The weather is breaking: Here are five things to watch this high school baseball season
The bats and gloves have been out of the bags for weeks, but we have hardly seen baseball games in the season’s first two weeks.
You can thank Mother Nature’s giving ways for that. More than five inches of rain fell last week in the Muskingum Valley, likely sending athletic directors and booster clubs brainstorming possible ideas for turf infields in the future. More rain came on Thursday.
The weather will change soon enough. It always does. With that in mind, here are five things to monitor in the coming weeks.
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1. Weather impacts
There was a stretch during the winter when it seemed there would never be a basketball game or wrestling meet postponed because of bad weather. There had been past years when that was a bigger story than the games.
We were blessed with some of the best winter weather in years, warm enough that many area players could get outside to shag flies or take infield practice much earlier than usual.
Game schedules and pitching rotations are being thrown off with equal volition. The only winners to date are those wanting the exercise from working on infields.
How teams respond from it will no doubt help decide these league races.
2. Sheridan or Tri-Valley in the MVL-Big School?
There appears to be a significant separation from the haves and have-nots in the Muskingum Valley League-Big School Division, with the Generals and Scotties again expected to rule the roost.
Just how that plays out is where the intrigue comes in.
Both feature strong rosters led by veteran pitching. In the Scotties’ case, junior Brady Kaufman might be the best arm in the entire area, and his bat has proven to be equally adept.
The Generals have perhaps the state’s top catcher in Division II in All-Ohioan Caden Sheridan, combining a quick, accurate arm with a big bat at the plate. The Morehead State signee hit five homers last season, and if he pitched more would be an ace of many pitching staffs. He struck out eight in three innings of relief against John Glenn on Wednesday, one day after hitting a homer and three doubles against the Muskies in New Concord.
Neither of these teams are one-man gangs, however. Sheridan returns the bulk of its rotation, the heart of its order and a stud shortstop in senior A.J. Winders. That will be a tall task for every opponent.
You can bet these gritty Scotties won’t go away quietly, however. Kaufman, Ashton Sensibaugh and Nathan Better are part of what expects to be a deeper lineup than last season, despite losing a versatile player and true leader in Hansel Holmes.
This will be fun to watch.
3. Will New Lex’s pitching rule the south?
Isaac McGill showed last year that he can stand nose-to-nose with any pitcher in the league, and classmate Garrett Blosser struck out 18 in the opener against Coshocton. Neither have backed off the pace in the first two weeks.
With All-Southeast District performer Tatem Toth gone to graduation, Blosser will be the critical back end of the 1-2 punch in the rotation. With seven starters back, this team could be good enough to win either division.
Morgan, despite losing Carson Copeland and slugger Wade Pauley to graduation, figures to again give the Panthers all they can handle in divisional play with battle-tested Carson Mummey and Logan Niceswanger leading the way.
Now West Muskingum is in that mix. They are much improved under wily taskmaster Pat Reilly and his veteran roster led by Cam Fowler, Wes Houston and Ashton Ansel. Oh, and this kid named Sesay is also back in the mix.
Get ready for a heck of race.
4. Jason Smith at ZHS
Smith is the third coach in three years as Zanesville aims to return to the form that made them formidable for large stretches of the 2000s and 2010s.
He was a standout player at ZHS who has developed as a coach mostly through the middle school ranks as the Blue Devils’ football coach, but he’s hardly wet under the ears when it comes to high schoolers.
He won 20 games and an East Central Ohio League title during a one-year interim stint in 2012 and served as an assistant on many successful baseball and football teams prior to that.
Nine players return who saw significant varsity action from a 3-23 team last year, six of whom are now juniors and seniors.
But the Licking County League is no joke on the diamond, especially in the Buckeye Division. Tests usually come daily against the likes of Watkins, Granville and Licking Heights, to name a few. Smith's team has endured plenty of struggles.
The only way to go is up.
5. The hot newcomers
Last year, it was Kaufman and Sheridan pitcher Bryson Ruff who emerged in the Big School Division as potentially dominant pitchers. Both are back as the likely No. 1s on their respective staffs.
Jack Lincicome showed his lofty potential as a lefty pitcher at Philo, earning second-team All-MVL as a freshman. Teammate Eric Durant all but shut down a potent Indian Valley squad on Friday.
A few miles away, River View's Mack Wilson tossed a one-hitter and also had four hits against Strasburg.
Zanesville shortstop Makhi Murray is already showing he's primed to step into a bigger role this season for the Blue Devils, as are Ansel and Houston at West. Lefty Witten Schaad is already giving Morgan's lineup and pitching staff a boost.
More will emerge as the weather breaks. Few things beat a good surprise story.
An exciting season is here. It just might take a while to get going.
sblackbu@gannett.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Five things to watch this baseball season in the Muskingum Valley
