Can Davis County repeat?

[rthompson08]

What does everyone think? 2A should.be very tough this year ,but Iwould say Davis County and Carrol Kuemper should be the favorites too win it all.

 

[dirt33]

Watched DC in their own tournament on Saturday, as they handled Van Buren and Fairfield easily, winning 12-0 in both games. I figured VB would have put up more of a fight.

Matthews launched an absolute bomb late in the VB game. He did not pitch at all on Saturday, and I see he has pitched only twice thus far in 7 games. What's the deal with that? Just letting some of the younger guys get some experience? I certainly would expect that he will start one of the games against E-B on Wednesday. He looked good at third and made a few nice plays on the day, but with his build, he seems a bit too tall/long to be regarded as a 3rd baseman as he moves on from high school (just my opinion). I see he has played some 2nd and some SS also at DC when not on the mound. What does everyone see his position being at the collegiate/pro level? Is he definitely going to be started out as a pitcher? I assume DC uses him in the infield because that is where his skills will come into play most often, but I have a hard time seeing him as an infielder if he were to falter on the mound (again, just my opinion, and I certainly am NOT saying that I don't think he will excel as a pitcher). First time I've ever seen him play, my questions are simply of the "just curious" type.

Oh yeah, all of Calvin's base hits on the day were just missles that the defense had no answer for. He puts good wood on the ball, no doubt about that.

DC looked very good. I know they lost a couple key contributors from last year, but they appear to have some young guys that will fill in well. As the season goes, this team could become "scary good".

 

[bigfridaynite]

I really don't know much about DC except they are 9-0 and a team era of 0.69 plus 102 strike outs.I would say they have a pretty good chance to repeat.

 

[rthompson08]

Their offensive numbers are pretty impressive right now too.

 

[icu81222]

I haven't seen anything in 2A to this point that would indicate anyone else has a chance. Yeah, you gotta play the games but no one else really stands out to me. Anyone else?

 

[gg2224]

At about 19-0, can DC run the regular season table?

I know nothing about baseball in the SE part of the state. What's their remaining strength of schedule look like?

 

[dbears22]

They probably have a pretty good chance to run the regular season. their strength of schedule from what i can see has not been very good and is not any better for their remaining games. from what has been posted on quickstats so far, only 5 of the 13 teams they have played so far this year have a winning record up to this point, with Van Buren being the only ranked team they have played(#10 2A), And only 4 of the last 11 teams they play have a winning record so far with the only ranked team being Regina (#8 2A). If they don't lose to Regina, they will probably finish the regular season undefeated.

 

[gg2224]

Do you feel their record overstates their ability? I know they're highly talented, but come tourney time, will they be as battle tested as a Beckman, Kuemper, North Polk or St.Eds, who usually play schedules littered with several good 3A/4A teams?

Don't mean to dis DC. They're my favorite. Just curious how the other favorites in the state tourney field are stacking up.
This post was edited on 6/10 3:57 PM by gg2224

 

[maxstabs13]

I think the 2 teams that are most impressive thus far are Hudson and DC, but as in the past seasons they are both going to be a lot less battle tested compared to other potential state teams.

Beckman, W'loo Columbus, North Polk, and Regina will all be very battle tested.

I could see all of the above mentioned teams competing for a Title.

Waterloo Columbus has a very solid hitting lineup and just thumped MC Newman 8-2 in the Dowling tournament. Didn't see how they faired against Heelan though.

Beckman can hit the ball and is playing in the toughest non-4A conference in the state. They will need to find more consistency from the pitching staff.

North Polk is probably going to go as far as Hadaway can pitch them. The good thing is he could have a run like Joe Goodman and Gilbert last year. The bad thing is if they meet 2 really good teams in a row before state then he may not be able to pitch both games.

Regina seems to have some solid pitching and decent hitting. I would say they are very comparable to Columbus when looking at the balance between hitting and pitching. I think they however need more consistent hitting whereas Columbus needs more consistent pitching.

 

[iowa12]

You do realize they won the state title last year going away...right? They are playing the same schedule they played last year & have their best players back. I'd say they have a chance. Wow.

 

[maxstabs13]

Originally posted by iowa12:
You do realize they won the state title last year going away...right? They are playing the same schedule they played last year & have their best players back. I'd say they have a chance. Wow.

You do realize they won the state title 2-0(Not "going away") and teams change from year to year right? Chariton played them close in 2 games. Centerville played them close in 1 game. Albia played them well in 2 games. Eddysville Blakesburg played them well in 2 games.

They have the pitching and hitting, but the pitching is looking a little more consistent than the hitting. When you get to state all the teams have pitching and the hitting will need to be there for any chance.

Cherokee couldn't win again when they had Ege 2 years following the 2007 Title. Assumption came back and beat them in 2008 and Beckman beat them in the 2009 Semi's. Solon didn't break through to win a Title until 2010.

DC broke through in 2011, but no team has repeated in recent years. The thing is as soon as Mathews and Martsching are gone I think DC will have a similar to what Solon is having this season(4-11).

 

[gg2224]

Since we’re looking back a year, evidence suggests DC may have an Achilles heel against stronger pitching.

Consider DC’s games last year against Eddyville, Albia, Van Buren and Gilbert.

In those cases, DC was either strongly challenged (DC won by just 1 or 2 runs) or surrendered a loss.

The opposing pitchers in those games had pretty impressive season stats for 2011 ? ERA’s around 0.75 up to low 2s, at least 80 Ks and Opp BA around ~0.200. Those pitching numbers are on par with Mathews and Martsching 2011 production.

Hadaway at North Polk and Henke at Hudson, are two examples of 2A pitchers that have similar statistics. Henke is at 0.91 ERA, 49Ks and 0.167 Opp BA in 23 IP. Hadaway has a 0.00 ERA, 36Ks, and a 0.081 Opp BA in 20 IP.

A friendly reminder to consider what happened to last year’s 2A season-long-#1. I beleive there’s more than a few at Kuemper that think they would be last years 2A State Champs had they not run into a surging Gilbert team.

 

[maxstabs13]

Gilbert wasn't really surging. They were just fortunate that Joe Goodman could pitch almost the entire tournament.

 

[iowa12]

We aren't talking about next year. We are talking about this year. Gilbrrt was nothing outside of goodman.

 

[dbears22]

No team is ever guaranteed to win. Everyone knows they won last year, and everyone knows they have a lot of talent, but that doesn't guarantee them anything. Any team can get hot and anybody can beat anybody on any given day regardless of talent level. It just takes one hit or one pitch to change the entire outcome of a game.

Lets take this years college world series for example. Do you really think Stony Brook has the same level of talent that LSU has? Do they have all the five and four star recruits that LSU gets year after year? No, but they took 2 out of 3 from LSU to win the super regional and advance to the world series.

 

[terrehawk]

actually that might not be a great example. Stony Brook had more draft picks than LSU this year. They were clearly a superior offensive team. Just sayin'

 

[maxstabs13]

I think I brought up good examples already.

Cherokee
Assumption
Solon
FDSE

None of them did it. I would say the Solon team that lost to FDSE in the Semi's was better than the one that won the Title. That particular season things went FDSE's way rather than Solon's.

I have confidence that DC will be a legit contender, but I think them repeating is looking more and more slim by the results that we are seeing. Some other teams look just as impressive.

Notable teams all over .450 OBP:
Beckman--- Very strong competition for doing that
Columbus--- Very strong competition for doing that
FDSE--- Very strong competition for doing that
Van Buren--- Lost 12-0 to DC and was 2 hit... Competition is mediocre at best
Hudson--- Mediocre competition

Notable pitching teams OBA:
Eddysville-Blakesburg
Van Buren
Wilton
PCM
Maybe? I35--- They were over .450 OBP as well, but the competition is less than mediocre.


Cale Henke's(Hudson) hitting is similar to Cody Strang from Solon a few years ago. 2-3B and 1-HR in a 9-4 win over GR. 5-2B 3-3B 7-HR 9-SB on the season so far. Pitching wise he is comparable to Shulista(Solon 2011) or Hovden(North Fayette 2006). He has 3 starts this year against Denver, Jesup, and Gladbrook Reinbeck combining for 20IP 14H 6R(3ER) 2BB 42K. He throws hard and has good command.
This post was edited on 6/12 7:29 PM by maxstabs13

 

[The Dutchman]

Just to clarify Van Buren is not in the same conference as DC they are actually in a much weaker conference
This post was edited on 6/14 9:54 PM by The Dutchman

 

[Jako18]

DC looks pretty strong right now and they look to be on track to repeat.

 

[bigfridaynite]

DC plays Solon and Regina today and then Eddyville in a DH tomorrow.wow.

 

[iowa12]

I've witnessed this stabs guy run his mouth on the football boards the last several years. He has no credibility. He comes off as a know-it-all blowhard.

 

[maxstabs13]

Originally posted by iowa12:
I've witnessed this stabs guy run his mouth on the football boards the last several years. He has no credibility. He comes off as a know-it-all blowhard.

Says the guy who is running his mouth??? I just call it like I see it... I said Gilbert would be a force last year in baseball... No one jumped on board... I said Regina would win state in football last year and West Marshall would challenge... Spirit Lake was from the West side and I am not familiar with the West, so they surprised me with the defeat of WM. After that I acknowledged them and expected a close win for Regina. In recent memory the only state champion I recall being wrong on was FDSE in 2010 baseball. They took down Solon, who I thought would win it with Cody Strang and Brandon Schulista as a pitcher.

Truth. I have DC as a favorite, but don't be surprised if they get beat before State Semi's.

Are you a West Branch fan? I know BlameIt loves to talk them up yet they never win the title.

 

[maxstabs13]

Originally posted by iowa12:
I've witnessed this stabs guy run his mouth on the football boards the last several years. He has no credibility. He comes off as a know-it-all blowhard.

Says the guy who knows it all? I have watched football and baseball since I graduated high school 5 years ago. I know both sports pretty well. The only sport you can really question me in is basketball, but I know that pretty well also.

As far as I can recall the only baseball champion I have missed on was the 2010 FDSE team that took down Solon(my champion) in the semi's and I watched Beckman take out Ege and Cherokee 1-0. It turned into a night game. Then FDSE took out DB 11-8 in the title. Solon had the state's best hitter in Cody Strang and with Loveless, Bergman(sp?), Weeks, and Schulista I figured they would win. I didn't make the 2A title last year, but I was one of very few people who was saying "watch for Gilbert", because of Goodman. I was riding on Goodman since his sophomore or freshman year. I have been riding Henke from Hudson since 8th grade, but he hasn't seen enough support to make a run thus far. Waterloo Columbus has also be one hard task for them. Mathews and Martsching are a tough duo, but some teams have proven that they may not be a superior hitting team. That can go either way in state. Assumption had Argo(Best hitter in 2A) and Cherokee had Ege/Koch(Best pitchers in 2A). One year Cherokee won and the other year Assumption won.

You can say I don't know what I am talking about, but most people would say I have a pretty good grasp of the teams/players. It really doesn't matter to me, because I know I am pretty good at noticing talent. You can ask anyone who is in a fantasy money leagues with me. I won titles on guys like Cliff Lee(Break out year after leaving Cleveland) and last year Ian Kennedy(Breakout year after leaving Yankees). I got Gio Gonzalez, Brandon Beachy, and Matt Cain this year. I have drafted Josh Hamilton since he was with the Reds. I am already 21 Games ahead of 2nd place in my money league.

Joe Goodman was a Freshman All-American Closer at High Point this season.

 

[maxstabs13]

I saw Ethan Westphal at Lenox when he was a Sophomore I believe. They had 10 or 11 players on the roster, but the rocked Kee High pretty well at state. The next year he went to St. Mary's. Newman Catholic knocked Lenox around in the State Title and I can't remember the name, but the Catcher for Newman was a stud hitter and Catcher since his freshman season.

Calvin Mathews was a freshman or sophomore when he started to show he was a stud.

I remember Taylor Kaufman from Glenwood, Ray Zabalowski(sp?) from Okoboji, and from my own high school Nolan Nuss/Trevor Harris. Engler and the Flattery's led FDSE to the title.

 

[gg2224]

For what it's worth, and I don't know Max from a box of rocks, but I've always found his insight here to be unbiased and worth respect across multiple sports. I haven't always agreed with him 100%, but I can't think of an arguement that I thought wasn't based in fact.

 

[iowa12]

If you based your Gilbert junk on Goodman throwing nearly every pitch for Gilbert in the state tourney last year then more power to you. Who would have guessed their coach would have been that stupid & irresponsible.

 

[b1e9a8r2s]

Davis County and Burlington this weekend should be entertaining.

 

[bigfridaynite]

Is this something that has been added because it doesn't show they're playing anytime soon on quik stats.

 

[pinkphantom]

In case nobody saw yet, DM East beat Davis County today 2-1.

 

[gg2224]

This post was edited on 7/27 10:22 AM by gg2224