Defending state champion East Rutherford loses their ace pitcher and a number of hitters from their lineup, but do bring back a few key hitters, not sure what regional runner up Parkwood loses, though if I remember correctly, they were very young with one of their key players as a freshman....In the East, the two teams from the regional finals also figure to be loaded for another deep playoff run, as both John A. Holmes (Edenton) and South Granville bring back almost all of their pitching...the Aces lose only two seniors from their entire varsity roster and everybody else returning will be that much more experienced and hungry, South Granville lost 9 or 10 seniors but only one of those was a pitcher....Fairmont has been a 4th round playoff team the last two years, but I believe the bulk of their key players graduated...Midway could reappear as a contender as they finished the year strong last year and return almost everybody from a team that battled tough with Edenton-Holmes in a playoff loss, Bunn was a high seed last year but lost 9 or 10 seniors, almost all of whom did play crucial roles, they have three or four key guys returning and I'm sure will find a way to be a tough team to beat...Roanoke Rapids is another one of those teams that lost some key players but also brings back enough scrappy guys to be good enough to beat anybody on any given day....Also keep an eye on St. Pauls....this team went 0-20 in 2015 to a third round playoff team in 2016, and they bring back almost everybody