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Just throwing this out for fun. The season just ended, let's see what everyone thinks the forecast is for NEXT season. I'm just doing a top 5.

SOC 1

1. Notre Dame - Coin flip with them and Clay but I'm going to take them at 1 with another year of progress from Schaeffer.

2. Clay - Could EASILY still be the 1 with another good pitcher coming in. But losing a ACE is hard to replace.

3. Green - VERY young team this year. Huge hole at shortstop all season when Jenkins had to pitch and now have one of the best shortstops in the area coming in to fill it.

4. Symmes Valley - A great coach will find ways for them to be competitive but without over powering pitching they are going to miss what Webb could do in Centerfield this year. She played line to line.

5. New Boston - Losing several seniors is going to be hard to replace but their underclassmen made big strides.


SOC 2

1. BURG - While i don't think their as loaded as past years
They still have the best returning players and role players coming up.

2. Oak Hill - Made plenty of noise with a YOUNG squad last season. They ate only going to mature at this point.

3. Minford - Players coming up are going to need time to develop. Going to have to rely on all the returning talent.

4. South Webster - Struggled this year with a freshmen pitcher but she's talented and only going to get better.

5. Valley - Easily could rank lower. Going to find it hard to replace the talent they lost.

I'm an ND guy but Clay was within a run of most likely being in the final four , They lose Swain but thats near it I think. No way you shouldn't give them the nod to win it until someone proves different . Schaefer will get better no doubt , she a hard worker , dedicated player . But Clay's kids are not setting around either . Two really good teams , hard for me to say ND will somehow surpass them. How well Oliver does in the circle is the big question.

I think what will separate the 1 and 2 teams in SOC 1 will be depth. Unless Notre Dame gets production from 6-9 hitters I don’t see them surpassing Clay next year.

Clay’s only loss next year is Swain and they will get two very good Freshman who should be able to help the team.

I know Symmes Valley loses Webb but who else? I don’t see Green taking over that third spot. I know Green was young this year but I would have to give it to Symmes Valley.

Does waverly return their #1 pitcher?

I wonder if Wheelersburg will be any good....return all but 2 and both pitchers. Have to be the team to beat.

Browns30 wrote: ↑Mon May 28, 2018 4:35 pm Does waverly return their #1 pitcher?

Waverly returns a lot including their top 2 pitchers.

No way Waverly isn’t top 5

ColdHardTruth wrote: ↑Mon May 28, 2018 3:14 pm Just throwing this out for fun. The season just ended, let's see what everyone thinks the forecast is for NEXT season. I'm just doing a top 5.

SOC 1

1. Notre Dame - Coin flip with them and Clay but I'm going to take them at 1 with another year of progress from Schaeffer.

2. Clay - Could EASILY still be the 1 with another good pitcher coming in. But losing a ACE is hard to replace.

3. Green - VERY young team this year. Huge hole at shortstop all season when Jenkins had to pitch and now have one of the best shortstops in the area coming in to fill it.

4. Symmes Valley - A great coach will find ways for them to be competitive but without over powering pitching they are going to miss what Webb could do in Centerfield this year. She played line to line.

5. New Boston - Losing several seniors is going to be hard to replace but their underclassmen made big strides.


SOC 2

1. BURG - While i don't think their as loaded as past years
They still have the best returning players and role players coming up.

2. Oak Hill - Made plenty of noise with a YOUNG squad last season. They ate only going to mature at this point.

3. Minford - Players coming up are going to need time to develop. Going to have to rely on all the returning talent.

4. South Webster - Struggled this year with a freshmen pitcher but she's talented and only going to get better.

5. Valley - Easily could rank lower. Going to find it hard to replace the talent they lost.

Here is my view of the area’s conference for next year as I have seen many of these teams along with their JH teams play:

SOC 1

1. Clay- They have a great team with a lot of youth coming up. They just lost their pitcher but have talent coming. They will be on top for years to come also.

2. ND- Their Ace was just a sophomore and will continue to get better and smarter with a solid team behind her. They could have some move in also being a private school and should be #2.

3. SV- a great team this year and only lost 2 seniors with a veteran coach with lots of experience. The program is solid from the ground up and will always compete for the SOC.

4. New Boston- they had a good team with quality wins this year. They still can’t compete with the top three on everyday basis but can sneak in a win. They are the solid #4.

5. Eastern- They have a fairly good team but has holes. They has possibilities but doesn’t compete with regular consistency.

The rest of the SOC teams just beat up on each other and are far from the top 5. Green won a few games but has little pitching and not much coming up. They did have a couple of girls who was promising with the bats but that was it. Western and East really has a lot to work on. St Joe joins the league next year and will be in this bottom list.

SOC 2

1. Burg- they were very young this year and still went far. Their program is solid and will be #1 for years to come.

2. Waverly- another solid program that went far in the tourney. They have a lot coming back and will be the solid #2.

3. Minford- they also showed a lot of promise this year and lost a few seniors. They also had some good youth coming up.

4. Oak Hill- they had a lot of talent but there was some issues that the coach needs to work out. They could easily move up to the 3 spot with some things worked out.

5. Webster- They had a lot of youth on the field this year who has a lot of potential. They are the program to watch coming up.

Northwest has a lot of potential also along with Valley winning several games in the tourney. Any of the teams from the 3 spot down can win a lot of games but still not on pace to keep up with the top 2.

OVC

1. Gallia Academy- they will win the OVC next year with the solid team that they have coming back. They have some great pitching and solid hitting with youth coming up.

2. Chesapeake- this is a solid program for many years that keeps building and competing for championships.

3. Coal Grove- this was a toss up with Chesapeake for the 2-3 spots. They have a great program and great coach. They had several JH girls who will help fill spots next year.

4. Rock Hill- they started out the year winning games and fell off during the season. They have a great JH program and a lot of talent coming back.

5. Ironton- they lost several seniors with a lot of talent. They seem to keep reloading and they will continue to be a top 5. They of course could be higher but time will have to tell.

South Point and Fairland have some quality players and won some games. They just need to improve in several areas and I don’t think they will get there next year.

I believe Green will be much improved and isn’t Portsmouth in ovc. What’s up with program year in and out seems that they are consistently at bottom and very few wins. Valley will surprise also.

Was Southworth a senior last year for eastern beaver

SOC 2 My top 4

1. The Burg - Best pitchers, best position players, best coaches, best team hands down. sadly was not given enough credit

2. Waverly - Should have finished higher this year. I look for them to be #2 next year. But I sense some drama on this team?

3. Minford - Solid young talent that will be maturing. Good coaching, best catcher, solid pitching, some good bats. I really thought they would give us more of a run for our money this season.

4. Oak Hill - As stated before, looks like their coaching needs to make some big time adjustments. a team with 2 of the best players in the league plus decent talent all around and a very very good freshman pitcher should not finish this low.

What about best concessions. , best fans. Best field. Lol. Wow. Don’t count Waverly and Oak Hill. What about best grounds crew! Wasn’t they ranked No 2 in polls that’s recognition.

Prime Time wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 12:27 pm I believe Green will be much improved and isn’t Portsmouth in ovc. What’s up with program year in and out seems that they are consistently at bottom and very few wins. Valley will surprise also.

I seen Green play a couple and they don’t have the pitching. Do they have any pitching coming up from JH? They have several good position players but pitching wins and loses games.

SEOhio wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 7:24 pm

Prime Time wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 12:27 pm I believe Green will be much improved and isn’t Portsmouth in ovc. What’s up with program year in and out seems that they are consistently at bottom and very few wins. Valley will surprise also.

I seen Green play a couple and they don’t have the pitching. Do they have any pitching coming up from JH? They have several good position players but pitching wins and loses games.

Green pitching issue was more internal. Their freshmen pitcher has been successful through Jr High and travel ball. But this year they also needed her at short. Next year Kimbler moves up and will anchor short allowing Jenkins more time on the mound and at 3rd even more solidifying the defense. She's tweaked some things and looked very solid in a travel ball friendly last weekend. 4 inn pitched, 0 earned runs multiple strike outs against a very solid hitting team.

I agree with SEOhio. Green may finish middle of the pack but not any higher. Somewhere around 4-6 position.

Top two pitchers in the league next year will be Oliver and Schaffer from Clay and Notre Dame. Clay might have the third best pitcher in the league next year in a Freshman.

Symmes Valley has Kingery, Green has Jenkins, and not sure who New Boston, East, Eastern or Western has. Unless they have someone come up she will compete for the third best pitcher in the SOC I.

I haven’t seen the final results from this year for SOC 1 Play. I know Clay, Notre Dame, and Symmes Valley finishes top three I think. Not sure how the rest played out. Anyone know?

Not softball related but just wanted to give a shout out to Tea Cup.

SoftballGirl wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 8:28 pm I agree with SEOhio. Green may finish middle of the pack but not any higher. Somewhere around 4-6 position.

Top two pitchers in the league next year will be Oliver and Schaffer from Clay and Notre Dame. Clay might have the third best pitcher in the league next year in a Freshman.

Symmes Valley has Kingery, Green has Jenkins, and not sure who New Boston, East, Eastern or Western has. Unless they have someone come up she will compete for the third best pitcher in the SOC I.

I haven’t seen the final results from this year for SOC 1 Play. I know Clay, Notre Dame, and Symmes Valley finishes top three I think. Not sure how the rest played out. Anyone know?

Schaeffer and Oliver are by far the top two. Kingrey and Jenkins actually remind me of each other. New Boston has Hickman she improved a lot last year but they lose so much this upcoming season she's not going to have much of a defense around her.

ColdHardTruth wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 8:46 pm

SoftballGirl wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 8:28 pm I agree with SEOhio. Green may finish middle of the pack but not any higher. Somewhere around 4-6 position.

Top two pitchers in the league next year will be Oliver and Schaffer from Clay and Notre Dame. Clay might have the third best pitcher in the league next year in a Freshman.

Symmes Valley has Kingery, Green has Jenkins, and not sure who New Boston, East, Eastern or Western has. Unless they have someone come up she will compete for the third best pitcher in the SOC I.

I haven’t seen the final results from this year for SOC 1 Play. I know Clay, Notre Dame, and Symmes Valley finishes top three I think. Not sure how the rest played out. Anyone know?

Schaeffer and Oliver are by far the top two. Kingrey and Jenkins actually remind me of each other. New Boston has Hickman she improved a lot last year but they lose so much this upcoming season she's not going to have much of a defense around her.

Does anyone else have anyone coming up? And where would you place the Freshman pitcher coming up to Clay at with the five girls you named above.

East didn't show a lot at Jr High this year. But there's rumors of a Sr jumping ship and going to them to pitch.
New Boston has a girl who will take a couple years.
Green has a pitcher coming up, she handled the SOC1 teams in Jr High, got dominated by Burg, Welston and so on.

I did see the Clay Freshmen pitcher this weekend throw. I would rank her a CLOSE 5th out of the group we named. She could go anywhere in SOC1 but Clay or ND and compete for the job as a Freshman

ColdHardTruth wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 9:15 pm East didn't show a lot at Jr High this year. But there's rumors of a Sr jumping ship and going to them to pitch.
New Boston has a girl who will take a couple years.
Green has a pitcher coming up, she handled the SOC1 teams in Jr High, got dominated by Burg, Welston and so on.

I did see the Clay Freshmen pitcher this weekend throw. I would rank her a CLOSE 5th out of the group we named. She could go anywhere in SOC1 but Clay or ND and compete for the job as a Freshman

So I am assuming u have Oliver and Shaffer ahead of her. The other two I am assuming from your post would be Kingery and Jenkins?