2023 Mid-State League

 
Like every couple years for Harvest Prep, they have a new coach and a new team. One of the few positives is that interest the last couple years have been much better, as they have had around 15-18 players. While this may not seem as a lot, compared to the 8 boys and 1 girl that they had in 2019, which did not even make it through the full season, it is a massive step forward. The next step, which has been needed for the last couple of years is pitching and fielding. Lastly, Harvest Prep is playing a Columbus City School for the first time in years against Africentric. They also are playing two MOCAL schools in LCA and Shekinah Christian. I am glad Harvest Prep is playing some Columbus City Schools, as this is both schools worst sport and should have a somewhat competitive game.
 
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Do we know who returns the most this year? and Preseason rankings ?
Cardinal wise… (this is going to be a disjointed

FC, FCA, and Rosecrans all return ‘the most.’

FCA probably returns the most (and best) corps of hitting + pitching + fielding [all three combined] experience among those three — plus their JH teams were pretty good in previous years.

Rosecrans — TBH, I have no idea what to expect out of these guys… they’ve managed to continuously exceed expectations (at least mine) and they’ve sniped some wins against the top of the league. I guess the main thing that stands between them and driving the league title race is whether they can build some pitching depth (with an established 1-and-2.) They’ve been both capable of pulling upsets but also getting beat through attrition on the rubber in the same week.

FC — they’re probably the most ‘interesting’ team of these three. They’ll have a pitching corps of at least five guys (and they can probably get CG’s out of three of them) and can make another two work in relief. Getting some versatility and consistent fielding in the Diamond 9 rotations for when pitchers 4-7 are on the hill will be key (just a product of small roster — have to get guys moved around.) In April, they will have a two week stretch (in order of M-W-F) of HP/BU/FCA and then GCC/MP/Rosecrans the following week. That slate will test the endurance of the arm barn.

— — —

I said this post would be disjointed. There’s really no way to know if the above three will be the top three in the league in any order.

Berne brings back some solid hitting and some pitching depth developed. They do graduate the middle of their infield (Dylan Winkler — SS/pitching ace; Tylor Tipple at 2B) and their CF (one of their better hitters.) IIRC, they do bring back the corners and they return the most-experienced catcher in the league (who will probably be getting some innings as well.)

MP — not sure where they really fit in the league race? The Port has two things that make them dangerous: 1) a big, experienced southpaw who can overpower (just a unique combination of skillset and physical traits that rarely comes through any side of the MSL) and 2) an experienced cadre of batters who can make opposing pitchers work. What’s a little curious about the Lakers this year are three things: they don’t (APPEAR TO) have an established pitching corps behind Levacy and their presumable #2 [at least not as deep as what FCA, FC, BU would have]; they graduated Tyler Hall at catcher; they have a new coach (I can’t remember if he was on Everitt’s staff last year or not.) So, they have at least some really strong pieces — it just remains to be seen what the rest of the picture looks like for them.

— —

Miller has made strides. I’m not sure what all they bring back.

IIRC, GCC brings back a bunch of guys. If they can get the pitching shored up they’ll be a team that can spoil. They also have a coaching change, but I think they hired from within.

HP has also made some serious strides.
 
Cardinal wise… (this is going to be a disjointed

FC, FCA, and Rosecrans all return ‘the most.’

FCA probably returns the most (and best) corps of hitting + pitching + fielding [all three combined] experience among those three — plus their JH teams were pretty good in previous years.

Rosecrans — TBH, I have no idea what to expect out of these guys… they’ve managed to continuously exceed expectations (at least mine) and they’ve sniped some wins against the top of the league. I guess the main thing that stands between them and driving the league title race is whether they can build some pitching depth (with an established 1-and-2.) They’ve been both capable of pulling upsets but also getting beat through attrition on the rubber in the same week.

FC — they’re probably the most ‘interesting’ team of these three. They’ll have a pitching corps of at least five guys (and they can probably get CG’s out of three of them) and can make another two work in relief. Getting some versatility and consistent fielding in the Diamond 9 rotations for when pitchers 4-7 are on the hill will be key (just a product of small roster — have to get guys moved around.) In April, they will have a two week stretch (in order of M-W-F) of HP/BU/FCA and then GCC/MP/Rosecrans the following week. That slate will test the endurance of the arm barn.

— — —

I said this post would be disjointed. There’s really no way to know if the above three will be the top three in the league in any order.

Berne brings back some solid hitting and some pitching depth developed. They do graduate the middle of their infield (Dylan Winkler — SS/pitching ace; Tylor Tipple at 2B) and their CF (one of their better hitters.) IIRC, they do bring back the corners and they return the most-experienced catcher in the league (who will probably be getting some innings as well.)

MP — not sure where they really fit in the league race? The Port has two things that make them dangerous: 1) a big, experienced southpaw who can overpower (just a unique combination of skillset and physical traits that rarely comes through any side of the MSL) and 2) an experienced cadre of batters who can make opposing pitchers work. What’s a little curious about the Lakers this year are three things: they don’t (APPEAR TO) have an established pitching corps behind Levacy and their presumable #2 [at least not as deep as what FCA, FC, BU would have]; they graduated Tyler Hall at catcher; they have a new coach (I can’t remember if he was on Everitt’s staff last year or not.) So, they have at least some really strong pieces — it just remains to be seen what the rest of the picture looks like for them.

— —

Miller has made strides. I’m not sure what all they bring back.

IIRC, GCC brings back a bunch of guys. If they can get the pitching shored up they’ll be a team that can spoil. They also have a coaching change, but I think they hired from within.

HP has also made some serious strides.
Great report as usual. Always enjoy reading your breakdowns. Everything is pretty much spot on.
I’m with you on MP. Not sure where they fit in. They do have a really good #2 pitcher Brendan Jakeway. He’s a junior and and also play SS. Just a great kid and a tough competitor. After that it get a little thin with a freshman pitcher coming in and also a senior lefty that throws. The tough replacement is going to be Tyler Hall as a catcher and his bat. Defensively otherwise they return most. As for the new head coach this will be his first year with the program. It’s Cooper Vest from Bloom Carroll. His father is the head coach at BC. He has been an assistant at BC.
 
Great report as usual. Always enjoy reading your breakdowns. Everything is pretty much spot on.
I’m with you on MP. Not sure where they fit in. They do have a really good #2 pitcher Brendan Jakeway. He’s a junior and and also play SS. Just a great kid and a tough competitor. After that it get a little thin with a freshman pitcher coming in and also a senior lefty that throws. The tough replacement is going to be Tyler Hall as a catcher and his bat. Defensively otherwise they return most. As for the new head coach this will be his first year with the program. It’s Cooper Vest from Bloom Carroll. His father is the head coach at BC. He has been an assistant at BC.
Cooper comes from a good coaching pedigree. I knew he has a job at WTLSD, just wasn’t sure on where he was previously staff wise. Thanks!

And, yeah, their #2 (for this year) made strides between his freshman and sophomore year. He got some quality innings as a frosh.
 
Like every couple years for Harvest Prep, they have a new coach and a new team. One of the few positives is that interest the last couple years have been much better, as they have had around 15-18 players. While this may not seem as a lot, compared to the 8 boys and 1 girl that they had in 2019, which did not even make it through the full season, it is a massive step forward. The next step, which has been needed for the last couple of years is pitching and fielding. Lastly, Harvest Prep is playing a Columbus City School for the first time in years against Africentric. They also are playing two MOCAL schools in LCA and Shekinah Christian. I am glad Harvest Prep is playing some Columbus City Schools, as this is both schools worst sport and should have a somewhat competitive game.

Maybe if they get some openings they can play Whetstone, they are in the City League.
 
Maybe if they get some openings they can play Whetstone, they are in the City League.
Might be a little (what’s the best way to say this) premature for both to play something this year.

HP could benefit from getting some sandlot games against the City League south. Every opportunity possible to get a feel for the game, what works and what doesn’t. Whetstone would be stiff for them!
 
One thing that will shape the Cardinal league race this year is whether or not FC returns to the level of general defensive proficiency that paved the way for league success from 2014 through 2021.

From 14-21, the Irish surrendered 128 runs across 78 league games (which churns out to 1.64 runs/game.) There were only three league games where they gave up more than 5 runs in that span (L 11 to GCC in 2018; L 8 to BU in 2016; W 6 to BU in 2019.) 44 of those 78 were 1 run or less surrendered (24 shutouts.)

Last season, they surrendered 73 over 14 games (which is 5.21/game) and saw >5 runs surrendered in six of those 14 contests.

— — —
Now, last year can be partly assigned to a perfect storm of “more teams in the league are playing with better plate presence and with more guys that have good hitting techniques.” But that simply means less room for general error — facing less kids who are inclined to let you off the hook for putting food into their bowl. The other part to it is being a generally young and inexperienced team. Be it as may, the statistical delineation between unearned vs earned isn’t the point. They’re all (to an extent) earned runs in the sense that they’re on the team as a unit.

Everyone coming back for FC, they all have a ratio of at least 15 good plays to 1 ‘not good’ plays. On the hill, in the field, at the plate; it’s all there. Decent chunk of experience, with the skills and work ethic to match; younger guys took a big step forward from March ‘21 to May ‘21, have gotten stronger and more agile since conclusion of last year. Opportunities to grow individually are there, and are being seized. Opportunity to increase rhythm, strengths as a team is a 24/7/365 process that even the best of teams statewide know is continuous — comes with culture and camaraderie (which the staff does a solid job of instilling) and becomes materialized in the off-season, scrims.

Team’s got dawgs across the classes, and dawgs are best when they roam in packs. No better opportunity for the seniors to finish what they started two years as greatly impactful sophomores on the fun and accomplished 2021 team, for the juniors to make a big push toward getting back the bag of the Cardinal title, for the sophomores to be a bedrock of future sustained success and for the 1st-year players to become stronger young men than to get the nose on the grindstone and work together in shoring up the Diamond 9 defensively as a unit across all rotations.

Minor setback for a major comeback.
 
Great preseason assessment Dock! I am sure everyone is excited and highly anticipating the official start next week. It has been mild weather this winter, hopefully everyone is outside and not stuck in the gymnasium very often this spring.
 
Like every couple years for Harvest Prep, they have a new coach and a new team. One of the few positives is that interest the last couple years have been much better, as they have had around 15-18 players. While this may not seem as a lot, compared to the 8 boys and 1 girl that they had in 2019, which did not even make it through the full season, it is a massive step forward. The next step, which has been needed for the last couple of years is pitching and fielding. Lastly, Harvest Prep is playing a Columbus City School for the first time in years against Africentric. They also are playing two MOCAL schools in LCA and Shekinah Christian. I am glad Harvest Prep is playing some Columbus City Schools, as this is both schools worst sport and should have a somewhat competitive game.
Heard today that they’re getting their field fixed up a bit, more equipment, and new coaches, should be an exciting year for the kids
 
I would think Fisher and Berne should be the favorites in the Cardinal with Grove City Christian and Millersport right there as well and Rosecrans won't be easy. FCA and Miller don't know enough to gauge how good they could be and Harvest will be competitive.
I would think in the Buckeye it will be Bloom-Carroll, Fairfield Union, and Teays Valley. Liberty Union won't be as strong without Miller pitching but are always dangerous. Hamilton Township, Circleville, Amanda and Logan Elm will not be easy to play against. Should find the Buckeye balanced all season long. This should be a fun and exciting year for baseball.
 
Not sure! Grandview always gets better and can be tough outs in league play; they just haven’t (for some reason) been much of a postseason threat in the District stage. Unsure on the Barons.

Thanks Dock. I think Grandview has a pretty good #1 pitcher returning, not sure about the rest of the roster.
 
I would think Fisher and Berne should be the favorites in the Cardinal with Grove City Christian and Millersport right there as well and Rosecrans won't be easy. FCA and Miller don't know enough to gauge how good they could be and Harvest will be competitive.
FCA will be the ‘1a’ going into league play. Defending district champs, return what by default is going to be the most experienced corps of players. The bats are there — they are most likely going to cut by a thousand singles, and a hundred hustle doubles.

Their only real ‘?’ is going to be the battery. On the one end, I like the three arms they bring back (2 JR’s and 1 SR.) Do they have anything behind them? Someone who can be at/above MK’s level on the hill, so that his glove, legs, arm can still be on the field in that third unit? Behind the dish — replacing catchers isn’t easy.

In this league, with the roster sizes being what they are, it’s usually a tall task to replace the previous catcher. Finding, and forming, the new catcher requires time and grooming in the off-season; you’re really going to either have it be the biggest frame and strongest legs, or the smallest frame and quickest reaction & quickest hips. Ideally it’s also not a winter athlete, because the timetable gets more stressful if they are. Where it gets tough is if Plan ‘A’ isn’t working out, you are probably stuck in the mud for the year behind the plate.


So, yeah, the ‘unknown’ on pitching/catching for FCA compared to what I know (expect) on pitching/catching for FC and BU is enough to trim the distance a little between the Knights & the other two. Otherwise I’d have them as a comfortable #1. The Port can easily get into that realm of 1b/1c too with serviceable catching. The ‘Crans is just an arms question.
 
FCA does have a really good freshman catcher. Was really impressed with him. Also they have two freshman pitchers that will play a big roll on the team. I’m with you on FCA as the 1a.
If he can block, they’re probably just ‘1’ in the pre-season power rankings in that case (not that I necessarily enjoy saying that out loud!) Critical question gets answered there.

I’m a little cautious on the freshman arms. Not doubting they’re good, ‘cause I believe you, it’s just rare that a frosh can own the hill even in this league. I only know of one in the past decade! They’ll no doubt be solid next year (at which point, FCA will have the deepest arm barn in Lancaster — although I suspect it’ll only be a one year hiatus from Rt. 37.) And no doubt they can contribute and be useful arms in the 4/5 spots to use against non-league and the bottom half of the league as soon as this year.
 
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Took in the FCA scrim. Knights looked like they haven’t missed a beat coming off their District Title. I won’t say they were in mid-season form, but they got some good work in and they didn’t seem to have a case of scrimmage jitters despite the chilliness. Fielding looked generally good, batting looked fine and evident effort. From what I understand, one of their best guys did not dress for it — only mentioning it to punctuate how there didn’t look to be a drop-off or disconnect with him not on the field (or at the plate.) Obviously they’ll be even better when he’s in action.

Came away impressed by their freshman catcher. Good instincts, good baseball IQ, good mechanics and effort. He’ll be a good one, for sure. Liked FCA’s arms; Schmitz in particular dealt in his two innings. If they only threw one freshman, the kid will be good in time. Didn’t show much but I like his fastball. He has room to grow, but he’ll have a high floor and he pitched with confidence. Always one of the cool things about these first scrimmages; get to see what’s coming up and how the next stable of kids for seasons down the line can immediate contributors and cornerstones of the future.

I will say (and this shouldn’t be interpreted as a slight against FCA) FU looked sort of raw. Fielding wasn’t bad but just a (what the best way to say this) disjointed flow of batting the first time through? Not finding the ball very well, passive plate presence to start. First scrim for them, I get it, may not be indicative of their real batting potential… but at the same time just felt like they could’ve made more out of the live-action chances to get better with the bat.
 
MSL Pre Season Predictions
1. FCA
2. Berne Union
3. FC
4. Millersport
5. Bishop Rosecrans
6. GCC
7. Miller
8. HPS
 
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