Newman/Martensdale
North Linn/West Sioux
Newman/West Sioux
Newman
Newman has hitting depth. I think GR will give them a challenge for a few innings, as they got very good as the year progressed.
Martensdale and Coon Rapids were lucky to match each other, because I believe they are the two weakest teams at state in 1A. Martensdale went Ace for Ace with Pleasantville and lost early in the year. Pleasantville got better as the year progressed. Coon Rapids looked like a formidable team early in the season, but I wasn't particularly impressed as the season progressed. Solid club, but I don't think they will challenge Newman if they see them.
Van Buren doesn't have a shutdown pitcher. They had a great run going undefeated with balanced pitching across the board, but at state an Ace can take you a long ways and North Linn has an 8th grader who is an Ace much like Cale Henke was for Hudson a few years back. Hudson never made it over the hump because they saw Waterloo Columbus every year. North Linn is at an advantage being in a lower class. If they were 2A they would not have made state because they would have seen Columbus, South Winn, Monticello, Beckman, Cascade, or someone else with dominate hitting and pitching.
West Sioux I believe has possibly the best pitcher in 1A. Hummel has had an impressive season and West Sioux is just deep enough in hitting that they should pose some issues for there side of the bracket. Pleasantville has had a very impressive season and I think Adreon is nearly as good as Hummel, but they lack hitting depth. Hummel could almost get away with pitching around Adreon and Luna. He might as well take his chances with the rest of the team trying to hit him.
The hitting depth will be the difference in the second round for West Sioux also. If both Ace's face each other West Sioux has more hitting depth than North Linn. If neither Ace faces each other than I take West Sioux because of pitching depth.
Newman is simply to much for Martensdale.
Depending on Hummel's eligibility for the Title game West Sioux could keep it close with Newman, otherwise I think Newman wins big.
Cascade/Columbus
Roland Story/Clear Lake
Cascade/Clear Lake
Cascade
Cascade got nearly a perfect set up for them. Mediapolis isn't a general 2A caliber state team. Very solid club and earned that spot, but not as strong as a typical 2A state tournament season. I think Cascade should throw Lieurance against Mepo and only use Hoffman if needed.
Columbus will likely throw Farley and rightfully so as Glass is the only other guy I would consider. I think they should start Farley and see how the game progresses. If they jump out to a 6-7 run lead I would look to have Glass pitch the remainder of the game after the 3rd inning. Hinton has some solid hitting across the board, but I don't think there pitching has seen hitting quite as good as Columbus.
Roland Story and Davis County along with Mediapolis are the weakest teams in 2A. RS has very limited pitching though Hovick has been pitching much better of late. Davis County has limited hitting and mediocre competition. Goodson and Jones are hands down the best pitchers on the team. Goodson could be much better but he walks nearly double the amount of guys who get hits off him. I don't think it particularly matters who wins this game except from a morale standpoint. I think Roland Story will pull it out because Hovick has gotten better of late and I trust RS's hitting more.
Clear Lake and Treynor could be a solid match up and Clear Lake has a history of faltering in big games. These teams are about even in hitting ability, but Clear Lake possesses guys with more pop. Pitching wise Treynor offers a few very solid options, but Adams for Clear Lake is the best for either team. If Treynor can hit Adams they have a good chance, but Merrill is no slouch either for Clear Lake. I just don't think Treynor will have enough to pull it off.
Depending on how Cascade handles the Mediapolis game will depend on what chances Columbus will have. If Hoffman is limited or not used against Mediapolis then Cascade should win by 2-3 runs. If Lieurance is the guy Cascade starts with then this game could go either way. Columbus will be relegated to pitching Farley each game and hoping that they are able to 10 run someone and/or get Farley some rest with a big lead. Glass may need to be the guy for Columbus and I am not sure that they pull that off against Cascade. Cascade can hit top to bottom. Columbus can hit well in the Top 6 with a little more pop in the middle of the lineup. This will be the best match up in 2A. I think the winner here will win the Title, unless Clear Lake is able to rest Adam's so he doesn't have an innings limit.
Like I said. I think RS, DC, and Mepo are the 3 weakest 2A teams. I don't think RS will have much success hitting Adam's and I think Clear Lake can put up enough runs to knock out Roland Story. Not much to this match up. I just feel Roland Story is a little out matched. Mainly because pitching.
Cascade as I have mentioned can hit from top to bottom. Adam's will likely be limited on his available innings to pitch and Cascade should have two Ace's available to pitch as many innings as they want. Clear Lake has some decent hitters, but they are not consistent down the entire order. I think CL will hang around until Adam's runs out of innings. I would almost start with Merrill and see how far they can get with him before bringing in Adam's. I just don't see Clear Lake having the consistent hitting to stay with Cascade. Could be a 2-3 run win or a 5-7 run win for Cascade.
I will do a review on 3A and 4A later.