Preseason Rankings are always a fun time for us at DP! Often times there is more of a storyline and tons of information that is gathered behind the scenes that only you, (the player, parent, coach etc…) view as a number with a team listed beside it. We take a lot of pride in providing you the best baseball content possible at this level. One of my personal goals for DP in 2010 is to provide more inside content to reader’s about what really goes on inside true baseball circles whether its team rankings, players, player rankings, or recruiting.
In this article, we are going to select and breakdown a few of these conferences that could get interesting in 2010 and give you a few reasons why things may or may not go according to our predictions: Here is the skinny on the next region on our radar…
How we picked Region V-3A:
-South Aiken
-Airport
-Dreher
-Brookland-Cayce
-Midland Valley
-Swansea
X-Factor Team: Brookland-Cayce
Why? The answer is simple, Brian Hucks. Widely considered as the best high school coach in the state, Hucks will have his team prepared to win any way possible this season. The Bearcats return junior southpaw Michael Gilroy who posted some gaudy numbers last year as a sophomore posting an 8-0 record and 0.57 ERA. While the Bearcats are short on talent this year, tradition is hard to break. B-C has ruled the roost for many years in the lower state and those expectations should help this team thru potentially tough stretches this season. While B-C has lost a few players to graduation and some for unexpected reasons, they will still be a large determining factor on how this Region plays out. Hucks cannot be counted out, but this year he may ultimately just play the role of spoiler. 1B Chase Shelton will need to contribute an All-State caliber year and SS Kenyatta Castleberry will need to be a rock at SS to give the Bearcats a shot at title contention.
Sleeper: Dreher
Why not to sleep on the Blue Devils??? Dreher finished strong in 2009 with a 7-3 record that was good enough for second place in Region V. They return two-way contributor Chandler Knox and RHP Bud Jeter (left) to give Dreher two mid-80’s arms with pitchability. Knox and Jeter are both ranked in the Top 20 Senior RHP rankings. Two good pitchers is a solid start for making a run in high school baseball. Don’t sleep on Bud Jeter, who looked terrific at the DP Fall Showcase, flashing the best breaking ball of the event!
Why they should win it… South Aiken
The Thoroughbreds have the right genetic combinations to win this horserace! South Aiken literally has twice the amount of talent as any other team in the Region. It’s simply showing up and taking care of business. Quality LHP in Andrew Faulkner and very underrated RHP in Stephen Leopard give SA mound prowess. 1B Chris Brooks, INF Nate Kuhns, INF Ben Donath and OF Tyler Rowe should provide plenty of offense for this powerful club. South Aiken should win this conference with ease, and if they don’t it will interesting to see how it doesn’t happen. South Aiken has all the makings of churning its way into a special season.
Other Notables:
• 
Airport returns premium Midland’s players in Lucas Knight and W.T. Murden but questions behind the dish raise serious concerns for a serious title contention.
• Midland Valley’s Cole Cromer (right) gives "The Valley" a solid mid to upper-80’s arm that can slice the ankles of a contender at some point during the season.
• B-C’s Michael Gilroy is the X-factor player in Region V. He gets all the tough games this season for B-C. Gilroy can cause a lot of disruption if he can win the big ones during the season.