2009 NLL outlook

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What are everybodies thoughts on the upcoming year in the NLL?

I think Springfield is the team to beat with AW, Maumee, Southview and Perrysburg fighting for 2-5.

 

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I would agree based on 7 returning starters (6 jrs and 1 sr) for Springfield, but Perrysburg and AW have pitching and that will them in the mix for the number one spot. Once again Southview should be right there. Maumee is getting closer, Coach Hall is doing a great job on building that program. Watch out for the Panthers in two to three years. Springfield has a very good 7th and 6th grade class. These two classes will fill the void the current junior class will leave.

 

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This is a league that will be fun to follow ALL year. Springfield has ALOT of good talent returning starting in circle (Michalik) (sp) and all around her, AW has a very good pitcher coming back as well (Kurfis) with a nice supporting cast, PB has very good pitching (Bryson) but always seems to struggle scoring, SV should be intresting with loosing Gates I am not sure who pitches for them maybe some can help me on this I do know they return some good talent and have a very good coach though..Maumee is improving by the day Mr Hall is definatly taking this program in right direction,and with Stanford returning and a healthy Conway they may be in the mix... NV has IMHO 2 very good pitchers that alot of people do not know about in Sayre and Matthews, As I said this will be fun to follow and I will try to be at as many games as I can this year...
If I had to pick right now my top 4 would be...
1 Springfield
2 AW
3 PB
4 SV/ Maumee
Again this is JMO and is subject to change...lol...

 

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Southview has Olivia O'Reilly in the circle.

 

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Springfield has to be considered the favorite at this point. Outside of the fact of who they're returning, their season finished on an upswing by making it all the way to Regional finals and losing only 2 -0 to Elyria. That's the kind of thing that makes a team hungry and provides Coach Gwodz with a great jumping off point at the start of this season. Let's put the bullseye on them.
The rest of the league is all in the pudding. Perrysburg has Bryson and feels they're going to surprise a few people this year. Anthony Wayne will look completely different except for the duo on the mound of Kurfis and Haley. Southview loses alot with Gates, at the plate and on the mound, but that program as well as Anthony Wayne's always seems to be in the mix. I don't think Maumee can get to the top, but they will probably have alot to do with who comes up short of the top. I have not heard anything about big improvements to Northview, BG or Rossford.

 

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I thought about this some:

Springfield: returns alot of talent lost 2 good players, but looks to me they have the players to step into those positions. Strong in the circle. I think this is their year.

AW: Lost 3 really good players and filling those positions in the infield is going to be tough. Very good combo in the circle might allow new starters time to develop during the season. I think this is going to be a different AW team then the ones in the past, they have a ton of speed this year and might rely on the short game instead of the long ball.

Southview: Lost Gates who was really talented, O'Reilly is very talented and should step right in, she also has a nice bat.

Perrysburg: I think offense is going to be an issue for them, very strong in the circle and very deep with 3 quality pitchers.

Maumee: A really up and coming program, The best catcher in the NLL, kids have played alot together in Maumees summer program, one of this years very soon they are going to take the next step. 2 quality pitchers, middle of the lineup power and top of the line up speed makes them a dangerous team.

All teams to me last year were very well coached, and really a fun league to watch. I don't think anybody runs the table, the winner might have 2 loses, the importance of bouncing back after a loss will be key.

 

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Added Poll

 

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What does AW's look like?

 

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What does AW's look like?

They are very strong and deep in the Circle, they have a very good outfield, a few very strong hitters with pop and some very good speed.

The negatives they have to replace their starting 3rd baseman and SS. It remains to be seen if they have the players to play those spots as effectively as the graduated seniors. They lost 4 seniors that contributed quite a bit offensively.

 

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Springfield should have it this year with AW and Perrysburg fighting for 2nd. Southview should be putting pressure on the above two and I think Northview will make some noise. Rossford, BG and Maumee should find it hard to do as much as they want in this very tough league.