1AA Watuaga Conference Baseball for next year

[CountryBoy4Life]

if you mean ricky morgan is as good a pitcher than anyone for elizabethton you are wrong. adam grindstaff was a dominant pitcher this year. but of course todd caldwell is better. todd should be one of the top pitchers in east tenn. and i believe happy valley lost more than they will gain next year and will not make it as far as they did this year.

[HvGal16]

i think hv lost about as much as etown did. grindstaff was good, but not dominant and its not as easy to repeat as it looks. i think hv can get just as far next year as this past year, because they were better than regionals, they should have at least went to substate. if they find team continuity, they will be great. not as many hr hitters, but id rather have players that put the ball into play consistently anyways.

[CyclonePride]

Where is Sullivan Central's coach going?

Are the Cyclones going to make any coaching changes?

Will the injured cyclones (Atkinson and Smith) be back at 100%?

Elizabethton's JV team did much better than their varsity this year, on paper at least. Who from that group figures to be on the field?

[GLee]

Elizabethton should be much stronger in '06. As with any team, pitching will be part of the key. HV, no doubt, has the best pitcher, but it will take more than Caldwell to carry that load. Morgan can fill that void a bit, but he is not a pitcher. They have been waiting on May to step up and I think they'll play the waiting game on him again next year. Elizabethon can bank on Guinn as their second man and be secure in his ability. Grindstaff became the 'ace' this past year and will be tougher next year. The only person who could fill Garland's shoes at center would be Davis, so you better get to recruiting him hard.

 

I see Betsy being stronger than HV from top to bottom, but as always, its a toss up when these two teams meet.

 

Smith is back and is now playing summer ball successfully, going 3-6 over the weekend with two doubles. Atkinson could come back if he would take care of himself. He's a ? for football, basketball and baseball because of himself. Charles Peters is an unknown because he's not been around, but will be ready for football this coming season. He will be a solid contributor for the baseball team next year.

 

Betsy could look this way.......

 

1st Hilton - 2nd Smith - ss Kennedy - 3rd Grindstaff / Hopson - c Taylor

of Peters, Atkinson, Nave, Issacs, Hyder

 

I think you'll see the best middle in Elizabethton due to lack of a quality second baseman to team up with HV's quality ss Morgan.

 

I have also heard the possibilty of another Peters joining the Cyclones. He'll be a tough freshman lefty for someone???

[CountryBoy4Life]

GLee- I'm glad to hear to Smith is up and playing again. He will really help out the Cyclones next year at second. As far as Atkinson goes, he can't bank on him being there. He is a loose cannon if you know him. I still don't see HV being able to match up with Elizabethton. They would have to throw Todd every time they played which means they would be wide open against the other teams. Todd can't carry that team on his back. You have to have more than one good pitcher. And Elizabethton has them. I also heard the 'younger' Peters would join his brother. That would really help out that staff giving them a lefty.

[HvGal16]

other than grindstaff, who does etown have pitching? all i have seen is guinn and davenport. i wasnt impressed with guinn, id much rather have morgan. id take caldwell and morgan over grindstaff and guinn. may might not have stepped up big yet, but he hasnt had to. either way, if etown is as good as ur saying, then ud better expect caldwell both games. if morgan is so bad at pitching, then y did he post a 6-1 record as a sophomore? he didnt pitch against cloudland each time either. he lost more last year, but was relied on more. remember, weve had two sophomores step up when we needed pitching in the last few years(caldwell and toney), we have one set up to make the next big jump this year in blevins. etown has strived on being the underdog where hv has struggled as the favorite. i guess we may see how it is when the shoe is on the other foot, its not as easy being the top dog as ud think.

[GLee]

other than grindstaff, who does etown have pitching? all i have seen is guinn and davenport. i wasnt impressed with guinn, id much rather have morgan. id take caldwell and morgan over grindstaff and guinn. may might not have stepped up big yet, but he hasnt had to. either way, if etown is as good as ur saying, then ud better expect caldwell both games. if morgan is so bad at pitching, then y did he post a 6-1 record as a sophomore? he didnt pitch against cloudland each time either. he lost more last year, but was relied on more. remember, weve had two sophomores step up when we needed pitching in the last few years(caldwell and toney), we have one set up to make the next big jump this year in blevins. etown has strived on being the underdog where hv has struggled as the favorite. i guess we may see how it is when the shoe is on the other foot, its not as easy being the top dog as ud think.

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I sure do appreciate the vote of confidence in the Cyclones, but what makes you think they are a 'favorite'? I think you might be getting a head of things a bit. As far as pitching, I would take Caldwell over Grindstaff, but I'd also take Guinn over Morgan next year as pitchers. No doubt, Morgan is a premier SS and stick, but not a pitcher. Guinn is all about pitching but does need to get stronger. A year will help that. Davenport is an accurate junker. If you saw him in the districts, maybe you should consider that he just finished two earlier games in the week and threw just under 200 pitches in 2 complete games. He was wore out. McNeal will get a good shot at the mound, I think? If he doesn't throw his arm away in the local league. Burleson and Hopson arn't too bad either. Blevins does not match up to any of these guys. I think, as I said earlier, that HV and Elizabethton will be a toss up, but HV better make the most of next year because it will be down hill for a while after '06. Might say the same thing for Betsy after '07, but we will both have to wait and see it played out on the field. But again, as far as conference favorites, which was what this thread was about....... not ready to go there yet. Good luck.........

[CountryBoy4Life]

Once again, I'm agreeing with GLee. HvGal16, you need tp restrain yourself from sounding so hostile towards everyone but the Warriors. I'm not putting them down. All I'm saying is Morgan isn't a pitcher and if you know baseball you should know that. And if you also knew baseball you would see what everyone else sees in Josh Guinn. You think he is not very good because his freshman year he got rocked by HV. Elizabethton will have more pitchers. But you still need a good defense. And both teams have that. So I see the Cyclones as the front runner because they have more people to pitch.

Edited June 1, 2005 by CountryBoy4Life

[6-4-3dplay]

I hear alot of talk about HV and Eliz. Does anyone have any info on West Greene, South Greene, Chuckey Doak, Johnson COunty, Sullivan North or Unicoi Co.?

 

Look forward to seeing some good baseball next season!!

[GLee]

I hear alot of talk about HV and Eliz.  Does anyone have any info on West Greene, South Greene, Chuckey Doak, Johnson COunty, Sullivan North or Unicoi Co.? 

 

Look forward to seeing some good baseball next season!!

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I'd say the conference race will be wide open. There should be several teams on the same competitive level. S Greene should hold thier own and Coach Lady at C-D always seems to get the most out of his players. You can never count Unicoi out of anything and Sullivan North's JV was as hot as their varsity. Don't know much about W Greene ???

Gonna be a good season next year and I'm already looking forward to it.

[6-4-3dplay]

Played against W. Greene this year and they were very young. Those young players were pretty decent and should be much improved for next year. I hear that they are getting some good up and coming 9th graders that had good years for their middle schools.

 

CD is losing King, Lady, and Williams and may be a touch off of this past year's team.

 

SG, of course, will be SG!!!!! and will be looking forward to the match up with Unicoi. What a game that will be!!!!

 

Let's play ball!!!!!!!!!!!!

[doubleplay96]

South Greene just wasnt that good this year. I dont know why everybody thinks they were and will be good next year. They were a descent team this year we (volunteer) beat them twice and there better players are leaving except for there Right Fielder. I dont see them being a contender at all next year.