BASEBALL STARTS TOMORROW

[Quaffer]

Yippee!

Looking forward to a great season and seeing lots of great ball.

Who are the top teams this year?

Up here in the Northbay I think Analy's reign is over; they're going to have a rebuilding year, and so I expect to see Petaluma dominate the SCL with Sonoma Valley and Analy fighting for second.

Casa Grande should be very, very strong in the NBL but Maria Carrillo and Newman will both be in the hunt if their pitching holds up.

Napa was really good last year and Vintage was young and extremely well coached. They'll both be tough.

In Marin I'm all about Drake and Marin Catholic, but Justin Sienna has some solid younger players.

I like Clayton Valley and College Park in the east, but I know there are many of you who know that area's teams much better.

 

[saintwarrior]

I knew baseball was starting....because it is pouring. Like clockwork. Season starts, rain comes in.

 

[Quaffer]

LOL but we have to have it. Gives all the turf teams an early advantage for sure.

 

[NCSF]

Quaffer- Good point on the turf fields. I think College Park is the most talented team in Northern California and one of the best teams in a few years. They have at least three top pro prospects and a half dozen D1 guys in their senior class.

 

[observer22]

Both College Park and Clayton Valley Charter are D1 this year, and will have to beat out defending NCS D1 champ DLS and Hooper, plus all the other EBAL teams. CP looks like they have the team but it will be a tough road. A Hooper-DeMers NCS final would be incredible.


This post was edited on 2/9 11:42 AM by observer22

 

[NCSF]

Honestly, I think they are a lot more talented than DLS this year re prospects at the next level. That doesn't make them a better team. Those guys will match up earlier in the year and it should be quite a show. Interesting pitching match up with two great pitchers. I might take Demers "right now" for a high school game but Hooper has more upside in most expert opinions.

 

[Quaffer]

Just saw that Perfect Game has CP as #8 in the nation. DLS at #29.

 

[NCSF]

Looks like they are the only two teams from Northern California and they are only 15 minutes away from each other. We usually see a Sacramento/Elk Grove team ranked and a WCAL team ranked. No Fresno/Clovis teams either. Those are absolutely three of the top areas for talent on the west coast.

 

[Quaffer]

Too bad they're both skipping the Boras Classic.

 

[1315]

Incredible yes O22, but so unpredictable as we all know. When Joe Ross smoked the Grizzlies in '11, BOD was one and done- not getting out of the quarters. A pre-season matchup would have LOTS of guns out there like they had at DeAnza (they won 3 football games this year!) the game Stephenson threw there.

 

[NCSF]

College Park has been invited to a great national event at the USA Baseball complex. Not sure about DLS. I'm pretty sure Mater Dei went to both last year? The Boras Classic is quickly becoming a great event.

 

[heybuddy!!!]

W

F

C

 

[Where Are They Now]

@Heybuddy!!!

Only this entire board that's who ....

 

[Irish_Cheers]

WE

F

C

 

[Where Are They Now]

Pitchers and Catchers ... ... ....

The day has dawned to hear again the happiest words in sports
Not "Touchdown!" "Home run!" "Goal!" or "Score!" but "Pitchers and Catchers report."
"Pitchers and catchers report..." Such news: concise, flat, stark and grand.
It means the game is afoot again, alive once more in the land.
Oh, it'll snow, and cars will stall, and sleet will rattle our nights,
And roundball and hockey will drag us through the playoffs and the fights:
But somewhere than just in the mind's eye now the motions of baseball start:
Maybe it's only playing catch, but catch is good for the heart,
And good for the soul, and the arms and the legs, and the head full of off-season talk
About bar fights and contracts, recalcitrant umpires, and players too eager to squawk
About vicious injustices, real or imagined, and teams that don't love them enough
Enough! Time to relish, instead of this filler, returning to all the good stuff
In Tucson and Phoenix, in Tampa and Lakeland they're picking up baseballs for real,
and tossing them happily into their gloves, and secretly thinking, "Some deal,"
To be gathered again here to stretch in the sun, and scratch, and get loose in the grass,
To try not to smile in spite of yourself at the best of times coming to pass.
It won't stop the wars, and it won't fill the bellies of children who've lost their relief;
It won't house the homeless or patch up the bridges or soften the heart of the thief.
Still, we can, in this moment and lifetime of trouble, clutch words that might offer a sort
Of surcease from the madness that hammers us daily; hence, "Pitchers and catchers report."

 

[Quaffer]

Yup.

 

[NCSF]

Re: Pitchers and Catchers ... ... ....

Where are they now- Thank you so much for that! That was magical. I had a great baseball experience tonight. We had a workout tonight with our junior high group and we have a player whose cousin played for us years ago, Andrew Aplin. Andrew came to our workout and hung out with the guys and relayed his experiences. Here's a young man headed to spring training this Friday with a great chance to make the Astros major league team.

The cool part was that I remember him when he was 15 and he was talking to the young guys, telling them he was right where they were once. To see him mature into a great young man with a chance to live his childhood dream is just special. We've been blessed to have three dozen or so guys achieve that level and every one is as special as the other. Good luck to all the players from the guys trying to break camp with the big league team to the player trying to make his freshman team.

 

[Where Are They Now]

Re: Pitchers and Catchers ... ... ....

@ NCSF posted on 2/19/2015...Where are they now- Thank you so much for that! That was magical.

Coach - you are welcome. I received that poem or diddy on a humongous group email thread started by Clint Hurdle and what seemed like about 80 other MLB baseball guys and just had to share. Then I heard it 10 minutes before I posted - on National Public Radio - which reminded me to come here and post it.

All the best. Thanks for your share on the Alpin. He must be another fine young man!

 

[SacCoachA]

Serra comes to the Valley on Saturday to scrimmage Elk Grove.

 

[BKWRDKUROUT]

Sarah who? (Just kidding)

Wonder if Al Figone will be in the stands chirping?

 

[SacCoachA]

No Figone sighting. Elk Grove came out strong with three straight doubles and led 4-0 going into top of 7th. Nick Madrigal was 3x4. Serra scored six in the top of 7th. 7-4 in the eighth when I left.

 

[BKWRDKUROUT]

Thanks SacCoachA

Sounds like a decent scrimmage. I hope none of the coaches were flashing full blown signs to hitters in 0-0 counts or 3-2 counts for that matter. THAT would drive me crazy.