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Jiggs McGee · 09-18-2020, 11:25 PM

1933 AIAA SEASON PREVIEW

Here is a quick look at players to watch and the preseason rankings for the 1933 AIAA college baseball season. First of all here is some background on what the game considers to be the top five position players in college baseball.

1- JOHNNIE SUNDBERG: SS- Coastal California: (draft eligible 1933)- The 20 year old hit .361 in his second season and played every game for the Dolphins. Sundberg displayed some power as a sophomore, hitting 10 homers and is decent, but not outstanding with the glove. OSA considers Sundberg able to fill a key role in the big leagues.

2- JOE NICHOLS: 2B- Golden Gate: (draft eligible 1933) - Missed 8 games last year with a foot injury but still hit .363 in 42 games after batting .311 and playing all 50 as a freshman for the Grizzlies. Has great confidence in his abilities.

3- LARRY RYDER: OF- George Fox: (draft eligible 1935) - Big things are expected of this 18 year old from Dublin, Ohio who has yet to step on a college ball field. A competitor, Ryder is tabbed as a future elite big league outfielder but a lot can change as it is a long ways out from his draft year.

4- HAL CARTER: SS- Cumberland: (draft eligible 1933)- Looks like next year's draft might be a banner one for elite middle infield prospects. Carter hit .335 last season for the Explorers and improved in all 3 slash categories over his freshman year numbers. Defense might be a shade below average at this stage and the knock on Carter is he is not exactly the smartest ballplayer.

5- DON SPRAGUE: 2B- Boulder State: (draft eligible 1933)- Sprague is now a senior after the Augusta, Georgia native went undrafted in December. He played sparingly as a sophomore but had a solid draft year, batting .344. The scuttlebutt from the pro scouts is perhaps Sprague is a much better college player than he will ever be a pro prospect.

Here are the top five college pitchers according to the in game scouting.

1- FRANK BARKER: RHP- Sadler- (draft eligible 1935)- High praise that the 18 year old Yarmouth, Massachusetts native is considered the best pitcher in the AIAA this season as a freshman. The OSA is projecting him right now as a back-end of the rotation starter.

2- CAL KNIGHT: LHP- Pierpont- (draft eligible 1933)- Won't turn 20 until after the season has started but already has two years of college ball under his belt including an outstanding 7-1, 1.63 campaign as a sophomore. There is already talk the Poughkeepsie, New York native is a potential first overall draft pick next December.

3- DICK HIGGINS: RHP- Dickson- (draft eligible 1933)- Higgins had a much better freshman campaign (6-4, 1.65) then he did last season (1-5, 3.27) but is blessed with outstanding work ethic and if he regains his form of two years ago he just might be a first round draft pick.

4- BOBO WHITE: RHP- St Blane- (draft eligible 1934)- Finally we go outside the Academia Alliance for a pitching prospect and White is a doozy. He went 10-0 with 1.23 era in a dominant freshman season for the Fighting Saints. Watch him closely as he appears to be a candidate to be selected first overall in the 1934 draft.

5- PUG BRYAN: RHP- Lincoln College- (draft eligible 1933)- Went 11-2, 2.28 as a freshman and while the wins were not there last season he was still 4-1, 2.50 in 15 starts each year for the Presidents. Bryan did not go anywhere near as deep in games last season as he did as a freshman but did not seem to have any injuries or arm tiredness. The Presidents do have an elite reliever in Junior Jim Hardy, who pitched in 32 games last season, so that may be a reason why they went to the pen quicker with Bryan than the previous season. Bryan will be counted on heavily to lead the Presidents to a third straight playoff appearance, something the school has never accomplished.

Here is the college preseason top ten. Hardly scientific but what I did was tally up the positional rankings for each team with a slight adjustment to factor starting pitching in a little heavier and here, according to those numbers are the ten best teams for 1933.

Code:

  PRESEASON TOP 10 RANKING
  1- Lincoln
  2- Maryland State
  3- College of San Diego
  4- Cumberland
  5- Sadler
  6- Golden Gate
  7- Henry Hudson
  8- Travis College
  9- Georgia Baptist
10- Brunswick

As a reminder, last season Henry Hudson won the National Title for the second year in a row, something that had only happened once before (Liberty College 1919-1920). The Explorers are on quite a run with 4 trips to the College World Series playoffs in the past five years. A return trip might be tough as division rivals Sadler and Brunswick also crack the preseason top ten.

09-18-2020, 11:25 PM	#69
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1933 AIAA College Baseball Preview 1933 AIAA SEASON PREVIEW Here is a quick look at players to watch and the preseason rankings for the 1933 AIAA college baseball season. First of all here is some background on what the game considers to be the top five position players in college baseball. 1- JOHNNIE SUNDBERG: SS- Coastal California: (draft eligible 1933)- The 20 year old hit .361 in his second season and played every game for the Dolphins. Sundberg displayed some power as a sophomore, hitting 10 homers and is decent, but not outstanding with the glove. OSA considers Sundberg able to fill a key role in the big leagues. 2- JOE NICHOLS: 2B- Golden Gate: (draft eligible 1933) - Missed 8 games last year with a foot injury but still hit .363 in 42 games after batting .311 and playing all 50 as a freshman for the Grizzlies. Has great confidence in his abilities. 3- LARRY RYDER: OF- George Fox: (draft eligible 1935) - Big things are expected of this 18 year old from Dublin, Ohio who has yet to step on a college ball field. A competitor, Ryder is tabbed as a future elite big league outfielder but a lot can change as it is a long ways out from his draft year. 4- HAL CARTER: SS- Cumberland: (draft eligible 1933)- Looks like next year's draft might be a banner one for elite middle infield prospects. Carter hit .335 last season for the Explorers and improved in all 3 slash categories over his freshman year numbers. Defense might be a shade below average at this stage and the knock on Carter is he is not exactly the smartest ballplayer. 5- DON SPRAGUE: 2B- Boulder State: (draft eligible 1933)- Sprague is now a senior after the Augusta, Georgia native went undrafted in December. He played sparingly as a sophomore but had a solid draft year, batting .344. The scuttlebutt from the pro scouts is perhaps Sprague is a much better college player than he will ever be a pro prospect. Here are the top five college pitchers according to the in game scouting. 1- FRANK BARKER: RHP- Sadler- (draft eligible 1935)- High praise that the 18 year old Yarmouth, Massachusetts native is considered the best pitcher in the AIAA this season as a freshman. The OSA is projecting him right now as a back-end of the rotation starter. 2- CAL KNIGHT: LHP- Pierpont- (draft eligible 1933)- Won't turn 20 until after the season has started but already has two years of college ball under his belt including an outstanding 7-1, 1.63 campaign as a sophomore. There is already talk the Poughkeepsie, New York native is a potential first overall draft pick next December. 3- DICK HIGGINS: RHP- Dickson- (draft eligible 1933)- Higgins had a much better freshman campaign (6-4, 1.65) then he did last season (1-5, 3.27) but is blessed with outstanding work ethic and if he regains his form of two years ago he just might be a first round draft pick. 4- BOBO WHITE: RHP- St Blane- (draft eligible 1934)- Finally we go outside the Academia Alliance for a pitching prospect and White is a doozy. He went 10-0 with 1.23 era in a dominant freshman season for the Fighting Saints. Watch him closely as he appears to be a candidate to be selected first overall in the 1934 draft. 5- PUG BRYAN: RHP- Lincoln College- (draft eligible 1933)- Went 11-2, 2.28 as a freshman and while the wins were not there last season he was still 4-1, 2.50 in 15 starts each year for the Presidents. Bryan did not go anywhere near as deep in games last season as he did as a freshman but did not seem to have any injuries or arm tiredness. The Presidents do have an elite reliever in Junior Jim Hardy, who pitched in 32 games last season, so that may be a reason why they went to the pen quicker with Bryan than the previous season. Bryan will be counted on heavily to lead the Presidents to a third straight playoff appearance, something the school has never accomplished. Here is the college preseason top ten. Hardly scientific but what I did was tally up the positional rankings for each team with a slight adjustment to factor starting pitching in a little heavier and here, according to those numbers are the ten best teams for 1933. Code: PRESEASON TOP 10 RANKING 1- Lincoln 2- Maryland State 3- College of San Diego 4- Cumberland 5- Sadler 6- Golden Gate 7- Henry Hudson 8- Travis College 9- Georgia Baptist 10- Brunswick As a reminder, last season Henry Hudson won the National Title for the second year in a row, something that had only happened once before (Liberty College 1919-1920). The Explorers are on quite a run with 4 trips to the College World Series playoffs in the past five years. A return trip might be tough as division rivals Sadler and Brunswick also crack the preseason top ten. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 09-18-2020 at 11:26 PM.