42 replies to this topic

[BathBaseball247]

Elida

Edited by BathBaseball247, 06 March 2011 - 09:16 PM.

[white_shadow]

Elida to win the WBL......I assume this is a joke, correct?

[BathBaseball247]

Absolutly not. You just wait and see

[JackCord4]

I'm thinking the League should be wide open this year. The front runners the last couple of years, Defiance and Shawnee, lost a lot of talent.

[chestypuller]

Once again, Defiance will dominate the WBL with all others playing for second place. Yes the D'Dawgs lost some very fine players. This years team will just reload as usual. DHS pitching will be too strong for the rest of the WBL and they have enough hitting and defense to be quite formidable. Elida should be pretty good, as well as Wapak, Shawnee and maybe OG. The only question is: Can someone break the Defiance string of consecutive WBL victories which now stands at something like 41. Defiance will find much more competition in their early tournament run meeting up with either or both Bryan and Napoleon. Napoleon put the smackdown on the Defiance team in the Acme district finals last summer behind the pitching of Art Warren who is now a senior (and signed with Cinci Bearcats). Bryan returns Buckeye Scout top 100 #1 player Matt Wisler. (signed with Ohio State).

Defiance did not lose so much that it cannot be made up or compensated for. Yes, they lost Dace Kime who was a tremendous high school baseball player. They have plenty of good pitching to overcome this loss. Not only depth of pitching but quality as well. I'm not saying any one pitcher this year will be as good as Dace was last year. Only saying that the depth and quality combined will make it tough for other WBL schools to beat them. As always, the defense will be pretty solid although last season there were questions at several spots. Lastly, Defiance will score plenty of runs as they always do.

Edited by chestypuller, 07 March 2011 - 12:05 PM.

[lepiota]

Smug, yet undeniably true

[bulldogs21187]

I agree with that 100% i am much more worried about our sectional because bryan can beat anyone with wisler pitching and napoleon has a very stacked team 1-9 and the monnin kid also shut us down in acme

[chestypuller]

That's right, I had forgotten about Monnin. He's a very nice pitcher also. Bryan has a couple pitchers besides Wisler too. The Defiance Sectional and Archbold District should be very interesting and exciting. I did not intend to be smug. I just don't see any WBL teams giving Defiance a serious challenge this season.

[dhsdawg06]

I've definitely got to go with Defiance until someone proves otherwise. It's not even so much that we've won it so many years in a row, it's that no one's beaten us.

And everyone should know by now that our pitching just reloads. Lose Billingsley? It's cool, we got Niese. Lose Niese? Burgoon is a stud. Lose Burgoon? There's Kime. I never worry about the pitching. Someone WILL step up.

[charlie brown]

And of course there is the fact that Defiance coach Tom Held has a way of getting the best out of his pitchers. Some of the best pitchers in the area go to him for workouts and he has helped many move to the next level.

[JackCord4]

Once again, Defiance will dominate the WBL with all others playing for second place. Yes the D'Dawgs lost some very fine players. This years team will just reload as usual. DHS pitching will be too strong for the rest of the WBL and they have enough hitting and defense to be quite formidable. Elida should be pretty good, as well as Wapak, Shawnee and maybe OG. The only question is: Can someone break the Defiance string of consecutive WBL victories which now stands at something like 41. Defiance will find much more competition in their early tournament run meeting up with either or both Bryan and Napoleon. Napoleon put the smackdown on the Defiance team in the Acme district finals last summer behind the pitching of Art Warren who is now a senior (and signed with Cinci Bearcats). Bryan returns Buckeye Scout top 100 #1 player Matt Wisler. (signed with Ohio State).

Defiance did not lose so much that it cannot be made up or compensated for. Yes, they lost Dace Kime who was a tremendous high school baseball player. They have plenty of good pitching to overcome this loss. Not only depth of pitching but quality as well. I'm not saying any one pitcher this year will be as good as Dace was last year. Only saying that the depth and quality combined will make it tough for other WBL schools to beat them. As always, the defense will be pretty solid although last season there were questions at several spots. Lastly, Defiance will score plenty of runs as they always do.

When I first read this post, "Smug" was NOT the first word that came to my mind. But this lead me to wonder....When was the last time Defiance had a "down" year? I looked through the Historical Standings on wblsports.com and was amazed. The last time Defiance DID NOT finish either 1st or 2nd in the W.B.L. was 1991 when they were 5-4 and finished 4th. So, I guess if you "Walk the Walk, you can Talk the Talk".



I still have to give Coldwater the nod as the best program in this area code because of their 5 State Titles, but Defiance has to be a close 2nd. Does anyone know if they have ever played each other? That would be one heck of a road trip for the visiting team, but I wouldn't mind paying for a ticket to that game.

P.S. I can say that in my 2 Varsity Years at Elida in '85 & '86, we beat Defiance both years. My son's Varsity season at Shawnee in '09, they lost to them in the league but beat them in the District Finals. So my family is 3-1 against them.

[charlie brown]

JackCord - "I still have to give Coldwater the nod as the best program in this area code because of their 5 State Titles, but Defiance has to be a close 2nd."

Patrick Henry has 2 state titles (2008,2009). Not sure how many Defiance has - one that I know of for sure. So, I'd say both programs are also pretty good in this area code.

[dhsdawg06]

JackCord - "I still have to give Coldwater the nod as the best program in this area code because of their 5 State Titles, but Defiance has to be a close 2nd."

Patrick Henry has 2 state titles (2008,2009). Not sure how many Defiance has - one that I know of for sure. So, I'd say both programs are also pretty good in this area code.

We've just got the one up here. A lot of solid teams that could have potentially made a run in D2 ran into Start teams that were just better in D1 in the late 90s. Kind of hard to believe with the run of great pitchers we've had the last 10 years we didn't get one in that time, but when you factor in all the wins, all the league titles, the major league players, and the one state title you've got a program that's up there with some of the best.

[the_beezer]

WAPAK!

[JackCord4]

WAPAK!

Yeah, the last couple of years Wapak has had a solid team. Do they have enough this year to win the title??

[chestypuller]

Coldwater and Defiance do not play during the spring high school season, at least they haven't lately. They do play during the Acme season. Last summer, they split a doubleheader at Coldwater. I believe the Defiance freshman team defeated Coldwater's freshman last spring. As for which program is the best, I would think one should take into account the level at which the teams compete. Defiance is DII and Coldwater is DIII. The same goes for Patrick Henry. All three are fine high school baseball programs with excellent coaches.

[Maltese Falcon]

How is Van Wert going to be this season? Is Charlie Witten still the coach?

[JackCord4]

As for which program is the best, I would think one should take into account the level at which the teams compete. Defiance is DII and Coldwater is DIII.

This may come into play in most cases but not this one. Coldwater plays is the HIGHLY competitive MAC and would play ANYONE regardless of Division. I don't know Defiance's coach at all but I'll go out on limb and say the same for him.

[JackCord4]

JackCord - "I still have to give Coldwater the nod as the best program in this area code because of their 5 State Titles, but Defiance has to be a close 2nd."

Patrick Henry has 2 state titles (2008,2009). Not sure how many Defiance has - one that I know of for sure. So, I'd say both programs are also pretty good in this area code.

I have to admit that I am not familiar with the PH program, but I have heard a lot of good things them. What's the outlook for this season?

[charlie brown]

Lost first team all stater in Luke George but that's about it. Should do OK...that's the word on the street anyway. Made it to Regional semi's but losing George is a big loss. Very good hitter and excellent center fielder. Be interesting to see how the team comes together.