Practice for the new/2012 high school baseball season begins today and let’s go ahead and play a little game….
I will list a few of our schools and some of their returning players for 2012 and then you can fill in the rest of the key players from your teams or from any of the others teams….I can’t remember all of the players that are coming back, but it is sort of a fun game to list a few, as we start thinking about the Guilford County ‘Boys of Spring
NEG and SEG come to mind first since they went the furtherest in the playoffs last year with NEG to the 3-A Finals and SEG to the 4-A Semifinals…..
Northeast…Jaylin Davis, Caleb McCann, Jacob McCann, Josiel Colon, Jordan Brown, Matt Milloway, Cole Wyrick and more….(Up and coming, Austin Peoples and Calin Canady.)
Southeast Guilford…..Dallas Newton, Blake Butler, Justin Reece, Craig Jacobelli, Taylor Callahan, Brent Frazier, Cody Ezell, Will Greene, Ryne Stanley and others(Austin Bain, Tim Amick, Devon Sweet….Add those men in for SEG.)
Dudley….Cory Kimber(All things oonsidered one of the top players in the state, hard thrower, heavy hitter….) Brandon Burkes…
Grimsley….DJ Reader(Currently out 8 weeks with a broken foot from basketball), Ryan Stoneman, Miles Spruiell, Garrison Stafford and others….Seth O’Fallon, Kyle Smith, Kory Shumate, Cole Leonard and Jake Simpson, add them in for Grimsley…)
Page….Jordan Putnam, Carter Stanley(still in basketball for 2-3 more weeks), and others….
Smith…Kahlen Pratt(P and lefty)
Western Guilford….Brandon Ahrens, Nino Marrero, John Iorio, Adam Foster, Keith Anderson, Patrick Nusdeo, Tyler Parr and others…
Northwest Guilford….Keaton Haack, Adam Swim, Justin Bellenkes and others….Spencer is gone…..
Ragsdale….Duncan Sparks, Matt Horkey, Brandon Walker and others…..
Southwest Guilford…Matt Orth, Sean Geoghean, Matt Dale and others…
High Point Central….Will Johnson, Trevor Gay, Josh Wilson, Kendrick, JB Barrido and others….
Northern Guilford….DC Arendas, Austin Coltrane, Tripp Dunn and others….
….
Eastern Guilford…..Adam Gunn, Ryan Hackett, Tyler Wolfe, Tyler Hunt and others….
Southern Guilford….The Canada kid is the only name I have with me on paper right now….
High Point Andrews…..Coach Nat Norris will have them ready….That is all I know right now…..
Private Schools….
Wesleyan…Weston Wilson….Many more players, as Coach Scott Davis has a very talented Trojan team….
High Point Christian….Evan ‘Tiger’ Miller, Eli Gessell, Jared Gessell….
Greensboro Day School….The Schner kid is the only one that I am familiar with right off the bat and he could be a very solid pitcher in the NCISSA ranks…..Tall and lanky kid…..
Got some really good clubs out there in the area this year…..good luck to all on the upcoming season!
Grimsley returns some solid players in addition to the ones previously mentioned with Seth O’Fallon, Kory Shumate and Kyle Smith returning from last years varsity. Then Cole Leonard, Taylor Irvin and Jake Simpson moving up from JV.
The Metro is going to be loaded with good teams. Pre-season picks to qualify for State Tournament are S. Alamance, SE, Western Guilford and the Whirlies.
Good calls Big Blue…..Kyle Smith, bats left throws right or is it the other way around…..He came in and was strong in the Dudley game at Dudley last year after Sawyer Highfill struggled a little bit early on….Seth has been around for a long time now and he can play third and other infield potitions and he also can pitch….Very fundamentally sound….Shumate has tons of experience and all the kids you mentioned should do well….I think the key will be when will they(Grimsley) get DJ back and how well they perform while he is on the mend…..
Good points by all and I hope we get some more…..SEG has another pitcher that I was thinking about and the kid also used to catch on Junior Legion and he can play some third base…..
Devon Sweet I think is who you were thinking of. Also returning seniors at SE:
Austin Bain
Tim Amick
Let’s keep this game going and we’ll keep adding players…There’s a Marrero and a Crawford over at UNCG….
You got Matt Bond and Victor Dilla returning and rising juniors Grayson Evans, Hunter Allen, Shane Hamlett and possibly others. NW should have another good year.
Let’s hope NWG will still have the same PA man and that Dudley will still have those same sound effects….Would like to see a home and home with NWG and Dudley…The PA and sound effects could then be shared by all in the two camps……The PA man from NWG is out there in super-creative land and the sound effects and music at Dudley are out of this world…..
Northern has won it in football and basketball and baseball should be no different. They are loaded with talent and should walk right through their conference. Players like Triop Dunn, D.C. Arendas, Austin Coltrane, Sean Mas, Matt Kaplan and Jennings Woods all are college prospects. Good luck guys.
i truly think that one of the special moments this baseball season will be finally seeing BIG Brandon Burkes back in a Dudley Panther Uniform!! 17 months ago this young man with a very promising future in both football and baseball Broke his Neck at football practice!! And now he is back in uniform for the panthers! He was big time Division 1 player in both sports! and it will great to see him return to the diamond! the young man is truly blessed and im looking forward to seeing him back in action!! GO BRANDON BURKES!!!!!
Caldwell academy has a top 5 private school team. Nico mancuso returns after an all state junior year. Catcher Daniel Branon is a college prospect. Juniors richie sanfilippo and Boston new are also solid
SW Guilford Has returning starters Andrew Madden (UNC ASH) Kyle MIller, Tyler Kellam, Nishi Polisetti, and transfer from HPCA Austin Zente, to go along with list above, solid team.
Early baseball top 10 Guiford Co poll anyone??
Vegas Mike
Andy I heard last night that NW infielder Hunter Allen might not play at all this season due to having Tommy John surgery late last year. That will be a blow to their infield. He could play any position in the infield. Lets hope he gets back before the season is over. Good luck with rehab.
Midstate conference will be tough this year, Northern will be good, but doubt they will walk through conference. Western Alamance, Eastern Alamance loaded as well. should be a very good year for the conference.
Guilford County may have the best team in North Carolina and nobody has a clue about them……..
LOADED BASES BUT NOT THE REAL ONE STANDS UP
Northeast is loaded with talent.. no doubt in my mind that they will walk right through their conference… hopefully they will be right back after the 3A state championship and win it this time around…Their big 3; Jaylin Davis, Caleb McCann, and Josiel Colon all top out between 86-91mph looking forward to seeing them pitch… they can also hit the ball and play good defense…I like their changes this year …Go Rams!!!!!!!!!!