Top 10 each Classification

[Nomad1324]

Seeing as MLB have reached the playoffs and I saw the 3A thread, what are some thoughts about the other classifications? Will the new conference play rules sway any judgement or will that have no effect since I guess a lot of these teams played anyway?

[KREWSAWHEWSKI]

Woodlawn & Dierks should definitely be contenders moving into 1A division this season.

[big E]

PW and McCrory should be in the top 5 in 2a.

[RabidWolf]

I know Ashdown will be very good in 4A.

[KREWSAWHEWSKI]

I know Ashdown will be very good in 4A.

Pretty sturdy limb you're on there Wolf!!!

[RabidWolf]

I prefer staying safe when I venture out of 3A!

[jr17]

Lonoke should be pretty good in 4A as well.

[RabidWolf]

How will Arkadelphia be? They lost a ton

[jr17]

If conway can find a couple more arms, they should still be near the top of 7A.

[Nomad1324]

Anyone concerned about the combined conferences (sorry to leave you out 7A) and how that will impact the regular season vs playoffs?

Do you think it will impact how coaches go about their regular season games, seeing as everyone is one loss from elimination and one win from the next round in the District?

[OB11]

Anyone concerned about the combined conferences (sorry to leave you out 7A) and how that will impact the regular season vs playoffs?

Do you think it will impact how coaches go about their regular season games, seeing as everyone is one loss from elimination and one win from the next round in the District?

I think it really depends on the school on an individual basis. Take Jonesboro for example...they are a 6A school that will now be playing with mostly 5A schools for conference instead of 6A/7A combined.  But the 5A conference they are merging with (5A East) is traditionally a very good baseball conference and Jonesboro was already playing all of those schools in non conference anyway, so I don't see it affecting them that much.  Now if we were talking about the Jonesboro basketball team, then it hurts them to play those 5A teams but with baseball it will help IMO.

[jr17]

Mayflowers in a very tough district (CAC, Lonoke, Baptist Prep, Robinson, Bauxite, Episcopal) I feel like it may benefit them playing those tough 4A teams all year. Plus their non conference is usually pretty salty (Greenbrier, Vilonia, Harding, PA, LRC)

[RabidWolf]

Prescott has a long road ahead with Nashville Ashdown Genoa Horatio and Mena.

[KREWSAWHEWSKI]

My take on the "combined" classification districts.  I like the idea and I can see the rationale behind it, but in some cases it will be brutal for teams to compete.  And then in other cases, teams will have to schedule tough non-conference games to keep their edge.  The issue with that is, with this rule, you don't have many free schedule dates to schedule games you want to play.  You have to play your combined districts AND your postseason district teams at least once.  And you can only schedule a certain number of games in a season.

[Nomad1324]

My take on the "combined" classification districts.  I like the idea and I can see the rationale behind it, but in some cases it will be brutal for teams to compete.  And then in other cases, teams will have to schedule tough non-conference games to keep their edge.  The issue with that is, with this rule, you don't have many free schedule dates to schedule games you want to play.  You have to play your combined districts AND your postseason district teams at least once.  And you can only schedule a certain number of games in a season.

You don't have to play the teams in your district tournament during the regular season. It helps with seeding at the end of the year, but you don't have to.

[KREWSAWHEWSKI]

You don't have to play the teams in your district tournament during the regular season. It helps with seeding at the end of the year, but you don't have to.

OK.  Thanks.  I guess the coaches I have spoken with are in conferences that decided to play each other to take care of seeding issues.  They are the ones saying how few dates they actually had any choice in when scheduling in baseball & softball.

[jlaw7390]

Farmington will have 10 seniors returning that have played since they were sophomores. Tyler Gregg will be another year removed from Tommy John surgery and should have more velocity on his fast ball. Cade Fenton had a great summer and is rated as one of the best unsigned pitchers in Arkansas. Ryan Larkin returns at third base after hitting over 400 as a junior, they also return three year starters Blake Putnam at 2B, Trenton McChristian in CF, and Kelton Price in LF. Junior pitcher Ben Silvis returns after going 7-1 as a sophomore. They are playing 7A West schools in non-conference games, Spring Break Tournament at Gulf Shores, AL, and in the 5A/6A West. They will be a strong contender in the 5A.   

[KREWSAWHEWSKI]

Farmington will have 10 seniors returning that have played since they were sophomores. Tyler Gregg will be another year removed from Tommy John surgery and should have more velocity on his fast ball. Cade Fenton had a great summer and is rated as one of the best unsigned pitchers in Arkansas. Ryan Larkin returns at third base after hitting over 400 as a junior, they also return three year starters Blake Putnam at 2B, Trenton McChristian in CF, and Kelton Price in LF. Junior pitcher Ben Silvis returns after going 7-1 as a sophomore. They are playing 7A West schools in non-conference games, Spring Break Tournament at Gulf Shores, AL, and in the 5A/6A West. They will be a strong contender in the 5A.   

Try to familiarize yourself next time before speaking about a team........

[jlaw7390]

Top 10 each classification? 

[KREWSAWHEWSKI]

Top 10 each classification?

It was a joke.  Very in-depth knowledge of a particular team......which you are obviously connected to in some way.  Good luck to those guys in the spring.

[Chin Music]

Anyone concerned about the combined conferences (sorry to leave you out 7A) and how that will impact the regular season vs playoffs?

Do you think it will impact how coaches go about their regular season games, seeing as everyone is one loss from elimination and one win from the next round in the District?

How does the seeding for the district tournament work?  I'm concerned about the 5A central.  You have 4 good baseball programs (PA, LRCA, Sylvan Hills, Beebe) and 4 that would normally fall behind the top 4 (Mills, Fair, Parkview, McClellan). 

If a normal conference double round robin was played I think the 8 teams separate themselves accordingly and the top 4 make the playoffs.  If they are seeded in some strange way for the district then you could have, for instance, a LRCA vs Sylvan Hills first round district game with the loser out of the state playoffs.

[Nomad1324]

How does the seeding for the district tournament work?  I'm concerned about the 5A central.  You have 4 good baseball programs (PA, LRCA, Sylvan Hills, Beebe) and 4 that would normally fall behind the top 4 (Mills, Fair, Parkview, McClellan). 

If a normal conference double round robin was played I think the 8 teams separate themselves accordingly and the top 4 make the playoffs.  If they are seeded in some strange way for the district then you could have, for instance, a LRCA vs Sylvan Hills first round district game with the loser out of the state playoffs.

This is where the AAA may have dropped the ball, because there is no set way that a conference has to set this up. I've heard folks say that they're playing everyone at least once to set the seeds, while others have said it will be like an invitational tournament and coaches will debate seeding.

There is no set way. Unfortunately.

[Chief_Osceola™]

How does the seeding for the district tournament work?  I'm concerned about the 5A central.  You have 4 good baseball programs (PA, LRCA, Sylvan Hills, Beebe) and 4 that would normally fall behind the top 4 (Mills, Fair, Parkview, McClellan). 

If a normal conference double round robin was played I think the 8 teams separate themselves accordingly and the top 4 make the playoffs.  If they are seeded in some strange way for the district then you could have, for instance, a LRCA vs Sylvan Hills first round district game with the loser out of the state playoffs.

I've looked at Maumelle's schedule and I still don't know how it works.  Maumelle will play all the teams from the combined 5A/6A, which is pretty much every school in Little Rock, and then we will also play Greenbrier, Morrilton, and Vilonia, and they are still considered conference games.  I think we either play a DH with the Little Rock schools or a V/JV, but with the regular 5A West teams we play a home and home on 2 separate days.

[Central Ark]

A lot of teams are playing their post season conference teams during the regular season to help with seeding. It is going to be extremely difficult to seed if there are no head to heads.

[Dirty dawg]

Riverside will be good again this year, only lost 1 senior from last years team.

[NEA Razorback olfan]

Riverside will be good again this year, only lost 1 senior from last years team.

Agree, they will  be tough

[Nomad1324]

A lot of teams are playing their post season conference teams during the regular season to help with seeding. It is going to be extremely difficult to seed if there are no head to heads.

Agreed

[Chin Music]

This is where the AAA may have dropped the ball, because there is no set way that a conference has to set this up. I've heard folks say that they're playing everyone at least once to set the seeds, while others have said it will be like an invitational tournament and coaches will debate seeding.

There is no set way. Unfortunately.

Is it at all possible for the district tournaments to be double elimination?  That would solve some of the issues with seeding.

[OB11]

Is it at all possible for the district tournaments to be double elimination?  That would solve some of the issues with seeding.

The problem with that is a double elimination tournament would essentially double the amount of time needed to play the tournament.  Instead of say 3 days, it turns into 5 or 6 playing days.  And those 5 or 6 days wouldn't all be back to back (or at least I'd hope they wouldn't be for your pitching staff's sake).  It would take a week and a half at least to play the district tournament. 

[Chin Music]

The problem with that is a double elimination tournament would essentially double the amount of time needed to play the tournament.  Instead of say 3 days, it turns into 5 or 6 playing days.  And those 5 or 6 days wouldn't all be back to back (or at least I'd hope they wouldn't be for your pitching staff's sake).  It would take a week and a half at least to play the district tournament.

Not if your goal was to get it played.  These kids have grown up playing multiple games per day in weekend tournaments.  I agree it would take too long if you limited teams to one game per day.

[T-Bone]

Classification means little to me at this time.  We are NE 6A.  I welcome good competition no matter the classification.  It helps make my son as well as all players better to play equal to possibly better in ability.  There is little fun in beating down every team all the time.  While it is not fun to get the beat down put on you, an athlete will learn from it.  Again we are NE 6A and I welcome 7A as well as all good lower classification teams.  In high school baseball the one determining factor of a win or loss is often who the team has on the mound.  Find out who has the best pitcher selection including mid relievers and closers and they will often be on top.

[ricepig]

Tournament play comes down to your staff. Most everyone has a #1 who will put you in a competitive spot if you can play defense, what happens on days two and three determines who plays at Baum.

[Central Ark]

I know in 6a volleyball and basketball, they are playing double elimination tournaments.

[T-Bone]

Tournament play comes down to your staff. Most everyone has a #1 who will put you in a competitive spot if you can play defense, what happens on days two and three determines who plays at Baum.

Depth on pitching is big but most high school teams are not deep in that category.  A good defense is a must with or without a good pitcher.  Been at Baum and it was a good day.

[ricepig]

Depth on pitching is big but most high school teams are not deep in that category.  A good defense is a must with or without a good pitcher.  Been at Baum and it was a good day.

When you have 2/3 guys who can pitch, you get to go to Baum.

[T-Bone]

When you have 2/3 guys who can pitch, you get to go to Baum.

I know this is going to sound odd but we got there with people that could pitch but only two per week main pitchers.  The coaches and those two pitchers, with relievers, did a great job.  Meaning we really only had two senior pitchers that did the bulk starts but did well. 

[ricepig]

I know this is going to sound odd but we got there with people that could pitch but only two per week main pitchers.  The coaches and those two pitchers, with relievers, did a great job.  Meaning we really only had two senior pitchers that did the bulk starts but did well.

Like I said, two starting pitchers minimum. They don't have to be flame throwers, but they have to be competitors. The non-conference starters are nice to have, but they only make the record better, haha, that and getting experience for the next year and reliever work in the playoffs.