North Dakota Preps

Tournament starts Thursday. Anybody have information on the teams attending, records, players to watch, etc?

(#2) Thompson (17-2) vs. North Star/Leeds (14-3) 10:00am
(#3) Enderlin/Maple Valley (17-6) vs. MLS-Glenburn (29-5) 1:00pm
(#1) PRFL (22-1) vs. Bishop Ryan (23-4) 4:00pm
(#4) Shiloh Christian (25-6) vs. (#5) Carrington (16-5) 7:00pm

Players to Watch:
Adam Zavalney (PRFL) 75AB, 42H, 7HR,41RBI, 41 R, .560 Avg, 1.756 OPS
Nate Zavalney (PRFL) 81 AB, 47 H, 7 HR, 38 RBI, 52 R, .580 Avg, 1.645 OPS
Nick Thompson (PRFL) 82AB, 34 H, 5 HR, 35 RBI, 37 R, .415 Avg, 1.271 OPS
Clay Odenbach (Thompson) 61 AB, 30 H, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 24 R, .492 Avg, 1.440 OPS
Cadyn Schwabe (Thompson) 67 AB, 33 H, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 29 R, .493 Avg, 1.330 OPS
Chance Bye (Enderlin) 46 AB, 24 H, 1 HR,13 RBI, 28 R, .522 Avg, 1.406 OPS
** Can't find stats on any other teams **

I'll take Thompson, Enderlin/Maple Valley, PRFL and Carrington in the 1st round.

First round I will take:

Thompson, Enderlin/MV, PRFL, and Shiloh Christian

Championship game I will PRFL over Thompson in a really close game (5 to 3 or 5 to 4).

Thompson vs. Enderlin could be a good game if they meet up.

Rivershark wrote:Players to Watch:
Adam Zavalney (PRFL) 75AB, 42H, 7HR,41RBI, 41 R, .560 Avg, 1.756 OPS
Nate Zavalney (PRFL) 81 AB, 47 H, 7 HR, 38 RBI, 52 R, .580 Avg, 1.645 OPS
Nick Thompson (PRFL) 82AB, 34 H, 5 HR, 35 RBI, 37 R, .415 Avg, 1.271 OPS
Clay Odenbach (Thompson) 61 AB, 30 H, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 24 R, .492 Avg, 1.440 OPS
Cadyn Schwabe (Thompson) 67 AB, 33 H, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 29 R, .493 Avg, 1.330 OPS
Chance Bye (Enderlin) 46 AB, 24 H, 1 HR,13 RBI, 28 R, .522 Avg, 1.406 OPS
** Can't find stats on any other teams **

Gavin Miller (NS) .533 Avg.13 RBI
Hunter Borstad (NS) .417 Avg. 19 RBI
Jeremiah Hill (NS) .353Avg. 2 HR, 26 RBI
Keaton Kvilvang (NS) .490 Avg. 12 RBI

Rivershark wrote:Thompson vs. Enderlin could be a good game if they meet up.

I agree that would be one of the better non-championship matchups. Would be a fun one to see and the winner would be battle tested for championship.

What the general strategy with pitching? Throw your best guy first round?

I think who it is partially depends on who you are and who you are playing. If it is a team you have played before and you have 3 or 4 good pitchers then maybe you feel like you can get away playing your 2nd or 3rd guy even. I also think expectations play a big role in it. If your expecting to make a deep run (which is always very dangerous to assume in any state tournament) maybe you feel like you will need your ace for later. If you're a team that has one or two good pitchers and then are thin after that you are going to have a tough decision to make. At the end of the day you have to beat the first team to get to the last team. Losing while your best guy sits does you no good.

Also pitch count rules can come into effect, Maybe throw your "Ace" and hope he is efficient can get you 3 innings in under 45 pitches. Play it by ear, close game you leave him be since you have to win. Score 3-4 runs roll the dice and throw your next guy knowing the Ace can throw the next day if needed?

The Age Old baseball question, When do you throw your Ace?

Is there a right or wrong answer to this question? I agree fundamentally with the argument that "you can't win the championship if you don't win the first game". Countered with, you may not be able to win a championship without your Ace on the mound.

I love this debate and to hear all of the point/counterpoint arguments, and there still ends up being no right/wrong answer. One interesting observation is, many times you end up with a winner take all championship game where neither team has their best on the mound. That seems counter intuitive, but it is the reality. The current pitch count rules make such an impact on this decision in today's game.

I look forward to seeing people's input.

This year's state tournament has lots of good teams, looks like a quality tournament is ahead.

I have always believed that you win the game you are playing and worry about the next game when it comes. I was a little surprised Enderlin let their ace finish today's game and didn't take him out after they built a decent lead. I would think Enderlin will throw Bye tomorrow, anyone have any idea who Thompson will throw? There are a number of good coaches in this tournament who know their team and their guys so I would never second guess a coach on his strategy. I hope the rest of the tournament is as good as the Thompson.North Star game was today. A great start to the tournament and finally some great baseball weather!

Has anyone followed what MN has done the past few years with their state tournament? Their championship is played 5-6 days AFTER the semi-final round. So then your ace can always come back for the championship game.

Flip wrote:Has anyone followed what MN has done the past few years with their state tournament? Their championship is played 5-6 days AFTER the semi-final round. So then your ace can always come back for the championship game.

They also have to coincide it with the Minnesota Twins schedule and use the first open date after the quarters & semis are played so they can play at Target Field.

Run4Fun2009 wrote:
They also have to coincide it with the Minnesota Twins schedule and use the first open date after the quarters & semis are played so they can play at Target Field.

This is true. I wonder if they could move the first and 2nd round back 5 or 6 days. I know the first year they did this they really sold the idea of having two great teams throw their best pitchers against each other.

Rivershark wrote:Players to Watch:
Adam Zavalney (PRFL) 75AB, 42H, 7HR,41RBI, 41 R, .560 Avg, 1.756 OPS
Nate Zavalney (PRFL) 81 AB, 47 H, 7 HR, 38 RBI, 52 R, .580 Avg, 1.645 OPS
Nick Thompson (PRFL) 82AB, 34 H, 5 HR, 35 RBI, 37 R, .415 Avg, 1.271 OPS
Clay Odenbach (Thompson) 61 AB, 30 H, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 24 R, .492 Avg, 1.440 OPS
Cadyn Schwabe (Thompson) 67 AB, 33 H, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 29 R, .493 Avg, 1.330 OPS
Chance Bye (Enderlin) 46 AB, 24 H, 1 HR,13 RBI, 28 R, .522 Avg, 1.406 OPS
** Can't find stats on any other teams **

Nate Zavalney is now batting .600 with 51 Hits, 55 Runs and only 1 SO

It was a great championship game. Both teams played hard. This was a game who had something for everyone. At different times there was good hitting, good base running, good pitching, good defense, and great coaching. Congratulations to all involved for putting on a show and leaving it all out there.

defensewinsgames wrote:It was a great championship game. Both teams played hard. This was a game who had something for everyone. At different times there was good hitting, good base running, good pitching, good defense, and great coaching. Congratulations to all involved for putting on a show and leaving it all out there.

Could not agree more. This was a great game to watch and the sportsmanship on both sides was great to see. Congrats to both teams on their seasons and thanks for an entertaining championship game!