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2016 Prep Baseball Update #5: Players of the Year/All-State lists and final rankings

22 comments

This is post #5 of High School Tourney coverage for 2016.  Here’s the schedule:

In this post, we will publish all the various Teams of the Year, players of the year and other individual accolades.  I’ve been publishing these as i found them in prior posts, but here they’re all listed as best as I can find them.

Lists in Red are pending results; I’ll update this post as the results come in even post publishing.

Individual Player Accolades 

Gatorade announced their player of the year awards on 5/24/16.  (Link to all Gatorade/USA Today players of the year per state)

  • Maryland: Spalding’s Tyler Blohm won the Maryland award.  17th round pick by Baltimore, committed to Maryland.
  • Washington DC: St. John’s Cam Remalia (by way of Waldorf, MD) won the DC award.  Committed to Coastal Carolina.
  • Virginia: Flint Hill’s Khalil Lee won the Virginia award.  3rd round draft pick and Kansas City signee.
  • Washington Post All-Met teams: Jake Agnos is the 2016 All-Met Player of the year.  In two seasons for Battlefield, he was 18-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 265 strikeouts in 134 1/3rds innings.
  • (Also, here’s a fantastic list of all All-Met teams in all sports going back to 1991 that I’m spinning into a “where are they now” post to be done sometime in the future)
  • Virginia All 6-A North Regional team: Jake Agnos, LHP Battlefield (ECU commit) is the Pitcher of the year, Jared DiCesare, Chantilly (George Mason commit) is the Player of the year.
  • Virginia All 6-A South Regional team: Fox Semones, SS/RHP Hylton (James Madison commit) is the Player of the Year.
  • Virginia All 5-A North Regional team: Alex Smith C from Mountain View (Navy commit) is Player of the year.
  • Virginia All 5-A South Regional team: Michael Blanchard, RHP Nansemond River (Old Dominion) is player of the year
  • Virginia All 4-A East Region team: Grey Lyttle, 3b/OF from Hanover (High Point) is 4A East player of the year.
  • Virginia All 4-A West Region team: Brendon Doyle, OF from Kettle Run (VMI) is 4A West player of the year.
  • Virginia All 3-A East Region team: Noah Murdock, RHP from Colonial Heights (Virginia commit) and Nationals 38th round draft pick,  is the player of the year
  • Virginia All 3-A West Region team: Drew Calohan, RHP from Rustberg HS is 3A West Player of the year.   Ferrum commit.
  • Virginia 2-A and 1-A All-Regional teams: pending; not sure if they’re even done.
  • VHSL All-State Teams:
    • 6A VHSL All State Team: Jake Agnos, LHP Battlefield is the 6A Player of the Year.  Committed to East Carolina.
    • 5A VHSL All State Team: Michael Blanchard, RHP from Nansemond River, is the 5A player of the year.  Committed to ODU.
    • 4A VHSL All State Team: Grey Lyttle, 3b/OF from Hanover is 4A player of the year.  Committed to High Point.
    • 3A VHSL All State Team: Drew Calohan, RHP from Rustberg HS is 3A player of the year.   Committed to Ferrum.
    • 2A VHSL All State Team: Matt Pinson, RHP from Maggie Walker (Richmond) is the 2A player of the year as a *junior*.
    • 1A VHSL All State Team: Bryson Booher, RHP from Ft. Chiswell (SW of Roanoke) is the 1A player of the year.   Committed to Concord University.
  • VISAA’s All-State teams, Division I, Division II and Division III.  Khalil Lee (Flint  Hill) is the Division 1 player of the year.  Harry Brown (Greenbrier Christian) is Division II player of the year.  Andrew Lowe (Southampton Academy) is Division III player of the year.
  • VHSCA (Virginia High School Coaches Association) All-State Teams: all pending for 2016: I gave up waiting for them and published.
  • Maryland MIAA All-State teams: No POTY’s announced.  The “A” team is dominated by players from Spalding and Calvert Hall, and includes Tyler Blohm.  The “B” team is dominated by the two best B teams: Boy’s Latin and Annapolis Area Christian.
  • Prep Baseball Report VA/DC All-State Team; published 7/1/16: Jake Agnos is their player of the year.
  • NovaBaseballMagazine’s “Nova Nine” for 2016:  Jake Agnos is their player of the year.
  • NovaBaseballMagazine’s alternative “Nova Nine” lists.
  • NovaBaseballMagazine’s selection panel (made of coaches and staff) has selected All conference teams for all the Northern Virginia-based conferences; click on the “Standings” link from their home page, navigate down to the division in question, and you’ll get the final 2016 conference standings, then the results of the conference tournament, and the all conference team.  I’m not sure if these are “official” all-district teams or if these are NBM’s staff selections.
  • All Loudoun-County Team: announced 6/29/16.  Will Schroeder, RHP/SS for Loudoun County HS named POTY … as a sophomore.
  • Free Lance Star All-Fredericksburg 2016: announced 6/30/16. Alex Smith C from Mountain View (Navy commit) is Player of the year.
  • American Family Insurance All-USA Baseball Teams: Riley Pint, P from Kansas and 4th overall pick was POTY.   Tyler Blohm was 2nd team.  Nolan Jones (UVA commit) also 2nd teamer but likely signs after getting drafted in the 2nd round.
  • American Family Insurance All-State Baseball Teams: released 6/30/16.
    • Virginia: Flint Hill’s Khalil Lee won the Virginia award.  3rd round draft pick and Kansas City signee.
    • Washington DC:  St. John’s Cam Remalia (by way of Waldorf, MD) is POTY.  Committed Coastal Carolina.
    • Maryland: Spalding’s Tyler Blohm won the Maryland award.  Committed to Maryland.
  • Louisville Slugger High School All-Americans: announced on or about 6/17/16.  Zack Hess (Liberty Christian), Joe Rizzo (Oakton), Khalil Lee (Flint Hill) all first teamers.  Harold Cortijo (a junior!) from Riverdale Baptist 2nd team. 
  • American Baseball Coaches Association/ABCA/Rawlings High School All-Americans: released 6/23/16.  Khalil Lee 2nd team all-american.
  • ABCA/Rawlings High School 2016 All Region Team for the Mid-Atlantic: familiar names Khalil Lee, Joe Rizzo, and Tyler Blohm on the all-Region 2 team.
  • USA Today All-Americans: not sure if they do their own or if the multiple “American Family Insurance” teams are the official USA Today Teams.
  • Baseball America All-Americans: released 6/21/16.  No Local players named, to the chagrin of Jake Agnos proponents.
  • The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Team released 6/17/16.  Tyler Blohm the player of the year.
  • Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro team: Grey Lyttle, 3b/OF from Hanover POTY.
  • (the 2016 Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro team link also has prior POTYs dating to 1993).
  • Virginian Pilot All-Tidewater team: Michael Blanchard, RHP Nansemond River (Old Dominion) is player of the year.  Second Team link here.
  • (and here’s a list of the All-Tidewater players of the year since 1993 for fun)

If you know of *any* all-anyone team in a publication or official site that i’m missing, please let me know.

Local and National High School Baseball Ranking Lists: Updated for the final rankings.

  • Washington Post All Met Sports Final Area top-10 ranking: Riverdale Baptist, Spalding, St. Johns DC, Chantilly, Battlefield top 5.  Madison, who was consensus #1 for practically the entire season, doesn’t even make the top 10 after its early Regional loss.
  • NovaBaseballMagazine.com Final Rankings of all NoVA teams dated 6/13/16: Chantilly, Battlefield, Kettle Run, Mountain View, Hylton.
  • PrepBaseballReport Final VA State-Wide Power25 Rankings: Hanover, Greenbrier Christian, Liberty Christian Academy, Chantilly, Nansemond River.
  • Baltimore Sun Top-10 Poll Archives: Final 5/23/16 ranking.  Perennial power Spalding has been at the top for a good chunk of the season.  Spalding, Chesapeake AA, Severna Park 1-2-3.
  • The Virginian Pilot Top-10 for Hampton Roads area: Final 5/31/16 poll: Private school powerhouse Greenbrier Christian, Grassfield and First Colonial 1-2-3.
  • Richmond times-Dispatch Richmond-Area top-10: 6/14/16 Final poll: 4-A state champ Hanover, Collegiate, Mills Godwin 1-2-3.
  • MaxPreps All-Virginia Rankings: 6/13/16 so basically Final Virginia rankings: Hanover, Grassfield, Liberty Christian Academy, Chantilly, Paul VI.
  • USA Today’s National High School Super 25 (“Expert”) Rankings 6/22/16 Final rankings: Hanover rises to #8, Spalding rises to #13, and Chantilly gets in at #23.
  • USA Today’s National “Computer” Rankings 6/22/16: Assuming Final at this point: Hanover at an astounding #4, no other local teams ranked.
  • USA Today’s Super 25 North East & Mid Atlantic Regional Rankings 6/22/16 Final: Hanover & Spalding 1-2 in the region.  Also includes Chantilly at #5, Riverdale Baptist #7.
  • Baseball America Top 50: dated 6/16/16: Chantilly finishes #28, Riverdale Baptist #39.  Final?
  • MaxPreps “Excellent 25” ranking: 6/13/16: Hanover #21.  Final?
  • MaxPreps “Excellent 50” rankings: 6/13/16: Hanover #21 and no other local teams mentioned.  Final?
  • MaxPreps Computer Rankings 6/27/16: Hanover #5.  You have to scroll pages to find the next local teams (ranked in the 75-100 range). Final?

These National rankings are dominated by teams in Texas, Florida and California, as you might expect.  These teams can play nearly 40 games and usually have at least 15-20 under their belts before DC/MD/VA teams even get going.  So its somewhat of an accomplishment just to have a local team get some recognition.  In fact, any cold-weather state team appearing in these lists is pretty special.

Major Newspaper Links/Resources for following prep baseball around the state

Local Newspaper Coverage, including links to many local papers covering smaller jurisdictions.

Non-newspaper Links for Local and National Prep Baseball Coverage

Good Twitter accounts to follow:

  • https://twitter.com/toddeboss/lists/prepbaseball: I maintain an open list at my twitter account via this link, which contains direct links to dozens of local resources (including all the below).  Way too many retweets from the travel team accounts especially, but its a good way to keep up with local ball.
  • https://twitter.com/PBRVirginiaDC: Prep Baseball Report VA/DC coverage
  • https://twitter.com/NVBaseballMag: NoVa Baseball Magazine
  • https://twitter.com/NoVAHSBB
  • https://twitter.com/DynamicBaseball

Written by Todd Boss

July 6th, 2016 at 2:51 pm

Posted in Local Baseball

Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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22 Responses to '2016 Prep Baseball Update #5: Players of the Year/All-State lists and final rankings'

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  1. FWIW: both Joe Rizzo (Mariners) and Khalil Lee (Royals) doing well in the AZL.

    Joe Rizzo

    7 Jul 16 at 9:07 am

  2. Yeah! I’ve seen the updates from NovaBaseball on twitter. Great to see these guys starting out so fast.

    Once the 7/15 signing deadline passes, i’m doing a big post on all the locally-tied players who got drafted and I’ll give updates on those that did sign and how they’re faring as well as those who didn’t sign and which colleges they’ll be attending. I’m still waiting to see if a few specific guys with local ties sign (I think I saw that Buddy Reed signed, but still no word about Shawaryn or Rescigno from UMD or McGarity from vaTEch). Also i’m wondering if a hail mary is in the works for Sara, Hess, Blohm or any of the other local HS guys.

    Todd Boss

    7 Jul 16 at 11:47 am

  3. Would be surprised if Zack or Tyler sign, unless we’re talking a Hail Flutie-like pass. Both are that good to deserve that kind of money. Each are first rounders in 3 years.

    Joe Rizzo

    7 Jul 16 at 12:17 pm

  4. Todd and all… what’s your thoughts on Giolito so far, after seeing him a couple times now?

    Anonymous

    8 Jul 16 at 12:17 pm

  5. He should be ready fot the big time around this time 2017.
    These 2 start tryouts are always very useful for the prospect to see what they need to do before they are ready.

    Remember, Reynardo Lopez is more accomplished at this point than Giolito, the glamour notwithstanding.

    You have to think, between the 2 of them and Austin Voth, 2 will be the future for the Nats and 1 will be traded. All look to have long careers in the Show, with Lucas Giolito the only one on his 2nd elbow.

    Mark L

    8 Jul 16 at 12:49 pm

  6. Giolito thoughts so far: definitely some work to do. He shows some flashes of excellence, with a changeup that’s better than I thought it could be and the hammer curve. Promising. Also a pretty tough ask all things considered to have your first two starts go against the defending NL champ, even if they’re weaker this year than they were last.

    But his catcher has to help him too; Yoenis Cespedes is a dead-red fast ball hitter and, for the second game in a row, hit a ball 110+ mph because he was sitting first pitch fastball. Be smart in that situation; throw him a change up. Don’t bury a 4-seamer down the pike and then wonder what happens when he scorches it.

    Todd Boss

    8 Jul 16 at 4:28 pm

  7. My first impression.. he’s going to need all his pitches working to keep hitters from smashing that fastball. That pitch was hit hard in both starts. His fastball was solid but not electric in the young Strasburg, Kerry Wood kind of way i was hoping from the #1 prospect in the game. There’s a lot of guys who can top out at 96 these days. Also may need a little deception in his delivery like Strasburg finally figured out last year.

    I think he’s going to be solid, but to be a #1 starter, he’ll need to throw a little more downhill to take advantage of his height and work the bottom of the zone better with his fastball. His stuff rides a little high in the zone right now. Will be interesting to see how he does in his next call up after this little taste. I’m sure he learned a ton.

    Anonymous

    8 Jul 16 at 6:47 pm

  8. I wouldn’t read much into it, to be honest. His first two games are against the defending NL champs; he was noticeably over amped and had little commands and his second start came on 9 days rest, which doesn’t help his command issues.

    If Dusty was really thinking, he would have let Giolito pitch against MIL at home, and bumped everyone back a day. Not like the starters couldn’t use the rest, with the way he has been overusing them.

    Wally

    8 Jul 16 at 8:51 pm

  9. Friday’s win against the Mets felt like the biggest win of the season, at least thus far. The crowd, extra lubricated after a rain delay, was out for blood, Thor was throwing lightning bolts, and the Mets had made Nat pitching look like slo-pitch beer league the night before. Well, Queens got to see who the true best pitcher in the league is, even if he won’t be starting the All-Star Game. Thor left holding his arm, again, and Cespedes bailed as well.

    And the Pipping of Zim continued. Let’s just say that Robinson is making the most of his opportunity.

    The Nats need to get at least one more win in the series and go to the break four up. Six up would be gravy.

    KW

    9 Jul 16 at 7:51 am

  10. Very early returns on Giolito. He was clearly over-amped on Thursday and up in the zone. He made it through three innings in good shape but got hit hard in the fourth, as did everyone else who followed.

    His heater isn’t untouchable if guys are sitting on it, but there aren’t many guys in the league who can turn it up to 100 and throw it by everyone. Giolito has the secondary pitches to be able to pitch similarly to Stras. There’s a learning curve involved in pitching that way, though, and Stras is a prime example. If you’ve gotten by for all your career by blowing people away, you have to adjust your mentality at a level where they can hit your best stuff.

    That’s the long way around to saying that Giolito will be fine. He’s got to mix his pitches better, but he’s got the quality pitches to mix. He’s also got to get ahead of hitters better. He nibbled too much on some guys and didn’t go after them. Granderson got lucky off him in the first meeting, and he’s shown him too much respect ever since.

    I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Giolito with the big club this year, although it’s hard to know how the rotation is going to shake out for the second half until we know how long Ross will be out.

    Related, on the Arroyo watch, he seems to have missed his latest GCL start. He had starts on 6/26 and 7/2.

    KW

    9 Jul 16 at 8:16 am

  11. I was one of those who thought Lopez should have gotten the call over Giolito precisely because the latter has struggled with his control much of the year and did not show the dominance in AA that Lopez had shown. That said, Lopez’s innings limit is much tighter than Giolito’s, and if they don’t skip some starts or move him to the bullpen he’ll be looking at being shut down by mid August. Giolito, on the other hand has about 10-12 starts left assuming he’s bumped up to around 160 innings.

    The one guy who is not doing himself any favors right now is Austin Voth, who has given up an ugly 12 BBs in 16 IPs in his last three starts just when he should be making his case to be called up.

    Karl Kolchack

    9 Jul 16 at 2:31 pm

  12. BP just published their mid season prospect rankings. Victor Robles is the top Nat @ 9 (Giolito was ineligible because he was on the mlb roster), Turner @ 13 and Lopez @ 38.

    http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=29756#190175

    Wally

    9 Jul 16 at 2:41 pm

  13. Given the news about Harvey, especially coming as it did on the night Strasburg dominated the Mets for the third time this season, I think the Nats have finally won the argument about how young aces coming back from TJ surgery should be handled. It was particularly telling that Sandy Alderson is already tempering fan expectations by saying that there is no guarantee that Harvey will be the same pitcher when he returns.

    That whole situation was totally bungled, from the “miscommunication” last September over whether he would be shut down, to the team throwing him under the bus and thus placing fan pressure on him to keep pitching, to him trying to keep pitching this year despite significant discomfort, to their idiot fans booing him off the field after he risked his career trying to win a World Series.

    It really made no sense for the Mets to keep trotting Harvey out there this year when he obviously wasn’t right. Now he’s dealing shoulder issue which could well make him the next Mark Prior while Strasburg appears to be taking that last step up to becoming a truly elite pitcher. A step he likely would never have been able to make had he been drafted by the Mets instead of the Nats.

    Karl Kolchack

    9 Jul 16 at 4:46 pm

  14. I don’t feel sorry for the Mets as an organization. They took the “flags fly forever” approach, ignoring that young arms don’t last nearly that long. I said last year that it smacked of the 2012-13 Braves all over again. I lost count of how many arms they ruined, taking the whole franchise down with them.

    I do feel sorry for the Met pitchers, although admittedly, Harvey isn’t exactly a fellow who engenders much sympathy. Harvey also had both the status and the agent to back a stand, but he didn’t take it. Hope Scott enjoys taking 10 percent of nothing when no one wants to sign him long term.

    Although if Harvey vows to absolutely, positively destroy his former team in the way Mr. Murphy is doing, we might be interested . . .

    KW

    9 Jul 16 at 10:02 pm

  15. I’m reminded of how during Strasburg’s shutdown year the most derision they got was from the Atlanta Braves. Then, by the end of the next year’s spring training, 2 of their starters had blown out their 2nd elbows, one of whom was Medlin, a great, great pitcher.

    KW, yes, Harvey is not a sympathetic guy, he of the “any less than a $200 million contract is a failure” quote.
    That said, the Mets butchered his body.

    Everybody, read Tom Boswell’s column on the Mets & Nationals approach to pitching injuries. He nails it.

    Mark L

    9 Jul 16 at 10:46 pm

  16. While I agree with you guys on an intuitive level, I think the causes and rehab of pitcher injuries still have enough mystery about them that we shouldn’t just conclude ‘this way works, this way doesn’t’. Harvey may have developed this problem anyway (although we all said last year to watch out for the Mets pitchers this year based on overuse – this one does seem kind of criminal).

    But what’s clear beyond a doubt, and was clear from the very beginning of the Stras shutdown and Harvey’s treatment, is that the primary emphasis for the Nats was long term pitcher health, and the primary emphasis was maximizing near term wins. So in the gray areas like exactly how hard and how long to let a rehabbing pitcher pitch, that’s the side on which each organization erred. I’ve always thought that, if I was a player, that would make a substantial difference to me when I reached a point where I could choose my organization. I’m guessing it did for Stras. It’s not that Rizzo knew this way would work, it’s just that it would make a world of difference to me that what he was trying to do, as opposed to the Mets approach of using me (and pressuring me) to get what you can, when you can.

    I do think you can be on the aggressive side of this, like the Mets, yet still be an organization that looks out for players. All the Mets needed to do last year was give Harvey a contract through his arb years, say 3/$30m or something. Show him that they appreciated going above and beyond. Instead they pushed him to the brink and limited their financial exposure to the utmost. I’ve never disliked Harvey, but I can’t stand the Mets organization.

    Wally

    10 Jul 16 at 7:58 am

  17. Primary emphasis for the Mets was maximizing near term wins.

    Wally

    10 Jul 16 at 8:00 am

  18. Flags fly forever. But yes the Mets really, really pushed the envelope with their arms last year and i don’t think anyone, not even the most ardent cynics of pitch counts, could look at what’s happening to their rotation this year and say “oh its all just a coincidence.” DeGrom has missed starts, Matz has a bone spur. So does Snydergaard. Harvey is done. Wheeler’s return has been delayed due to setbacks. There most consistent starter is also the oldest guy in the league and throws 90% fastballs in the low-to-mid 80s. So…. congrats to them for 2015.

    Todd Boss

    10 Jul 16 at 12:32 pm

  19. I’m waiting for the day when intentionally destroying your players’ health in the face of overwhelming scientific data becomes as big an issue in baseball as it is in football. While arm injuries are obviously not as catastrophic as repeated concussions, ethically it is just as wrong to be aware of the potential for such injuries and yet insist that your players risk their health out of some idiotic notions of what it means to be a tough guy. The real tough guys stand firm and make hard decisions in the face of negative publicity the way Rizzo did back in 2012.

    Karl Kolchack

    10 Jul 16 at 10:01 pm

  20. Last year, during the week-long Matt Harvey crisis about innings and what not, I had a whole post ready to go but never wrote it.

    I wonder if that post is worth revisiting now.

    Todd Boss

    11 Jul 16 at 8:17 am

  21. […] of the 2016 all-area team announcements (All-Met, all-state, all-american, etc), looking for […]

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