112 replies to this topic

[ShoelessMo]

Let me hear what you got for the 2008 SCL season. I know it's early but baseball doesn't take a holiday. I know that Loramie lost Goldschmit (divison I Eastern Michigan), Hoying (Division I Toledo), and Ludlow Division II West Libery State), not to mention big pitcher Schemmel. Russia lost 4 starters also (Monnin, Borchers, DeLoye, Goubeaux). Anna lost there 2 best pitchers (May, Finkinbine) but I really dont know anything more than that... Its really a toss up between Russia, Loramie, Anna, and Botkins this year. Let me hear what you got and why.

[tribeguy13]

Let me hear what you got for the 2008 SCL season. I know it's early but baseball doesn't take a holiday. I know that Loramie lost Goldschmit (divison I Eastern Michigan), Hoying (Division I Toledo), and Ludlow Division II West Libery State), not to mention big pitcher Schemmel. Russia lost 4 starters also (Monnin, Borchers, DeLoye, Goubeaux). Anna lost there 2 best pitchers (May, Finkinbine) but I really dont know anything more than that... Its really a toss up between Russia, Loramie, Anna, and Botkins this year. Let me hear what you got and why.

PUT IT IN THE BAG!! BACK TO BACK STATE CHAMPS BABY!!!
okay just kidding.
The Raiders will be a force to be reckoned with. New coach Billy Shoffner has gotten his boys and the whole town of Russia pumped up to beat the defending champs. They lose a good group of seniors, including the number 2 player in county last year Jordan Monnin, but I can still see them causing lots of problems. McEldowny and Schafer are a good lefty/righty combination on the hill, and Paul Schulze as well as Schafer can hit very well.
The Redskins do lose a great group of seniors, who were able to bring a title back to Shelby County for the first time since the 1970's, but they also have a lot of key returnees from that team. All 3 outfielders from the State Championship team are back, as well as the first baseman/dh and catcher. This team will need to have some guys step up, seeing as the Redskins lose three infielders who have been starting since they were freshman. Derek Coverstone, Jay Schulze, and Tregg Barga can tear the cover off the ball, and the speed of Mitch Ahlers and Mitch Raterman at the top will be enough to reak havoc around the area. Their pitching and defense will need to step up. Post season hero Andy Long is only as good as his defense behind him. They'll be fun to watch though.
Botkins really isn't too hard to figure out. When Luegers pitches, they'll win. When anyone else pitches, they'll have a decent chance. Their hitting wasn't great last year, but will be able to hold its own against a weaker county this season.
Anna loses their best two pitchers, but return some key players, including Wes Hunsucker, who is their young shortstop. He also pitches, which is where they'll need him. They also have Zach Clark and Devin Lattimer who can pitch well enough to win games.

It'll be a very interesting year. Those four teams will be the front runners. I can't see the others being much of an impact. I'm excited to see how the pitching works out in Loramie and who will be the number 2 in Botkins

[Voice Of Reason]

Until Ft Loramie shows some weakness (and they haven't yet), they have to be considered the favorite going in. Long, Coverstone, Barga, Ahlers, Schulze all return. Pretty solid foundation in The Voice's mind! Tradition -- on their side. Stability in coaching staff -- on their side. Confidence -- on their side. The Voice has watched them play a couple times a year the past 5 years, and those boys just know how to win. Long and Coverstone are nice pitchers, have seen Schulze pitch and ditto for him. Looks like a solid staff.

Botkins will be tough to beat with Leugers on the hill, and I'm sure Russia will have a say before the year is over.

But until the champs fall, you can't take them off the top of the mountain just yet.

The Voice has spoken

[tribeguy13]

Until Ft Loramie shows some weakness (and they haven't yet), they have to be considered the favorite going in. Long, Coverstone, Barga, Ahlers, Schulze all return. Pretty solid foundation in The Voice's mind! Tradition -- on their side. Stability in coaching staff -- on their side. Confidence -- on their side. The Voice has watched them play a couple times a year the past 5 years, and those boys just know how to win. Long and Coverstone are nice pitchers, have seen Schulze pitch and ditto for him. Looks like a solid staff.

Botkins will be tough to beat with Leugers on the hill, and I'm sure Russia will have a say before the year is over.

But until the champs fall, you can't take them off the top of the mountain just yet.

The Voice has spoken

I think that the only thing will challenge the Redskins next year will be their defense in the infield. I don't know how many times Hoying or Ludlow made magnificent plays in the infield, as well as Ryan Boerger at second base making his share of good plays and turning the double plays. It's hard to replace defense, but sometimes a teams offense will be able to make up for their errors, which I think will be the case for the Redskins next season.

And don't get me wrong, losing Goldschmidt will hurt their, but Ahlers made some GREAT catches in right field that showed he has the range to play centerfield. With Raterman coming up from JV, I look fo their outfield D to be just as solid as last year.

[catturnedfrog]

I think Anna will have to be thrown into the mix as well. They have a lot returning, even though they lose May and Finkenbine, they have young pitching coming up, along with key talent with veteran leadership. Naseman and Elsass are both back, along with Dustin Wolters and Chase Abbott. They also have Wesley Hunsucker who can play short and pitch. I'm not sure how deep their pitching is though, so watch them being a spoiler.
Botkins will be another spoiler, only when Leugers pitches. He doesn't have a strong team behind him, and when he doesn't pitch, they dont have a strong presence on the mound either.
It will all come down to the Russia Raiders and Fort Loramie Redskins. These two teams will have a lot of key talent returning, but not the main names from last year. Russia loses 1st team all county member for the past two years, Jordan Monnin, which means they lose their shortstop and best hitter. They return Brook Schafer and Paul Schulze, two very capable hitters. They also return Cayle McEldowney on the hill, who actually led the league in K-BB ratio and was in the top 5 of innings pitched.
The returning state champions will also be a force to be reckoned with. Loramie loses Hoying, Goldschmidt, and Ludlow, who seemed to have been there forever, but they'll be able to move on. Sturwold won't have them basking in the glory past the first practice. They return key players from that state team, including Coverstone, Barga, Turner, and of course Andy Long. They'll have the tools to be a good team. Certainly not the team they had last year, losing 3 guys that were all-state would hurt anyone, but they'll be good too.
It comes down to who can stay alive against Botkins and Anna. and who wins the matchups theyre supposed to, and who takes a day off.

[Stitch]

I agree with Catturnedfrog in regards to Anna. Let's not forget that they were league champs along with Loramie last year. They also have had a good JV team the past couple of years and they will be the ones to watch out for.
I understand the buzz about Russia, but I'm not quite buying into them yet.

It will be a very very interesting race for the league championship though. I can easily see the champ or co-champs having as many as three losses in league play. With the home and home scheduling in the SCL it will be as wide open and close as it can be.

By the way tribeguy, try not to sprain your arm too much when you write about your glorious run. Typping on a computer and patting yourself on the back could lead to a serious injury.

[tribeguy13]

By the way tribeguy, try not to sprain your arm too much when you write about your glorious run. Typping on a computer and patting yourself on the back could lead to a serious injury.

Wow, saying that we brought back the title to SHELBY COUNTY, the place we all share, for the first time since the 70's is probably patting myself on the back so many times theres a small whole there. You're right I need to be more careful. And I'm also sorry to Jordan Monnin for patting his back too hard, as well as the two pitchers from Anna who graduated last year. Very sorry boys.

It wasn't even bragging. The rest is about the future team, and how I think they'll do. wow. Sorry Stitch.

[Voice Of Reason]

Nobody has mentioned a major intangible yet... Sturwold wins 95% of the close ones. It can't be an accident, he's done it year after year. 2-1 wins, 3-2 wins, 4-3 wins. Finds a way to manufacture one more run than the other team.

Baseball is often about that one thing that can be done to win a game than any other sport -- you can't make up for a mistake with athleticism like you can in others.

Winning the close ones one season -- maybe luck / concidence. Winning them every year, good coach that can't be ignored in any race.

The Voice has spoken

[catturnedfrog]

Wow, saying that we brought back the title to SHELBY COUNTY, the place we all share, for the first time since the 70's is probably patting myself on the back so many times theres a small whole there. You're right I need to be more careful. And I'm also sorry to Jordan Monnin for patting his back too hard, as well as the two pitchers from Anna who graduated last year. Very sorry boys.

It wasn't even bragging. The rest is about the future team, and how I think they'll do. wow. Sorry Stitch.

Stitch,
The kid is apparently a state champion. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you aren't? I think it's quite grand that the kid won the thing, let him bask in some glory.

And Voice brings up a great point about coaching. Sturwold has the edge over every coach in the county. I know that Billy is a players' coach over here in Russia, but it comes down to the wins and losses, not whether they players like you or not. As Jack Kremer said numerous times during the State Championship games on the radio, "Baseball is a game of inches." I don't think any coach understands and preaches that better than Sturwold

[Tim Dweeb]

I think that the only thing will challenge the Redskins next year will be their defense in the infield. I don't know how many times Hoying or Ludlow made magnificent plays in the infield, as well as Ryan Boerger at second base making his share of good plays and turning the double plays. It's hard to replace defense, but sometimes a teams offense will be able to make up for their errors, which I think will be the case for the Redskins next season.

And don't get me wrong, losing Goldschmidt will hurt their, but Ahlers made some GREAT catches in right field that showed he has the range to play centerfield. With Raterman coming up from JV, I look fo their outfield D to be just as solid as last year.

Talking about making magnificent plays is patting yourself on the back Tribeguy. You have been exposed.

[tribeguy13]

I exposed myself long ago Tim...
yeah that was a pat. Ludlow made the routine plays, Hoying made the magnicent ones. No matter how it happened, losing two four year starters on the left side of the infield will be tough to replace. that's all I was trying to say. We've had some great JV sucess, Loramie should be fine.

[Stitch]

I exposed myself long ago Tim...
yeah that was a pat. Ludlow made the routine plays, Hoying made the magnicent ones. No matter how it happened, losing two four year starters on the left side of the infield will be tough to replace. that's all I was trying to say. We've had some great JV sucess, Loramie should be fine.

Now that we got that cleared up, it will be very interesting to see what happens with that left side of the infield for Loramie, and the rest of the infield for that matter as well. There will be a lot of competition among some nice young players for some important positions. Loramie will be fine, it just might take some time and play to find the right mix.

[Tim Dweeb]

I exposed myself long ago Tim...
yeah that was a pat. Ludlow made the routine plays, Hoying made the magnicent ones. No matter how it happened, losing two four year starters on the left side of the infield will be tough to replace. that's all I was trying to say. We've had some great JV sucess, Loramie should be fine.

That's alright tribeguy. What you say is true. A lot of experience in the infield is now gone and how the young players do filling in will go a long way to determine the success of this year's team.

Congratulations on a great career and being a State Champion. Good luck this next season.

[tribeguy13]

Thanks Tim and Big Daddy.

I have to agree with ya about Billy Shoffner. Being apart of that #1 ranked team that got knocked out by Lehman, I've seen first hand how Shoffner coaches. He makes aggressive moves that some people and parents question, but because the kids are in such good faith with him, they believe in it. That's one thing that is often overlooked, not whether kids respect their coaches, but rather if they believe in what their coach wants them to do.

Another example of Shoffner's coaching style: when Loramie played at Lehman this year, it was 8-1, with the heart of the Lehman lineup coming up, and instead of making a play at a comeback, he put in everyone that was terrible on the team. We ended up winning something like, 18-5 or something. Coach Sturwold reminded us about how Wayne did the same thing to him in the early 2000's, and ended up playing them again in tournament. The overconfidence from the Loramie side almost cost them the win. We didn't end up playing them this year though.

This just shows how Billy has a different, but good style, that will help Russia out a lot this year.


And as for the Loramie infielding vacancies...the early favorites from ACME and JV ball are probably Jacob Maurer (ss/3b) Justin Hoying, who is Jared's little brother (ss/3b/2b), Jacob Bowles (3b) and the dark horse will be Mitch Boerger (2b/ss). All of them are capable players, but lack experience against varsity level opponents.

[Voice Of Reason]

And as for the Loramie infielding vacancies...the early favorites from ACME and JV ball are probably Jacob Maurer (ss/3b) Justin Hoying, who is Jared's little brother (ss/3b/2b), Jacob Bowles (3b) and the dark horse will be Mitch Boerger (2b/ss). All of them are capable players, but lack experience against varsity level opponents.

Why not the Schulze kid for middle infield? Have seen him there before and he handles himself well.

The Voice has spoken

[tribeguy13]

Why not the Schulze kid for middle infield? Have seen him there before and he handles himself well.

The Voice has spoken

Jay Schulze played a little bit of second base during the year last year, and had trouble getting to second base to turn double plays. He's not blessed with the same speed and quickness his brother Chad had. I think Jay would be a better third baseman than anything else, but his arm is a mystery. Sometimes he can throw the ball on a line from third, and other times its a lollipop. The majority of his time during the summer was in the outfield, both in legion and ACME.

[houstonfan]

I'm sorry to but in here but from the looks of it we all know that the race for county will probably be between only Ft. Loramie, Russia, and possibly Anna,(Unless some sort of miracle occurs). I haven't heard much about Houston's team. Where do you think they are sitting and who do you think will when POY now that Hoying is gone. Roeth is the probably the only player that has a chance off of Houston's team.

[tribeguy13]

Houston will struggle with pitching this year. They have Joe Gordon, who showed some signs of greatness last year, but after that, they're weak. Their hitting last year was very scrappy, with the exception of Roeth, who really hit the ball well. I will be interested to see how well he plays in the spring coming from a foot injury. Hopefully he'll be at full strength come season time. They'll be able to beat teams like Fairlawn and Jackson Center relatively easily, but will have trouble with the Annas, Russias, and Loramies.

As for the POY, well I think it really depends on how well Botkins does. If Ryan Leugers can have as dominating of a senior year as Kevin Mann did when he was the only player on JC's team, then I think he'll do it. If Botkins wins everytime Leugers pitches, he'll make a solid case for POY.
On the other side of the county, I can see someone from Russia pulling off a great year for the POY. Brook Schafer and Paul Schulze are both very solid players that could put up the numbers to make them worthy of the POY.
The only other players I could see winning are Derek Coverstone, Kreg Elsass or Tregg Barga. I'm not sure if Tregg was even on the all-county teams last year, but his improvement throughout the year was evident, and his summer was nothing short of awesome. He'll be the darkhorse, along with Roeth, who had a monster year last year in Houston.
My guess as of right now is probably...
Leugers - POY
Coverstone
Roeth
Paul Schulze
Barga
Elsass
Schafer

[catturnedfrog]

wait tribeguy, are you Hoying or Ludlow?
From my talks with Larry Ludlow I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you're Kyler. Tribe would insist upon the favorite team of you guys, the Cleveland Indians.
Congrats on your State Championship. I was at the ceremony against Russia when you guys got your rings and I must say, its nice to have a baseball championship back in Shelby County, and even though we are rivals, you treated us with class.
Back to the post though...
Call me a little biased, but I think that a major advantage for this season will be for Schluze, Leugers and Barga when it comes to POY voting. Leugers pitched a good amount for the Sidney Legion team, and both Schulze and Barga were main players on the Piqua team. These guys saw better competition than Roeth, Elsass and Schafer did during the summer, which I would think would give them an advantage. Coverstone would be included on the advantage list, but I don't think he got to play enough for Sidney over the summer.
Here's my list on the POY voting...
Leugers - - POY
Schulze
Barga
Coverstone
Elsass
Roeth
Schafer

[tribeguy13]

nailed it catfrog.
Thank you.
As for what you had to say about the legion ball in the summer. I feel like you're right about that. I played with Paul and Tregg and against Leugers. All three were impressive. This will help them individually with their senior season. The one thing I will say about Schafer not playing Legion ball is that it only helped Russia's team chemistry. I personally played this route going into my senior year and got to get closer to the younger guys that I hadn't played with before. In the end I feel like it will help with the bond the players have with each other, which will make them a better team.