preseason polls

[pakkyzoo]

I don't care if he plays or not. I talked to Demers a couple times a couple years ago in Enderlin and he seemed like a really good guy. I hope he gets to play his senior year, but I thought the rules were rules. I am sure AK and ndfan are right, they both are from Grafton. He is a solid 3rd basemand and hitter will help them out very much. I just thought with the transfer rules he wouldn't be able to play. We will see.

[ndfan]

I don't care if he plays or not. I talked to Demers a couple times a couple years ago in Enderlin and he seemed like a really good guy. I hope he gets to play his senior year, but I thought the rules were rules. I am sure AK and ndfan are right, they both are from Grafton. He is a solid 3rd basemand and hitter will help them out very much. I just thought with the transfer rules he wouldn't be able to play. We will see.

I don't know if I'm right or wrong I'm just thinking if AK says he's can play he would know with his dad being coach and all. But my next question is how healthy is he right now??? Will that be a factor also?

[InTheKnow]

Pretty sure the rule is if you have permanent residence in the school district you are eligible. If you do not have permanent residence you have to sit out until you have a permanent residence or 1/2 the year. Which ever is shorter. He will be eligible. That is the rule and always has been the rule. It is based off of where the family resides at that time with a permanent residence.

[winners&losers]

How is Watford suppose to be for their first year??

[pakkyzoo]

How much of the season is Demers really going to get to play? The Force are just starting playoffs, plus he needs a certain number of practices? If he comes back I would definitely say that Grafton should win this region easy. They probably will win it without him.

[Hunterlaf]

Makoti Parshall Berthold North Shore will take it

[bball100]

Makoti Parshall Berthold North Shore will take it

no they wont

[Hunterlaf]

sorry for disrespectin u

[bball100]

sorry for disrespectin u

what??...i just dont think they're going to win it

[ndfan]

Area notebook: Munich-S-NS takes No. 1 ranking into baseball season
Of the eight teams that competed in the 2008 North Dakota Class B high school baseball tournament, seven are ranked in the top 10 in this year’s preseason state coaches’ poll. The one missing from the rankings is Central Valley-Hillsboro.
By: Greg DeVillers, Grand Forks Herald

Of the eight teams that competed in the 2008 North Dakota Class B high school baseball tournament, seven are ranked in the top 10 in this year’s preseason state coaches’ poll. The one missing from the rankings is Central Valley-Hillsboro.

Valiants coach Nathan Walsh doesn’t take that as a slight to his program.

“It’s reality,” said Walsh, whose team finished fourth at state last spring. “We graduated a lot of guys from last year’s team. We have to prove ourselves this year.”

Central Valley-Hillsboro is one of four teams from the area that will be bidding for a return trip to the state tournament. The others are state-ranked — Munich-Starkweather-North Star is No. 1 in the preseason poll, Dakota Prairie No. 4 and Grafton No. 5. In addition, Hatton-Northwood, which lost to CV-H in the Region 2 final last season, is ranked ninth.

“There are a lot of good teams in the state,’’ M-S-NS coach Adam Wirth said. “Being ranked first is a nice honor for a small school. But I don’t think it has any bearing on what happens. We have to fill in for three graduated starters.”

Here’s how the four area defending region champions look as they prepare for the eventual season openers.

- Munich-Starkweather-North Star: Wirth isn’t sure about the No. 1 ranking. But the M-S-NS coach said a top-10 ranking isn’t a surprise.

“I guess being ranked first is because we have quite a few guys back and we’ve been to state the last two years,” Wirth said. “People notice you then. And we do have good talent coming back.’’

The team has two of its top pitchers back in Trevor Schommer (7-1) and Travis Beck (3-1). “We have to find some other guys who can pitch. And we have some guys with good arms,’’ Wirth said.

There are plenty of proven hitters on hand. Beck (.226), Jessie Goeser (.275), Blake Klein (.482, 27 RBIs), Schommer (.400, 20 RBIs), Brandon Hoffman (.380, 20 RBIs), Alex Anderson (.177) and Alex Hoffmann (.350) all are back in the starting lineup from last year’s 15-5 team.

- Dakota Prairie: The big loss for the Knights, who were 17-4 and state runners-up last spring, is top pitcher and hitter Seth Nichols.

But there is plenty of experience returning. Griffin Ham, Braydon Gourneau, Tyler Luehring, Alex Kroke, Brody Morken, Alex Herman, Kyle Lamb and Alex Vasichek all saw extensive playing time. Luehring (3-2, 3.51 earned run average) is the lone pitcher among last season’s top four who returns.

“We don’t have the dominant pitcher we had last year, but I’m not sure if anybody in our region has a dominant pitcher,” Knights coach Garrett Magner said. “What we do have is 4-5 guys who can throw strikes. And, as a whole, we’ll be a better hitting team. We won’t have the one big bopper in the lineup like Seth, but, overall, I think we’ll be a better hitting team.”

Vasichek, Lamb and Gourneau head the offense. All hit better than .300 last season.

- Grafton: Despite major graduation losses to the pitching staff, that again could be the strength of the Spoilers, who were 26-8 and finished fifth at state last season.

Gone are top pitchers Anthony Kliniske and Jordan Lutovsky. But there is experience on the mound in Alex Martinez, Sam Tweten and Colby Aasand. “We don’t have any 90-mile-per-hour guys in the group,” Grafton coach Chad Kliniske said. “We’ll have to rely more on our defense. But Alex, Sam and Colby have had a lot of success in high school and Legion ball.”

There also is experience on the infield. Returning regulars are catcher Todd Paulson, first baseman Paul Dusek, Martinez at third base and shortstop Chad Demers, who is expected back after playing junior hockey in Fargo this winter. Demers, Martinez and Paulson were .300 hitters.

“I think there will be more parity in our region,” Chad Kliniske said. “We’ve come back to the pack some. And the rest of the teams have a lot of good kids coming back.”

- Central Valley-Hillsboro: Rebuilding starts on the mound. Pitching was a strength on last season’s 15-8 team, but Aaron Meyer (2-3) is the only one of the top four pitchers who didn’t graduate.

“We don’t have the dominant type of pitcher who can go out and throw a no-hitter,’’ Walsh said. To compensate, “we’ll have to hit better. And I think we can do that. We won’t hit the ball out of the park a lot. But I think we have enough good players that we can bunch a lot of hits together.’’

The lineup includes four starters back from last season in shortstop James Horne, outfielder Nick Proznik, infielder-outfielder Chase Luchsinger and third baseman Cody Waslien.

[pakkyzoo]

Should of posted the whole article, It had information about Munich, DP, Grafton and Central Valley.

[ndfan]

Should of posted the whole article, It had information about Munich, DP, Grafton and Central Valley.

I'm sorry i changed it.

[pakkyzoo]

Thanks ndfan! Its a pretty good article I figured some people would want to read it.

[bcsportsfan]

I don't care if he plays or not. I talked to Demers a couple times a couple years ago in Enderlin and he seemed like a really good guy. I hope he gets to play his senior year, but I thought the rules were rules. I am sure AK and ndfan are right, they both are from Grafton. He is a solid 3rd basemand and hitter will help them out very much. I just thought with the transfer rules he wouldn't be able to play. We will see.

I don't know if I'm right or wrong I'm just thinking if AK says he's can play he would know with his dad being coach and all. But my next question is how healthy is he right now??? Will that be a factor also?

Demers is healthy. He's already started skating with the force again so his foot his ready to go for the baseball season.

[InTheKnow]

I think the argument about how good Grafton is can be put to rest after there 11-1 and 12-2 thrashing of Munich yesterday. Whats the story on Demers since the Force are still in the playoffs and could be for a couple more weeks if they keep winning?

[sports for life]

Will Munich still win their region or will someone else...munich has lost 3 games already

[SCOOTER_09]

Will Munich still win their region or will someone else...munich has lost 3 games already

That's a good question. They already lost a region game to Rolette 2-1. Rolette then went on and lost to Rugby 4-3. This is definitely a region that could come down to the very last pitch!!!!!!

[spoilers23]

So Grafton vs. F-LPR today. Who wants to argue about it?

[spalding23]

So Grafton vs. F-LPR today. Who wants to argue about it?

wow...um im gonna go with fordivlle they have alot of senior leadership and the tough pitchers in solseng and smeasted (spelling). but grafton has two great pitchers in bubba and tweten. it should be some great games.

[chip44]

So Grafton vs. F-LPR today. Who wants to argue about it?

wow...um im gonna go with fordivlle they have alot of senior leadership and the tough pitchers in solseng and smeasted (spelling). but grafton has two great pitchers in bubba and tweten. it should be some great games.

I think they will split…should be some good games hopefully…

[spoilers23]

So Grafton vs. F-LPR today. Who wants to argue about it?

wow...um im gonna go with fordivlle they have alot of senior leadership and the tough pitchers in solseng and smeasted (spelling). but grafton has two great pitchers in bubba and tweten. it should be some great games.

I think they will split…should be some good games hopefully…

I'd comment on these games but what I'd have to say would get me kicked off this website.

[InTheKnow]

What were the scores in the FLPR-Grafton match up? The scores were not available at the GF Herald online edition.

[spoilers23]

What were the scores in the FLPR-Grafton match up? The scores were not available at the GF Herald online edition.

FLPR takes the first 5-4, Grafton takes game two 5-1.

[winners&losers]

is there gonna be another poll anytime soon??

[bballfan7]

is there gonna be another poll anytime soon??

The only poll in Baseball is the preseason poll.