Athens Varsity Baseball 2009

[pkp76]

How will Athens do in their first year in the TVC?

[bulldog0909]

they will win league,i know that much

[pkp76]

Seems as though Meigs is seen as the favorite. Like any baseball team, Athens will probably go as far as pitching and defense will take them. How does the team stack up?

[Orange and Brown]

they will win league,i know that much

I don't know. Mabe mabe not. Meigs has a good team and VC will jump out and bite you.

[Fanofthegame]

Who are the pitchers to watch for Athens? Other key players?

[tigersfan88]

From what I say last year (we played Meigs twice i think and Athens 3 times) I see Athens being the better team. But I'm not too sure how much either team lost.

[bulldog0909]

athens loses one starting Sr from last year,the rest of the field was jr's and soph's.

[NYBuckeye96]

Tue 03/31/09 NELSONVILLE-YORK*
Thu 04/02/09 @ Wellston*
Fri 04/03/09 JACKSON
Sat 04/04/09 @ Sheridan
Sat 04/04/09 @ Sheridan
Mon 04/06/09 VINTON COUNTY*
Tue 04/07/09 @ Meigs*
Wed 04/08/09 MARIETTA
Thu 04/09/09 @ Belpre*
Sat 04/11/09 EASTERN
Sat 04/11/09 EASTERN
Tue 04/14/09 ALEXANDER*
Wed 04/15/09 @ Warren
Thu 04/16/09 @ Nelsonville-York*
Sat 04/18/09 GALLIA ACADEMY
Sat 04/18/09 GALLIA ACADEMY
Mon 04/20/09 WELLSTON*
Tue 04/21/09 @ Vinton County*
Thu 04/23/09 MEIGS*
Mon 04/27/09 BELPRE*
Tue 04/28/09 @ Marietta
Thu 04/30/09 @ Alexander*
Fri 05/01/09 @ Logan
Sat 05/02/09 @ West Muskingum
Sat 05/02/09 @ East Knox (West Muskingum HS)
Mon 05/04/09 WARREN
Tue 05/05/09 @ Eastern
Thu 05/07/09 @ Jackson

28 games - 12 TVC OHIO games, 3 vs TVC Hocking (Eastern-3), 9 vs. SEOAL (Jackson-2, Warren-2, Marietta-2, Gallia Academy-2, Logan-1), 3 vs. MVL (Sheridan-2, West Muskingum), 1 vs. ECOL (East Knox)

[93Bulldog]

Here is some speculation on what Athens will look like on the diamond ...

C - KYLE DEAN
1B - DOUG CHAPMAN
2B - MATT WITTEN
SS - JARED CLINE
3B - DEAN MAFFIN
RF - DANIEL GILLISPIE
CF - GREG PACH

(LF ... NOT SURE)

PITCHERS: (Which looks to be Athens strong suit)

1. Cline
2. Chapman
3. Gillespie
4. Dean Maffin

I know im pretty excited to see the team play; they open up with NY on Tuesday at Rannow field on the Plains ... If they have to travel to Wellston on Thursday, I wonder if Cline will even pitch the opener? I believe Wellston is supposed to be pretty strong, and if you throw him on Thur, he can turn around and face either Vinton County on Tues or @ Meigs on Wed ... If Cline were to start Tuesday, he would have to wait a whole week to pitch again, which doesn't seem right ... Not to mention, I would most definitely want my no. 1 guy set up to face WELLSTON & MEIGS / as opposed to / Nelsonville-York and Vinton County.

But 4 league games from TUESDAY 31ST through WEDNESDAY 7TH ... and then have to face BELPRE on the 9th ... WOW! 5 FREAKIN league games in a matter of 10 days, that is just crazy!

Having a four man rotation is going to be a huge advantage for Athens if other TVC-Ohio teams have similar schedules ... you almost have to have at least 3 guys that can throw pretty descent if you want to win a league title ... 7 teams and not a lot of time to play - because baseball season is so short - is going to make it a tough five weeks of baseball for everyone in the league.

[IMK01]

They should win the league, seeing as how they're probably the biggest school in the league now. Good luck to all teams!

[highandtight]

93dog: typically, there will be three league games a week so having four starters is not a must but a great advantage. Weekends are left open to travel, and Tuesday or Thursday make-up. I'm sure we'll have our share of those. Believe it or not, I'm going with you on this one. I'll pick the DOGS as the team to beat in the TVC ohio.

[Fanofthegame]

Athens apparently has a scrimmage tomorrow. Should be interesting. I hear that there may be some problems with eligibilty for a couple of players. Hope this isn't so.
Some of these boys have played baseball together since t-ball.

[NYBuckeye96]

From todays Athens Messenger...

Gibson, Bulldogs bring experience to TVC-Ohio

By TROY BOLIN
Special to The Messenger
Published: Thursday, March 26, 2009 1:38 AM EDT

Clear skies and warm weather are not the only things Athens head baseball coach Fred Gibson has to be thankful for these days.

With a wealth of talent returning and a roster stacked with experience, the long-time Athens coach may have one of his best teams in years — and it couldn’t have come together at a better time.

With the Bulldogs set to take part in the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division for the first time on the diamond, they will be looking to make their mark as one of the league’s elite and could threaten to win a championship in their very first spring. “This is the first time we’ve been outside before spring break,” said Gibson after his team wrapped up practice on a beautiful Monday afternoon. “We’ve been outside seven or eight times and have been able to take ground balls, hit live pitching and our outfielders were even able to shag some fly balls.

“It’s hard to replicate those types of things when you’re inside a gymnasium. We are pretty far ahead, but so is everybody else because they have had the same nice weather,” Gibson added.

While a lot of area coaches may be using the extra time outside to evaluate players, make roster cuts, or gain experience playing together out on the diamond — Athens has the luxury of not needing those kinds of preparations and have been taking advantage of the warm weather in other ways to improve the team.

With numerous starters and almost the entire pitching staff back from a team that won 10 games a year ago, Gibson can focus solely on getting the Bulldogs back into baseball shape and ready to play the season opener March 31st versus league foe Nelsonville-York.

“We have seven starters back,” said Gibson. “Our catcher Kyle Dean, first basemen Doug Chapman, second basemen Matt Witten, shortstop Jared Cline, third base will be Dean Maffin, our center fielder Greg Pach is back as is our right fielder Daniel Gillespie.”

“Almost the entire pitching staff returns with the exception of (Steven) Eberts,” Gibson added. “Cline, Chapman, Maffin and Gillespie will all see time on the mound with Cline most likely being our No. 1 guy. He had a great, great summer and looks good for us right now.”

Having one or two good pitchers is pretty good when it comes to high school baseball; to have four guys that can get you wins is a huge advantage. If the Bulldogs can stay healthy and have the four-man rotation perform up to their ability, a league title and possible late run in the tournament is not out of the question.

Pitching and defense have always been the strong suit with most Athens teams coached by Gibson, but this year’s team may have a little more going for them. Experience could be the word that best describes this group of Bulldogs and a possible breakout season offensively could be on the horizon.

“Our one-through-seven hitters all return from last year,” said Gibson. “Those seven guys not only have at least one year under their belt, some of them have been starting for two or three years now. Cline has been our leading hitter for three straight years after batting .400 as a freshman.

“Not only will he be our No. 1 guy on the mound, he will be hitting in the three spot and will be looked upon to lead the offense as well,” Gibson added. “Jared has a very good bat and seems to have developed a lot more power, which should make him even more dangerous at the plate.”

With so much talent and experience the sky seems to be the limit for this year’s team. The biggest challenge for the players and the coaching staff might be the adjustments needed because of the new league affiliation.

“We’re still playing a lot of teams from the (Southeastern Ohio Athletic League) and some even twice,” said Gibson. “Our schedule is not very different from a year ago. The only difference now that we are in a different league will be the pitching match-ups.

“As opposed to having our No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers set up to face teams in our league last year, they will now have the opportunity to face teams from the TVC-Ohio instead,” Gibson added.

When asked how he thinks the team will fare this season Gibson replied, “Well, I know we’re going to be a veteran team and there is some high expectations for this group of players. We have some guys on spring break right now but once they get back and we get into the season we feel that we can be pretty competitive.”

Gibson continued, “We were pretty competitive in the league last year, and with most of them back, we feel that we can do the same in the TVC-Ohio this spring.”

[Orange and Brown]

Athens should have a very nice team this year. They have a lot of starters comming back and should be top 3 in the TVC if not first.

[93Bulldog]

I believe Athens beat NY 5-4 (tues)

Pretty close game ... Hopefully Athens lives up to that great article written about em in the messenger ....

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

A key early-season battle looms with Wellston at Wellston on Thursday.

For years, these two played the first or second Saturday in April as a non-league doubleheader.

This will be the first TVC-Ohio game between the two, as both schools are former members of the SEOAL.

[highandtight]

dog, pretty close game? I'd say 5-4 qualifies as pretty close. Either the Buckeyes are drastically improved over last season or the Bulldogs struggled. On a side note, I guess if nobody else will stroke you for the article you have to stroke yourself huh? lol. After the Meigs loss last night, the TVC has picture may have changed.

[Rufus]

According to the Messenger, Athens had 5 runs on 4 hits. Seems as if they struggled at the plate. How good of a pitcher is Taggart from NY? Maybe just some first game jitters for the Dogs?

[93Bulldog]

High&Tight ....

As far as the game goes: 1st games are always tough, not to mention most teams throw their ace pitcher that first game ... I didn't see a lot of hits coming from any team yesterday after reading all the threads.

Im sure the 'Dogs will warm up as the season goes along ...

(That game in Wellston will be a dandy ... Maybe Gibby was holding Cline back just so he could mow down the Golden Rockets! )

[southfloridabobcat]

I hear from some of my friends from the north that he was a crafty lefty that gives teams fits..