Top Ten Midseason East Coast Players

The following was written by Jonathan Shaw of Towson:

 

1. Doug Schilling – JMU – I really don’t want to boost Mr. Schilling’s ego any more. Unfortunately in my opinion he is the best player on the East Coast. The things I don’t like about Doug’s game: The Money sign he gives after he makes a play. The things I like about Doug’s game: Literally everything else. This man is comparable to Kevin Bailey in terms of his all-around game being exceptional. His arm is easily the most hard to pick up on the east coast. First off his southpaw throw is something that most players just aren’t accustomed to seeing, secondly and most importantly once he releases his throw the ball tends to veer in multiple directions. The closest thing I could compare it to would be when a pitcher throws a really good knuckleball from the mound, and you see it from the batter’s box move both ways laterally. It’s literally almost impossible to pick up. To sum it up: Doug is a stud on the court, and when he is in his team is always in it.

 

2. Mike Hinely – TU – I know a lot of people outside of the East Coast are not familiar with this name yet, but my teammate Mike Hinely is an absolute force on the court. He easily has the best arm on Towson’s roster, and his improvement catching has been a pleasure to watch. More than anything Mike is an unselfish player who has yet to reach his full potential. Any captain around the league will tell you how valuable it is to have a top tier player on a roster who wants to improve the overall team before himself individually, and that is what Mike has become as a member of our team. The best dodgeball from this sophomore is still well in his future, and my guess is that by years end he grabs the attention of the NCDA and earns first team All American for himself and the Towson Tigers.

3. Mike Cariello – UMD – Even though Rohan is easily Maryland’s most recognizable player, the all-around best player on UMD’s team is Mr. Cariello. He is simply put, one of those players that does it all well. Time and time again I see Mike as one of the last men standing for the Terrapin’s, and it is no coincidence. The biggest part of his game is the ability to avoid the stupid mistakes. His Court IQ is as high as I’ve ever seen. He knows the appropriate time to throw, and they are always low, very rarely does this man miss high with a toss. Add it all up, and he is the best all-around player for UMD.

4. Jonathan Shaw – TU – I’m not going to go into much detail here. This is personally where I would put myself on the east coast. I welcome other opinions, but for my article I’m going to be honest in terms of where I think I stand.

 

5. Rohan Mittal – UMD – If you don’t get to see Rohan on the regular basis that I do, than you don’t understand that this man can take over games with his arm. I’ve said it before, his biggest strength is his arm speed, and accuracy, but his biggest weakness is the movement on his ball. Players who throw without a pinch usually get caught a high percentage of the time in this league. Rohan is the exception. He makes up for very little movement on his ball, with his arm that I would say consistently hits the low 70’s. Once in a while UMD will play with a strategy that I call “The Rohan Feed Method”. The way that strategy works is very simple: Rohan throws, feed Rohan a ball, Rohan throws again, feed Rohan a ball, and execute until exhaustion. I’ve seen this man throw solo about 10 times in a row, and eliminate a solid six or seven players in the process. When this man is on, opposing players are always on the lookout.

6. Tanner Weaver – JMU – I believe I’ve said it before, but JMU might have the best individual talent in the entire NCDA. Another player who is a big part of JMU’s dominant run is Mr. Weaver. Tanner is one of those players that you just look at, and right off the bat you know he is a natural athlete. This is just my opinion, but one of the things that Tanner does extremely well is understanding his role on the team. There are times in a match that I see him on the back line, and times that I see him as one of JMU’s top throwing options. What I’m trying to get at is that he seems very comfortable in either of those two roles, and having a guy like that on your team is very instrumental to a team’s success.

 

7. Justin Lin – PSU – No one in the NCDA came from more out of nowhere at Nationals than Linsanity. In the span of a week he went from virtual unknown to First Team All-Nationals. It was his catching more than anything that got everyone’s attention at first, however last semester at JMU I watched a full Penn State match, and let me tell you he is much more than a kid who can just catch. His style of play reminds me of JMU alumni Connor Ford in the sense that he is a very scrappy player who will attempt to push the opponents to their backline even if he is by himself.

 

8. Morgan Mclean – PSU – If there was a name on this list that the NCDA has never heard of before, I would bet that it would be none other than Penn State’s Morgan Mclean. So I’m going to be honest with everyone here. I have only seen this man play a total of one match. That’s correct, I said only one match. However that match was against JMU, and let me tell you something, this man played like a seasoned veteran. His arm was impressive to say the least, but his cross court throws were exceptional. Fast with movement, including at the feet every time. I loved what I saw from this young man. I’m not sure what year he is at Penn State, but right now he is Penn State’s go to arm.

9. Eric Fisher – VCU – Virginia Commonwealth University is no longer a team that others can easily walk over. One of the biggest reasons for this is because of the steady play from some of their top tier talented players, and in my opinion their best player is Mr. Fisher, aka “Fish sticks”.  VCU looks to this man as one of their best arms, and probably one of their best catchers as well. When he has a ball in his hands, I will tell you from personal experience, I make sure everyone on my team has him on their radar. His throws are powerful and accurate, he always blocks, and in some cases I’ve seen, even self-sacrifices himself for a teammate. All these reasons and more make Eric a top tier player on the East Coast.

10. Joe Bringuier – JMU – Rounding out my top ten goes to JMU’s assistant captain Joe Bringuier. While Joe may not be the biggest name on JMU’s loaded roster, he is an instrumental part of the team’s success. Fellow teammate and former captain Ben Sizemore says that Joe “brings strong leadership skills,” and adds that “part of Joe’s success as a leader is seen in the levelheadedness he displays on the court. During extremely competitive games, Joe is known to keep his cool and to help others remain calm”. When you have a player that possesses these traits on the court, and compliments it with a well above average set of hands, you see why Mr. Bringuier belongs in the East Coast’s Top Ten.