I would base it from the success he had last year at the varsity level as a freshman. Is he Ross right now, no? But I look at him and the skills he has and I see someone with a ceiling a little higher than Ross'

 

I know both kids well and I'm a Craddock fan as you seem to be.

 

Please outline for me the skills you see in Craddock that are better than Ross?

 

Ross tops out 87-88 and has three explosive pitches (2 seamer, slider, splitter) that he can command. Nick has a decent 80mph fastball at this point and that's it. He's trying to learn other pitches but he doesn't have anything game-ready for a good HS lineup.

 

I could see why you might think what you do looking at last year's numbers, but there’s more behind the numbers. When Conner started pre-season workouts last year it was clear they had two strong pitchers (Ross and Blaise), and then a lot of question marks. The biggest issue was they had no closer. It’s really rare for freshmen to get playing time at Conner but with the pitching so thin the coaches made the right decision (with no good options on JV) to build Craddock up to be the closer since he threw around 80.

 

I like Nick a lot. He’s a good kid and loves playing baseball. But he’s got a long way to go to surpass Ross. Cameron has always been a hard worker and relentless competitor, a common trait among Conner’s senior class last year. Cam topped out last year around 87-88 with a nasty slider and splitter. Nick really hasn’t had to work at baseball up to this point. He grew early and has been so much bigger than the kids his age he’s been able to dominate with a fastball and nothing else.

Last year, Ross faced nearly every tough opponent on Conner’s schedule, while Nick pitched against the weakest teams on the schedule. That was intentional and smart by the coaches. Allow Nick to build himself up to facing better competition when the district and regionals rolled around.

 

Cameron is just super-competitive and is always working out or working on his baseball skills. Craddock has never had to work out and really has never had to work on pitch refinement, hitting spots, developing secondary pitches, conditioning, etc. Nick’s a really laid back kid compared to Cameron’s serious intensity on the mound. Sometimes ‘laid back’ can work and it might for Craddock, but will he have the heart to get serious about conditioning? Can he develop good offspeed stuff to go with the fastball? Can he learn to pitch and not just throw?

 

It’s hard to for me to know what will happen and I’ve seen Ross and Craddock pitch more than any other person in Northern Kentucky.

 

I say all this not to hurt Nick in any way. I love the kid and hope he’s able to reach his goal of playing college baseball. Ross will be a regular pitcher for UC this year as a freshman. If Nick is to exceed that as you’ve claimed he will, it’s gonna take a ton of heart, desire, and hard work.

That's hilarious. I will go out on a limb and say no way does HHS win 9th, let alone state. Way too difficult to predict baseball as many have said. A very mediocre Simon Kenton team caught fire, and parlayed a great bracket draw into a state runner up. That team would have been the 6th or 7th best team in the 9th, yet advanced. No way to predict.

 

Well after a long vacation from BGP, It is funny to see posters still saying Simon Kenton was a mediocre team last year. I was the first person to post that Simon Kenton was being overlooked last year. I have coached and watched the players in this area for 12 years. Simon Kenton in my opinion had one of the best core group of players in this area! There is an absolute truth to some high school coaches not playing to win every game. These coaches enjoy flying under the radar. Coach Roberts is certainly one. Sure S.K had a (17-16) regular season record, and alot of you see that as average or "mediocre". Coach Roberts does alot of line-up rotations and uses his main pitchers less early in the season. Most of the time against 9th region teams he would throw off. Heck he even did that against the better teams in the 8th region figuring he would see them later in the regional tournament. He did the same things in 2013 and was one out from the regional championship without Tristen Marcum (broken forearm). They only lost a few impact players from the 2013 team. So returning 10 seniors and 6 of the best players in Nky last year along with the best 1-2 pitcher combo in Marcum and Lawrence their was no doubt to me they had the talent to do exactly what they did. As for all the hype about the 9th region, sure their were 4 or 5 really good teams but the bottom half was terrible. If you ask the people in lexington they will tell you the best baseball is played there and the same applies to people from louisville. So please stop being such a 9th region HOMER!

Just to add to Throwing Curves I also felt that S.K. flew under the radar. Mediocre is just a phrase used by a sore loser who was unhappy their team didn't exceed expectations and choked when it really mattered. I know most of you ride the 9th region like they are the region to beat. Fact is Conner won and none of you even gave them a chance in the 9th. S.K. and oh last year I even said Scott was underrated, you folks downed the 8th region like there was no competition. I would stack the 8th against the 9th and from top to bottom pound for pound the 8th has more quality teams. S.K. did not and I repeat did not have an easy bracket and Marcum shut down 2 of the better teams in the state. Lawrence had a very strong outing against the best team in the state, so for you guys that like to play home team favorites and never give good teams their due, how did it feel watching the state tournament from home.

Well after a long vacation from BGP, It is funny to see posters still saying Simon Kenton was a mediocre team last year. I was the first person to post that Simon Kenton was being overlooked last year. I have coached and watched the players in this area for 12 years. Simon Kenton in my opinion had one of the best core group of players in this area! There is an absolute truth to some high school coaches not playing to win every game. These coaches enjoy flying under the radar. Coach Roberts is certainly one. Sure S.K had a (17-16) regular season record, and alot of you see that as average or "mediocre". Coach Roberts does alot of line-up rotations and uses his main pitchers less early in the season. Most of the time against 9th region teams he would throw off. Heck he even did that against the better teams in the 8th region figuring he would see them later in the regional tournament. He did the same things in 2013 and was one out from the regional championship without Tristen Marcum (broken forearm). They only lost a few impact players from the 2013 team. So returning 10 seniors and 6 of the best players in Nky last year along with the best 1-2 pitcher combo in Marcum and Lawrence their was no doubt to me they had the talent to do exactly what they did. As for all the hype about the 9th region, sure their were 4 or 5 really good teams but the bottom half was terrible. If you ask the people in lexington they will tell you the best baseball is played there and the same applies to people from louisville. So please stop being such a 9th region HOMER!

 

I saw Simon Kenton play and they did have a nice team but no matter how you slice it 17 -16 regular season is a medicore year. As you have stated there were reasons for their record but you dont see many teams with that recored make it to the state championship unless they had some issues during the year or their region was somewhat down.. Very rarely have I seen a team with a mediocre record win the 11th region but the 11th region has won the state title 13 times since 1980 with at least 6 different schools.

Well after a long vacation from BGP, It is funny to see posters still saying Simon Kenton was a mediocre team last year. I was the first person to post that Simon Kenton was being overlooked last year. I have coached and watched the players in this area for 12 years. Simon Kenton in my opinion had one of the best core group of players in this area! There is an absolute truth to some high school coaches not playing to win every game. These coaches enjoy flying under the radar. Coach Roberts is certainly one. Sure S.K had a (17-16) regular season record, and alot of you see that as average or "mediocre". Coach Roberts does alot of line-up rotations and uses his main pitchers less early in the season. Most of the time against 9th region teams he would throw off. Heck he even did that against the better teams in the 8th region figuring he would see them later in the regional tournament. He did the same things in 2013 and was one out from the regional championship without Tristen Marcum (broken forearm). They only lost a few impact players from the 2013 team. So returning 10 seniors and 6 of the best players in Nky last year along with the best 1-2 pitcher combo in Marcum and Lawrence their was no doubt to me they had the talent to do exactly what they did. As for all the hype about the 9th region, sure their were 4 or 5 really good teams but the bottom half was terrible. If you ask the people in lexington they will tell you the best baseball is played there and the same applies to people from louisville. So please stop being such a 9th region HOMER!

 

 

You raise a great point about using the W/L record as a basis for judging a team. That works in football. Not in baseball where you have 3 or 4 different starting pitchers.

 

Add in that some coaches play the early season to see who can do what. Coach Holtz used to do this at Holy Cross. They would often open with CCH in a non-district game and he'd pitch a different kid every inning.

 

Plus some teams play killer schedules. CCH and HHS , for example.

 

You have to watch a team with its best 9 to get an accurate read.

I saw Simon Kenton play and they did have a nice team but no matter how you slice it 17 -16 regular season is a medicore year. As you have stated there were reasons for their record but you dont see many teams with that recored make it to the state championship unless they had some issues during the year or their region was somewhat down.. Very rarely have I seen a team with a mediocre record win the 11th region but the 11th region has won the state title 13 times since 1980 with at least 6 different schools.

 

I was responding to the statement that Simon Kenton had a "very mediocre team" , not season. My point was that Simon Kenton had an average regular season record but was much better than the record indicated. Sure they had some issues during the season. What team don't? You battle through and that is what Simon Kenton did. When it counted the most their best players were on the field and they got it done.

Well after a long vacation from BGP, It is funny to see posters still saying Simon Kenton was a mediocre team last year. I was the first person to post that Simon Kenton was being overlooked last year. I have coached and watched the players in this area for 12 years. Simon Kenton in my opinion had one of the best core group of players in this area! There is an absolute truth to some high school coaches not playing to win every game. These coaches enjoy flying under the radar. Coach Roberts is certainly one. Sure S.K had a (17-16) regular season record, and alot of you see that as average or "mediocre". Coach Roberts does alot of line-up rotations and uses his main pitchers less early in the season. Most of the time against 9th region teams he would throw off. Heck he even did that against the better teams in the 8th region figuring he would see them later in the regional tournament. He did the same things in 2013 and was one out from the regional championship without Tristen Marcum (broken forearm). They only lost a few impact players from the 2013 team. So returning 10 seniors and 6 of the best players in Nky last year along with the best 1-2 pitcher combo in Marcum and Lawrence their was no doubt to me they had the talent to do exactly what they did. As for all the hype about the 9th region, sure their were 4 or 5 really good teams but the bottom half was terrible. If you ask the people in lexington they will tell you the best baseball is played there and the same applies to people from louisville. So please stop being such a 9th region HOMER!

 

Feel better? Stand by my opinion, guess we all are entitled to that. I am not basing my opinion on record, I am basing it on what I saw, which was about 5 games. I also love the "throwing off" reasoning. Everyone always uses that when they lose. I am not a 9th region homer as you put it, complete neutral observer, but IMO if you put that team vs any of the top 4 or 5 from the 9th in a three game series, or ace vs ace, 9th wins. I will assure you the 9th teams also "threw off" as you put it, who doesn't in non district games? I saw posted on here what the record was for SK vs the teams from that region, don't think it was very good, and I will never buy the fact that a HS coach throws a regular season game with no care for winning. Another excuse. I was at every game in Lexington. To refute that they got anything less than a favorable side of the bracket is simply being a "homer".

Congrats on your 12 years. I've been coaching local players for nearly 35 years, including some of the very kids you refer to and I can give you this opinion; while SK had and has some outstanding players, they were nowhere near the top 5 or 6 by any stretch. And there were at least three seniors that I thought were among the top 50 in the state and are just fantastic young men to boot.

SK was a very good team but if you think they didn't get a favorable draw you're really not paying attention. Coach Roberts in my opinion is not only a great guy, but an excellent coach and does what every high school coach should do and that is work with what he has and adjust lineups accordingly based on the games and opponents he has coming up each week. This whole "throwing off" concept is total garbage. You cannot throw your top guy or guys every game so #3 or #4 or even #'s 5, 6 or 7 have to get starts, innings and appearances. That's called Baseball. Substitute and underclass players HAVE to play in game situations to develop so you play them regularly. Injuries occur, conflicts arise, issues come up, again, so your "subs" must be ready. Again that is called baseball. I neither know nor care who anyone thinks is the better Region, just quit making excuses either way. I was quite proud of SK for representing our area of the state and of the SK kids for flat out getting it done as well as they did. Who cares if they were your choice as the figurative "best team."

Feel better? Stand by my opinion, guess we all are entitled to that. I am not basing my opinion on record, I am basing it on what I saw, which was about 5 games. I also love the "throwing off" reasoning. Everyone always uses that when they lose. I am not a 9th region homer as you put it, complete neutral observer, but IMO if you put that team vs any of the top 4 or 5 from the 9th in a three game series, or ace vs ace, 9th wins. I will assure you the 9th teams also "threw off" as you put it, who doesn't in non district games? I saw posted on here what the record was for SK vs the teams from that region, don't think it was very good, and I will never buy the fact that a HS coach throws a regular season game with no care for winning. Another excuse. I was at every game in Lexington. To refute that they got anything less than a favorable side of the bracket is simply being a "homer".

I feel alot better, thank you! For starters i don't need to make excuses for Simon Kenton. Remember they were state runner up. my post did not say anything about bracket draws or coaches throwing games. I simply was saying that some coaches are not coaching to have the best regular season record, because it really doesn't mean much come tournament time. Some coaches on the other hand do put their best line-up on the field and pitchers in a steady rotation every game. coach Roberts does alot of rotating players and pitching his best starters on 7-9 days rest the first half of the season. He gives alot of players/pitchers opportunities to show him something during that time, which creates competition within the team and makes all the players work harder. As for the Ace versus Ace arguement or best out of 3 format, well that just sounds like sour grapes."neutral observer". I also was at every game in Lexington but unlike you i seen a team play their butts off and 3 pitchers who through about 23 or 24 shutout innings against four regional champions and were 2 mistakes away from being state champions. Give credit where credit is due!

Listen, I am still standing behind Throwing Curves........and if some have coached 30 plus years then you should understand you wanna play your best ball at the end of the season NOT THE BEGINNING. Everyone is entitled to their opinion even if its coming from left field and full of nonsense. you guys on here argue about the past like it happened different, if we done this or if we had done that. Bottom line and you all can eat it S.K. was runner up and their wasn't 9th region team in the finals. Still you say that any 9th region is all that, take off the blinders and stop drinking the cool-aid.

Ruffled some feathers on here.

You raise a great point about using the W/L record as a basis for judging a team. That works in football. Not in baseball where you have 3 or 4 different starting pitchers.

 

Add in that some coaches play the early season to see who can do what. Coach Holtz used to do this at Holy Cross. They would often open with CCH in a non-district game and he'd pitch a different kid every inning.

 

Plus some teams play killer schedules. CCH and HHS , for example.

 

You have to watch a team with its best 9 to get an accurate read.

Clyde you are a smart, reasonable man who understood exactly what i mean't kudos to you pal.

Congrats on your 12 years. I've been coaching local players for nearly 35 years, including some of the very kids you refer to and I can give you this opinion; while SK had and has some outstanding players, they were nowhere near the top 5 or 6 by any stretch. And there were at least three seniors that I thought were among the top 50 in the state and are just fantastic young men to boot.

SK was a very good team but if you think they didn't get a favorable draw you're really not paying attention. Coach Roberts in my opinion is not only a great guy, but an excellent coach and does what every high school coach should do and that is work with what he has and adjust lineups accordingly based on the games and opponents he has coming up each week. This whole "throwing off" concept is total garbage. You cannot throw your top guy or guys every game so #3 or #4 or even #'s 5, 6 or 7 have to get starts, innings and appearances. That's called Baseball. Substitute and underclass players HAVE to play in game situations to develop so you play them regularly. Injuries occur, conflicts arise, issues come up, again, so your "subs" must be ready. Again that is called baseball. I neither know nor care who anyone thinks is the better Region, just quit making excuses either way. I was quite proud of SK for representing our area of the state and of the SK kids for flat out getting it done as well as they did. Who cares if they were your choice as the figurative "best team."

Patronize much? It only takes one year of coaching to understand the facts you gave us about the game of baseball. thanks coach! I posted Simon Kenton was a top Nky team because that was the question at hand last spring. Just like it is now on BGP. So instead of saying nobody cares about my opinion, how about showing a little class and just say good call. With that being said my choice for best Nky team this year is the Highlands Bluebirds.

Patronize much? It only takes one year of coaching to understand the facts you gave us about the game of baseball. thanks coach! I posted Simon Kenton was a top Nky team because that was the question at hand last spring. Just like it is now on BGP. So instead of saying nobody cares about my opinion, how about showing a little class and just say good call. With that being said my choice for best Nky team this year is the Highlands Bluebirds.

 

 

Overstatement of the obvious? Yeah, you're right. My mistake. Patronizing? Hardly. Implies intent to offend, not my intent in any way. Show some class? Really? Quite frankly I thought I was backing up the SK team, kids and coach without some of the hyperbole and without the "my dad can beat up your dad" stuff concerning the "best" region or team. However, if I offended you, you have my apologies. I happen to admire the SK program as well as their kids and their entire coaching staff and was thrilled for their success. And, as you said, "with that said", yeah, Highlands has great players, great kids and great coaching. They will certainly be considered a main contender. I wish them much success (except for maybe a couple of times).

Overstatement of the obvious? Yeah, you're right. My mistake. Patronizing? Hardly. Implies intent to offend, not my intent in any way. Show some class? Really? Quite frankly I thought I was backing up the SK team, kids and coach without some of the hyperbole and without the "my dad can beat up your dad" stuff concerning the "best" region or team. However, if I offended you, you have my apologies. I happen to admire the SK program as well as their kids and their entire coaching staff and was thrilled for their success. And, as you said, "with that said", yeah, Highlands has great players, great kids and great coaching. They will certainly be considered a main contender. I wish them much success (except for maybe a couple of times).[/quote

 

You were being patronizing and I quote "Who cares if they were your choice as best team"! What is the title of this thread? Throwing curves was responding to FAUXTIGER'S statement that S.K. was a mediocre team. I appreciate that an obviously educated man such as yourself has coached for over 30 years but don't talk to or treat us like we are ignorant to what you and others have said about their choices or predictions. To my understanding that's what this site is about. Most of the posters on this site are knowledgeable about baseball. Few have no clue and just ride their team so hard even if they don't live up to expectations and feel that if they shoot down other teams success and claim they were "mediocre" or "their bracket seeding" was what contributed to their success. S.K. pitched 23 scoreless innings at state and made it to the championship. That in mind the title of this thread was about best teams. This year we believe, "ThrowingCurves" and I, Highlands stands the best chance out of NKY teams.......... We predicted S.K.'s success and was saying watch out for them coming down the stretch. Plain and simple people thought we were out of our minds and said as much. Still do even after the fact "FauxTiger".