District 1AA - What's the outlook for the season?

[spike00]

UC, CD, and Elizabethton should possibly be the front runners this year...

 

West Greene, North, Happy Valley should be much improved this year...

 

South Greene and Johnson County may be bringing up the rear again this year...

 

What are your thoughts as to how things may shape out?

[joep]

what makes you think elizabethton in the top? i would think uc would be the clear favorite with all the drama. CD a close second.

[imavol10]

I know the scores and such from this opening week but does any team really surprise anyone?

 

Elizabethton trounced HV who jumped on johnson county. Then Betsy showed pretty well against Sullivan South. I have heard a lot about talent and experience in Unicoi but I would like to see some talk on here.

[absentee]

i think elizabethton will do well this year. a number of good players. some depth as well. would like to hear more about UC as well.

[Spartan1]

i think elizabethton will do well this year. a number of good players. some depth as well. would like to hear more about UC as well.

 

 

Unicoi will be strong this year- with some offensive punch, through 4 games, they are averaging 12+ runs per game.

 

Led by a good group of seniors and some very talented younger players as well. Leading the seniors in no particular order are Ethan Williams, Skyler Barnett, Andrew Lingerfelt, Jake Ford and Mason Howell.

 

Ethan Pitcher/Shortstop and pure hitter. After the first four games he has three HRs, 2 triples, and a pocket full of doubles and singles.

 

Skyler is a catcher, signed with ETSU, is also hitting the ball well with a HR and a bunch of RBI's, he is a solid defensive catcher that shuts the running game down, as well as calling a good game.

 

Andrew plays second and pitches. He is solid defensively and is having a good start at the plate. Andrew has a knack for big hits.

 

Jake is a solid pitcher that had big wins over folks like Elizabethton last year. More of the same is expected on the mound this year, in addition Jake is hitting well.

 

Mason is a 6'4" first baseman that makes a nice target. He is developing into a solid player.

 

In addition juniors Steve Kierenan, Corey Headley and Bobby Smith will be strong contributors. Sophmores Seth Whitson, and Logan Rice will also had to the mound depth as well as providing some additional offensive punch.

 

As far as who's who in 1-AA, Unicoi should be the favorite, but there are some other good teams. The surprise team is probably Elizabethton with a good young coach in Coach Nix, and wild card in Coach Ed Hodge molding a pitching staff. Elizabethton also has a great senior leader in Wes Anderson that will keep their team focused.

 

Chad Shelton with Chuckey Doak, and Matt Summey with Sullivan North are capable of beating anyone on a given night. South Greene will also challenge most. All in all it should be some fun baseball.

[bbfan08]

what makes you think elizabethton in the top? i would think uc would be the clear favorite with all the drama. CD a close second.

 

 

What drama?

[absentee]

my guess is the drama has to do with coach payne leaving elizabethton. you will get no arguements from me that he was the best thing that could have happened to elizabethton baseball at the time and that the kids and parents respected him. he did a great job but now is somewhere else. now we have coach nix. the players seem to reallly like him and he has a good baseball background. he does have some very large shoes to fill but so far seems to be doing great. at this hopefully, point the drama has been put behind elizabethton. hopefully the school board won't play any more politics and the drama can remain in the past.

go cyclones

[cslivingforgod]

What is anyone's opinion on Chad Shelton's pitching so far this season?

[imavol10]

Big game tomorrow...Unicoi and Elizabethton play at six at Joe O'Brien field. The winner has the inside track to be District Champions! What is everyone's prediction?

[absentee]

should be a good game. i'll be pulling for the cyclones. haven't been able to see any of unicoi but i am sure they are well coached and prepared. cyclones looked good against tennessee high and hopefully can ride the momentum.

[bbfan08]

my guess is the drama has to do with coach payne leaving elizabethton. you will get no arguements from me that he was the best thing that could have happened to elizabethton baseball at the time and that the kids and parents respected him. he did a great job but now is somewhere else. now we have coach nix. the players seem to reallly like him and he has a good baseball background. he does have some very large shoes to fill but so far seems to be doing great. at this hopefully, point the drama has been put behind elizabethton. hopefully the school board won't play any more politics and the drama can remain in the past.

go cyclones

 

 

Well...I was lucky enough to catch the game last night. Coach Nix has definitely filled the "big shoes" and then some. Elizabethton lost, but they played a fine game against a very strong Unicoi offense and defense. The Williams kid did a fine job on the mound, and Skylar Barnett did a yeoman's job of keeping the Elizabethton hitters off balance. Great job to both of these teams!

[imavol10]

Great ball game last night. Both teams fought hard and both really showed that they are definitely the top of the conference.

 

The difference last night had to be the Cyclones' refusal to swing with two strikes. They are a good hitting team...when they swing! Nine backwars K's out of twelve total strikeouts. If they would just have put the ball in play, they would have made UC play it and with high schoolers that gives you a chance to win. However, the way UC looked last night, the Devils D would have made the plays most likely.

 

I can't wait for the rematch at Baxter Field! /popcorneater.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":popcorneater:" border="0" alt="popcorneater.gif" />