*****I couldn’t believe it, but I saw it….Dudley was practicing on their field today….There they were on it, after 6-8 inches of snow was on it last week and it still had to be real wet….*****
Getting a few E-mails and text from readers/ baseball and softball fans that are getting
curious about the upcoming high school baseball and softball seasons and here are a few of the notes that we were sending out today along with the status of the teams and they will be practicing today, all indoors and there will be scrimmages coming up later in the week, if they can get the fields all dried out….
I got $50.00 bucks that says nobody will be outside today and they will be lucky if they can get in outdoor workouts by Wednesday or Thursday….
A few days when those 60-degree temps COMING later in the week, is what they really need right now….And some wind wouldn’t be all that bad, it would help to blow off some of the water from the edges around the outside of the infields and outfields….
Need some warm days and that extra sunlight won’t hurt either…Daylight now until about 6:15pm…..
Softball side, it is the SEG Falcons; Page will be better and Southern Alamance is always good in the Metro and those three out to fight it out….New coach at Page, Ethan Albright, will have that fundamentally fit, sound and ready…Hard to get ahead though when you have kids like Kara Shutt, Emma Strouth, and Anna Hessenthaler back at Southeast…
Baseball in the Metro should be even tougher with SEG and SA always very good and now Page and Grimsley are getting better and Dudley has just about every kid back from last year and a new lefthanded pitcher, Cokeley….SEG was (20-4/11-1) last year and they have Zack Canada, Devin Sweet, Ryne Stanley, Carmine Pagano, Trey Artis, Tommy Michaels and Josh Blackwell back just to name a few…Doing all of those on memory, so I may be off base on a couple….But that bunch was (11-1) conference and (20-4) overall
last year…
NWG, Ragsdale, SWG, Glenn, East Forsyth and High Point Central….Top-to-bottom, that just might be your best all-around baseball conference in the state….Trevor Gay and others back for Central, Matt Horkey at Ragsdale, Shoemakers and tons of talent at NWG with Dix, Everett plus Belenkes too and more and more….Austin Zente is a senior and a name to keep an eye on from SWG and their are others, but no rosters have yet to be released…This is known in some circles are tryouts week…
Mid-State 3-A adds in Northeast Guilford this year and and this is another case of top-to-bottom talnt with this being a very tough group/bunch too….Eastern should oontend all the way around, Western and Eastern Alamance, Northern has talent, McMichael, Morehead, and Rockingham County….No slouches there either……Austin Coltrane at NG, Brock and Blake Deatherage, Osinski and othes at WA, Caleb, Andrew and Luke Robinson at EG and NEG is coming off of that youth movement from last year and the Williams kid promises to be ready, along with about 8 more Rams….
Lots of talent and lots of teams/nanes that could contend, if the weather gives them a chance….
Who did we leave out, who did we leave out????? Time to put the 9-irons/aluminums to work….
Do we have any legitimate state contenders??? Got to think Eastern Guilford boys in baseball, since they went so deep into the playoffs last year and the SEG girls, if they can find a pitcher to replace Celeste Shepherd….And the SEG boys or one of the Piedmont Triad 4-A teams might be ready to contend…..(NWG, HP Central, etc….HP Central and NWG both went toward Round Two or Three last year….
These guys maybe not for the states, but their state of baseball affairs is not too shabby either….
Southern Guilford has the Sugg kid(Taylor Sugg) back an he could be deadly on the mound this season and they’ve got a catcher(Is it Casteneves?…Now I thinks it is Caveness) and a few infielders and outfielders back as well…I do remember that Sugg kid was getting hot on the hill, late in the year…And you need to get to know Noah Carter when you get a chance…He has been working real hard in the off-season.
And Western Guilford has that big tall pitcher back…Is it Andrew King, a lefty….Senior season coming up for the Hornets’ John Iorio and they have a few more key names that we will be seeing…
And let’s not leave out Coach Randy ‘Nat’ Norris at High Point Andrews…Most enthusiastic coach you will ever see and this man loves the game and we’re hoping he has some good men to choose from and work with this season….
There is a quick Week One primer and if you have more, feel free to add-in, my non-throwing are is starting to get sore and it is time to pass it on to somebody else…..
As for PT4A softball; SWG, NWG, EF and Glenn all had good seasons last year. Glenn only lost 1 player to graduation and, I think, is the defending conf tourney champion. Lots of talented youth in this league; should be some good competition for a few years to come.
Excellent news and a good report….
Thanks…
In PT4A baseball, NW Guilford has the team to beat. East & Ragsdale have very good teams and should be right there should NW stumble. HP Central lost two of their studs to transfer and will fight it out with SW Guilford and Glenn for the table scraps.
I WILL TAKE THAT $50 bucks. We were on the field yesterday and today.
How is that possible with all that snow that we had…I bet some of the college teams can’t even get on their fields yet….Say Guilford and where does Greensboro College practice, at the old stadium???
Somebody’s field is an elite drainer….
Maybe this is Jake Holloway(GSO Hoppers) that we are talking to here.
SE doesn’t have a bit of snow on the field. The girls were out there yesterday and as far as I know will be again today. Where should I come collect the money 😉 hehe
Quite a few of the area SB teams in action this weekend with scrimmages at the SE Guilford Community Center (NG, SWG and SEG, maybe others) and in Springwood Park in Burlington (hosted by Southern Alamance, and with NWG participating).
I’m sure there will be others this weekend!