District 7 AAA

[CRACKER]

As baseball fans in Rutherford County we have a tendency to

focus only on the local teams when making our pre-season picks. There will be no weak sisters in 7aaa this season and

it does not appear that there will be just one dominant team either. With this said I beleive that Blackman should be the pre-season favorite simply becuase of what we do know about them. They return their top 3 pitchers and all

but one of their defensive starters from a year ago,not to mention they have the most team speed by far in this District. They were good enough to finish just behind Riverdale in the regular season this past year so it stands to reason that they are the proven commodity. I am already fired up and ready to go.

[CRACKER]

1. Blackman- Returning entire team. Solid pithching staff. Good team speed.

2. Oakland-Solid pitching and defense.Hitting will tell the

story. 3. Riverdale-Solid pitching.Good power on offense.Average defense. 4. Cookeville-New coach. New attitude. May be biggest surprise. 5.Warren County- Always tough.

6.White County- Starting pitching is better than most.

7.Lebanon- I know very little about the Blue Devils so they are my last pick.

These are just one man's opinion and not meant to be taken for more than their worth. Would like to see what you think

of my predictions "letsplay2". SEE YA!

[Slyder]

My beliefs, and quite possibly only my belief, is that the 7AAA title will be decided not unlike the SEC in football. Each team will beat each other up. Senior leadership will be the key in this area along with who stays healthy. Good pitching will always prevail but I have to believe it will be M'boro battling out for the top 3 spots. Riverdale has the offense, Oakland has the defense and Blackman has the pitching. I believe they will finish is that order through regualr season but who knows who will step up in the playoffs. It should be very exciting year and alot of good baseball!

[Guest oldgold]

Oakland will be a solid team but you have to agree that their pitching is not as good as Blackman or Riverdale, Blackman may have the better outfield of the three and Riverdale may have the better infield of the three when you add Watson behind the plate. Oakland does hit better than Blackman but not as good as Riverdale. Oakland will have a chance to win each day out but will have to do so as a team and not rely on two or three players to carry the load.

House is the real deal, has tons of ability but has not pitched like the real deal every time he goes out. He simply does not always give his team a chance to win. No question he can pitch but will he show up to pitch. That you can not disagree with.

[BoroBoy]

House when healthy has been very consistant, day in and day out. Spring & summer. He is healthy now, he had a back problem last spring.

[Guest batterup]

umm... what about the the other 4 teams in this district??? I do believe Lebanon beat blackman and oakland last year... i don't know if warren co., cookeville, or white co. did... but i do know that Lebanon has speed, and the defense... the only thing we lack in is the wood, but being in the weight room and cages everyday after school, until 5:00, ummm... thats certainly going to change... but thats ok, you can go ahead and count us out, we tend to play better when you do... don't forget lebaon has 8 seniors returning... and 7 juniors returning and 1 new one...

[letsplay2]

Here is the way I think it will go

1- Oakland

2- Riverdale

3- Blackman

4- Lebanon

4- White Co.

6- Warren Co

7- Cookeville

 

Oakland has the best defense, good pitching, and hitters that will play small ball and score runs. Championships in every sport are won by defense that is why Oakland gets my vote. Riverdale will have strong pitching and some great power and good defense which will make them very strong. Blackman has great pitching, good defense, but must hit better to score runs for their pitching. Most of Blackman starter are three year starters at the varsity level which will make a deference. (An injury to any key kids on these three team could change everything). I do believe that Oakland, Riverdale and Blackman all have the talent to win and one of them should win the league. Now the Tournament, all bets are off. Who's playing the best at that time of year not always the best team is the one that advances.

 

My sleeper is White Co. They have two quialty pitchers that have pitched at the Varsity level since they were freshman. Do not over look White Co.

 

Lebanon is my "team to watch out for" Good pitching and hard nose baseball is all they know. They have a great catcher that turned a lot of heads this summer.

 

Warren Co will be well coached and ready to play. They will do thing right if you don't watch you will get out Coached!!

 

Cookeville is hard to figure. They have some good talent coming back but are on their third coach in three years so you never know what a new man at the helm may get out of his kids.

[Edited by letsplay2 on 11-4-02 5:57P]

 

[cav32]

You guys that doubt Cookeville just wait until spring to make your predictions!! You might be surprised!! We may have had a late start, but we are working hard to catch up, and i think we are where we need to be. So just wait!

[cav32]

You guys that predict that Cookeville finishes last. Just wait until spring to make your predictions. We may have got off to a late start. We have been working hard to catch up and I think you will be surprised by our progress.

[cavs35]

Oakland- no one cares about them.

Riverdale- only have Smith.

Blackman- cant live off Price forever.

Lebanon- lebanon who?

White county- only have Clouse and Rogowski but they lose focus when getting hit.

Warren county- good hitting but no pitching.

Cookeville- say what you want about us and your predictions are what you think, but you dont know anything about our team from what I've been reading so stop putting us down. You'll be surprised come spring, so until then just know that your opinion doesnt mean anything!!!

[Guest batterup]

well, looks like cookeville doesn't like being last either, yeah join the crowd, but all them 'boro teams will be surprised. but i think you might wanna watch what you say about other teams like saying "who cares about them" and "Lebanon Who?" or "can't live off price", cause it's hard to swallow your own words... just a bit of advice, but hey, one thing that everybody has agreed on... IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT SEASON OF BASEBALL!!! best of luck to all the teams.

[cavs35]

No, I'm not going to watch what I say because I'm not scared to play anyone and I'll pitch to everyone who comes along to play us. I'll talk about anyone who talks about Cookeville, because I laugh when I read their predictions on our team. All I can say is that you'll regret what you say about Cookeville and we wont because we know what our mission is....to prove to you that we're serious and not to be taken lightly...In other words....Bring It!!!!