Final from Estill County

 

Lots of errors and hits batters by the Owls in this one

Did Estill miss a few extra point attempts?

Owsley had 10 errors. 4 in the 1st inning. Estill only had 1 extra base hit and that was a triple. Owsley had several hit batters with the bases loaded that forced in runs, also had several BB that forced in runs.

 

Coach Crowe was pulling his starters in the 2 & 3 innings and done everything he could to keep the score from going up, not letting more than a run score on base hits.

 

The Owls are young and short handed, only 11 players on the entire team.

Years ago we had kids playing baseball all summer. Back in the 1970's there were always 4 or 5 teams in the county that played in a league who played one another. They also played teams from surrounding counties. The Owls won back to back district titles in 1975 and 1976 as a result of these summer leagues. They were runner-up in the region in 1980. They had competitive teams through the 1980's and 1990's, winning 3 district titles between 1994-1997 and one region runner-up.

 

It seems the interest isn't there anymore for much summer baseball. There's a few little leagues and T-ball leagues but they only last a few weeks. In order to build strong baseball teams it takes summer play and hard work, particularly if you're a small school like Owsley with only 220 enrollment. Only 11 players out for baseball is telling. Back in the 1970's through the 1980's there would be 20-25 boys playing varsity and JV baseball at Owsley. I suppose the interest is just not with baseball with our local youth as it once was. I hate to see that happen.