I will take 8 starters coming back over 4. It is easier to replace one OF vs. a 1B, 2B, 3B, 2 OF and also lose a starting pitcher, 6 key players will graduate. Agree, Ryle had a nice JV team. They will be in the same boat as BHS is this yr, alot gone to graduation w/alot of talented soph coming up. It is hard to compete against older, mature players that are experienced at the V level.

 

 

 

As I stated earlier Cov Cath will be the favorite next year. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe Beechwood was even younger this year than Ryle will be next season (Ryle will have 6 returning Juniors from this years team and almost a dozen talented kids from this years JV Championship team (with legitimate pitching). The way things are shaping up Cov Cath and Ryle could both be State contenders in two years if their stellar sophmores keep getting better as they mature?

 

Losing your top 4 pitchers is huge in HS along w/the ring leader and main man, Vince Murray. What yr are the middle infielders?

I agree they can hit 3pt, but was the Ryle game a week or so ago a fluke? I wasn't there but they got shut out didn't they? Who pitched for Ryle in that game?

 

Losing your top 4 pitchers is huge in HS along w/the ring leader and main man, Vince Murray. What yr are the middle infielders?

 

 

I believe they have two Juniors returning who are starters this year.

Great list of kids coming back. Let me rephrase some of my comments. 8 everyday starters, not played alot! I would assume Isler played 1B when Josh Blesser pitched and otherwise was DH. Nutini started against BHS in RF the first game.

 

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Flawed logic, my friend. You cannot compare the number of starters returning at a small school vs a big school with a talented varsity squad. Shover starts for Beechwood this year. Nutini starts every game for BW. Van Sant probably starts or gets lots of PT depending on who is pitching for BW. The depth in the SOPH class at CCH is unique.

 

The 4 main pitchers right now are Bleser, Isler, Nutini, and Niehaus. All return except for Bleser.

 

BW is always BW which means they will be talented and coached up. Having Elliott back is a huge plus and in one game can make a difference. Maybe AJ Smith gets stronger to add some depth to the staff.

 

Going into the season, CCH will be #1 followed by either Ryle or BW.

I agree with you cshs81... Next year CCH should be excellent, but the year after it will get real interesting between CCH & Ryle. IMO a State contender will come from that regional.

I agree with you cshs81... Next year CCH should be excellent, but the year after it will get real interesting between CCH & Ryle. IMO a State contender will come from that regional.

 

I know nothing about Ryle's SOPHS outside of winning the JV tourney. It will be interesting to see how they progress and if the 2 following classes have any special players they can use in 2 years.

I saw a few of the JV games and they have talented and fundamentaly sound ball players. Pitching wise Etcheid & Helmer looked real good and a couple of others that I saw were very solid.

 

Ryle had the luxury this year of not having to bring these guys up, that to me is a luxury when building a program. It's almost like OSU and Michigan- you've got to wait your turn.

O'Hara is another soph pitcher that did quite well this year. I think Ryle's underclassman are going to be solid for quite a few years. There were 3 freshman on the JV team and all three contributed significantly, with one of them basically never coming off the field. There were also a few solid freshman who played on the freshman team that should add value in the future. Are there any future Maile/Farris-type players waiting in the wings? Don't know, probably not, but there are a quite a number of very, very fundamentally solid kids currently at the Frosh and Soph levels that should be able to keep them on par with CC, who also no doubt has some nice young talent.

Hey Coop, do you think a state contender could come from either of those two teams in a couple of years?

I haven't seen the Lexington Teams play this year, but can someone from our regional compete?

I just don't have enough knowledge of the quality of teams from Lexington/Louisville to make an intelligent assessment of that (but I hope to soon enough - this is really my first year closely following high school ball). I will say that there is certainly enough talent in Ryle's well to keep them as one of the top teams (if not the top) in the 9th Region for a few years, but I couldn't say whether these underclassmen are of the quality to make them into a state contender. I know CovCath is going to be a force for a few years given their sophomore and freshman classes and would guess they'll be some titanic battles between those two schools.

I am in the same situation... Just getting back into the local baseball scene that is. Now I'm addicted!

 

Should be fun the couple of years!

I don't know what the grades the Lex players are in this yr but here are some teams:#1 LexCath, #2 Dunbar, #3 Tates Creek, #6 Henry Clay and #23LexChristian according to something I read somewhere. Here in NKY, #16 CCH, #21 Ryle, #40 HC and #48 BHS. Louisville Eastern was #4 w/Trinity #5. I would say Lex/Louis areas are very strong this yr anyway.

 

The top 3 teams in the state are all in the same DISTRICT!

TheGreatGame said "As I stated earlier Cov Cath will be the favorite next year. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe Beechwood was even younger this year than Ryle will be next season (Ryle will have 6 returning Juniors from this years team and almost a dozen talented kids from this years JV Championship team (with legitimate pitching). The way things are shaping up Cov Cath and Ryle could both be State contenders in two years if their stellar sophmores keep getting better as they mature?

 

 

I understand that BHS started 2-8th graders in the CCH game and only have 1senior on the roster. To round out the bench hey brought up 4 frosh and another 8th grader. Also heard BHS was in the frosh finals playing a number of 7th and 8th graders. Another young and talented frosh class is at Dixie, they also start about 4 - 8th graders. The Cov Cath and Ryle teams will have numbers (what will Ryle give up to the new Boone county school?), but IMO there is going to be some very good baseball (if the kids stick with it) in a couple of years.

I went to the game and the highlight of the game was when Luke Maile hit the homerun. He did a great bat flip when he hit it.