Apollo 2 Trinity 1

[thsrocks]

Coaching ability, not a problem. Bad judgement at times, now thats another question.

 

You have a differing opinion than those of us who are long time Rock supporters and thus support Coach Tompkins. Rostel, Fowler, Chancellor, and now Tompkins were/are all expected to win the state at some point. It hasn't happened yet. One of my buddies played for a Trinity team that averaged 12 runs a game, only to lose to Hazard 3-2 in the state semi-finals(partly because a Trinity triple was nullified when the runner was called out for missing first base).

It's easier to get 100 guys to dominate football than to find the right 20 and get the breaks to win baseball. One hot pitcher can shut you down. One strikeout. One caught stealing. One overthrown cutoff man. One clutch hit by an opponent. Outfielders colliding like those for Floyd Central that allowed St. Xavier to escape with a home victory recently. I'll take Trinity's chances in the wide open 7th region. What other sport can see Carroll County win and Dunbar or St. Xavier lose to the same team within a couple of weeks? That's part of the beauty of baseball.

[Canescat]

I'm not a disgruntled anything. I think very highly of Coach Tompkins. Yes, he's taken teams deep into the playoffs. But it seems that many of his teams had enough to go further and win it all. Just an observation.

[Homerun]

I agree with Three of a Kind's assessment. This senior class was sacrificed, begining last season. For some reason, Coach Tompkins has been gaga over the sophomores since they were freshman. I know that many of the seniors didn't return because of the coaching.

 

I think the jury is still out on Coach Tompkins' coaching ability.

 

“I'm not a disgruntled anything. I think very highly of Coach Tompkins. Yes, he's taken teams deep into the playoffs. But it seems that many of his teams had enough to go further and win it all. Just an observation.”

 

Trinity has gone as far or further play-offs than any other 7th region team in the recent past. Winning it all can be very tough. My concern is that you want to bash Tomkins, particularly for playing a sophomore over a senior. The post over a loss seems to focus on this one issue, not looking at a lot of factors of the game. Apollo was ranked number 2 in the state in the coaches’ poll. Other quality wins, like against St. X who was a top 25 team in the country at the time I believe and against Male in the championship of the Male Bulldog Classic, are entirely minimized.

 

The only pre-season All State player was Chris Berry, a junior. Trinity had no pre-season senior high school All-Americans or All-State either. Stephan is a quality high school pitcher, but is he not getting looks by Division 1 schools? Have these seniors been to college camps or showcases to be evaluated? If they stood out at those camps, they would be getting offers already from colleges.

 

You say that Tompkins’ teams “should have gone further.” Tompkins is showing a lot of courage to try to make improvements. He is adding knowledgeable baseball people to the staff. Tompkins has added Stoner to his staff, hasn’t he, who played AAA ball and still has records at North Carolina. Jack Littrell, who played AAA ball for the Dodgers (?), is a valuable resource as well. Tompkins has also been out scouting other teams when other coaches have not.

 

Allowing grade level to determine who plays is archaic and detrimental to a building a program. Maybe this is a key factor for Trinity not developing and doing any better in the past? Trinity has taken much initiative in their sports programs and has broken the mold in the way traditional Louisville Catholic high schools have done things. Change can be painful at times. But I would make much more effort to respect and admire what Tomkins is doing, and the courage to make changes, than to crucify him at the first chance that you can. In fact, since we are talking about Catholic schools, some people believe that a key factor as to why Jesus was crucified was that he challenged the social order of the day. Pretty tragic thing to do to such a quality person. Sometimes working thru the changes can have big pay-offs.

[KWG88]

I understand that of the added coaches that were mentioned, one is the personal hitting coach of the third baseman and the other coach mentioned is the dad of the sophmore first baseman/ pitcher.

[Roc4ever]

“I'm not a disgruntled anything. I think very highly of Coach Tompkins. Yes, he's taken teams deep into the playoffs. But it seems that many of his teams had enough to go further and win it all. Just an observation.”

 

Trinity has gone as far or further play-offs than any other 7th region team in the recent past. Winning it all can be very tough. My concern is that you want to bash Tomkins, particularly for playing a sophomore over a senior. The post over a loss seems to focus on this one issue, not looking at a lot of factors of the game. Apollo was ranked number 2 in the state in the coaches’ poll. Other quality wins, like against St. X who was a top 25 team in the country at the time I believe and against Male in the championship of the Male Bulldog Classic, are entirely minimized.

 

The only pre-season All State player was Chris Berry, a junior. Trinity had no pre-season senior high school All-Americans or All-State either. Stephan is a quality high school pitcher, but is he not getting looks by Division 1 schools? Have these seniors been to college camps or showcases to be evaluated? If they stood out at those camps, they would be getting offers already from colleges.

 

You say that Tompkins’ teams “should have gone further.” Tompkins is showing a lot of courage to try to make improvements. He is adding knowledgeable baseball people to the staff. Tompkins has added Stoner to his staff, hasn’t he, who played AAA ball and still has records at North Carolina. Jack Littrell, who played AAA ball for the Dodgers (?), is a valuable resource as well. Tompkins has also been out scouting other teams when other coaches have not.

 

Allowing grade level to determine who plays is archaic and detrimental to a building a program. Maybe this is a key factor for Trinity not developing and doing any better in the past? Trinity has taken much initiative in their sports programs and has broken the mold in the way traditional Louisville Catholic high schools have done things. Change can be painful at times. But I would make much more effort to respect and admire what Tomkins is doing, and the courage to make changes, than to crucify him at the first chance that you can. In fact, since we are talking about Catholic schools, some people believe that a key factor as to why Jesus was crucified was that he challenged the social order of the day. Pretty tragic thing to do to such a quality person. Sometimes working thru the changes can have big pay-offs.

 

You made the comment about Seniors not getting looks by Divison 1 schools. Andrew Deeds is a SR and the most over looked player on this team. I bet his BA and on base average is higher than Berry's (pre-season All State player). Only reason he's not getting looks is because he did not play last year, football injury. Tompkins is slowly making changes which may prove to be benefical towards end of May, but the verdict is still out. Knowledgeable people don't always equal best person for the job when you talk about Stoner and Littrell. May will tell the story to the 2008 season......Good Luck Rocks....

[Canescat]

Now we know the rest of the story. Sophomore first baseman's daddy coaches and sophomore third baseman's personal hitting instructor coaches too. It's interesting how over his tenure Coach Tompkins has allowed people with vested interests in individual players to coach at THS. It also is equally interesting how those same players enjoy the opportunity to play varsity baseball very early in their high school careers.

Maybe its just a coincidence but I don't think so.

 

These are just observations, nobody is attacking Coach Tompkins. It may just be a very strange coincidence that didn't seem to coincide with the careers of this year's group of seniors.

 

As a sophomore Andrew Deeds was, by far, the best baseball player in the entire program. He never saw the varsity field. Oh, his dad didn't coach either.

[Park1221]

Now we know the rest of the story. Sophomore first baseman's daddy coaches and sophomore third baseman's personal hitting instructor coaches too. It's interesting how over his tenure Coach Tompkins has allowed people with vested interests in individual players to coach at THS. It also is equally interesting how those same players enjoy the opportunity to play varsity baseball very early in their high school careers.

Maybe its just a coincidence but I don't think so.

 

These are just observations, nobody is attacking Coach Tompkins. It may just be a very strange coincidence that didn't seem to coincide with the careers of this year's group of seniors.

 

As a sophomore Andrew Deeds was, by far, the best baseball player in the entire program. He never saw the varsity field. Oh, his dad didn't coach either.

 

Did Matt Brady (03 or 04) or Chris Berry's Dad coach? I don't think so. Both started varsity as sophmores. I point this out because you make it sound as if the key factor to seeing varsity action early is having a family member or friend on the coaching staff and that's simply not been the case with Coach Tompkins. And Deeds as a sophmore was better than Holland and Graven??? I've been impressed with Deeds this year but I'm not sure I believe he was the best player in the program as a sophmore. If true, then I guess Coach Tompkins has difficulty evaluating his own talent.

[Hit4PowR]

The proverbial nail has been hit on the head, Canescat. It's called "politics" at its best.

[Roc4ever]

Did Matt Brady (03 or 04) or Chris Berry's Dad coach? I don't think so. Both started varsity as sophmores. I point this out because you make it sound as if the key factor to seeing varsity action early is having a family member or friend on the coaching staff and that's simply not been the case with Coach Tompkins. And Deeds as a sophmore was better than Holland and Graven??? I've been impressed with Deeds this year but I'm not sure I believe he was the best player in the program as a sophmore. If true, then I guess Coach Tompkins has difficulty evaluating his own talent.

 

Berry only started because Deeds did not play. Brady was a player, period. Graven didn't play varsity until his junior year and Holland's dad coached, but was asked to step down. Tompkins doesn't have a problem evaluating players, but the impression has been given regarding politics.

[STRIKE3]

Two very good programs, in a very good game.

[Roc4ever]

Two very good programs, in a very good game.

 

I agree......

[jimmyref]

I agree......

First of all,

I don't think anyone has given Apollo the kudos in this game. They shut down a pretty good hitting team. They are ranked number 2 and last years number 2 won the state.

 

I am not a Trinity fan as most of you know but I am a huge Tompkins fan. As to Coach T using dads and hitting coaches like Holland, Littrell and Sturtzel, why not? If you have an opportunity to hear Coach Littrell speak about pitching, you can tell he knows a boatload about the game from the Dodger organization. Sturtzel is in the Hall of Fame at Bellarmine, for goodness sakes! Is that political to have someone on your staff with those credentials? This is high school baseball and the wealth of knowledge that Coach T has assembled over the years with his contacts is amazing. But with all of that talent, it is well understood who makes the call. I don't think many people have questioned Coach Beatty's use of Phillips, Whiting, or Petrino in their sophomore years. If the seniors were better or healthy, they would play.

 

The other part of this is how many kids Coach T gets to play college ball. Believe it or not, last time I checked the Trinity website, there are more Trinity baseball players playing college than Trinity football players in the last 6 years, even with 4 times the number of players on football versus baseball and with the recent success of the football team.

[Roc4ever]

First of all,

I don't think anyone has given Apollo the kudos in this game. They shut down a pretty good hitting team. They are ranked number 2 and last years number 2 won the state.

 

I am not a Trinity fan as most of you know but I am a huge Tompkins fan. As to Coach T using dads and hitting coaches like Holland, Littrell and Sturtzel, why not? If you have an opportunity to hear Coach Littrell speak about pitching, you can tell he knows a boatload about the game from the Dodger organization. Sturtzel is in the Hall of Fame at Bellarmine, for goodness sakes! Is that political to have someone on your staff with those credentials? This is high school baseball and the wealth of knowledge that Coach T has assembled over the years with his contacts is amazing. But with all of that talent, it is well understood who makes the call. I don't think many people have questioned Coach Beatty's use of Phillips, Whiting, or Petrino in their sophomore years. If the seniors were better or healthy, they would play.

 

The other part of this is how many kids Coach T gets to play college ball. Believe it or not, last time I checked the Trinity website, there are more Trinity baseball players playing college than Trinity football players in the last 6 years, even with 4 times the number of players on football versus baseball and with the recent success of the football team.

 

Slow down Jimmy, football is totally different than baseball, so lets not compare oranges to apple.

[Canescat]

I think Jimmy's comment about the number of college baseball players in Coach Tompkins' program only lends support to the observation that he has had plenty of talent to win it all, but hasn't. Football team-very little college talent = 6 State Titles in 8 years. Baseball team-lots of college talent=0 State Titles/Finals. Just an observation.

 

With regard to early varsity playing time opportunities, it seems highly supect how sons of coaches get opportunities v. the rest of the kids in the program. That is all I am saying, just an observation. It's interesting how all of these GREAT baseball coaches stick around just long enough to see their sons play early and graduate.

[jimmyref]

I think Jimmy's comment about the number of college baseball players in Coach Tompkins' program only lends support to the observation that he has had plenty of talent to win it all, but hasn't. Football team-very little college talent = 6 State Titles in 8 years. Baseball team-lots of college talent=0 State Titles/Finals. Just an observation.

 

With regard to early varsity playing time opportunities, it seems highly supect how sons of coaches get opportunities v. the rest of the kids in the program. That is all I am saying, just an observation. It's interesting how all of these GREAT baseball coaches stick around just long enough to see their sons play early and graduate.

Whoa! It takes 11 wins to win a state title in baseball( 2 in district, 3 in region, 2 in semistate, 3 in the state tournament) , just 5 in football.Also, last time I checked, you have to go away to win baseball, not playing in your stadium or Papa Johns for 9 out of last 10 football playoff games. Any night along the way you can run into a Zach Cox, or Daniel Webb, or Tyler Dunaway or Ryan Mosby that can end your season. When the Rocks faced Chaz Roe from Lafayette in the state tournament a couple of years ago, that was a home game for the boys from Lexington.

 

As for coaches, Jay Tedesco doesn't have a son on the team, he played at UK and went to Oak Hills in Cincinnati, Sean Erie doesn't have a son on the team, he played at NKU and went to St X, Jimmy Brown played at Western and at Bellarmine, and he doesn't have a son on the team, Coach K is older than dirt but knows baseball inside and out and he doesn't have a son on the team. Those guys have been around the program and help shape it along with Coach T. Once again why not have a former AAA ballplayer give advice. I don't know the particulars but this sounds like someone feels their son should be playing. Ok, I agree, you son should be playing unless someone is better or equal not because his dad sat in the car next to the pitching coach.