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We continue our Region previews with a look at 6a Region B. Region B is made up of schools that were in the 6a South during the alignment that was in place from 2013-2017. This new Region only has eight schools, with all but Franklin County being the lone school from outside of the I-95 corridor between Fredericksburg and Richmond.

For the Region tournament, all eight schools will make the field and power points will be used to seed the tournament. During the regular season, these schools will play their District opponents to fill out their schedules. Depending on how the power points are structured for Region B, this could give an advantage to a few of the schools in the Region that are the lone 6a schools in their Districts. Franklin County is in the Piedmont District with 5a Halifax County and the rest of the District is made up of 2a, 3a, and 4a schools. Thomas Dale is also the lone 6a school in the Central District along with three 5a schools, a 4a, and three 3a schools.

Power points will be awarded in a few different ways throughout the season for this Region. For games against a school's District opponent, teams will get six points for a win, four for a tie, and three points for a loss. For wins against non-District opponents, teams will get six points for a 6a win, five for a 5a win, four for a 4a or private school win, three for a 3a win, two for a 2a win, and one point for a 1a win. Teams also get some points for losses to non-District opponents, three for a loss to a 6a school, two for a 5a loss, and one point for a loss to a 4a or private school. In the event of a non-District tie, teams will get the loss points plus one.

That being said, there are some interesting storylines for 2018 in this small Region. Cosby reached the State Tournament in 2014 and 2016, but otherwise none of the teams in this Region has made a State Tournament appearance since the first major realignment broke up the old AAA. That will change this year as two of these eight teams will advance, so even if Cosby keeps its even-year magic going, at least one team will make its first 6a State Tournament appearance. Another story to watch will be talented underclassmen and how quickly can they develop into the type of players who can carry a team. Riverbend sophomore Joel Tarrh has the raw ability to be that kind of player and it will be interesting to see how his season goes.

 

Top Prospects in the Region

Name	School	Class	Position	Commitment
Tucker Bushby	James River	2018	OF
Drew Camp	Thomas Dale	2018	1B	Louisburg JC
David Coppedge	Clover Hill	2020	SS	Virginia
Connor Kannon	Manchester	2018	SS	Louisburg JC
Morgan Litten	Manchester	2018	1B	Averett
Eli Parks	Manchester	2019	LHP
Barkley Ray	Manchester	2018	C	Lincoln Memorial
Cade Swisher	Cosby	2019	SS	Richmond
Joel Tarrh	Riverbend	2020	RHP
Nathan Tuck	Thomas Dale	2018	2B	Averett
Ethan Williams	Cosby	2018	C/RHP	Harford CC
Jake Wortman	Colonial Forge	2019	C/CIF

 

2018 Region B 

Various	Dominion
Colonial Forge	Clover Hill
Franklin County	Cosby
Riverbend	James River
Thomas Dale	Manchester

*Italicized teams played in a 2017 6a Region tournament

Teams to Watch

Clover Hill
Clover Hill did not earn a Regional berth in 2017, but the Cavaliers have a talented team that will be set up the middle for the next few years with the presence of sophomore David Coppedge (Virginia) and raw toolsy freshman Corey Adams. Seniors  Bailey Burcume and Ethan Badin will provide experience in the lineup. Assuming Clover Hill can find consistent pitching, the Cavaliers could be a dangerous team in the Region B tournament.

Colonial Forge 
The Eagles have lost some key pieces to graduation the last few years, including losing two-way standout Logan Barker (Liberty) as well as Eric Zimmerman (Tampa) and Jack Wallingford (New River CC) off of last year's team. The Eagles have also had a coaching change, hiring David Colangelo to take over a program that has very good consistently. Despite the graduations, Colangelo will take over a team that has plenty of young talent, including junior switch hitter Jake Wortman. A few intruiging sophomores could contribute at some point this year, with Robert Moffett and Jack Nickles showing some talent on junior varsity in 2017. Junior pitcher Brandon Lindauer also could develop into a quality option for Colonial Forge on the mound, he has a big frame and showed the ability to reach the low 80s early in 2017. 

Cosby
After making a State Tournament appearance in 2016, the Titans missed the South Region tournament in 2017 after an early upset loss in the Conference tournament. Despite the loss of six starting position players, the Titans will look to continue their even year trend this spring and have an early favorite for Region Player of the Year in senior Ethan Williams (Harford CC). Williams has a big arm on the mound and brings a power bat at the plate with the ability to severely limit opposing running games when he catches. Cosby has the potential to have a dynamic one-two punch on the mound by the postseason as sophomore Alex Larou continues to develop. Senior Brady Hart and junior Jordan Dickson should provide quality depth behind Williams as Larou develops. Another key to the offense along with Williams will be junior shortstop Cade Swisher (Richmond).

Manchester
Manchester reached the 6a South semifinals in 2017 and fell short of a State bid, losing by one run to Cosby. Manchester lost three arms to graduation in Ryan Bergenhagen (Marymount), Chris Kenyon (Mary Washington), and Shane Murawski (Roanoke). Despite those losses, the Knights should have a strong lineup with seniors Connor Kannon (Louisburg JC), Morgan Litten (Averett), and Barkley Ray (Lincoln Memorial) all back. Manchester has a pair of intruiging 2019 lefties in Zane Eggleston and Eli Parks who could easily fill the lost innings and help lead the Lancers to the State Tournament in 2018.

Thomas Dale
Dale had a strong team in 2017 and reached the Region tournament. They featured a trio of Division-III bound senior arms and senior catcher Hunter Vay (VCU), all of whom have graduated. The Knights will need to reload their depth on the mound this spring and turn to an offense that returns six starters and should be led by seniors Drew Camp (Louisburg JC), Tyler Bailey, Andrew Roach (Hampden-Sydney), Tanner Holben, and Nathan Tuck (Averett). Bailey will also reprise his role at the top of the Knights' rotation again this spring. It will be interesting to see who the Knights turn to behind the plate with sophomore Cole Garrett and freshman Johnny Oates in the program.