Crack of the Bat

By David Rawnsley

STATE BASEBALL CLASSIC  --  Part 2

In part one of the State Baseball Classic, we looked at four states; California, Florida, Texas and Georgia, and what they could put on the field in a state championship style format.

Today we'll reveal the other three states and the team for the "Rest of the Country".

In selecting the three additional states, it was obvious that if we had chosen a different year to do this, say 2007 or 2004, we most likely would have been looking at a different combination.  In some years states are just especially strong as compared to their norm.

This is such a year for Alabama, for instance, one of our remaining three.  Russell County HS (Phenix City, AL) is the reigning mythical National HS Baseball Champion and look even stronger in 2006.  The talent runs deep through both the 2006 and 2007 classes.  A couple of years ago, Alabama wouldn't have made the short list for consideration in all likelihood.

States such as Arizona, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington and others are certainly candidates in any one year to be including....maybe in 2007!

As a reminder, each state "roster" has a nine player starting lineup with a DH, a four pitcher staff, including one left hander, plus two reserves.

(listed by batting order)

Alabama

D.J. Jones (CF)

Kentrail Davis (LF)

A.J. Wirnsberger (SS)

Joe Sanders (3B)

Hunter Morris (RF)

Dustin Spruill (C)

Matt Davis (1B)

Jake Smith (DH)

Justin Hargett (2B)

Kasey Kiker (LHP)

Cory Rasmus (RHP)

Taylor Thompson (RHP)

Del Howell (LHP)

Auburn Donaldson (Res/OF)

Johnny Gunter (Res/C)

Alabama is going to scare any opponent just with their pitching staff.  Kiker and Rasmus headline the Russell County HS staff (that has at least three other pitchers who touch 88-90, by the way) but Thompson and Howell are both Top 75 ranked pitchers nationally.  Spruill has plenty of experience and talent to handle the powerful staff as well.

The starting lineup is liberally filled out with talented 2007 prospects, including the entire outfield of Jones, Davis and Morris.  That is a very good sign for the future of baseball in this upcoming state.

North Carolina

Addison Johnson (CF)

Kyle Seager (3B)

Drew Poulk (RF)

Parker Bangs (C)

Wade Moore (1B)

Greg Holt (DH)

Justin Jackson (SS)

Quincy Latimore (LF)

Justin Shumer (2B)

Josh Thrailkill (RHP)

Ryan Morris (LHP)

Jared Bard (RHP)

Sam Runion (RHP)

Keith Mauney (Res/IF)

Bobby Leeper (Res/OF)

Like Alabama, North Carolina puts its best team on the field when the 2007's are mixed in.  Holt is a low 90's pitcher as well as a powerful hitter, while Jackson is one of the country's premier defensive shortstops.  Latimore and Runion are also juniors. 

One thing that stands out among the starting line up is that these are high performance players.  They may not all be ranked as highly as the top prospects from Florida or California, but all of these players have played at a very high level and excelled on successful teams.  There will be numerous college All-American's from the roster above, not to mention a few high draft picks.

Virginia

Jason Taylor (CF)

D.J. Fitzgerald (2B)

Josh Bivens (RF)

Justin Bour (1B)

Graham Stoneburner (SS)

David Lindsey (C)

Brent Greer (3B)

Nick Pisula (LF)

Merritt Sosnoskie (DH)

Jeremy Jeffress (RHP)

Neil Ramirez (RHP)

William Hirsch (RHP)

Sean Ray (LHP)

Jason Pierce (Res/RHP/OF)

Brian Gray (Res/RHP)

A couple of years ago a Virginia team would have been a serious threat to the Big 3.  The Upton Brothers would have headlined the line up (and likely disagreed about who got to play shortstop) but the talent measured up against any state down to the 15^th player.  That isn't quite the same in 2006, but any pitching staff led by Jeffress and Ramirez could win the first two games of a series in a hurry. 

The Virginia team would have one of the deepest pitching staffs, as well.  Stoneburner is a low-90's pitcher who some see as being a full-time hurler in the future, while Pierce and Gray are quality prospects in the bullpen.

Rest of the Country

Luis Tovar (2B/Arizona)

Ryan Adams (SS/Louisiana)

Billy Rowell (3B/New Jersey)

Travis Snider (DH/Washington)

Andrew Clark (1B/Indiana)

Jason Place (LF/South Carolina)

Drew Rundle (RF/Oregon)

Jason Hagerty (C/Missouri)

Jared Mitchell (CF/Louisiana)

Brett Anderson (LHP/Oklahoma)

Delin Betances (RHP/New York)

Andrew Oliver (LHP/Ohio)

Matt Petiton (LHP/New York)

Thomas Pham (Res./IF/RHP/Nevada)

Stephen Englund (Res/IF/Washington)

Wow, that's a pretty impressive team!  12 states are represented, with Washington, Louisiana and New York picking up two spots.  Every one of the 15 players will get serious professional scouting attention this spring in advance of the 2006 draft.  It's a testament to the quality of talent spread across the entire country, just not in one or two areas.

Who would win the State Baseball Classic?  Just like International Baseball before the Olympics and before the World Baseball Classic, there's no way to really tell without putting the players on the field.  Who knows that might happen some day!  If there is a way, you can bet that Perfect Game is thinking about it.

My opinion is that the 2006 SBC would favor Florida, with Team USA running a close second.  North Carolina would be my sleeper team, they just have a bunch of winning type ball players and their pitching can match up on any given day.  Texas and California have the pitching, but I don't see their hitting matching up with Florida or Team USA, especially if they played in a series type of format.