Bearcat Bob

Since I live in Massanutten now, I get to watch East Rock, many Bull Run teams and most of the Valley teams. My 2 cents of the 2A remaining teams: Girls: Luray and Strasburg are good teams, albeit very different styles and personnel. Neither is state championship caliber IMHO. Boys: East Rock is big, shoots lights out and is deep. Nickels is a legit D1 talent. They probably lose to JM Tuesday but I think it will be a much better game than most think. And if it is real close late, I like ERs chances. Tyce McNair is a heckuva guard/leader. If Evick is on, his range is out to the logo (seriously). ER doesn’t have a true center though. They have a bunch of 6’5-6’7 guys but they are slim. If JM pounds it inside, the ER party will be over.

We love our condo at Sea Cabin in Cherry Grove...best pier on the grand strand IMHO.

JM has a ton of talented ... and a huge lack of discipline. A good coach with above average talent can beat them, IMHO. Didn’t a similarly talented JM team lose to Northside a few years ago? Radford, East Rock, Dan River, Gate City, etc. may be able to take them on a given night. When they get behind, they turn to all out “And One” street ball. All that being said, they probably win 2A state.

Ryan4VT...I stand corrected. My son was at game and texted me that the Richlands pitcher was the best pitcher Madison saw all year. Congratulations to Richlands...well deserved...defeating the last 2 state champs to win it is even more impressive.

The girl who bunted does it all the time. She’s fast obviously. Did it against us multiple times. When the Richlands pitcher shut out Page, knew they had a real shot. Madison has struggled at the plate without Johnson (acl). It’ll probably be Richlands, Page and Madison again next year!

Coaches...with Estes back, they moved the girl who has been catching for the last month to CF and 3B to catcher. Looks like that had cost them... but if they can’t hit it won’t matter.

She scored on the throw back to the pitcher, not the passed ball? That’s odd.

She was just cleared to pitch this week. Hasn’t been in the circle for over a month. Could be bad for MC; good for Richlands.

She held them in check. Not that it matters, but I’m impressed. Page is a good hitting team...better than Madison. Good luck in the finals. Basically the same teams from 2017.

Richlands should have a decent shot at the title this year. There was a rumor that Estes would be back in the circle for Madison but she didn’t throw today. Seale is good but not at Estes’ level.

Bull Run District has a team in the 1A and 2A title games.

Not a SWVA report but had the chance to see a bunch of 2A schools last weekend. East Rock looked pedestrian at best...but the Nichols kid did not play due to a knee injury. But to his credit, he was there all weekend supporting his team. Madison County could be a dark horse. They had a couple of big guys who o do not recall from last year. They beat a couple of solid 4A teams and lost a good game to 5A Albemarle. Lee is a year or so away. I mean Staunton...

Williams v Buchanan... worth the $10 admission.

After reading the reasons given in the paper, it was probably a decent idea to postpone baseball/softball. Seems most of the coaches were in agreement.

Really odd situation. My son and some buddies went down this morning. The Madison team had already left before the announcement. The VHSL “got some ‘splaining to do”

Region b was out Monday. I assume all have been released.

Page and Madison is not currently a District game. Page is in the Shenandoah while Madison is in the Bull Run. The schools have played each other in most sports for years though. And they seem to meet for the Tegion B title frequently. Starting this fall, Page will join the Bull Run. Then, the District tourney will likely be state championship caliber.

That ought to settle it for sure. Page is a really good hitting team. If the Richlands pitcher holds them in check, I’ll be a believer. I know nothing at all about Lebanon but they may have the better draw. I’m not expecting Madison to win it all though Here’s why: Madison’s ace, Estes, cannot pitch or play SS. Their big bomber Hannah Johnson tore an ACL and is out. The current pitcher, Seale, broke a bone in her pitching hand 4 weeks ago. A freshman is now at SS...but she did have 4 RBI today. The CF is now catching...Yada, yada, yada. But they still made the State semis so who knows. But it will be tough to overcome those kind of losses and still win the State or beat Lebanon for that matter

Pages TR Williams (sophomore)was just named Region B POY again; reaffirmed his commitment to VT; and will be pitching for Team USA again this summer. I’d really like to see him and the kid from Lebanon going against each other in HS. Probably have to wait until ACC games...or the MLB! I counted 21 clipboard toting, radar gun pointing scouts at Williams last outing.

In 2A softball, I’d argue that the best pitcher plays for Madison County. Logyn Estes will be pitching for East Carolina next year. She was well on her way to POY until separating her shoulder a couple of weeks ago when sliding head first into home. She is only hitting now. She beat Page twice this year ( and Richlands in 2017). Their second pitcher is good but it’s hard to replace mid 60 speed.

What could be baseball-wise... Lebanon and Page Co COULD meet Friday in the state semifinals. Man oh man... I’d love to see a Buchanan/Williams match up. Probably the two best pitchers in 2A going at it would be well worth the $10 entry fee. But I expect both will throw in the quarters.

But could those teams Richlands is beating compete in other parts of the state? Maybe, possibly. I hope SWVA softball proves it is as good as other parts of the state...but I don’t see any historical proof of such. Should know by this weekend how they stack up.

I love you and your insights but I’d have to disagree here. I’ll admit that I have not seen Lebanon and haven’t seen Richlands since 2017. With that being said, and no way of proving this, I’d wager that neither Richlands or Lebanon would win the regular season in the ‘Doah or the Bull Run. One of them might get hot and win the tourney but I doubt they could consistently beat Page, Buffalo Gap, Wilson, Madison or Clarke. But that is just my opinion...I wouldn’t be surprised to be wrong😀

Overall yes. Not saying that there cannot be one team that is very strong coming out of SWVA...there usually is. But from my perspective of being from (and loving) SWVA sports to living in the Shenandoah area, has given me a different view. I think there is much more depth of talent in other areas of the state. And that is a huge change from my views growing up.

Last I looked, the state bracket has only 2 teams from each region.