Top Northern Kentucky/ Cincinnati baseball players for '09

[Theoldguy]

From Tom "Leo" Groeschen of the Cin Enquirer

 

Top N. Ky., Cincy baseball players for '09

 

Hot Stove talk:

 

PGcrosschecker.com, one of the top baseball rating services, lists several locals on the radar for spring 2009.

For the class of 2009 (seniors), here are national ratings of locals in the top 1,400 players:

 

No. 252 - Luke Maile, Covington Catholic, Ky., catcher (committed to U. of Kentucky)

No. 381 - Michael Basil, St. Xavier SS/3B/OF (Indiana)

No. 972 - Kyle Raleigh, Oak Hills LHP/OF/1B (Ball State)

No. 1043 - Matt Marksberry, Glen Este LHP/1B/OF (Campbell)

No. 1132 - Chris Hundley, Colerain RHP (Toledo)

No. 1248 - Kris Hecktor, Batavia MIF/3B (Marshall)

No. 1268 - Matt Malloy, Oak Hills C/OF (uncommitted)

No. 1273 - Nathan Smith, Lakota West LHP/1B (Furman)

-- And, in the class of 2010, listed in the top 385 players --

No. 39 - Marcus Davis, Princeton OF/LHP

No. 91 - Hunter Jones, Bellevue, Ky. SS/3B

A couple of notes:

Raleigh is the son of Channel 9 chief meteorolgist Steve Raleigh and former Ben-Gal cheerleader Julie Raleigh.

Jones is the son of Tracy Jones, the former Cincinnati Reds outfielder and current WLW radio personality

 

From Theoldguy:

 

Sort a nice that the top player in the entire Greater Cincinnati area is from NKy.

[OhYeaYouThink]

Still don't get the hype on the Hunter Jones kid. Haven't seen anyone other than him and Luke to say anything about the rest.

[STRIKE3]

Saw Kyle at several camps and he's solid. Had the pleasure of meeting Julie.

[Clyde]

Saw Kyle at several camps and he's solid. Had the pleasure of meeting Julie.

 

You know Kyle's buddies all say "Kyle, lets just hang at YOUR house tonite."

[The Great Game]

Still don't get the hype on the Hunter Jones kid. Haven't seen anyone other than him and Luke to say anything about the rest.

 

Good looking ballplayer but the couple of times I saw him play I haven't been blown away to the point of this rating. I surely wouldn't put him in front of Maile.:confused:

[STRIKE3]

You know Kyle's buddies all say "Kyle, lets just hang at YOUR house tonite."

... I can understand. I still have one of his business cards he made, with his player information on it.

[katbird]

Hunter Jones has great feet, hands, power and is very fast...Plus the kid is 6'2 and plays middle infield, what else do you want??? :idunno::idunno:

[Blue Magic]

Good looking ballplayer but the couple of times I saw him play I haven't been blown away to the point of this rating. I surely wouldn't put him in front of Maile.:confused:

 

91st in the class of 2010? Wow. They me need to re-evaluate.

[BaseballIsLife]

91st in the class of 2010? Wow. They me need to re-evaluate.

 

He is a very good ball player. He even got to see a little actiong with theh 18 year old Midland Redskins and performed VERY well for them too. And the fact is that team had all Division 1 signees and almost half of them were drafted. For him to get ANY playing time speaks volumes to his talent. He is a very good ball player.

[OhYeaYouThink]

He is a very good ball player. He even got to see a little actiong with theh 18 year old Midland Redskins and performed VERY well for them too. And the fact is that team had all Division 1 signees and almost half of them were drafted. For him to get ANY playing time speaks volumes to his talent. He is a very good ball player.

 

 

He is a good ball player, but honestly if he is 90 something in the 2010 class that is a weak class.

[bulldog77]

He is a good ball player, but honestly if he is 90 something in the 2010 class that is a weak class.

 

For someone who admittedly has seen him but a handful of times that is a most unfair comment. I know this player extremely well and I can tell you without hesitation that ranking is more than accurate. Also the list of colleges and coaches contacting this young man is most impressive. I think I'll consider their opinion to carry a bit more weight. Last year this 16 year-old kid, a sophomore, only hit .485 with 30 RBI 1o HR and 47 hits with 33 stolen bases in 39 attempts. I don't care how you all rate the competition that's impressive period. Plus Bellevue didn't play the DIII Conference games every day, just ask CovCath, Highlands, etc. Had he not suffered a pretty serious shoulder injury late in the season (yet played through it) the numbers and the outcomes of some games may have been different. This kid is a player and the rest of the country apparently realizes it. Why do some here feel the need to knock the kid constantly?

[PutMeInCoach]

This kid is a player and the rest of the country apparently realizes it. Why do some here feel the need to knock the kid constantly?

 

OYYT Gave her opinion.

 

Thats what the site is all about. No need to bite her head off..

[OhYeaYouThink]

For someone who admittedly has seen him but a handful of times that is a most unfair comment. I know this player extremely well and I can tell you without hesitation that ranking is more than accurate. Also the list of colleges and coaches contacting this young man is most impressive. I think I'll consider their opinion to carry a bit more weight. Last year this 16 year-old kid, a sophomore, only hit .485 with 30 RBI 1o HR and 47 hits with 33 stolen bases in 39 attempts. I don't care how you all rate the competition that's impressive period. Plus Bellevue didn't play the DIII Conference games every day, just ask CovCath, Highlands, etc. Had he not suffered a pretty serious shoulder injury late in the season (yet played through it) the numbers and the outcomes of some games may have been different. This kid is a player and the rest of the country apparently realizes it. Why do some here feel the need to knock the kid constantly?

 

It's not a knock, relax. I saw the kid early in the season, in the middle or whenever they played CovCath and also towards the end. Every game I saw, he had errors, he hit decent and wasn't anything outstanding. He is a good ball player in NKY, sure. He is a good ball player period. But top in the country, I just don't see it, and I don't think I'm alone in that. And I would consider the scouts and colleges to carry more weight than my opinion as well, so glad we're on the same page with that:thumb: But those scouts and colleges better hope he picks it up.

[bulldog77]

I'm quite sure he'll be just fine.

[Clyde]

I saw Hunter Jones play this summer and thought he was very good. I saw him just recently and didn't even recognize him (partly because of shaving his head) due to what appeared to be a stronger body. He is getting thick. He was very smooth in the infield and looked good at the plate.

 

I'll trust the college coaches that are contacting him as far as evaluations go.