SoutheasternOhioPreps.com

Appears to be chatter on most games and not seeing much on this one...

Indians are playing very well, but at this stage most teams have to be.

I think Valleys league and non league schedule has them ready for this postseason run they are on.

Good Luck to the Indians!

...could this be a situation where either/both team(s) throw their #2 pitcher?

Paint Valley plays in a very good baseball conference also.
SVC was pretty solid 1-7 this season.
The SOC D2 is mostly top loaded.
Great tournament games are "par for the course" between these two leagues.

Blanton for Paint Valley is as good as anybody on the hill in Southern Ohio.

He will face Arnett in the Regional Semi. Both teams best which will result in a low scoring game.

I went looking through the SVC league matchups and feel the comparison to the SOC is pretty close. Both have a non-competitive squad (SE and Eastern) but they also have teams in the bottom half capable of beating the top teams (SW over Minford, ZT over Unioto). There were also some good non-league matchups between the two conferences like Waverly and Unioto, Burg and ZT, Oak Hill over Westfall and I believe Valley played Piketon, ZT, Huntington, and Adena out of the SVC. Anyways, it just looks like this will be a good matchup between two very good pitchers if both teams are throwing Arnett/Blanton. I have not watched PV but I saw 3-4 Valley games the last few weeks and their pitching and defense has been very good. It seems like they have been hitting well lately and that makes them a tough matchup.

Good luck to both squads.

You’d drive yourself crazy trying to understand and compare the SVC this year. Best way to describe it is “Baseball.” Lots of good programs in the svc and when you have that you’ll have teams beating up on each other throughout the season. I agree the SOC was a little more top loaded this year, and it usually is.

One thing to remember about the svc is that Huntington and Paint Valley are typically D3 schools and may have both got the benefit of no competitive balance data this year (I don’t know that for sure, just know they’re both two of the larger D4s in the state this year). Valley is on the fringe too. That makes this matchup extremely high level and whoever wins could have a legitimate shot the next day. I don’t know enough about Hiland/Knox pitching, but I’m sure Hiland has many capable arms per usual.

Does valley throw Arnett or Nickel? I can see both approaches. Nickel gets lost in the talk a little bit. But he’s first team all district for a reason and is very capable of giving the Indians a chance to win this game. Go ahead and pencil in Blanton for the bearcats. I can’t see them going any other direction on Thursday.

East Knox doesn’t have that awesome of pitching (their “Ace” is a freshman who throws low 70 fastball and 60’s off-speed), but they can absolutely mash the ball against average pitching. They banged out 17 hits vs Berne Union in the District Final. Not that Hiland has average pitching (they don’t, they have awesome pitching), but EK is well-coached and the fire is burning up there. Could be the case where Hiland might have to dig deep and get a second arm over 30 pitches that game.

Hence, why I asked on who might go on the hill for who! Slight chance of pulling an upset in the regional final, depending on where the arms be at.

Paint Valley has went to D4 more than Huntington over the years. Valley went down to D4 back when Schuler was still coaching about 10 years ago. You are right though, they are right on the line almost every year. Way easier in D4 than D3 in the SE District.

Go get it Indians! Should be a good game. Play good defense and hit the ball.

Both teams' schedules have prepared them well for this one, but obviously pulling for Valley Indians in this one.*

petesweaty wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 1:19 pm Paint Valley has went to D4 more than Huntington over the years. Valley went down to D4 back when Schuler was still coaching about 10 years ago. You are right though, they are right on the line almost every year. Way easier in D4 than D3 in the SE District.

You are right about D3 being better in the district. I would be confident in saying that once you get out of the district D4 is at least on par with D3 if not a little better most years with Toronto and some of the teams that NC and Berlin Hiland have brought to the table. Huntington over Eastern Meigs and Paint Valley beating them this year shows how playing in a larger school conference benefits you in the district tournament on years where these teams play D4. Pulling for Paint Valley here, but either way rooting for the SE district all the way

One thing that would cut down on the competition/preparation gap between SVC+SOC II and the TVC-Hocking + SOC I is if the schools in the latter conferences (as in, the schools that have an idea they could make regionals) plan their non-league schedules accordingly and with some more thought toward playing “up.”

Saturday’s are an example that come to mind. We could have played Eastern on a Saturday in May, but they were already locked-in with Nelsonville-York. We had Southern scheduled for a DH, but it had to get canceled because that Third Saturday in May was apparently the start of the SE sectionals (which Southern got slotted into, play-in game?) There’s a LOT of teams not too far from the Logan area that would be willing to come down, or play at VA in Chillicothe (possibly willing to pay the fees, even) but so few takers. And I don’t think it’s necessarily that teams in the Hocking / SOC 1 are scared to play, but rather they just prioritize proximity and ease over some extra leg work that gets them solid District preparation.

formerfcfan wrote: ↑Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:00 pm One thing that would cut down on the competition/preparation gap between SVC+SOC II and the TVC-Hocking + SOC I is if the schools in the latter conferences (as in, the schools that have an idea they could make regionals) plan their non-league schedules accordingly and with some more thought toward playing “up.”

Saturday’s are an example that come to mind. We could have played Eastern on a Saturday in May, but they were already locked-in with Nelsonville-York. We had Southern scheduled for a DH, but it had to get canceled because that Third Saturday in May was apparently the start of the SE sectionals (which Southern got slotted into, play-in game?) There’s a LOT of teams not too far from the Logan area that would be willing to come down, or play at VA in Chillicothe (possibly willing to pay the fees, even) but so few takers. And I don’t think it’s necessarily that teams in the Hocking / SOC 1 are scared to play, but rather they just prioritize proximity and ease over some extra leg work that gets them solid District preparation.

When Eastern's former coach of 20 years was there the non league schedule was filled with Parkersburg High, Pkbg South, Athens, Marietta, Whiteoak, Toronto, Warren, South Webster. I don't know about how that was this year, but in the past they were always playing up

Will this game be on the radio? If so, what station(s)?

Good luck valley

Sounding like this game will be postponed until tomorrow.

Same start time, same place, but will be Friday now

Why did they move it to Friday? Beavers has a turf infield.

Also, I bet it won't be on Chillicothe radio. Mike Smith retired. WKKJ can't get the scores on there until two days later now.

petesweaty wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:11 pm Why did they move it to Friday? Beavers has a turf infield.

Also, I bet it won't be on Chillicothe radio. Mike Smith retired. WKKJ can't get the scores on there until two days later now.

They covered the Unioto/Hillsboro game...but that was on a sister station located in Hillsboro

They’ve made it really difficult to even send the scores in

Mike Smith retires = WKKJ lost on high school sports

petesweaty wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:11 pm Why did they move it to Friday? Beavers has a turf infield.

Also, I bet it won't be on Chillicothe radio. Mike Smith retired. WKKJ can't get the scores on there until two days later now.

I played there in college. Turf infield but grass outfield and it sits in a bowl and holds water