Swbl

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Any thoughts on the teams in the SWBL this year? I know Madison on the Buckeye side will be strong. Valley View and Brookville are always tough on the Southwest side. Any opinions?

 

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On the Buckeye side you would have to give the nod to Madison but their complete dominance should end with Hanna graduating. I know they still have some good players but when you have a pitcher like that it puts your team in a different category. Carlisle will be good also they had a strong run at the end of last year with Stephanie Turner really pitching well. With Destiny Manning gone at Preble Shawnee I don't think they will be able to contend, Monroe should be better and so should Waynesville. At Dixie we lost 9 Seniors last year with a lot of holes to fill but we still have some pretty good players. On the Southwestern side I think it still is between Valley View and Brookville, Emily Fultz from Valley View has a great arm and so does Rachel Drennen at Brookville. Franklin will compete also with Chelsea Miller on the mound. I don't know much about the other teams in the Southwestern division so I can't comment. I know that Bellbrook has a great SS Sierra Stewart but I'm not sure about their pitching. As always it will come down to pitching, pitching, pitching, who has the best pitching.

 

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Preble Shawnee has a good pitcher in Hannah Belvo stepping in. she should do very well.

 

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Madison should make a run at a state title this upcoming season, this team will have all travel players.

 

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Hannah Belvo will do just fine at Preble Shawnee this spring. Very nice young lady.

 

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Hannah Belvo will do just fine at Preble Shawnee this spring. Very nice young lady.

I agree 100%! Belvo should be a tough out at the plate too. We will have to see her twice this year, hopefully the weather is nicer than last year.

This conference will be loaded this year, just like last year. It will be interesting to see how these smaller schools fare against the bigger schools in non conference play. My guess is they will do really well.

JMO

 

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It should be an interesting year on both sides of the division. I think the SWBL is overlooked from a softball stand point. There are some talented ladies in the league. I think it will only improve over the next few years. A lot more girls in the league are playing travel ball in the summer. It can only improve the play.

 

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I think it will only improve over the next few years. A lot more girls in the league are playing travel ball in the summer. It can only improve the play.

I agree, there are some great players in the SWBL already, the more that play in the summer, the stronger the conference will become!

 

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One of the big problems in the smaller schools that there are not as many girls to choose from. So what happens is the good athletes play multiple sports and don,t concentrate on just one, so what you get is an athlete that is average at three sports and not dominate at one. Most of the girls that play softball at Dixie pick their glove and bat up in March and put them down in May then maybe play 6 or 8 games of Rec ball and think they that is enough. I know Derek has tried to get girls to get involved in a travel program but compiling as many Varsity letters that they can get seems to be what most of them are after. We had 9 Seniors graduate last year out of the 9 their were 2 of the girls that if they would have just concentrated and worked on Softball possibly could have played D1 but at the end of their HS career they had their 12 varsity letters and second team all league in two sports, I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

 

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Hanna will do well leading PShawnee this season. The freshman class has true talent, (speed and big sticks) adding to the program. I still think they are a year away from competing with Madison, but will be in the hunt. If I remember correctly, it was 2 Freshman led the BA for PS in 2009. I predict it will be another freshman leading them in 2010 (CLakes).

I wouldn't count out Carlise, who made a terrific run last year with Turner.

Chelsea will fill the missing piece for Franklin. They will be the team to watch out for. Milton Union may surprise a few teams.

I think Madison will reign again and have a their shot at the state championship.

Valley View (Fultz) versus Brookville (Drennen) will determine the SW side.

I agree with erictnjc: pitching, pitching, pitching. The depth chart meter points to: Madison, Carlisle, Franklin and Valley View.

It will be a fun year to see how it all shakes out.