St. Xavier 11 Russell County 1 (KHSAA State Tournament Final)

[Tigercat]

And someone tell me why all of these kids can play at Louisville and WKU and UK isn't even mentioned? Do we not recruit Kentucky?

[gchs_uk9]

1 hour ago, Tigercat said:

And someone tell me why all of these kids can play at Louisville and WKU and UK isn't even mentioned? Do we not recruit Kentucky?

I've been thinking the same thing throughout this tournament. I watched several games and saw several outstanding players. Every time I looked them up they were committed to somewhere other than the University of Kentucky. There are myriad problems with the program at UK; it would be nice to know if anyone from the university was actually at the games the last two weeks, making notes, and hopefully starting conversations.

[Tigercat]

Dan McDonnell makes a living with Louisville and Kentucky players. For some reason UK doesn't think they are good enough. I guess Super Regionals and 5 trips to Omaha with those players aren't enough. And, don't forget Trey Sweeney, the Yankees' first round pick out of Saint X.

[Tigerpride94]

 

[Jumper_Dad]

I know in some cases Louisville has offered kids in 8th or 9th grade, so if nothing else they are getting in with the top kids very early. I don't know if UK does that at such and early age or not.

Congrats to St. X and great job Russell County on your great run!

[Tigercat]

I'll harp on it once more and quit. Louisville roster lists 17 from Kentucky, with several from Jefferson and Oldham. Kentucky lists 10, with 0 from Jefferson and Oldham. Under McDonnell, 5 trips to Omaha. Kentucky has zero.

 

[TheDeuce]

I mean, there's really no comparison between the UofL and UK baseball programs, so there's that part. 

[Tigercat]

How true. It's sad. I played one year at UK many moons ago. I don't get it.

[TheDeuce]

1 minute ago, Tigercat said:

How true. It's sad. I played one year at UK many moons ago. I don't get it.

Baseball is a priority at Louisville, has been since McDonnell came. They've got a $1 million renovation about to happen this offseason to expand the entrance and concourse, and another larger project on the horizon that will build an indoor practice facility beyond the left field fence. 

[gchs_uk9]

52 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

I mean, there's really no comparison between the UofL and UK baseball programs, so there's that part. 

But there should be. It appears Kentucky made an excellent hire in John Cohen, who then left for Mississippi State (upgrade). They replaced him with Gary Henderson, the pitching coach, hoping to keep the momentum. It didn't work; Henderson was very blah and the fire that Cohen's teams played with just wasn't there. Now they've hired Mingione, who seems very nice and is certainly rah-rah, but the roster turns over repeatedly, the strategy is often confounding, and their in-state recruits are minimal and often second-tier compared to some of the better players in the commonwealth.

The first argument might be that the SEC is too tough. It is great baseball. But it isn't a league of haves and have-nots. It's all haves. Nine of the league's fourteen teams have played in the College World Series at least once in the last five editions (2022-Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M; 2021-Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt; 2019-Auburn; 2018-Florida; 2017-LSU). South Carolina's last trip was 2012 but they also won two titles in the last decade-plus. Georgia went in 2008. Where's Kentucky?

The second argument might then be that this is a northern state in a southern conference. That's right. But Louisville is winning 40+ games, hosting regionals, making super-regional and College World Series trips almost annually from a conference that includes southern powerhouses such as North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, Clemson, Georgia Tech, etc. So that argument doesn't hold water.

Finally, the last argument might be there aren't enough local players to field a championship caliber team. That might be true. But if it is true, it's only because Louisville is dressing eighteen kids from the commonwealth and beating Kentucky for every top in-state recruit. Can Mingione fix that? In almost ten seasons it sure doesn't look like it. And until there is a fix, it will be the same old, same old with Kentucky baseball.

[Voice of Reason]

Including the regional games and going forward, St. Xavier outscored their opponents 58-7. In the state tournament they outscored their 4 opponents 37-5. Is that the most dominating run to a title ever in Kentucky high school baseball postseason?

[Falcon Pride]

Not to turn this into UK vs UofL but the problem is at the top for UK.

Coaches are not even welcome at many of the top practice facilities in southern Ohio. Until the HC is changed, their is NO CHANCE that the results change.

I’m a Cat fan through and through but you can’t argue with the results that Dan McDonnell has gotten at Louisville 

[Tigercat]

Why are they having a problem getting in the door in Ohio?

[rjs4470]

16 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Including the regional games and going forward, St. Xavier outscored their opponents 58-7. In the state tournament they outscored their 4 opponents 37-5. Is that the most dominating run to a title ever in Kentucky high school baseball postseason?

This was a very dominant run. In recent history, West Jessamine scored double digit runs and 48 total in 2015, but they also gave up 19 runs. They were one of the best offensive HS baseball teams I've ever seen. Just last year, Trinity outscored opponents 45-7 on their way to the state title. St X scored almost as many runs (35) in 2018, but also gave up more runs and had one close game. 

Basically, it's not all that uncommon for a team to be completely dominant in a state tournament.

[Hasbeen10]

The problem is the coach at UK. You reap what you sow. Even his best players were wondering how to get out. He fires an assistant every year. It’s him. He’s not good and UofL and rest of KY colleges all have much better coaches. He has double digit kids in transfer portal each year. UK had awesome facility and play in SEC. With a new coach they’d be much better. Mingione in my opinion is far and away worst coach in SEC and a Fraud. Should have been fired right after the season but wasn’t. Not a fan obviously.