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Top talent, intriguing races: Five things to watch this baseball season

sam blackburn, zanesville times recorder
·6 min read

An unseasonably warm winter has had baseball teams getting in work earlier than usual.

Drive by a local high school football stadium with FieldTurf in mid-afternoon, and chances are you've seen players taking fielding practice.

It's only a matter of time before the balls start flying for real — one day to be exact.

As teams start their seasons, here are five things to monitor.

1. Colt Emerson

Enjoy him while you can.

The John Glenn senior shortstop, who hit .361 for the 18-and-under USA Baseball team last summer, is the top-ranked player in Ohio by Prep Baseball Report and destined by multiple publications to be a high pick in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft this summer. There hasn't been a first-round pick in Muskingum County since Zanesville's Jay Payton.

Colt Emerson, of John Glenn, takes a swing during a Division II sectional final against host Morgan on May 17, 2022, in McConnelsville. Emerson, a projected high pick in the upcoming MLB first-year player draft, earned first-team All-Ohio honors by the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association in 2022 and is back to lead an impressive contingent of local talent.

After covering Liberty Union's Jacob Miller a handful of times the past two years while assisting the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, I saw the plethora of pro scouts — high-end scouts — that crowded around home plate to watch his every pitch. His mid-90s fastball, curve and slider overwhelmed hitters on every team he faced. He was a second-round pick of the Miami Marlins and is still up to his old tricks.

Miller's impact was felt through the entire Lions roster. When he pitched, they fed off of his energy en route to a Division III final four berth. It's different for a position player, but Emerson's teammates will feel it every time they step onto the field this spring.

Emerson will be even better than last season, for no other reason than he focused much of his winter on adding size and strength to his lanky frame. And he faced even better competition this past offseason for Team USA, players far superior to those he will see at any point this high school season.

Will it be enough to spur the Muskies to a Muskingum Valley League championship? It takes a village in baseball, but you can bet the ranch it will be worth taking a look to find out.

2. High-end talent

Emerson isn't the only must-see player in the MVL — far from it.

Sheridan junior catcher/pitcher Caden Sheridan and Morgan infielder/pitcher Wade Pauley are special all-around talents with big bats and athleticism, especially for their positions. Coshocton's Hudson Wesney, another top 50 recruit in Ohio by PBR, might be the best all-around player in the Small School Division.

Sheridan, who hit .467 with 30 RBIs in 2022, at 6-0, 200 pounds, is the prototype catcher with an accurate throwing arm and strong receiver. His pitching was counted upon in big games in the late innings. With ace starter Sam Taylor back in the fold, the veteran Generals have a devastating 1-2 punch.

Sheridan sophomore Caden Sheridan celebrates with Austin Clifton, left, and Blaine Hannan after scoring the go-ahead run during the fifth inning of a 7-2 win against host Tri-Valley on May 12, 2022, at Kenny Wolford Park in Dresden. Caden Sheridan returns as the Muskingum Valley League's Big School Division Player of the Year after driving in 30 runs in 2022.

Pauley is a 6-3, 235-pound left-handed slugger who runs like a Division I tight end — like Emerson and Sheridan, he was also a football standout — but it's his booming power that is most eye-catching. One look at the opposite-field double he smacked off the top of the fence last season against Coshocton is all the proof one needed to see.

Wesney, honorable mention All-Ohio last year, is right there with them. His versatility is impressive — he had a 6-2 record and 1.40 ERA on the mound in 2022, with a .467 average and 22 RBIs at the dish. He and No. 2 starter Coby Moore will be a handful on the hill as the Skins look to improve on a 13-11 record.

Baseball is a short season that is over before the weather turns, in some years. Enjoy this talent while it's still here.

3. Sheridan's experience

Caden Sheridan, the reigning Player of the Year in the Big School Division, isn't the only key player back for the Generals. They return their entire pitching staff and most of their lineup from a 24-5 team in 2022 that finished district runner-up in Division II behind Washington Court House..

Taylor, a right-hander who was 8-1 with a 3.36 ERA last season, figures to make an even bigger impact in 2023. He and Sheridan were 12-2 combined, with the latter serving mostly as a closer.

Sam Taylor pumps his fists after recording the final out in the fifth inning during Sheridan's 6-1 win against Chillicothe Unioto on May 24, 2022, in a Division II district semifinal at Ohio University's Bob Wren Stadium. Taylor returns as the Generals' top starter after going 8-1 with a 3.36 ERA in 2022.
Sam Taylor pumps his fists after recording the final out in the fifth inning during Sheridan's 6-1 win against Chillicothe Unioto on May 24, 2022, in a Division II district semifinal at Ohio University's Bob Wren Stadium. Taylor returns as the Generals' top starter after going 8-1 with a 3.36 ERA in 2022.

Teams pitched carefully, with good reason, to Sheridan last year and he still homered three times and slugged 10 doubles. He and junior Coyle Withrow, who batted .406 with 18 RBIs as a sophomore, provide veteran coach Doug Fisher one of the league's best 1-2 punches in the middle of the lineup. Withrow also went 3-1 with a 2.00 ERA.

Fisher, now with 368 career wins, must replace shortstop Corey Amspaugh and outfielders Blaine Hannan and Jarrett Thorne, and Amspaugh and Hannan hit more than .300 and scored 50 combined runs. That won't be easy.

It's hard to ignore this many key players back, however. The Big School Division may very meander through Perry County again.

4. Will veteran pitching keep Tri-Valley a contender?

Coach Marc Hadley's team lost seven seniors from a 17-7 squad that won 12 games in the Big School Division, including three of its top hitters in Ty Smith, Jalen Goins-Chandler and Jacob Kinder.

The impact won't just be felt at the plate. Middle infielder Smith and center fielder Goins-Chandler accounted for two of the best up-the-middle gloves in the league.

That means the arms of veteran seniors Landon Harney (4-3, 1.36 ERA in 2022) and Hansel Holmes (2.73 ERA in 51 1/3 innings) will carry even more importance in the Scotties' chances of making another run at Sheridan for the Big School title. So will maintaining its strong defense.

Tri-Valley's Landon Harney fires a pitch during a 7-2 loss to visiting Sheridan on May 12, 2022, at Kenny Wolford Park in Dresden. Harney returns to lead the Scotties to another run at the Muskingum Valley League-Big School Division title in 2023.
Tri-Valley's Landon Harney fires a pitch during a 7-2 loss to visiting Sheridan on May 12, 2022, at Kenny Wolford Park in Dresden. Harney returns to lead the Scotties to another run at the Muskingum Valley League-Big School Division title in 2023.

They will be anchors, but classmates Kelynn Drummonds and Bennet Baker, who combined for a 6-2 record last season, should give the Scotties four of the top arms in the division.

Given the offensive firepower lost, they might be needed more than Hadley would prefer.

5. The fight for the Small School Division

Many teams in the division played underclassmen in 2022, which leads to more experience back for this season. That figures to make for quite a race.

New Lexington, under coach Dan Morgan, has a collection of quality arms, led by All-Southeast District seniors Tatem Toth and Isaac McGill. Versatile Garrett Blosser, when fully healthy, is sure to make a bigger impact in 2023.

Coshocton has Wesney's arm, good enough to win Pitcher of the Year in the division last year, and big bat with five other returning starters from a 13-11 squad that won a sectional.

Hudson Wesney fires a throw to first base during Coshocton's 4-2 win against visiting Sheridan on April 1, 2022, in a Muskingum Valley League crossover at Lake Park. Wesney returns as one of the top players in the MVL as Coshocton hopes to better a 13-11 record.
Hudson Wesney fires a throw to first base during Coshocton's 4-2 win against visiting Sheridan on April 1, 2022, in a Muskingum Valley League crossover at Lake Park. Wesney returns as one of the top players in the MVL as Coshocton hopes to better a 13-11 record.

Morgan went 11-5 in the league last year and brings the Small School Player of the Year back in Pauley, along with four other key starters who earned All-MVL mention.

Then there is West M, 4-22 last season under coach Pat Reilly, which has eight key players back and added transfer Slater Sampsel from River View. The Tornadoes expect to be a contender.

Both league races are worth watching, which can be said about baseball as a whole this year.

Season starts Saturday. Get your lawn chairs out.

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Five things to watch this baseball season in the Muskingum Valley