124 replies to this topic

[mrclutch]

Agree LCC should be at or near the top with K'brock. Is anyone convinced Ada has the depth 1-9? Possibly same question can be asked about Crestview as varsity level will be new to the majority of their roster. The 1-9 overall depth appears to be at Delphos and Paulding - questions there are #1 arms. Everyone else is a (potential to upset someone) sleeper - but if anyone has enough to pull one off I'd have to guess Allen East or Spencerville.

[*BabySlice*]

With being a student here at AE, all I hear about is baseball. Yetman is extremely pumped for the season. All of them are really. We have plenty of seniors this year that are dedicated and hardworking. We also have quite a few naturally talented underclassmen. There has been a lot of hardwork and training going on around here, I expect to see that are boys are going to do better this year than we have in the past. I know I'm excited! I believe many will be suprised by the team this year... =]

[ADog]

I am not convinced quite yet that Ada can compete for for the NWC crown. If they find a couple of more pitchers then yes they will be in the hunt. They do have quite a bit of talent and experience coming back though. Lost their #1 pitcher to graduation but have Grobrowski (sp..sorry if I butchered your name) coming back on the mound. You will see Dysert on the mound, behind the plate when he isn't. Vermillion will anchor up the middle , givng the Dogs a strong defense.
At the plate, I look for Vermillion to lead the way with Dysert, Grobrowski, Simmons also contributing a lot. I know they have some younger guys that are talented but I can't give a report as I have not seen them play much yet. I hope I don't offend any of the players by leaving their name out here. but I am trying to do this all by memory..which isn't the greatest...lol....

and Bob...I can't speak for Throwback and Boomer...but 76 to answer your question..

[ibleedbluengold]

Hey thats when I graduated Adog, that means we played against each other.

[ADog]

Hey thats when I graduated Adog, that means we played against each other.

Thats cool...but what that means to me is that you are probably one of the many from Paulding that crushed my "fastball" over the fence.....lol

[ADog]

From Lima News today.........NWC Preview of soon to open Baseball season. I also supplied the link which previews all the conferences around Lima area.
http://www.limasports.com/story.php?IDnum=51147


Northwest Conference

Ada

Coach: Ken Jochims

Years at School, career record: 5, 56-44
Division: IV

Last year’s record: 18-5 (advanced to the district finals)

Top returning athletes: C Zac Dysert; SS Nate Vermillion; P-1B Ron Grzybowski; OF Josh Rouch; OF Josh Duffy; 3B-P Tyler Simmons.

Promising newcomers: 2B Jon Mills; 1B-C Cody Mattson; 3B-P Austin Everhart; OF-P Aaron Weyer; OF Matt Flower; OF Robbie Allen; 2B Garrett Hays.
Outlook: Shortstop Vermillion and catcher Dysert return after each batted better than .400 last year. Vermillion hit .481 with 12 doubles. Dysert batted .453 with five doubles. Grzybowski leads the pitching staff after going 4-1 with a 3.87 ERA. The key will be developing pitching behind Grzybowski.

Bluffton

Coach: Keith Cosart

Years at School, career record: 1st
Division: III

Last year’s record: 10-10 (3-6 NWC)

Top returning athletes: Devin Kisor; Andrew Keeler.

Promising newcomers: Matt Suderman; Evan Sikilliter.

Outlook: First-year coach Cosart will have a young team to build around. He’ll look to Kisor (.390) and Keeler (3.73 ERA) to lead the way.

Columbus Grove

Coach: Cory King

Years at School, career record: 6, 50-80
Division: IV

Last year’s record: 8-19 (1-6 PCL) (3-6 NWC)

Top returning athletes: Adam Osterhage; Nate Bogart; Brett Reed; Garret Wolfe; Nate Schroeder; Brandon Hovest; Jesse Maag.

Promising newcomers: David Creamer; Kyle Stechschulte; Jacob Miller; Nate King; Blake Walker.
Outlook: Seven players return to form a veteran everyday lineup. Osterhage is the lone senior, so the team will count on several rookies.

Crestview

Coach: Jim Wharton

Years at School, career record: 24, 385-187
Division: IV

Last year’s record: 16-4 (8-1 NWC)

Top returning athletes: CF-P Briggs Orsbon; 3B-P-OF Tony Burger.

Promising newcomers: SS-P Ian Clay; 2B-P-SS Tony Seringer; P-1B Kyle Balliet; OF-INF Jordan Gibson; P-1B-OF Ian Zollars.
Outlook: The Knights will build a young team around second team all-state center fielder Orsbon, who hit .485 with nine doubles and four home runs last year. He also drove in 26 runs. Also back is third baseman-pitcher Burger, who hit .280 and was 4-0 with a 2.50 ERA. The pitching staff will be counted on to keep the Knights in games. The team will also rely on several members of a junior varsity team that went 15-2.

Delphos Jefferson

Coach: Troy Montenery

Years at School, career record: 4, 27-35
Division: IV

Last year’s record: 11-9 (4-5 NWC)

Top returning athletes: P-OF Damon Joseph; C Adam Kraning; 1B Chris Wilkin; 2B Josh Miller; SS Aaron Schuerman; 3B-P Sean Fisher; CF-P Matt Antalis; DH-OF Cory Bastian; P-INF Mike Rahrig; P-2B-OF Craig Carder.

Promising newcomers: OF Matt Gerdeman; 2B-C Ryan Kortokrax; 1B-P Taylor Hesseling; OF Adam Wollenhaupt.
Outlook: Ten veterans are back, including several key pitchers. A key will be the team’s defense. This group is aiming for a good year in the NWC. Joseph, a three-year letterman with a career ERA of 3.52 will lead the pitching staff. Kraning is back behind the plate; he hit .382 with a team-leading 21 RBIs.

Lima Central Catholic

Coach: John Schnieders

Years at School, career record: 6, 58-55

Division: III

Last year’s record: 18-5 (9-0 NWC) (advanced to district semifinals)

Top returning athletes: INF-P Matt Clay; INF Alan Hankinson; P-OF Travis Kottenbrock; C-OF Chris O’Brien; OF Matt Huffman; INF Joel Stolly; P-INF Drew Snider; 1B Gavin Saine; OF J.T. Wiechart; INF-P Sean Gronas.

Promising newcomers: C-P Josh Runda.

Outlook: Four starters return, including the top of the rotation with left-hander Kottenbrock and right-hander Snider. That should give the defending NWC champs a strong 1-2 punch. The T-Birds also have good team speed. Defense and pitching depth will be the keys to defending its NWC title.

Lincolnview

Coach: Roger Salisbury

Years at School, career record: 8, 86-56

Division: IV

Last year’s record: 11-11 (4-5 NWC)

Top returning athletes: IF Roy Salisbury; IF-P-C Mike Evans; IF-OF Lance Dasher; P-IF Josh Hoehn; P-OF-IF Jordan Simpson; IF-P Kyle Thatcher; OF-P Matt Evans.

Promising newcomers: C-OF Brock Profit; OF Caleb Girod; IF Ian Brcey; P-IF-OF Anthony Simpson.
Outlook: Lincolnview brings a positive attitude to the game. The team looks to improve pitching depth and get the key hits with men in scoring position.

Paulding

Coach: Joel Parrett

Years at School: 6
Division: III

Last year’s record: 10-15

Top returning athletes: P-CF Jarod Riley ; P-SS-OF Zach Stallkamp; P-SS Justin Barron; C Chris Phlipot; OF Alfonzo Rocha; P-OF Kameron Owens; 3B Brandon Mericle; P-OF Hayden Sholl; 1B Garrett Stoller.

Promising newcomers: 1B Jordan Phlipot; P-SS-2B Chase Brooks; 2B-3B Mark Wolfe; 2B-3B Aric Mericle.
Outlook: Nine lettermen return, including five pitchers. With left-hander Riley and right-handers Stallkamp, Barron, Owens and Sholl, pitching should be the strength of the Panthers.

[ADog]

I just noticed a few NWC teams not included in this preview....Spencerville for one. Did their coach not submit it or does anyone know if those missing were previwed earlier?

[slice slice baby]

Wonder what happened to AE & Spencertucky??? hmm.....

[slice slice baby]

I just noticed a few NWC teams not included in this preview....Spencerville for one. Did their coach not submit it or does anyone know if those missing were previwed earlier?

Wonder what happened to AE & Spencertucky??? hmm.....

We do this to each other all the time, adog! lol Great minds...

[ADog]

Great minds..hmmmm have been called and accused of a lot of things...but great mind.....never..lol. I assume that Lima News possibly previewed AE and Spencerville( have to be politically correct these days.... ) earlier.

Edited by ADog, 29 March 2008 - 08:40 AM.

[slice slice baby]

Spencerville( have to be politically correct these days....

Oh, the senility is most certainly setting in as you are obviously confused at which site you are at, adog.



(And I certainly refer to S-ville as 'spencertucky', most affectionately. )

[ADog]

Watched a little of a scrimmage today between Ada and Arlington... Both teams showed some bright spots and both teams showed where some improvement is needed. Not a bad outing for either team with weather conditions as they were.

Some of the younger Dogs played pretty decent. Looks like the Dogs could have some good at bats this year. Nate was his usual, starting off with a solid double and few others getting good hits in the windy conditions.

[Boomerpete]

I think Ada could raise some eyebrows. I saw the game against Hardin Northern. Although I don't think HN is a challenge, I saw some talent and some possibilities. No surprise, it all comes down to pitching and there might be some interesting games. After Grzybowski and Simmons, I assume Dysert will get innings, Simmons catching. Then the question is Nate. He has a live arm. Will he ever take the hill? I also saw Duffy pitch against Arlington and he was around the plate, which is half the battle. Anyone else?

Ada better use this year because they have a good number of seniors.

[three sport man]

crestview, paulding, lcc, delphos jeff, and spencerville and compete if they hit the ball...it seems like once one person hit it they all start hitting it...thats what i seen in ACME atleast...but defense is not good...way too many errors...then pitching is decent but it basically comes down to wirth in that rotation...he can either be completely terrible or good...if he can stay on the good side they'll be OK i think

[ibleedbluengold]

Thats cool...but what that means to me is that you are probably one of the many from Paulding that crushed my "fastball" over the fence.....lol

Um, Adog I had one homerun my senior year and guess who it was against ....... yer right Ada!!

[throwback]

Um, Adog I had one homerun my senior year and guess who it was against ....... yer right Ada!!

76' ..... as I recall you had no outfield fence back then (don't know if you do now). Was your shot to left center ? I recall chasing down a few up there. I think there was a pole you had to dodge in left center. Good chance it might have been served up by Adog (Sorry Adog) !

Edited by throwback, 04 April 2008 - 05:47 PM.

[ibleedbluengold]

I believe it went to right , right center.

[ADog]

76' ..... as I recall you had no outfield fence back then (don't know if you do now). Was your shot to left center ? I recall chasing down a few up there. I think there was a pole you had to dodge in left center. Good chance it might have been served up by Adog (Sorry Adog) !

I believe it went to right , right center.

Oh I'm sure someone hit it to left center throwback.....after ibleed hit it to right......thanks for the bad memories guys.....lol

Edited by ADog, 04 April 2008 - 08:05 PM.

[Jack Bauer]

What has happened to Ada this year?

[baseballfan1]

What has happened to Ada this year?

1) Ada is a very poor defensive team. It's hard to win when you give the other team 5, 6, or 7 outs per inning.

2) No 'ace' pitcher. Pitching-by-committee only works if you put a good defense behind the guy on the mound. If you're not a sound team defensively, it's pretty easy to make a decent pitcher look like a bad pitcher.

3) Struggles at the bottom of the order. The front half of Ada's lineup is as good as anyone's, but to have really big innings offensively, you've gotta bat around. When the top four or five haven't had big games, Ada has been pretty quiet at the plate.

Pretty disappointing year so far for the Bulldogs, particularly in conference play. Ada has two of the best players in the conference, and a couple more that are pretty nice players... but it takes 9. Give Ada a good pitcher, or simply cut the errors in half, and they might be a pretty good team (much like last year and the year before). But four or five good hitters alone are only going to beat the bad teams, which Ada has done for the most part.

Here's a good question: How does Ada's team performance affect POY voting? Vermillion will lead the conference in batting average, hits, runs, stolen bases, triples and possibly doubles (tied at the moment with teammate Dysert). Dysert will be top five in most categories as well, and should lead the conference in RBI.

Will the POY be the best player... or the most valuable player on the best team? I foresee a little bit of controversy...