Top high school pitchers from our area this past season

The high school baseball season is winding on down and let’s start looking at some of the top players from this past season and tonight we will look at some of the pitchers and feel free to chime in on who you think was the best of the best…

I have seen quite a few of the pitchers this season and I saw one of the area’s best last night in Adam Swim…Solid job for the NWG Vikings in their 1-0 win over Southwest Guilford…So let’s put Swim on the list….Let’s also say that Zack Littell from Eastern Alamance may just be the top pitcher in our area for this, the 2013 season….Add him in too and I have been impressed with Devin Sweet of Southeast Guilford High School…He reminds me of a younger version of Josh Tobias and I have been a huge Tobias fan from the first day I met that kid….If Sweet has any of the Tobias work-ethic in him, he will go places….Matt Kaplan the lefty from Northern Guilford is one of those aces of the Nighthawk staff…..

Scott Wilson, one of loyal readers had this to say about Matt Kaplan and he brings up some very good points….

Nobody talks about that kid Kaplan from Northern. I have been watching that kid pitch for the last 3 years over there and he gets bigger, stronger and better each year. About two weeks ago I saw him throw a complete game with 13ks. A few weeks ago at the tournament at Newbridge Bank Park he threw a complete game shutout. Nobody wants to give him any attention…I wonder why that is? I know pitching and this kid is only going to continue to get better and better. He’s a senior and I think he is unsigned. He has had a great spring and I would imagine that his numbers are some of the best in the area. Someone should look at his numbers and talk about him. College coaches are missing out on something special in this lefty. That’s my two cents.

So there we have it with a few of the key names and let’s start formulating that list and really don’t know which of the Robinson brothers from Eastern Guilford to put on this list, so maybe someone will let us know if it should be Caleb, Andrew or Luke….Southern Guilford has some good possibilities with Sugg, Hedrick and others….Watkins, and the kids at NEG need to find a spot….Butler and Gay from HP Central, Horkey from Ragsdale, Dale from SWG, Nail and Schofield from Page, Foster from Western Guilford, Qualin Price from HP Andrews and on we go….

Here goes the list and you can or subtract and make you own list/lists….
The list of Pitchers from our 2013 Season….(I am sure we will leave somebody out, so be sure you add them in.)

Zack Littell(Eastern Alamance)
Adam Swim(Northwest Guilford)
Devin Sweet(Southeast Guilford)
Matt Kaplan(Northern Guilford)
Matt Horkey(Ragsdale)
Matt Dale(Southwest Guilford)
Hansen Butler(High Point Central)
Trevor Gay(High Point Central)
Caleb Robinson(Eastern Guilford)
Andrew Robinson(Eastern Guilford)
Jacob Watkins(Northeast Guilford)
Zack Saylor(Southwest Guilford)
Adam Foster(Western Guilford)
Jesse Juday(Northwest Guilford)
Brandon Nail(Page)
Nick Schofield(Page)
Taylor Sugg(Southern Guilford)
Camden Ball(Southern Guilford)
Cody Ezzell(Southeast Guilford)
Tim Ambrose(Ragsdale)
Will Greene(Southeast Guilford)
Qualin Price(High Point Andrews)
Zack Massey(Grimsley)
Tyler Mericka or Caelan Canady(Northeast Guilford)
Kameron Pruitt(Dudley)

*****What do you think of this list of top pitchers so far….On the scale of 1-10 is this a ten or a 25??? I have about 25 names on there….*****

23 thoughts on “Top high school pitchers from our area this past season

  1. What Mr. Wilson says is completely correct about Matt Kaplan. He was undefeated in conference play with a record of 7-1. He has 68 stike outs for the year and (dont quote me) but around a 1.2 ERA. I believe he has pitched and won against many of those very good pitchers on that list. He has led his team to many very close victories and has represented Northern Guilford well. He can definitley compete at a high level and I too believe his talent and abilities will only improve from this point forward.

  2. Swim has had a great year and is very talented however so is Butler at HPC and Horkey at Ragsdale.

  3. Did Kaplan take lessons from anyone cause that kid is a big turn around in the last 2 years!

  4. Butler good season 1 bad game against NW, combo of errors and not being fully stretched on 2 days of throwing before game day. Before the NW game he was at 27 innings pitched, 59 K’s, 2 runs, game against Asheboro 3-A, 16 k’s.
    He pulled an Oblique in the game against NW and sidelined him for last 2-3 weeks of the season, did throw 1 inning this week trying to get back to help HPC make a run.
    Regular season 32 innings pitched, 67 k’s, 5-7 earned depending on how they scored e’s against NW. Hats off to NW as we know a lot of those players and knew they were under the radar in pre-season there is a lot of talent on that team. Swim is and was solid for NW and there other arms get the job done too. Horkey is one of the best lefties around! Saylor kept SW in a lot of games, Doc delivered as well for SW. Matt we missed seeing you out there this yr but we know you’ll be back on the hill solid! Gay did a great job for HPC. Sorry I didn’t get to see some of the others on the list I know they must be talented to make the list. Best of luck to all for playoffs and summer ball!

  5. Were glad for you that you got the win. I’m just stating the kid is putting up some good numbers. Varsity Sophomore and Jr years combined in this conference regular season play, 158 K’s with not many runs earned. With his varsity Freshanmn season at HPCA different conference I dont have the K’ numbers but I’m sure enough to get him to 200 k’s or more for so far a 3 year high school career.

  6. Thanks Scott for the nice shoutout to the NW guys. Agree completely with you on all the great pitching talent in the area, not only in the PTC4A but across the whole area.

    As for ‘NW’, I am skeptical that you are related to NW. However, if you are why dont you knock it off…we dont roll like that, especially talking specifically about an opposing player.

    Thanks.

  7. Now Daddy’s why don’t we have all of them put up all the boys stats, Live through your child because you could not do it.

  8. We will start getting the list a little more tight, as we cut it down to just one pitcher from each school and develop a Top Ten and then a Top Five as we get deeper and deeper into the playoffs….

    I don’t blame a dad for promoting his son, if his son is doing a good job….If he doesn’t, then who else is going to do other than us here at GreensboroSports.com….The coaches don’t have time for that type of stuff, they are too busy coaching, scouting and getting ready for the next game, as they should be….

    It gets some players some pub and recognition when we post these names and parents, as well as teams’ fans are not supposed to be ashamed of their players, they are supposed to talk them up and pump them up….

    Within the next week it will be over many of the local players and for some they have a shot at college, but soon the high school and collegiate experience will be all over and all they and the families will have left to do is sit around and look back and they all want fullfillment, the most that they can get from this experience….

    Look at Brock Hudgens, from Southwest Guilford, not many talked about him back during his high school days, but we did here and look at him now….Pitched a one-hitter and got the big win for Charlotte yesterday…

    Some would say, oh anybody could do that….NO, it takes talent and very hard work and we commend all kids for that….Good job Brock and good job by all the kids on this list and we may have missed some, but for me, I look forward to seeing what these kids do in the playoffs and in the conference finals tomorrow night, with NWG-Glenn and SEG-Southern Alamance…

    Good job baseball too, by Jose Fernandez and Marcell Ozuna, who were with the Greensboro Grasshoppers over the past two years/seasons and we promoted them too and now look where they are, at the highest level with the Miami/Florida Marlins and Fernandez got the win on Saturday and Ozuna a HR, his first in the majors…

    And you might say, NO that is different….NO it is all the same….It goes back to having some talent and hours of work and all of the prepartion meets opportunity and you have success….

    Goes the same for Fernandez, Ozuna, Hudgens and all of the kids on this list…..Somebody else on here is going to stay the course and they will make it to the big-time too…May be Hudgens, may be one of the kids on this list, but somebody on here is goig to make it…

    Can’t wait to join them, as they follow their dream and then check out the celebration when they hit the top and we will be proud of them and let people know about it…

    GO GET IT….

  9. And what about that Austin Bain kid from Southeast Guilford??? He just pitched his Randolph-Macon team to the ODAC title last Monday night and that is not chopped liver either…He is from one of our old lists here and so is Keaton Haack(Northwest Guilford HS), who is doing a real good job as a freshman pitcher for the University of Alabama….Saw Haack’s first round NCHSAA playoff game on the road at Southern Alamance last year and shut down the SA Patriots from the Metro Conference…Duncan Everett(Barton College), from NWG has been doing a good job pitching in college and loads of kids off of our lists here that have gone on to do well…

    Keep an eye out here….I think some big things are bound to happen…..

  10. Very good Josh Tobias(Southeast Guilford HS) photo from the Florida Gators web site….Tobias was also on many of our previous lists…

    CLICK HERE for that photo of JT…

  11. Not one kid from southern alamance? They have four of the best pitchers in the area. AJ Edwards, Jacob Wolf, Dylan Isley, & Alex Durham.

  12. As a fan and parent of a team in this conference I’d say the top pitcher for each team in the Metro 4a goes as followed (in order)…
    SA – Wolfe
    SE – Devin Sweet (Cody Ezzell very very talented as well)
    Western – Adam Foster
    Page – Brendan Nail
    Dudley – KJ Mcalister
    Grimsley – Kyle Smith
    Smith – not sure. any suggestions?
    Love to hear some feedback on the list and see some more lists from other conferences. I know Charlie Pannell spends a lot of time around SE and the metro 4a love to hear his feedback on these guys

  13. Need at least one from Southern Alamance and at least one from Western Alamance too and maybe one from Williams…

    Have only seen SA once this season and hard to choose among the four that you mentioned….They are all real talented…

    Possibly Michael Olenoski from WA…Have pretty seen and heard the most from him this year with the Warriors….From Williams, it would probably have to be Alan Sharpe…

    We will see what others have to say and that is what this is here for, public forum….

    Who da man from Southern Alamance???? Four real good ones to choose from now above…..

  14. Butler, Gay, Swim, Horkey, Dale, Striplin, Scudder, Freeman, and you could make an argument for Ambrose and Saylor to be a #1 on most other area teams…..not to mention Hodges from Glenn who was PT-4A pitcher of the year 2 years ago as a sophomore…..and let us all remember the best player and pitcher in the area UNC signee….Matt Orth, a better arm than all of these D1 arms…..I rest my case!

  15. I agree Orth was the best amongst the pitchers you mentioned but that was last year, let’s hope you can come back from Tommy John surgery and still throw well.

  16. There is a freshman over at Dudley people should keep there eye on. I seen him throw a couple of times this year and he has very good command of his pitches.

  17. I had that Dudley freshman on our list and that is Kameron Pruitt……He is a good one….Beat Western Guilford on a cool Monday night….

  18. The freshman lefty at Dudley is the real deal. The team is very young and talented. They will do well next year.

  19. You really can’t include Orth. He did not throw this year.

    He would have been the tops in the area if he did throw but he was on the shelf.

    Hope he does good in college and can one day enter the MLB Draft.

    Good luck in the future to Matt Orth.

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