20-4a Baseball

[KFDM COOP]

Thanks Bears for the Rankings..

[midcountymadness]

STAT for BC fan.

LCM has won 19 of the last 20 meetings spanning the last ten seasons.

Congratulations on your big win last year and good luck with the 2006 season. All of southeast Texas is pulling for someone from this area to bring home a title this year.

[SilsbeeD]

What site did you get that from bear?

[Bears]

It comes out of Jason Beckers Texas Baseball News which is now Insiderbaseball.com

This magazine comes out during the Coaches convention and will hit news stands sometime this week.

They also list as TOP D1 PROSPECTS from The Golden Triangle:

Srs:

Angelle-BC

Harwood-PNG

Mire-PNG

Ehlert-LCM

Dugas-LCM

Jrs.

Dishon-BC

Now he clarifies this by saying the Kids listed are ones he has seen or has been reported to him by Pro or College scouts or HS coaches. There are many others in this area. All of those above were part of the Area Code Invitation this past summer.

[SilsbeeD]

ty

[MIF04]

LCM and PNG will be class of 4A with Nederland the 3rd playoff team (but a distant third at that).

1. Pitching-wise, LCM has the best #1 in the district with Ehlert. PNG has the most quality pitching depth (Harwood, healthy Powell, Mire and McInnis).

2. Position-wise, LCM returns more offense than does PNG. The Indians need C Buchanan to get well (he is healing very slowly after broken arm in football and there is some doubt as to whether he is ready yet). If they lose him, they are in significant trouble both defensively and offensively.

I'll take LCM to win the district (of course, last time I said that it was PNG who wound up in the state tourney). If Buchanan is healthy, PNG may be better positioned to make a play off run with deeper quality pitching. It is a very tough region -- the road to Austin in 4A goes through Montgomery this year.

And, on the LCM-BC p*ss*** match, it is clear that some bad feelings were generated last year. I don't blame Bryant for not playing LCM although I'd love to see that game. By the way, BC has the best 1-2 tandem in the area (pitching-wise) with Angelle and Haymon (who IS healthy). If they can replace the position players lost (and that will be a tall order), they do deserve that #1 ranking.

Play ball !!!!

[Bears]

Excellent anology MIF04 you have study well or are very familar with the teams locally, and I do agree with most of what you say. I will say look for a very strong staff from LCM, Ehlert is a given, Womack-LH coming back after TJ surgery in '04 same for Adams except he is in the mid to high 80's, Dugas is also upper 80's and now has a full season of pitching under his belt, Cassidy is another RH who can bring it. Solid staff that can beat any team in this area.

Blake is big for PNG not only his play but his leadership they need him at full strenght.

BC is and will be tough, so is Lufkin Hudson who only lost 1 player Musik-LH, and Jasper returns a nice group of kids from a playoff team last year.

[pngbbfan]

Losing Buchanan would be a big loss, but don't fool yourselves. The cupboards at PN-G are far from empty. The only spot the indians will be weak is up the middle, but Coach Stone will figure it out. I have never seen 2 more balanced teams in this district. Should be exciting year. PNg pitching will be strong and very deep. Harwood,Mires,Powell, McGinnis,Johnson,Abbott,Flores, Dominguez, Mitch Todd and Harrington. I may have missed a few. Ehlert andams,Hughes,Womack and Dugas should be pretty salty as well.

[KFDM COOP]

Coach Stone is a good one!

[MIF04]

Update on Buchanan today -- good news. Released and starting hit off tee without pain. Big plus for PNG.

[Bears]

Great News for a really Great Kid,

Good Luck Blake;

The Triangle Gators are watching..............

[MIF04]

Looking WAY ahead:

The UIL bracket for Region III places the winner of 20-4A (and 20-4A 3rd place team) in the same half of the bracket as:

champs of 18 (Montgomery)

champs of 24 (Angleton)

champs of 22 (Waltrip)

The runner-up from 20-4A is in the bottom half of the bracket and could avoid all of these teams (except one -- in the region finals). The toughest test would be Brenham (if runner-up in 18-4A) or the winner of the Friendswood/Channelview district.

Food for thought....

[Bears]

Don't count out Brenham to win that district, they return more than Montgomery and while it is true Montgomery has the two pitchers (Heard,Stone) they lost some key defensive and offensive players.

Brenham will be more balanced I believe. And on March 3rd the LCM Bears will get to see how good when they play Brenham in the tourney.

Angelton will only go far in the playoffs if they can play a 1 game playoff, not much behind Hammock, Bears beat him last year.

But with that being said 2nd place in 20-4a might be the place to be, but you know these teams no one wants second.

[MIF04]

LCM and PNG would rather beat each other than probably anyone else. I don't think you'll see either Griff or Stone 'playing for second' in 20-4A.

[pngbaseball3]

As far as injuries go, yeah PNG needs Buchanan back, but that won't stop this team from making a trip to Austin. They've prepared for and are expecting to be there in June. As far as weaknesses, I don't think there are any. The pitching staff is the deepest in the district with some of the best talent. The offense will have no problem, it has been the focus of the whole offseason. The defense will have no problem either, up the middle may seem weak, but I think that the rest of the district will be VERY surprised.

[KFDM COOP]

Can't wait!

[MIF04]

Disagree about the difference Buchanan makes.

He is the best defensive catcher in the area. That not only makes 'team defense' better, it makes the pitchers better. Put another way, a lesser catcher makes the pitcher 'less'. Second, he brings a strong offensive presence to a lineup that needs one. Third, and perhaps most important, the kid is a 'Natural Born Leader'.

I think its hard enough to get to Austin will all your hosses and that much harder when you lose one. This is no knock on the rest of the guys. You need all the pieces of the puzzle to capture this kind of prize.

And I don't think the district will be surprised. They're used to PNG being good....really good.

[Tball 93]

I as much as I can not wait for this season to start I already know it will be to short. I have spent the last 12 years watching all of these young men play at the highest of level. In 20-4A I think as everyone else dose that PNG & LCM have the upper hand with Nederland in 3rd. PNG pitching staff has got to be one of best as well as the deepest in school history if Cody,Zack,Brandon,Taylor can pick where they left off lasy year. The offence I think will be much more productive/clutch than last year, The defence will be solid, good speed not great. Blake is key behind the plate not just for his bat, I think the confindence that he gives to the pitchers is what PNG can afford to loose.

LCM should strong as well, I think LCM is still looking for who will be the 2 in the 1/2 punch wyth Clayton. The offence should be evey bit as good as last year, the defence is basicly the same as it was last year great.

Ned has a lot of work to do, Cody Iam sure that he is working everyone pretty hard. Holes to fill SS,3rd,1st,C,LF,CF, not to mention loosing Walker & Franze pitchers. Nederland had a strong JV team the question is how quickly the young players can adjust to varsity. Several names have been mentioned but I have not heard about Aaron Dalton, David Brady.

[James Mosley]

The Nederland team this year has one proven pitcher who can beat anyone on any given night, Matison Smith. They have a bunch of talented pitchers who will make their mark in 4A this year. This team will definitely be faster on the bases. We have lost some of the long ball fireworks but who knows someone else may fill that also. I still say Nederland, PNG then LCM....But then again, I am a Bulldog Backer!

[MIF04]

Who are the other pitchers? I am interested in that.

And while I give credit to rootin' for the hometown team, I would say a Nederland, PNG, LCM finish would be the upset of the season. I do agree that Smith can beat anyone. He's a good one when he's sharp.

[MIF04]

Although I would guess nearly everyone will be following their own team, I would make a suggestion if you have an 'open' weekend on March 2-4th. Go to Brenham with LCM. There are a number of quality teams there and a good test for Griff and the Bears:

Their pool games are:

Alvin (pretty fair 5A team fighting for playoff spot in 24-5A)

Texas City (although rarely mentioned, a Top 10 team in the Houston area)

El Campo (who, I admit, I know nothing about)

Brenham (very good team, lots of tradition, and it it THEIR tournament)

And, their reward after pool play? The trophy game against the likes of Montgomery (pre-season #1 in Region III) or Angleton/New Caney. Whew.

Granted, tournament games don't always serve as a predictor for district and playoffs (since everyone's pitching gets stretched out over 4-5 games) but still -- what a schedule. Ain't no ducking anybody here!!!!

[SETXBaseball]

PNG is struggling. I love them to death, but i dont see it. Unless they learn to handle the pressure. Vidor hasnt even been talked about in the top 3 so yall take that into consideration when the end of the season roles around its gonna be a little more mixed up then yall think its gonna be a fun year.

[SETXBaseball]

PNG is struggling. I love them to death, but i dont see it. Unless they learn to handle the pressure. Vidor hasnt even been talked about in the top 3 so yall take that into consideration when the end of the season roles around its gonna be a little more mixed up then yall think its gonna be a fun year.

[MIF04]

I still think LCM is the most talented (and best) team in 20-4A. I would love to see tonight's game in Jasper (Jasper w/ Alvis vs. LCM w/Ehlert) -- whatta matchup.

The team that no one (including me in preseason) gives a lot of credit to is Nederland. The knocked off a very good Clear Creek team yesterday and lost in extra innings to another very good 5A team (Deer Park). Nederland had the lead in the 7th, Deer Park tied and then won it in the 8th on a passed ball/wild pitch. They are young and very well coached and just play hard.

Then you get to the PNG issue -- they are just playing bad right now. Getting Buchanan back would help (although the Carnahan kid has played very well in his place) -- Blake is just a leader. With that being said, are they still better than the rest of the district (Vidor, Ozen, Lumberton, Central)? Sure. And I think their pitching (Harwood, Powell, Mire and McInnis) carries them to the playoffs. It will be a lot closer, though, than everyone (me included) thought before the season started.

Can't wait until next week. And, remember -- this all goes away if PNG catches lightning in a bottle and beats LCM on Friday. Whew....that would get all the NDNs up on the board here, now wouldn't it?