blank on that. I agree Rideout is an all around great player and brings a lot of experience to the pitching staff and I think he’s junior? Copley one of the best bats in conference from what I saw the last few years. Also, I think Rideout and Copley both caught for Valley as well? That’s a nice 1-2 punch behind the plate.

I believe baseball is Copley’s best sport. I also saw a video the other day where Powell hit 91mph. The kid has potential to be special. SOC 3 is going to be fun to watch this year.

[Baseball_Dad]

Copley has been pretty awesome on the court but I understand your point because he’s a darn good baseball player. Saw the same thing with Powell. You don’t see 90 much around here.

[packers80]

Northwest with a new coach may not be in title contention this year.

Who is NW new coach?

[NW97]

Jason Nelson

[JeepNation26]

Could easily see Burg and Valley sharing the title this season, but give Burg the edge being so senior strong, with Minford right there as well. The league will be a grind all season.

[MACDADDY22]

I’ll take Burg with everyone basically returning, but Valley winning it wouldn’t be a shocker. After those 2 it’s really up in the air i think.

[coop]

Valley and Burg are tired at 3 in the bottom of the 11th

[MClaw]

Minford-4
West-0

[coop]

Burg 4
Valley 3

F/11 innings

[Lovehoops1]

Okkkkkkkk

[Baseball_Dad]

[quote=coop post_id=2106511 time=<a href="tel:1711587285">1711587285</a> user_id=54]
Burg 4
Valley 3

F/11 innings

Valleys base running and sending kids with only 1 out etc got them beat tonight. Can't make that 2nd or 3rd out at home it's a killer.
[/quote]

Are you sure we watched the same game?

Valley didn’t send a bunch of kids and make outs like that. There was a squeeze play that was messed up and judging by coach’s reaction that was on the hitter. The only other thing I remember, there was a time a kid was trying to score from second and got held up but ended up in a run down. Valley lost because they made some costly errors and didn’t drive in runners from 3rd a few times. It was a great game to watch but frustrating as a Valley fan. Valley is a young team that played a tough game against the league favorites. I thought the baseball moves with the bunts and steals were good calls throughout the game.