MSL 2024

 
FC Baseball Schedule.jpg
 
Cardinal looks pretty open this year. I’ll set FCA as the favorite at +125 odds, but after them there’s like 4-5 teams realistically in the odds range of +180-325.

I don’t think we’re going to have an undefeated league champion in this year’s campaign. FC and MP have their obvious aces, Rosecrans brings so much back around their sophomore southpaw, BU’s batting order has a high ceiling, and Miller is rising.

FCA: returns the best battery in the league. Very solid front four of the rotation with 2 SR’s and 2 SO’s. Main threat to their bid for an undefeated league title is if they catch the cold bat bug against BR/BU/FC.

Rest of thoughts by team, in no particular order,

Berne: I’m interested how “life after Nate and friends” goes. Doesn’t BU return their entire infield? This is always a pretty well-prepared team that catches fire toward late April. Do they have the pitching beyond Pugh? If so, watch out.

Rosecrans: this is probably the team that could deliver the best blow toward the league crown if the bats are hot. They’re also the one team toward the top half likely susceptible to getting tripped up out of nowhere and/or getting locked up by a bulldog on the hill and a crisp defense. They play FC right off the rip on 4/1 at The Gant, so that’s an early one to keep eyes on.

FC: reinforcements have finally arrived, and the Irish (after a long four years) have a freshmen class that’s more in-line with the levels of freshmen baseball classes of the ‘00s and ‘10s as it relates to talent, experience, numbers and versatility. The one ‘unknown’ is they’ll have a little bit of a late start due to so many of the starters being tied into basketball still in play (regionals.) Rosecrans on 4/1 and Millersport (Jakeway) on 4/3 is a pretty urgent opening week. Biggest strength for FC as far as I can tell will be the Arm Barn.

Miller: they’re on the rise and are building a serviceable rotation that has tools.

Millersport: I imagine that the M.O. for them this year is to try and get to 7 league wins. Wouldn’t be surprised if they go against convention and try to get wins through the ace against the teams toward the middle.

I don’t know anything about where GCC really fits in this. Wellington unk. Prep is getting better.
 
Can’t wait for the season to start. FCA and Berne are at the top for me. I think Rosecrans can stir the pot and cause some “drama. Excited to see how FC does with their Freshman, think they could have a little slow start but they’re gonna be scary as time goes on this season. MP lost some of their better hitters, could go multiple ways with them this year. Don't really know anything about Miller, GCC and the only thing I knew about Wellington was that last year they had a kid throwing 85-88? Don’t know if he was a senior or not. Prep got two new coaches (again) with pretty good resumes, the HC coached at a couple colleges, they don’t have a lot of returning players, but a couple of the new players have some history playing baseball, They have some pitching depth this year, I think the issue for them will be fielding, but I heard the kids really like the new coaches and they can tell they’re all getting better day by day. Can’t wait for opening day!
 
Dave Andrews144 said:
What type of pitching does FCA and Berne Union return? I know Berne Union won the district, did FCA win the league?
Click to expand...
FCA won league outright, BU won district.

FCA isn’t going to be a power pitching rotation. Not sure any of their kids are north of 80. Their (presumed) 1 (or 1a) is a pretty crafty senior with good placement and deceptive secondary pitches. They have two sophomores who are solid; the one catches mostly and the other had a dynamite first year on the hill. The latter IIRC is a sidearmer. They have another senior pitcher (the 3 with the Soph catching) who is also good and serviceable for closing/relief situations & 1st round games.

Berne I don’t know as much about. Their starter from the regional game graduated. The one who (on paper) is going to be their 1 has really good tools and decent velocity. After that I’m not as sure who to expect in their rotation. They probably had the more complete and dedicated of off-season & pre-season as baseball is their best sport as a unit.
 
Miller's scrimmage with Riverview was cancelled last Thursday. They had a JV scrimmage with Nelsonville Monday and Varsity at Liberty Christian last night. Had a rough start but bounced back and played OK. Open this Saturday at South Gallia.
 
Talking to the Columbus international coach
His been trying to get a hold of the HP coach to play to get get revenge for the basketball team scoring 80 on them but won’t return his emails
 
Eastern 11
Fisher 1 f/6

hard to draw any conclusions since the team is pretty young and reps have been hard to come by. All circumstances considered this at least played better than the miserable scrimmages and first two games back in ‘22 (two seasons ago) — it’s a novice infield with the added difficulty of being tied up in hoops longer than usual. Eastern’s pretty good in their own right, and their lineup is probably going to be the 2nd best FC will face this season. Probably was the case that SP was good enough to keep FC in the game until the bricks came tumbling from all directions in the fourth inning.

One silver lining is the boys got some early exposure to unusual situations in the field that can’t really be replicated in practice or in scrimmages. Teachable moments!
 
The Dock said:
Eastern 11
Fisher 1 f/6

hard to draw any conclusions since the team is pretty young and reps have been hard to come by. All circumstances considered this at least played better than the miserable scrimmages and first two games back in ‘22 (two seasons ago) — it’s a novice infield with the added difficulty of being tied up in hoops longer than usual. Eastern’s pretty good in their own right, and their lineup is probably going to be the 2nd best FC will face this season. Probably was the case that SP was good enough to keep FC in the game until the bricks came tumbling from all directions in the fourth inning.

One silver lining is the boys got some early exposure to unusual situations in the field that can’t really be replicated in practice or in scrimmages. Teachable moments!
Click to expand...
Ouch, brother puts a run rule on his brother. Might be an awkward family Easter dinner this Sunday!!! Eastern is a well established program that Brian Bowen built and Chris Stew is keeping it going. Tough one to open with after the late start from hoops. FC will get it rolling!
 
KurtanskyField said:
Ouch, brother puts a run rule on his brother. Might be an awkward family Easter dinner this Sunday!!! Eastern is a well established program that Brian Bowen built and Chris Stew is keeping it going. Tough one to open with after the late start from hoops. FC will get it rolling!
Click to expand...
Yeah and TBH they looked like a well-oiled machine. Lefty for them gave FC fits all day. Not sure how much southpaw experience some of these kids have in the box, but it is good to get that exposure since that’s probably going to be what comes Monday at The Gant.

Pretty useful Spring trip baseball getaway. Have to play teams that are better than you. Let’s see how the boys respond vs Meigs in the home opener tomorrow.

Didn’t see an FCA-NC score. Saw that Berne won their opener against West Jeff, solid win.
 
The Dock said:
Yeah and TBH they looked like a well-oiled machine. Lefty for them gave FC fits all day. Not sure how much southpaw experience some of these kids have in the box, but it is good to get that exposure since that’s probably going to be what comes Monday at The Gant.

Pretty useful Spring trip baseball getaway. Have to play teams that are better than you. Let’s see how the boys respond vs Meigs in the home opener tomorrow.

Didn’t see an FCA-NC score. Saw that Berne won their opener against West Jeff, solid win.
Click to expand...
Saw that NC won. Good for them to start off 1-0, honestly.
 
Interesting side note: Miller starts the season with their first 7 games on the road, then the 8th at VA Stadium in Chillicothe. Next week is their spring break, They a play MWF all away and all three on Granville Pike- Berne, FCA, FC! They are currently in the works with local campground about getting a campsite to enjoy their spring break trip to scenic Fairfield County! :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
KurtanskyField said:
Interesting side note: Miller starts the season with their first 7 games on the road, then the 8th at VA Stadium in Chillicothe. Next week is their spring break, They a play MWF all away and all three on Granville Pike- Berne, FCA, FC! They are currently in the works with local campground about getting a campsite to enjoy their spring break trip to scenic Fairfield County! :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Who y’all playing at the VA? Trimble? Fantastic opportunity to be at where the Paints play, although the cruelest of ironies for travel purposes that it was the Tommies if so.

Very fortunate to get those roadies vs Berne and FCA right off the rip, since games at Beavers can be the lowest cancellation/reschedule risk. Not always, but they can be. Also get the painful “baseball and softball riding the same bus to play at separate locations” logistics out of the way. With many opportunities to draw first blood along the way, too.

Plus, you get to play the honorary Meigs County club on the road that Friday of the same week. ;) Southern rounds out the trifecta at home on Saturday the 13th.
 
The Dock said:
Who y’all playing at the VA? Trimble? Fantastic opportunity to be at where the Paints play, although the cruelest of ironies for travel purposes that it was the Tommies if so.

Very fortunate to get those roadies vs Berne and FCA right off the rip, since games at Beavers can be the lowest cancellation/reschedule risk. Not always, but they can be. Also get the painful “baseball and softball riding the same bus to play at separate locations” logistics out of the way. With many opportunities to draw first blood along the way, too.

Plus, you get to play the honorary Meigs County club on the road that Friday of the same week. ;) Southern rounds out the trifecta at home on Saturday the 13th.
Click to expand...
No, we keep the Kitty Cats game next to Sunday creek, that way the kayakers can make it to either park. :ROFLMAO: We play South Gallia at the VA. on Tues the 9th
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top