Can anyone shed some light on some teams in this district that will be a surprise or who might be falling off a bit..

I can only assume North will be favored in this district, but what about some other teams like Little Elm, Lake Dallas and McKinney High or maybe the new School McKinney Boyd.. Thanks.

Johnnie...........Go to the "Early Predictions 10-4A" thread down towards the middle of the main page and start reading towards the bottom of page 1. It's all been hashed out already! Should be a fun year.

OP,
how dominant do you fell over Mckinney.. they have Baker, Lalumandier,Moore,ect... are you guys a lot deeper ect..

My honest opinion is that McKinney will give every team in the district all they can handle. This could be their year to put it all together and do something big. I would say that North probably has a more talented team on paper, but I know a lot of the McKinney kids and they can flat out play. Baker is a true #1. I think Tanner Moore will have a phenomenal year at the plate. During the MMWS, I saw him crush several out of the park. Andy Lalumandier is one of the top catchers in 4A in my opinion. Caleb Spengler is one of the best infielders in the area for 08's. Incredible hands this kid has. They supposedly have 2 freshman that are good enough to start for them as well, one of those being a pitcher who is reported to have mid to upper 80's stuff. I really feel they will be very good. They've been right on the verge the last couple of years.

I think it will go down to the wire with North, McKinney and Lake Dallas.

I would love to hear some McKinney High dads opinions as well.

yes, my thoughts exactly about Baker, Moore, and lalumandier. I have had Andy for the past four years...He will make all there arms that much better, and his bat has gotten tremendously better.

Wyliedad moved out of the district, other than him i dont think any of them post.

They need to wake up and get with the program then. By the way, Wyliedads kid was at North before they moved!! Would be nice to have AA here now!!

Thanks OP,

The 2 freshmen boys from Mckinney High are pretty darn good. I'm familiar with them threw Summer ball.. They play for Team Kelley.. Zach Lee is the pitcher mid 80's stuff, good sized kid. The other kid, Matt Lipka is a very good all around player. Kid can pitch, catch, SS, you name it.. They also got brought up to the Varsity football team this Season so they are pretty mature young men.

The one team I'm intrested in is Lake Dallas.. I have heard Chase Baine is a good baseball player.. I know what he can do on the footbal field. Any fall off this year with the loss of Stacy Largent going to Boyd? Is the new man there pretty good?

Thanks..

Johnnie,

Sent you a PM

quote:

Originally posted by theygrowupfast:
Johnnie,

Sent you a PM

Thanks, and good luck this year..J

Probably shouldn't post, but...

While McKinney High has a lot of questions, they've got to be better than they were last year. They graduated 14--yeah,14--seniors. Way, way, way too many, especially if only a couple can play. Good news: They're gone.

The hitting has to be better. No offense to anyone intended, but the pitching in 9-4A, aside from about 4 pitchers, was really pretty average, and even then, McKinney struggled at the plate. McKinney did seem to draw the aces of the district, but even then, if you didn't bat .380 in that district last year, you weren't a very good hitter. Sorry. Expect MHS's hitting to be better. It can't be worse. The kids work hard at it all year long.

In talking to one of the dads, he anticipates they will be better defensively in 8 of the 9 spots. I agree, and might even say 9 of 9. However, only was returner (Moore) was very good defensively last year. The others were below average with hands and feet. This team will work harder and they now have kids who know the game. Team speed might be an issue. Jeremy Price (coach) should have an easier time fielding a team defensively.

Baker and Mitzner were both fairly effective at times last year, but will need to be better and more consistent this year. I would expect that to be the case,given another year of development. Better find a #3, though.

How would you classify Baker and Mitzner?
Saw them both pitch last year and would say
both were above average when they were on.
When they weren't, both still very competitive.

The depth of the Mckinney pitching staff is why
I have them picked second behind North.

JABO -- I know you have a personal stake in things at McKinney -- I, for one, appreciate your honest feedback. I joked with OP in a private message that he is too close to that situation on a personal level to be completely honest in assessing the team ---- and it is probably not his place anyway. It sounds like McKinney will be like most other teams in the area....depending on players with experience to contribute on a larger scale as they become team leaders. Most successful high school teams find a way to replace outgoing seniors with those that have developed on the sub-varsity level or who may have performed in part-time roles in the past.

Plano East has 5 returning starters and 2-3 others that were on the varsity roster last year, with minimal playing time. The others were JV players and a freshman. So...more than half the team is inexperienced. That is not to downplay their 2007 roles -- several will be ready to contribute. Having said that, this year is like most -- a key to their success will be the performace of the 3-4 senior starters. Fortunately, 3 of the underclassmen have varsity experience as well.

I love the intrigue surrounding high school baseball as each year the same challenges are faced by a new group of kids.

7 days!

-PD

That's a good assessment. Location of fastball has to be better for both of these guys. Walks have to be lower. Mitzner's 0-2 and 1-2 pitches were too good (fat). (I know, I know, not real enlightening.)

They'll both compete; that won't be a problem.

JABO

PD:

For the record, I don't have a personal stake in MHS. Just assessing what I've seen and prognosticating like everybody else.

Given the fact I'm not too bright, don't put a lotta stock in it.

JABO

Ah, ok...I've updated the "record".

I really think from a biased opinio that Frisco will be 2nd in the district running behind M. North. There are alot of returning talented seniors and and most of the varsity will be back this year. So I think we will have a pretty good run.

Even though Frisco is returning almost their entire squad, they finshed last year 8-16 and last in 9-4a. So is returning the whole team a good or bad thing?

personally I think it is a good thing because of that one extra year of varsity expirience, since last year was pretty much everyone's first year at the varsity level.

Edited by moderator