Texas High School 4A Softball

[51sDad]

TGCA Preseason poll is out. Here is the list:

1. Birdville
2. Ennis
3. Montgomery
4. Waco Midway
5. Forney
6. Little Cypress Mauriceville
7. Wichita Falls Rider
8. Elgin
9. Richmond Foster
10. Corpus Christi Moody
HM Frisco Wakeland, Manvel and Rockwall
2011 State Champion - Santa Fe
2012 State Champion - Smithson Valley

Notice that Mansfield Legacy and Tomball don't make the cut. Also take note that he has Rockwall, a 12-5A school listed. Check out the rest of his list at http://www.austintgca.com/softball/polls.html

[frito_burrito]

Notice that Mansfield Legacy and Tomball don't make the cut. Also take note that he has Rockwall, a 12-5A school listed. Check out the rest of his list at http://www.austintgca.com/softball/polls.html

de tomball es no makin de cut cause de es not gunna be good. de foster es de team to beat. de montgomery no es gonna be as good as de last years. de poll shows de manvel as 4a?

[just4fun]

It's all about the numbers. 5A has more students, more players, more parents, more alumni. More people to post about them.

They have in the neighborhood of what, 400-500 students per class year? Whereas a 1A - 2A school has about 100 (or fewer) per class. It should not be that surprising that the best 5A teams would be better than the best 1 or 2A teams, simply because out of 1600+ students (9th -12th) in a 5A schoold, you should be able to find 9 pretty good players. Try finding 9 pretty good players when you only have 400 to choose from. (And, of course, about half of those are boys, so make that 200 students to choose from).

I don't really care if my dd could be on the "best" 5A softball team in Texas. It might nice, but we did not choose her school on that. We specifically wanted a smaller school, with a good academic record, good atmosphere, and competetive athletic teams. I don't use HS to try and prove whether or not my dd is a good softball player. That is what travel ball is for. Give your kid a break, and let them enjoy HS a little.

Bigger, doesn't always mean better. Saw a lot of 4A and 5A playoffs last year. For the most part, 4A had better quality teams. However, 3A and lower had a big drop off in overall team talent.

[fastpitchforever]

Notice that Mansfield Legacy and Tomball don't make the cut. Also take note that he has Rockwall, a 12-5A school listed. Check out the rest of his list at http://www.austintgca.com/softball/polls.html

de tomball es no makin de cut cause de es not gunna be good. de foster es de team to beat. de montgomery no es gonna be as good as de last years. de poll shows de manvel as 4a?

Manvel is 22-5A now I think.
I figured Montgomery would be the team to beat....what happened from last year to change this?
LCM I no like, way too much crow hopping to make it outside their region.
My observation is that the newspapers seem to think 5A is the only game in town, everyone else still hangs at dairy queen on Friday night. Remember the Last Picture Show?

[just4fun]

Notice that Mansfield Legacy and Tomball don't make the cut. Also take note that he has Rockwall, a 12-5A school listed. Check out the rest of his list at http://www.austintgca.com/softball/polls.html

de tomball es no makin de cut cause de es not gunna be good. de foster es de team to beat. de montgomery no es gonna be as good as de last years. de poll shows de manvel as 4a?

I know Foster has a bunch of returning players but LCM beat Foster and the bulk of the team were juniors. Why is Foster the team to beat? Agree with the Montgomery statement. Huge hole to replace behind the plate (not to mention her bat).
IMO, Barbers Hill should be the team to beat. Do they have a starter that isn't a D1 commit/signee?

[just4fun]

Notice that Mansfield Legacy and Tomball don't make the cut. Also take note that he has Rockwall, a 12-5A school listed. Check out the rest of his list at http://www.austintgca.com/softball/polls.html

de tomball es no makin de cut cause de es not gunna be good. de foster es de team to beat. de montgomery no es gonna be as good as de last years. de poll shows de manvel as 4a?

Manvel is 22-5A now I think.
I figured Montgomery would be the team to beat....what happened from last year to change this?
LCM I no like, way too much crow hopping to make it outside their region.
My observation is that the newspapers seem to think 5A is the only game in town, everyone else still hangs at dairy queen on Friday night. Remember the Last Picture Show?

While I tend to agree, no one calls it. Even if they do, they had two pretty good back-ups and they hit better than anyone they met in the playoffs (except Montgomery).

[fastpitchforever]

Notice that Mansfield Legacy and Tomball don't make the cut. Also take note that he has Rockwall, a 12-5A school listed. Check out the rest of his list at http://www.austintgca.com/softball/polls.html

de tomball es no makin de cut cause de es not gunna be good. de foster es de team to beat. de montgomery no es gonna be as good as de last years. de poll shows de manvel as 4a?

Manvel is 22-5A now I think.
I figured Montgomery would be the team to beat....what happened from last year to change this?
LCM I no like, way too much crow hopping to make it outside their region.
My observation is that the newspapers seem to think 5A is the only game in town, everyone else still hangs at dairy queen on Friday night. Remember the Last Picture Show?

While I tend to agree, no one calls it. Even if they do, they had two pretty good back-ups and they hit better than anyone they met in the playoffs (except Montgomery).

LCM is tough, but their CF graduated which I thought was their best asset. Montgomery prevailed over LCM with their catcher, but a smart coach would work the umpire issue before playing LCM and that pitching. Foster has the pitching too, but lost 2-1 and 2-0 to LCM so hitting must be the issue for them. To get to the final 4, a team can't have any holes in offense or defense. Kind of looking like a toss up! And I'll add at the risk of controversy, that any team that makes it out of Houston to the tourney in Austin, will probably win it all.

[Justafan4]

Don't have a clue about high school ball in Texas. There is a young lady that moved to the cincinnati from the Austin area if I'm not mistaken. She will attend UT this fall. Can't help but think what could have been at her former HS if she had not moved?

[FungoJoe]

I think that Barbers Hill would have to be on the list. They are full of D1 commits who are now Juniors. They have good strong pitching and hitting depth.

Not sure about Montgomery they lost the top of their line up and the right side of their infield, their pitcher and catcher. Not certain they can fill those holes. And depending on how far their basketball team goes into the playoffs they maybe without their stating cf and ss from last year at the beginning of district play.
Magnolia may win their district. They have the arkansas recruit who is now a sophmore pitcher who should be tough as long as she can stay healthy. Although I have heard their best athlete is not playing high school ball this year. They could sure use her bat and leadership. If huntsville had some pitching they would give them both a run for their money because they have a solid lineup.

I think you have to watch out for Santa Fe because they got their star pitcher from state 2 yrs ago back. If she returns to preinjury form they will definitely be a contender.

[93players]

Justafan, that young lady could have helped Elgin to some serious playoff wins. She was on the team when they had another great pitcher, but offense was the problem. Those playoff teams pitched around the best hitters and took care of the rest.