Best PD Team in Last 15 Years?

[vcuengnr]

Just curious which team everyone believes was the best in the last 10/15/20 years? I have not followed PD Teams in the last 2-3 years therefore I would like to poll all of the other PD baseball fans.

[Lovethegame]

I think the Menchville team with Brandon Creswell, Ray Holdcraft, James Allen, Jeff Hubbard. Just to name a few off that team that tried to make a run states. Not sure of the year?

[vcuengnr]

I think the Menchville team with Brandon Creswell, Ray Holdcraft, James Allen, Jeff Hubbard. Just to name a few off that team that tried to make a run states. Not sure of the year?

That would have been 1997. They were stopped in the regionals by Great Bridge with Michael Cuddyer and Curtis.

[tidewaterbaseballfan]

97 menchville was a great team. 99 Woodside (Regional champs with Ebaugh, McKernon was a great team. 06 Menchville was a good team. This is hard to choose because no team in the PD has ever won a state championship. 02' Woodside, 07 Denbigh. It would have to be between one of these.

[Sportsdad62]

I didn't get a chance to see the older teams because my daughter played softball, but the Menchville 2006 team was one to remember with Watkins, Carter, Spady & Shoemaker. I may be wrong about this but I thought they won Regionals and were undefeated until State. I also enjoyed watching Denbigh last year.

[brothergus]

couldn't have been the '02 woodside team...bethel went undefeated in district that season if i remember correctly

[Sportsdad62]

couldn't have been the '02 woodside team...bethel went undefeated in district that season if i remember correctly

Bethel is another team that has had some good years.

[yzarc]

Bethel was 18-0 in 02, best team in the last 15 years 92 or 93 KHS squad....92 team played for the state championship..lost 3-2......the 93 team was ranked 18th in the Nation before losing in the regionals (21-1) They had 6 guys go D1 off of that team.

[whsoutfielder]

bethels team with feagans, plank, pie, evans, and moody was the best team ive ever seen play in this district hands down. 2 college bound pitchers who threw the **** out of the ball, evans who played at vcu and a few other players. But that team definataley was the best bethel team you'll see in years. those 2 years were the years feagans was all state 2 years in a row i think, but yah that team right there should have been the team who should have won states, they had the talent for sure.

[king of all kings]

I like to study history of the PD and I am not sure if that Bethel team with Feagans was the best out of Bethel. I think the group that came out in 91 or 92 won the state crown for Northampton senior league and were within a game or so of making it to the senior league world series. I know London was leading that team and he was drafted out of high school and played for UVA. There were about 6 to 8 others on that team that went on to play college ball. I was checking the records and they were knocked out of the region playoffs by another perennial power back then - First Colonial.

[king of all kings]

I wanted to make a few additional comments. I have been looking at some of the records of teams in the past and I notice Bethel, Menchville, Denbigh, and Wooside has had some really good teams over the last 15 years. I was surprised to see all of the information that is available on the daily press database. A lot of players mentioned in this thread were really good players. I hope someone can shed some light as to why the PD has not brought home the state crown with all of these good players and teams. Is it because they ran into better talent, better coaching, or just choked?

[yzarc]

As I recall, Kecoughtan were district champs when Paul London was playing.....KHS won it 91-93....Regional Champs in 91 and Hampton and Lafayette battled in 90. Feagans team at Bethel were studs....Mingee, Feagans, Plank, Evans, Gonzalez....reason teams didnt bring home the state is because they were competing against---David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman, BJ Upton.....Beleive it or not...;when Feagans was playing in the PD, it was considered a joke on the other side of the water.

[W-ward]

I think it could be a combination, maybe, the other were just better coaches, or, it could be the all possible, Choke, sometimes, guys just choke, you never know, H e l l, i was born in 91 I wish I had been around to see these guys play. But Coach Barker always talks about how his bench players @ Menchville when he played, would have started in our district so unless he's BSING :D , there was a massive amount of talent back then, so I don't believe it was talent. I take that back after reading the post.
So, on the other side of the water, we were just outmatched athleticlly?

[yzarc]

Between 2000-2004 the talent on the southside dominated the penninsula. Coaches viewed the PD as an easy victory in the regional tournament. Yes, teams back in the day had more talent then now. Players now dont have the fundamentals and "know how" of players back in the day. However, the players now that take it seriously and commit themselves to baseball definitely are just as good. Teams back then had players that knew how to play the game and the talent level was deep....their were quality teams that never made it to the post season.

[tidewaterbaseballfan]

couldn't have been the '02 woodside team...bethel went undefeated in district that season if i remember correctly

My bad, your right! Woodside 02 just won the district tournament. Just remembered Trevor Ronin. But Bethel 02 deserves credit.

What about the Kecoughtan team that Coach Wheeler played on. How good were they?

[king of all kings]

I have conducted some research and that Kecoughtan team that Wheeler played on battled with one of the perennial power teams from Bethel. That Kecoughtan team was pretty good.

[yzarc]

Through my research I found that at one point in the season KHS was 18th in the country ranked by USA today. They played for the state championship in 92 and won the region in 91. 93 they were undefeated and lost in the regional semifinals.....they also won the state in legion in 91 and 93......I think Bethel won the district in 94 when Oschenfeld was a senior.....Hampton High school and lafayette High school both went to the state tournament in 1990....i think lafayette played for the state title that year

[king of all kings]

Here is my final take after completing the research over the last 15 years:

Early 90's - Bethel and Kecoughtan dominated. Bethel and Kecoughtan had a lot of college ball players DI - DIII come through at that time. Kecoughtan had Brooks and Bethel had London. Both players were highly touted draft picks. Who is better? Flip a coin because they both beat each other head to head.

Mid 90's - Bethel was pretty good with Oschenfeld getting drafted out of high school. This is where Denbigh started to dominate with Ingram before the Woodside split.

Late 90's - Woodside during the early years with Harvell and Hare were really good. Menchville rose to the top with the Creswell bunch were dominating. Bethel in the mix but not quite at the level of the two previously mentioned teams. Denbigh with the recruiting were right there also.

Early 2000's - Those Bethel teams were really good and Menchville in the mix.

Current - It is still the same teams - Bethel and Menchville

[tidewaterbaseballfan]

I Agree with everything King, except Denbigh deserves some credit during the New Millenium. They did go to the state tourney last year.

[yzarc]

Here is my final take after completing the research over the last 15 years:

Early 90's - Bethel and Kecoughtan dominated. Bethel and Kecoughtan had a lot of college ball players DI - DIII come through at that time. Kecoughtan had Brooks and Bethel had London. Both players were highly touted draft picks. Who is better? Flip a coin because they both beat each other head to head.

Mid 90's - Bethel was pretty good with Oschenfeld getting drafted out of high school. This is where Denbigh started to dominate with Ingram before the Woodside split.

Late 90's - Woodside during the early years with Harvell and Hare were really good. Menchville rose to the top with the Creswell bunch were dominating. Bethel in the mix but not quite at the level of the two previously mentioned teams. Denbigh with the recruiting were right there also.

Early 2000's - Those Bethel teams were really good and Menchville in the mix.

Current - It is still the same teams - Bethel and Menchville

Even though Bethel and KHS split......KHS was the team that always made it farther in the post season and was considered one of the top programs in the state at that time. A lots changed since then:eek:

[king of all kings]

I agree yzarc. What in the world has happened to Kecoughtan? Bethel was really good back then and is still pretty good now. Coach Bouchard seems to have done a great job at Bethel back then and Wheeler is continuing the tradition. It would be interesting to see if Wheeler would go to Kecoughtan and try and straighten out that mess. What do you think?

[yzarc]

There are no players at KHS now! It doesnt matter if Wheeler takes over, you need talent to win. Phoebus little league doesnt produce players like it used to.........Its all about the feeder program....However I must say that the best team in the PD in the last 15 years. The 92 KHS team.....Macey Brooks (JMU drafted 2nd round), David Denton (VCU starting 1B as Freshman), Brett Wheeler (ODU & Mississippi State"freshman all-american"),Morroco Brown (NC State), Andy Lee (UVA & ODU), Damon "pookey" Phillips (ODU), Robert Arrendondo (ODU) all of whom went on to play D1 baseball. The team was loaded and played for the state title....thinking back...the district was really tough back then....Bethel "Ochenfeld drafted 5th round", Mike Taylor, Carey Ray, Jeff Jordan, Scott Stalnaker, and lafeyatte had studd players too.

[nohits4u20]

Wow, you all are bringing back memories. I was on Menchville's JV team when Creswell, Balderson, Holdcraft, Trussel to name a few went undefeated until regionals. It was a site to behold. The Peninsula District has had some powerhouse teams, but none that could compare to that team that I have seen. Oschenfeld's brother Chad was the JV coach at Menchville and brought Chris out to pitch to us some during the offseason when he played for the Dodgers. Other than Verlander, I have never seen anyone throw that hard first hand. Great discussion. Woodside had some great years with Harvell. Denbigh was tough with Mike Mars and the Champagne brothers. And don't forget about those hampton school's in the early 90's.

[nohits4u20]

One more thing. Menchville's '97 undefeated team had 10 players offered to play college ball somewhere. Impressive when even the 10th man gets to play.

[AA2007]

Great topic. I'm really enjoying reading all these posts. I was too young too remember the powerhouse teams of the 90's. But there have def. been some great teams within our district the past few years. I wouldn't know how they would match up with the teams of the past. From the sounds of it, the level of play and competition was a lot better back then.:clap2:

[Lynn Burke]

Great thread. If someone can put together a list of schools and specific years, I can create a poll, then put the poll on the front page and let everyone vote on it.

Let's say, since 1990. Lafayette lost in the state championship game that year and Hampton made it to the semifinals.

[yzarc]

91-93 KHS teams- David Denton, Tommy Staton, Brett Wheeler, Pook Phillips, Mark McFadden, Andy Lee, Macey Brooks, Mike Niemotka, Russell Ward
86-87 KHS Teams- Bryan Wheeler, Tab Pabst, Melvin Ward, Stevie Riss, Ray Washington, John Dixon, Russell Alves
Phoebus 85-86 Mark Dunford era

those were some good teams, I cant wait to see some of the other peoples pick, its like stroll through memory lane. Lots of good memories.......good times....and fun competition! maybe a little trash talkin along the way:clap2: