Upper Iowa Conference 2012
- Thread starter c4cy21
- Start date
The conference seems to be down a bit similar to as it was in basketball. Lansing has to be the favorite to win and North Fayette will be very good with Greco. I think MFL Mar Mac may surprise some teams and finish in the top 4.
South Winn is a team that could surprise many people this year. They have a solid group of returning players and are slowly becoming one of the conferences most fundamentally sound teams.
You always have to start with Kee High as the favorite in the league.
After that, it will probably be North Fayette, South Winn and then Sumner Fredericksburg.
MFL would probably be in the next group as they have most of their team back.
After that, it will probably be North Fayette, South Winn and then Sumner Fredericksburg.
MFL would probably be in the next group as they have most of their team back.
I think it's another rebuilding year for Kee. But everytime someone says they are rebuilding they just reload and do better than expected. They lose a good senior class.. Someone will have to step up and take Heiderscheit's pitching spot.. As well as filling in the bats. Next in line are NF and Sumner. MFL will be better but they just have Hundt really
Conference Projections-
Kee High 14-2
North Fayette 12-4
South Winn 12-4
Sumner-Fredericksburg 11-5
Turkey Valley 9-7
MFL Mar-Mac 5-11
Postville 4-12
Clayton Ridge / Elkader 3-13
Valley 2-14
Kee High 14-2
North Fayette 12-4
South Winn 12-4
Sumner-Fredericksburg 11-5
Turkey Valley 9-7
MFL Mar-Mac 5-11
Postville 4-12
Clayton Ridge / Elkader 3-13
Valley 2-14
That is a pretty good projection based on tradition and what the teams have returning from last year.
I also think this will be a rebuilding year for Kee High. NF should be realy sound but I wonder if they will run into some pitching problems. South Winn will be tough with Rommes back on the mound. SF also should be pretty good with two of the top pitchers in the conference back.It will be interesting to see how the Bbcor bats will react?
Here's my take..
1. Kee High - Obviously it's going to be tough for Kee to replace last year's senior class, who had mostly been starting since their freshman/sophomore years. But if anybody in the state is better than Kee at reloading, I'd like to see them. Heiderscheidt will be tough on the mound, and Carroll, Gavin, and Milton all had solid years offensively for Coach Schultz.
2. South Winneshiek - Lose only 4 senior starters from last year's 21-15 squad. Return All Conference players in Colton Hageman and Wyatt Opperman, along with other underclassmen who played a lot last year. This is my sleeper team. Coach Alex Smith has a really good thing going at South Winn, as they have been a top 3-4 team ever since he took over.
3. North Fayette - Heying and Vierow on the mound will be tough, and Greco is one of the best hitters in the state. Going to be a very tough team, and I expect a really good battle for the top 3 spots between NF, SW, and Kee.
4. Turkey Valley - Another year, same Turkey Valley team. This team will pound the ball all over the diamond and hit the ball out of the park consistently. But their pitching and infield defense will be suspect as usual. Mitchell, Schmitt, Milbrandt, and Novotny will all be very good players.
5. Sumner Fred - Sumner could easily jump ahead of Turkey Valley, they return all but 2 starters from last year's team. Nuss and Steege are the best 1-2 punch in the conference on the mound. They will have to overcome the loss of their best 2 run producers, Kleman and Leech, who combined for 59 RBI's last year.
6. MFL - Hundt has an electric arm on the mound, and can hit well also. Every year people say next year is MFL's year, as they always seem to have a ton of young players, but it just never pans out for some reason, which is why i have them slotted here.
7. Postville - Return all but one player from last year. IF this team can find some pitching, they could be dangerous, as their young players started hitting the ball better towards the end of last year. Steffans is the best baserunner in the conference, and Imoehl is a good hitter. However, their lack of pitching will hurt them.
8. CR/Central - Have a good core of young players coming back, and soph. SS Dylan Preston is a very good player, who could break out into one of the conference's best this year. I'm wary of picking them higher though, due to lack of pitching.
9. Valley - Valley just really struggles in baseball, i'm not sure why. They were easily the worst team last year, and I don't see that changing much this year. Still going to be very young this year.
The top 5 teams are all going to be solid baseball teams. It's going to be tough to get sweeps among the top 5. I don't see Kee running the table and dominating this year like they did last year. My prediction is that the team that wins the conference will have at least 3 conference losses.
1. Kee High - Obviously it's going to be tough for Kee to replace last year's senior class, who had mostly been starting since their freshman/sophomore years. But if anybody in the state is better than Kee at reloading, I'd like to see them. Heiderscheidt will be tough on the mound, and Carroll, Gavin, and Milton all had solid years offensively for Coach Schultz.
2. South Winneshiek - Lose only 4 senior starters from last year's 21-15 squad. Return All Conference players in Colton Hageman and Wyatt Opperman, along with other underclassmen who played a lot last year. This is my sleeper team. Coach Alex Smith has a really good thing going at South Winn, as they have been a top 3-4 team ever since he took over.
3. North Fayette - Heying and Vierow on the mound will be tough, and Greco is one of the best hitters in the state. Going to be a very tough team, and I expect a really good battle for the top 3 spots between NF, SW, and Kee.
4. Turkey Valley - Another year, same Turkey Valley team. This team will pound the ball all over the diamond and hit the ball out of the park consistently. But their pitching and infield defense will be suspect as usual. Mitchell, Schmitt, Milbrandt, and Novotny will all be very good players.
5. Sumner Fred - Sumner could easily jump ahead of Turkey Valley, they return all but 2 starters from last year's team. Nuss and Steege are the best 1-2 punch in the conference on the mound. They will have to overcome the loss of their best 2 run producers, Kleman and Leech, who combined for 59 RBI's last year.
6. MFL - Hundt has an electric arm on the mound, and can hit well also. Every year people say next year is MFL's year, as they always seem to have a ton of young players, but it just never pans out for some reason, which is why i have them slotted here.
7. Postville - Return all but one player from last year. IF this team can find some pitching, they could be dangerous, as their young players started hitting the ball better towards the end of last year. Steffans is the best baserunner in the conference, and Imoehl is a good hitter. However, their lack of pitching will hurt them.
8. CR/Central - Have a good core of young players coming back, and soph. SS Dylan Preston is a very good player, who could break out into one of the conference's best this year. I'm wary of picking them higher though, due to lack of pitching.
9. Valley - Valley just really struggles in baseball, i'm not sure why. They were easily the worst team last year, and I don't see that changing much this year. Still going to be very young this year.
The top 5 teams are all going to be solid baseball teams. It's going to be tough to get sweeps among the top 5. I don't see Kee running the table and dominating this year like they did last year. My prediction is that the team that wins the conference will have at least 3 conference losses.
Being that the new bats will be a big topic for discussion all year, which teams in this conference do you see them affecting the most? Do you see them as further separating the top teams or making games more competitive from top to bottom? I see the teams that can put consistent play in all parts of the game as having the easiest transition. I don’t know if a team is going to be able to count on multiple homeruns to win a game. Teams will have to be more fundamentally sound, using outs to move runners and playing for one or two runs an inning, instead of the four and five run innings that have become commonplace.
I think everyone agrees that the teams that have the best pitching and defense will do very well as opposed to prior years that you could hit your way to more wins.
North Fayette-
Jake Greco 12HR 64RBI 17SB .619OBP
Kevin Vierow 0HR 33RBI .404OBP
Tom Heying 1HR 30RBI 5SB .447OBP
Steve Schroeder 0HR 24RBI 7SB .400OBP
Dalton Lape 0HR 15RBI .398OBP
Blair Snyder 1HR 13RBI .398OBP
Blair Snyder 5-2 18K 12BB
Jake Greco 3-2 21K 18BB
Tom Heying 3-2 29K 12BB
Daniel Streeter?
Jake Walter?
Trace Heyer?
Turkey Valley-
Jordan Mitchell 12HR 44RBI 22SB .543OBP
Adam Schaufenbuel 4HR 46RBI 2SB .388OBP
Jordan Schmitt 7HR 32RBI 10SB .444OBP
Michael Novotny 0HR 22RBI .521OBP
Ben Novotny 1HR 17RBI 6SB .372OBP
Brooks Milbandt 2HR 14RBI 4SB .342OBP
Jordan Schmitt 5-6 35K 24BB
Ryan Busta 2-3 22K 24BB
Jordan Mitchell 4-2 33K 27BB
Riley Busta 1-4 10K 9BB
Ben Novotny?
Kee, Lansing-
Luke Gavin 2HR 34RBI .574OBP
Cole Carroll 3HR 30RBI 11SB .519OBP
Blair Cooper 0HR 14RBI .461OBP
Jordan Milton 2HR 11RBI 2SB .457OBP
Matt Heiderscheit 0HR 9RBI .508OBP
Matt Heiderscheit 10-2 54K 9BB
Blair Cooper?
Luke Gavin?
South Winn-
Colton Hageman 1HR 15RBI 27SB .471OBP
Isaac Taylor 0HR 14RBI 4SB .380OBP
Dylan Humpal 0HR 14RBI 10SB .411OBP
Alex Walz 0HR 12RBI 10SB .384OBP
Wyatt Opperman 5-4 32K 13BB
Jared Holien 1-2 22K 6BB
Jordan Rommes 3-2 16K 15BB
Isaac Taylor?
Colton Hageman?
Sumner Fred-
Daniel Kass 3HR 23RBI .440OBP
Keegan Meier 1HR 19RBI 13SB .380OBP
Austin Meier 0HR 16RBI 11SB .398OBP
Gunner Mohs 1HR 14RBI 3SB .333OBP
Jalen Tranbarger 0HR 14RBI 7SB .344OBP
Damon Nuss 0HR 14RBI 3SB .450OBP
Damon Nuss 5-4 39K 32BB
Jamison Steege 7-5 61K 39BB
Gunner Mohs?
Austin Meier?
Cameron Schult?
Postville-
Dallas Imoehl
Cody Jarmes
Kruckenberg
Steffans
Imoehl
Clayton Ridge/Central-
Dylan Preston
Caleb Krapfl
TJ Schmitt
Ryan Moser
Gibson Berns
Dylan Preston
Valley-
Riley Sebastian
MFL MarMac-
Aaron Hundt
Based on what I see...
Kee is the favorite, but unless they find a 2nd Starter they will probably split with NF/SF/TV.
I am going with Turkey Valley second. They lost a stud in Kuennen, but with Schmitt and Mitchell anchoring the pitching and hitting they should be alright. Plus, the Busta boys should be improved after a year on varsity.
North Fayette number 3. With the best returning hitter in the conference and 5 other solid returning hitters they should be alright. I also think they have a pretty solid core of pitching, but they may need to find some more depth.
Sumner Fred at 4, but only slightly edging out SW. They have a young team with good experience now. Kass gives them a fair amount of power in the lineup. They have a good core of pitching, but depth is the question with them as well.
South Winn is in at 5. Not much power in this lineup, but good speed. The pitching should be solid at the top, but once again depth will be an issue. Opperman could be the breakout pitcher in the conference this year.
The bottom of the league is all a toss up...
MFL has Hundt and that is about it. He will get them a split against the likes of Postville, CR/CE, and Valley. He may get them to squeak out split verses a Top 6 team or two.
CR/CE has a lot of young players and they seem to have some potential. If they can get players to buy into the program then maybe some will play until they are seniors. If everyone plays again this year I expect them to battle will MFL and Postville for the 7th spot.
Postville has a young team as well. Imoehl has some good potential and if they can find some consistent pitching they can be a solid club, but they haven't shown they can be solid pitching.
Valley is who I expect to be the worst this year. They return very few big contributors and they were not very good last year. I think they will bring up the bottom of the conference.
Jake Greco 12HR 64RBI 17SB .619OBP
Kevin Vierow 0HR 33RBI .404OBP
Tom Heying 1HR 30RBI 5SB .447OBP
Steve Schroeder 0HR 24RBI 7SB .400OBP
Dalton Lape 0HR 15RBI .398OBP
Blair Snyder 1HR 13RBI .398OBP
Blair Snyder 5-2 18K 12BB
Jake Greco 3-2 21K 18BB
Tom Heying 3-2 29K 12BB
Daniel Streeter?
Jake Walter?
Trace Heyer?
Turkey Valley-
Jordan Mitchell 12HR 44RBI 22SB .543OBP
Adam Schaufenbuel 4HR 46RBI 2SB .388OBP
Jordan Schmitt 7HR 32RBI 10SB .444OBP
Michael Novotny 0HR 22RBI .521OBP
Ben Novotny 1HR 17RBI 6SB .372OBP
Brooks Milbandt 2HR 14RBI 4SB .342OBP
Jordan Schmitt 5-6 35K 24BB
Ryan Busta 2-3 22K 24BB
Jordan Mitchell 4-2 33K 27BB
Riley Busta 1-4 10K 9BB
Ben Novotny?
Kee, Lansing-
Luke Gavin 2HR 34RBI .574OBP
Cole Carroll 3HR 30RBI 11SB .519OBP
Blair Cooper 0HR 14RBI .461OBP
Jordan Milton 2HR 11RBI 2SB .457OBP
Matt Heiderscheit 0HR 9RBI .508OBP
Matt Heiderscheit 10-2 54K 9BB
Blair Cooper?
Luke Gavin?
South Winn-
Colton Hageman 1HR 15RBI 27SB .471OBP
Isaac Taylor 0HR 14RBI 4SB .380OBP
Dylan Humpal 0HR 14RBI 10SB .411OBP
Alex Walz 0HR 12RBI 10SB .384OBP
Wyatt Opperman 5-4 32K 13BB
Jared Holien 1-2 22K 6BB
Jordan Rommes 3-2 16K 15BB
Isaac Taylor?
Colton Hageman?
Sumner Fred-
Daniel Kass 3HR 23RBI .440OBP
Keegan Meier 1HR 19RBI 13SB .380OBP
Austin Meier 0HR 16RBI 11SB .398OBP
Gunner Mohs 1HR 14RBI 3SB .333OBP
Jalen Tranbarger 0HR 14RBI 7SB .344OBP
Damon Nuss 0HR 14RBI 3SB .450OBP
Damon Nuss 5-4 39K 32BB
Jamison Steege 7-5 61K 39BB
Gunner Mohs?
Austin Meier?
Cameron Schult?
Postville-
Dallas Imoehl
Cody Jarmes
Kruckenberg
Steffans
Imoehl
Clayton Ridge/Central-
Dylan Preston
Caleb Krapfl
TJ Schmitt
Ryan Moser
Gibson Berns
Dylan Preston
Valley-
Riley Sebastian
MFL MarMac-
Aaron Hundt
Based on what I see...
Kee is the favorite, but unless they find a 2nd Starter they will probably split with NF/SF/TV.
I am going with Turkey Valley second. They lost a stud in Kuennen, but with Schmitt and Mitchell anchoring the pitching and hitting they should be alright. Plus, the Busta boys should be improved after a year on varsity.
North Fayette number 3. With the best returning hitter in the conference and 5 other solid returning hitters they should be alright. I also think they have a pretty solid core of pitching, but they may need to find some more depth.
Sumner Fred at 4, but only slightly edging out SW. They have a young team with good experience now. Kass gives them a fair amount of power in the lineup. They have a good core of pitching, but depth is the question with them as well.
South Winn is in at 5. Not much power in this lineup, but good speed. The pitching should be solid at the top, but once again depth will be an issue. Opperman could be the breakout pitcher in the conference this year.
The bottom of the league is all a toss up...
MFL has Hundt and that is about it. He will get them a split against the likes of Postville, CR/CE, and Valley. He may get them to squeak out split verses a Top 6 team or two.
CR/CE has a lot of young players and they seem to have some potential. If they can get players to buy into the program then maybe some will play until they are seniors. If everyone plays again this year I expect them to battle will MFL and Postville for the 7th spot.
Postville has a young team as well. Imoehl has some good potential and if they can find some consistent pitching they can be a solid club, but they haven't shown they can be solid pitching.
Valley is who I expect to be the worst this year. They return very few big contributors and they were not very good last year. I think they will bring up the bottom of the conference.
MFL has more than Hundt though.... Cody Larson is a solid catcher and they are returning the leading pitcher is terms of wins with Brandon Burke. Hundt's injury last season really hurt the innings he could throw last year. For MFL to be successful and above .500, Hundt must stay healthy.
I see the new bbcor bats helping Kee. They typically have good pitching and defense. Plus anybody that knows anything about Gene Schultz knows that he loves to play small ball, and with the new bats you will see a lot of teams doing more of that.
As we inch closer and closer to the season, what are your guys' keys for each team's success this season? Also, who do you think will anchor each team and why? Also, lets hear some predictions of stat lines for key players from each team (for fun and to kick up the talk)? (i.e. North Fayette-Greco, Vierow, and Heying----Turkey Valley-Mitchell, Schmitt, Novotny----Kee High-Heiderscheit, Milton, Carroll----ETC and so on for each of the teams. Try and list how you think the top couple players from each team will fair based on last year's stats to this year's play in things such as Runs Scored, Hits, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI's, BB, SO, OBP, SLG, and AVG. Have fun!
These are my predictions for the best offensive player and best pitcher for each team. I chose to have a player as only a hitter or pitcher but not both. I know that for some teams the same guy is the best offensive and defensive player. I chose to predict what I feel will be the best 3-5 stats for each player for the entire year not just conference games. The teams are in order of how I think they’ll finish.
Kee High-
Hitter- Cole Carroll - .390 AVG 3HR 55R .550 OBP
Pitcher- Matt Heidersheit- 75 IP 1.0 ERA 65 K 10W’s (Defensive MVP)
North Fayette-
Hitter- Jake Greco- .470 AVG 7HR 60RBI .850 SLG (Offensive MVP)
Pitcher- Tom Heying- 45IP 2.25 ERA .200 Opp BA
South Winn-
Hitter- Colton Hageman- .365 AVG 32 SB 45R
Pitcher- Jordan Rommes- 45IP 35 K 2.9 ERA .210 Opp BA
Sumner-Fredericksburg-
Hitter- Damon Nuss- .380 AVG 35R .460 OBP
Pitcher- Jamison Steege- 55IP 2.0 ERA 70 K .175 Opp BA
Turkey Valley-
Hitter- Jordan Mitchell- .380 AVG 60R 6HR 28SB
Pitcher- Jordan Schmitt- 55IP 3.25 ERA .200 Opp BA 40K
MFL Mar Mac-
Hitter- Aaron Hundt- .425 AVG 3HR .700 SLG
Pitcher- Brandon Burke- 40IP 4W’s .215 Opp BA
Clayton Ridge/Central-
Hitter- Caleb Krapfl- .415 AVG 35R .460 OBP
Pitcher- TJ Schmitt- 55IP 3.75 ERA 40K .250 Opp BA
Valley Community-
Hitter- Grant Wagner- .375 AVG 30 SB .515 OBP
Pitcher- Cody Torkelson- 45 IP .250 Opp BA 3.75 ERA 4 W’s
Kee High-
Hitter- Cole Carroll - .390 AVG 3HR 55R .550 OBP
Pitcher- Matt Heidersheit- 75 IP 1.0 ERA 65 K 10W’s (Defensive MVP)
North Fayette-
Hitter- Jake Greco- .470 AVG 7HR 60RBI .850 SLG (Offensive MVP)
Pitcher- Tom Heying- 45IP 2.25 ERA .200 Opp BA
South Winn-
Hitter- Colton Hageman- .365 AVG 32 SB 45R
Pitcher- Jordan Rommes- 45IP 35 K 2.9 ERA .210 Opp BA
Sumner-Fredericksburg-
Hitter- Damon Nuss- .380 AVG 35R .460 OBP
Pitcher- Jamison Steege- 55IP 2.0 ERA 70 K .175 Opp BA
Turkey Valley-
Hitter- Jordan Mitchell- .380 AVG 60R 6HR 28SB
Pitcher- Jordan Schmitt- 55IP 3.25 ERA .200 Opp BA 40K
MFL Mar Mac-
Hitter- Aaron Hundt- .425 AVG 3HR .700 SLG
Pitcher- Brandon Burke- 40IP 4W’s .215 Opp BA
Clayton Ridge/Central-
Hitter- Caleb Krapfl- .415 AVG 35R .460 OBP
Pitcher- TJ Schmitt- 55IP 3.75 ERA 40K .250 Opp BA
Valley Community-
Hitter- Grant Wagner- .375 AVG 30 SB .515 OBP
Pitcher- Cody Torkelson- 45 IP .250 Opp BA 3.75 ERA 4 W’s
Clayton Ridge/Central opens up with Crestwood tonight (Tuesday). Really anxious to see this young team play. There are only three upperclassmen on the team; one senior and two juniors. TJ Schmitt and Caleb Krapfl are NOT playing. The sophomores, freshmen, and incoming 8th graders have all had stellar little league years. This year may be rough, but I see a bright future for the program.
KWWL posted scores...
Seems as though Kee only has 1 Starting pitcher... This may be similar to 2006-2007 when NF had Hovden.
Kee 2 Decorah 1
Decorah 25 Kee 0
Turkey Valley 9 Nashua Plainfield 5
North Fayette 6 Waukon 2
Seems as though Kee only has 1 Starting pitcher... This may be similar to 2006-2007 when NF had Hovden.
Kee 2 Decorah 1
Decorah 25 Kee 0
Turkey Valley 9 Nashua Plainfield 5
North Fayette 6 Waukon 2
Quikstats posted scores...
May 21
South Winn 10 Mabel-Canton 0
Maquoketa Valley 16 MFL MarMac 4
May 22
South Winn vs. Starmont- Not posted
Notable that West Dubuque beat WSR 13-0 tonight... SF plays them Thursday
May 21
South Winn 10 Mabel-Canton 0
Maquoketa Valley 16 MFL MarMac 4
May 22
South Winn vs. Starmont- Not posted
Notable that West Dubuque beat WSR 13-0 tonight... SF plays them Thursday
Opener for Clayton Ridge/Central: Win over Crestwood 5-0. Dylan Preston, sophomore, pitches 7 innings . . . 2 hits allowed and 12 strikeouts.
Anyone at this game? That score a little hard to believe. Maybe some Kee High players sitting out for some reason? How do you explain losing 25-zip and winning 2-1.
I checked the stats...
Kee 2 Decorah 1
Matt Heiderscheit 7IP 7H 1R 4BB 5K
Decorah 25 Kee 0
Blair 3IP 12H 14R(6ER) 2BB 1K
Donahue 1IP 8H 11R(10ER) 2BB 1K
I am guessing that they were kicking the ball around some, because based on Hits and Walks Blair would have had every baserunner score and Donahue would have had more runs than baserunners.
Kee 2 Decorah 1
Matt Heiderscheit 7IP 7H 1R 4BB 5K
Decorah 25 Kee 0
Blair 3IP 12H 14R(6ER) 2BB 1K
Donahue 1IP 8H 11R(10ER) 2BB 1K
I am guessing that they were kicking the ball around some, because based on Hits and Walks Blair would have had every baserunner score and Donahue would have had more runs than baserunners.
The first game was terrible-- Decorah was making very good contact on the ball but Kee played very poorly all around. Balls were going under infielder's gloves, outfielders were letting the ball drop basically right in front of them, and allowing Decorah to hit in the gaps when catches could have been made. Either way they couldn't hit the ball either and Ashbacher pitched very well. Kee dropped a double header tonight to Maquoketa Valley.. looks like they are really rebuilding, instead of reloading, like in past years. They might be UNDER .500 this year.
Clayton Ridge/Central wins over Waukon 6-3. Sophomore Colten Connelly gets the pitching win tonight. The youngsters are playing good baseball to start the season.
South Winn might be hurting now though because two starters are ineligible and will be out for 30 days. Opperman, who was an All-UIC 2nd team selection last year, and Schmitt who's about the only guy in the line up that's a threat to go deep. It'll be interesting to see how they play missing two key players.
This post was edited on 5/28 9:10 PM by Clones1515
This post was edited on 5/28 9:10 PM by Clones1515
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