If the umpires are doing their job correctly, you will have one go out on the fly balls and verify. If an umpire can't get 30 - 50 feet into an outfield to verify that a ball either goes over, under or through a fence, and certainly if 3 umpires cannot verify that, well then maybe the best umpires aren't getting sent to the show....

 

 

Color me shocked...

1) the popup tent thing was tried. Quickly moving storm ended that. Papers blowing everywhere, equipment getting rained on. Plus, since there are no plugs near field, extension cord kept getting unplugged or shorted.

 

2) Elizabethtown Sports Park doesnt meet requirements to host State, mostly for the reasons I mentioned. Park was told not to put in a bid until it had a solution for shortcomings

 

3) etown not likely to put in bid anyway because it can bring in more money same weekend by hosting soccer tournament or travel ball tourney.

Unfortunately the new Ray Jones Complex in Greenville, KY is not suited due to the press box situation, as well....shame, cause it looks fantastic...Region 3 was played there....but hey, like the Parks and Rec Director of Owensboro says, "...it's all about the players..."

Whatever....they don't even come out and drag the already substandard fields between games in Owensboro, so they are beat to death, with bad hops galore, TERRIBLE dug out pitching lanes, and batters boxes that end up having hitters standing either uphill, downhill, or in a trench..."You're choice, ladies. Choose wisely."

I guess since Men's Slowpitch has died off around here enough, they have "skirted" the infields to a fastpitch distance, and by "skirted" I mean it looks like they drug a yard plow around enough to break up the soil, and put down some seed, so now the first 20' of the OF is like a plowed field with a bad hair plug job, and the ramp that used to be the back of the slowpitch infield still remains!! It is God-Awful.

 

I've said many times before that Bilberry, Bridenbaugh, Tackett, and any other KHSAA staff members that have a say in ANY aspect of this grand debacle each June should be ashamed at themselves for the short shrift that is given to the female softball players of this Commonwealth.

 

I just don't complain, I offer up a solution.

 

First of all change it to a 16 Team, Single Elimination format...cramming 16 teams, 31 games into basically a day and a half is assanine, and it is MISERABLE for the players, the umpires, the fans, no matter how exciting the outcomes. Not only is it borderline abusive to have teams play 4 games back to back, it is stupid!! High School teams are not built for that...Hell, College teams aren't built for that!!

Bottom line is, you do not get the best performances from the best teams.

Make it Sgl Elim, so EVERY GAME counts, and is as exciting, anticipated and as valuable as Game 31 was this past Saturday between Male and MNH.

 

Some people I have talked with this about then say, "teams need to be seeded" ....my response "by whom?"...I'm cynical, and don't trust anyone associated with KSCA or KHSAA to be fair, so I advocate sticking with the blind pill-pull as it currently is....Sure you may get a crappy matchup, but you still have to win the game...in the current setup, it's no different, losing your first game is a death sentence, so let it stand.

 

IF the tournament must to be played at a "complex" (which I think it does without a Semi-State format), then have the 8 Rd 1 games on Thur evening, as it currently is, the 4 Rd 2 games on Fri morning, the 2 Rd 3 games on Fri night, under the lights, and Championship Game on Sat. .... this limits teams to maximum 2 games in a day, AND it keeps the teams off the field in the hottest part of the day.......This is doable without much change from current set up.....but for God's sake get it out of Owensboro, and to a nice facility "...for the players..." of course!!

There's actually a push to go single-elimination at a college, ALA Louisville. Kentucky would be suitable too, and with it being close to Whitaker Bank, it would allow fans of teams with both at State (baseball and softball, like McCracken did) to watch both in the same day if the schedule allows.

 

Of course, after what Fouts and Lexi Ray endured over the weekend, there's also some talk of some sort of pitching limitation. This would keep stars like Fouts at their freshest AND force teams to develop some depth (like in baseball). Softball seems to be the most outstanding sport (and NOT in a good way) where the loss of one particular player (in this case, a team which insists on throwing the same girl every game every inning every pitch no matter the opponent or stakes) can wreck a team for a season (or a number of seasons if there is no even mediocre pitcher in the pipeline).

 

Personally, all for single-elimination at a college (like base, both hoops and volleyball).

I thought that angle through, and believe that with out a Semi-State round to narrow the field down to 4 teams, then just one field would be taxed, even with an added day on the front end there would be 3 straight days of 4 games, and 3 on the final day....Don't know if any colleges would go for that.

 

Ideally, I would advocated adding a Semi-State round in, on Monday and Tuesday, at 4 college/partner locations around the State to get to a Final 4, take W & Th off, then Semis on Fri night at a top shelf destination and Championship on Sat.

 

But that is a big overhaul that I don't see KHSAA partaking in...remember, I'm cynical

 

 

And to touch on the pitch count thing....yes, they threw an abhorrent amount of pitches, but they aren't the first. I can recall Thomas from Mercy in 2014 most recently having to throw her arm off on Friday....I would argue, "why change the sport, when it is so much easier to just change the format?"....the reason the situation exists is 100% due to the Dbl Elimination format....Accept it as a bad decision, learn, and move on with a better way......To say that teams and schools would have to "develop" pitching staffs, IMO, is not realistic because the amount of quality pitchers just aren't there, and not just at small schools.....Playing a maximum of 2 games in a day is doable, by almost every pitcher out there, and levels the field for teams that only have one viable pitcher.

Edited June 13, 20179 yr by heavy duty

You could go 4-4-4-3 with no problem at Louisville, Kentucky, Eastern, Western. Western already hosts the seven-game 4th Region and Louisville hosts three straight days for 6th and 7th Region semis and finals 2-2-2. You're adding an extra day, just like the old baseball format.

 

It can be done at a minor league park, but not at a college?

I could get behind that, and I know that the teams would appreciate it