SW Ohio dark horse teams

 
IH could be a dark horse to contend in D2 (if they can get past Badin)
The 1-2 punch of Rinala and Hansen (plus copfer) on the mound could help give them a deep run!
 
St. X's new coach has completely changed their culture. There is too much talent at that school to not see them win some big games
And he has been there all along. Dang what a waste these last 4 years were. Hundley, Jones, Hudepohl, Thomas. All of them D1 players and nothing to show for it
 
In talking with several Badin parents this will be a very strong Badin team. That's really not much of a surprise - they have always been strong.
 
In talking with several Badin parents this will be a very strong Badin team. That's really not much of a surprise - they have always been strong.
And the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. Baseball is important at Badin.... and Moeller and Mason... and Butler. It is why they are good every year. Other schools could be strong too if they cared a little more. Badin will challenge for state again and send several players off to play in college. I really admire their work ethic.
 
what teams in your thoughts can pop out from nowhere
And he has been there all along. Dang what a waste these last 4 years were. Hundley, Jones, Hudepohl, Thomas. All of them D1 players and nothing to show for it
It’s a shame the senior year of those four was wiped out by COVID-19. Who knows what they could have accomplished, especially after they had split a GCL South title the year before without many contributing seniors.

As for the coaching resignation and new hire, I guess we’ll see, but the remaining talent seems the best reason for optimism. St X has won three of the last five league titles, outright in two of them and sharing with Elder and Moeller in the third. That’s despite having their best year on paper wiped out by COVID-19. With DiGiacomo as the top assistant in the nine years prior (2005-2013), they had shared just one title in 2011 with zero outright titles despite the talent pool. I also don’t know if that drought goes back further since the league website only goes back to 2005. Hopefully your optimism isn’t misplaced!
 
St. X's new coach has completely changed their culture. There is too much talent at that school to not see them
St. X's new coach has completely changed their culture. There is too much talent at that school to not see them win some big games
The topic was teams coming out of nowhere. St X has won 3 of the last five league titles with two outright, even with their best year on paper wiped out by COVID-19. That would seem to disqualify them from such a conversation.
 
The topic was teams coming out of nowhere. St X has won 3 of the last five league titles with two outright, even with their best year on paper wiped out by COVID-19. That would seem to disqualify them from such a conversation.
St X finished in last place in the GCL-S in 2022 (14-12, 3-6).
 
Princeton will surprise this year. Their coach does a great job with the players he has. They may not be a top 10 team in the city, but their improvements will be hard to ignore. Teams will not want to see their pitching come tourney time.
 
Princeton will surprise this year. Their coach does a great job with the players he has. They may not be a top 10 team in the city, but their improvements will be hard to ignore. Teams will not want to see their pitching come tourney time.
Agreed. Princeton has done a nice job of building. It’s tough being a much smaller school than pretty much all of the others in the conference. They had a couple nice tourney wins last year. I don’t know that they’ll be able to compete day in and day out with Mason and Fairfield, but they’re a team that will impact the GMC race with a win or two over the top teams. I wouldn’t want to face them in the tourney.
 
It’s a shame the senior year of those four was wiped out by COVID-19. Who knows what they could have accomplished, especially after they had split a GCL South title the year before without many contributing seniors.

As for the coaching resignation and new hire, I guess we’ll see, but the remaining talent seems the best reason for optimism. St X has won three of the last five league titles, outright in two of them and sharing with Elder and Moeller in the third. That’s despite having their best year on paper wiped out by COVID-19. With DiGiacomo as the top assistant in the nine years prior (2005-2013), they had shared just one title in 2011 with zero outright titles despite the talent pool. I also don’t know if that drought goes back further since the league website only goes back to 2005. Hopefully your optimism isn’t misplaced!
DiGiacomo was the assistant to Coach Slinger for years and honestly helped keep the baseball program together. I am very excited to see how X's team performs moving forward. They have currently and have had as much talent as Moeller, Elder and Badin. I am hoping the new manager helps them reach their potential.
 
DiGiacomo was the assistant to Coach Slinger for years and honestly helped keep the baseball program together. I am very excited to see how X's team performs moving forward. They have currently and have had as much talent as Moeller, Elder and Badin. I am hoping the new manager helps them reach their potential.
I’ve heard from multiple people that DiGiacomo had much more of a say in lineups and the day to day in Coach Slinger’s later days than assistants normally have. So it seems telling that the previous administration went l out of their way to hire someone outside the program to run it instead of Coach D.

As for your talent level comment, none of those schools had or have the talent level of Moeller. The only possible exception was St X in 2020, and they didn’t get to play that season. Moeller is routinely having 10+ D1 players in the program. Nobody else comes close to that. That’s part of what makes St X going head to head with Moeller for league titles the last few years so impressive (the last five have been Moeller and St X with 2 each and they shared one 3 ways with Elder).
 
I’ve heard from multiple people that DiGiacomo had much more of a say in lineups and the day to day in Coach Slinger’s later days than assistants normally have. So it seems telling that the previous administration went l out of their way to hire someone outside the program to run it instead of Coach D.

As for your talent level comment, none of those schools had or have the talent level of Moeller. The only possible exception was St X in 2020, and they didn’t get to play that season. Moeller is routinely having 10+ D1 players in the program. Nobody else comes close to that. That’s part of what makes St X going head to head with Moeller for league titles the last few years so impressive (the last five have been Moeller and St X with 2 each and they shared one 3 ways with Elder).
Coach D held the baseball program together during Slingers later years Just like Coach Steve did during Coach Rasso's later years. And the X administration wanted to open up the Football program to outside candidates. Only Alumni pressure stopped that nonsense. The administration did not listen to that sentiment with regards to Coach D. And let's be honest, the previous coach did have some success as a head coach at a smaller GCL school. But early on that Coach Shelock was having problems with the senior classes of his baseball program. I am surprised and a little disappointed at what happened recently with X baseball and in coach Sherlock. As far as the numbers of D1 players go, there could be more at X and success breeds success. I have a lot of confidence in coach D. We will see.
 
Have to be as an Assistant. The Princeton Baseball Preview on here says Coach DePeel.
I think he’s still an official scorer for the Reds but isn’t coaching this year. Coach DePeel was his assistant at St X for a few years and has done a nice job at Princeton.

Speaking of St X, has anybody seen a preview anywhere? I’ve found one for all the other GCL teams and seemingly any school you can think of. Did Coach DiGiacomo just not fill one out? It’s always nice for the parents and kids to see their names mentioned. This is the one from the PBR D1 link:
 
Troy.

Troy is a dark horse this year. They have underperformed for the most part to this point. Loaded with talent and a senior heavy team. Led by top 5 player Ryder Kirtley who is a VT commit. 2-3 guys who can hit high 80’s low 90’s. Very strong staff. Solid hitting. They will run through a weak MVL league (Butler and Tipp will be strong). It’s just a matter if they can not choke in playoffs again.
 
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