I must mention that I have been attending the Ky. Colonels games for four or five years now, and the next couple of comments I will be making I guess will upset some folks but IMO they need to be said!

 

I truly thought this Ky Colonels team would be special this season, with the likes of Mr. Baseball Luke Maile, 1st team All State Zach Isler, All State Honorable mention Jeramie Connor, POY of the 8th Region E.J. Murray, 9th Region All Star Brandon Nutini, and some outstanding pitching, however this team without a doubt in my mind isn't anywhere near as good as some of the past teams the Colonels have put onto the field and it isn't because of the above players.

 

 

IMO the talent is there but I am not so sure if the desire or even the baseball smarts are there with some of the kids on this current team. The game I saw the Colonels play Tuesday night was to me at least embarrassing to watch! A team with this much talent and ability should not be making the kind of mental mistakes that were made Tuesday not only on the base paths but in the field. Sure if this was a young team or a knothole team I would live with it, but these young man should be far above the level of play that they are in fact playing.

 

Examples: Top of the second 1st batter hits double and is knocked in by a single by by the next batter who moves to second base on the throw home. Next batter goes 6-3 for the first out and the man stays at second. Next batter with a 1-2 count the ball gets past the Midland catcher. Now if you have ever been to the Midland complex you know how much room there is behind the catcher, but the man on second doesn't make an attempt to go to third and Walt who is coaching third seems upset indeed about it. The batter then hits a ground ball that I think with the hitters speed he beats out the throw and at first the runner at second plays it smart by not running to third but for what ever reason as soon as the SS scoops up the ball, the man on second takes off to third and is an easy out. Walt is indeed upset and the runner is taken out of the game.

 

There were players who IMO should have made plays in the outfield to record outs but didn't. Now the two I am mentioning should have been easy outs that IMO a young freshmen could have made, but at this level the play should have been a can of corn.

 

Now the worst play of the game was in the last inning with the score tied and Midland gets their first batter on via a single, the next batter puts down a 1-3 sac bunt moving the runner to second. One out man on second. The Colonel pitchers goes 3-2 on the batter and then throws ball four, but the ball gets past the Colonels Cather who really doesn't hustle after the ball and instead is telling the umpire that the ball has hit the batter indeed making the ball dead. Now the man at the plate who walked runs to first base and the coach at first tells the runner to take off for second (the runner at second had already moved to third) and now the Colonels catcher has the ball in his hand and is still telling the umpire that the ball hit the batter, the runner is on his way to second and the Colonel catcher tries to throw him at second but as soon as he releases the ball the man at third comes home to score the winning run. Now do I think the ball hit the batter? Yes but you get the ball and then call time out not argue with the man in blue and not getting the ball. This play you shouldn't see freshmen make, maybe knothole kids but not players playing on this level.

 

This team is far too good to be playing this type of baseball and after the game it seemed to me that Walt told the players that.

 

I waited until today to type this as I simply couldn't believe players playing for this type of team at this level make these kind of plays and I was hoping to be a gentler kinder person when telling you all this but I am still am upset. There were errors made in this game also, but errors can happen, but mental mistakes have happened far too often with this year version of the Ky Colonels.

I think a lot of it has to do with coaching. Some of the kids just flat out shouldn't be playing in the situations they are in, and I don't feel like the coach puts a team out there to WIN ball games. I sincerely hope at tournaments the coach is playing his best players, and not just subbing in and out all over randomly. Some of the kids indeed have a lot of baseball smarts to learn. I have not been to many games, but from what i've seen, with the talent they have, they are not doing as well as they should nor are they being put in the situation to win.

I don't think there's any question that winning is not priority one with the Colonels and everyone knows that going in. This team's number one goal is to get players seen and put them in positions for potential scholarships. That means that sometimes/oftentimes you are giving players more playing time than they'd normally get and putting them in situations they might not regularly see if they were playing on a different team that tends to play their top guys more often. There are certainly times Walt leaves pitchers in much longer than other teams would simply because there is a scout there to see the player and if the pitcher happens to be struggling, so be it - he's still going to throw his 5-6 innings. Put this all together and I think it hurts their ability to win games - though again, people tend to know this going in. None of this excuses stupid baseball play, of course, but they are high schoolers and high schoolers make mistakes. I went to the Reds game tonight and watched Jay Bruce run the bases like a high quality "C" knothole player. Happens to the best - though Bruce is of course far, far from the best.

I don't think there's any question that winning is not priority one with the Colonels and everyone knows that going in. This team's number one goal is to get players seen and put them in positions for potential scholarships. That means that sometimes/oftentimes you are giving players more playing time than they'd normally get and putting them in situations they might not regularly see if they were playing on a different team that tends to play their top guys more often. There are certainly times Walt leaves pitchers in much longer than other teams would simply because there is a scout there to see the player and if the pitcher happens to be struggling, so be it - he's still going to throw his 5-6 innings. Put this all together and I think it hurts their ability to win games - though again, people tend to know this going in. None of this excuses stupid baseball play, of course, but they are high schoolers and high schoolers make mistakes. I went to the Reds game tonight and watched Jay Bruce run the bases like a high quality "C" knothole player. Happens to the best - though Bruce is of course far, far from the best.

 

Coop what you have said is very true, but if you are going to, hope to get offers that is, you can't play this kind of baseball and expect someone to sign you.

 

Errors happen and most coaches, scouts, and knowledge fans understand, but the mental mistakes, the lack of hustle, not knowing what to do, shouldn't be happening with players playing at this level and I don't care if some are still in high school, it shouldn't be happening.

 

BTW using Bruce and the Reds is a very bad example, as IMO they haven't played smart baseball in many, many years, so it's easy to understand why they haven't been in the hunt near the end of the season in years.:idunno:

E. J. Murray of Scott? Aren't they in the 10 th?

I must mention that I have been attending the Ky. Colonels games for four or five years now, and the next couple of comments I will be making I guess will upset some folks but IMO they need to be said!

 

I truly thought this Ky Colonels team would be special this season, with the likes of Mr. Baseball Luke Maile, 1st team All State Zach Isler, All State Honorable mention Jeramie Connor, POY of the 8th Region E.J. Murray, 9th Region All Star Brandon Nutini, and some outstanding pitching, however this team without a doubt in my mind isn't anywhere near as good as some of the past teams the Colonels have put onto the field and it isn't because of the above players.

 

 

IMO the talent is there but I am not so sure if the desire or even the baseball smarts are there with some of the kids on this current team. The game I saw the Colonels play Tuesday night was to me at least embarrassing to watch! A team with this much talent and ability should not be making the kind of mental mistakes that were made Tuesday not only on the base paths but in the field. Sure if this was a young team or a knothole team I would live with it, but these young man should be far above the level of play that they are in fact playing.

 

Examples: Top of the second 1st batter hits double and is knocked in by a single by by the next batter who moves to second base on the throw home. Next batter goes 6-3 for the first out and the man stays at second. Next batter with a 1-2 count the ball gets past the Midland catcher. Now if you have ever been to the Midland complex you know how much room there is behind the catcher, but the man on second doesn't make an attempt to go to third and Walt who is coaching third seems upset indeed about it. The batter then hits a ground ball that I think with the hitters speed he beats out the throw and at first the runner at second plays it smart by not running to third but for what ever reason as soon as the SS scoops up the ball, the man on second takes off to third and is an easy out. Walt is indeed upset and the runner is taken out of the game.

 

There were players who IMO should have made plays in the outfield to record outs but didn't. Now the two I am mentioning should have been easy outs that IMO a young freshmen could have made, but at this level the play should have been a can of corn.

 

Now the worst play of the game was in the last inning with the score tied and Midland gets their first batter on via a single, the next batter puts down a 1-3 sac bunt moving the runner to second. One out man on second. The Colonel pitchers goes 3-2 on the batter and then throws ball four, but the ball gets past the Colonels Cather who really doesn't hustle after the ball and instead is telling the umpire that the ball has hit the batter indeed making the ball dead. Now the man at the plate who walked runs to first base and the coach at first tells the runner to take off for second (the runner at second had already moved to third) and now the Colonels catcher has the ball in his hand and is still telling the umpire that the ball hit the batter, the runner is on his way to second and the Colonel catcher tries to throw him at second but as soon as he releases the ball the man at third comes home to score the winning run. Now do I think the ball hit the batter? Yes but you get the ball and then call time out not argue with the man in blue and not getting the ball. This play you shouldn't see freshmen make, maybe knothole kids but not players playing on this level.This team is far too good to be playing this type of baseball and after the game it seemed to me that Walt told the players that.

 

I waited until today to type this as I simply couldn't believe players playing for this type of team at this level make these kind of plays and I was hoping to be a gentler kinder person when telling you all this but I am still am upset. There were errors made in this game also, but errors can happen, but mental mistakes have happened far too often with this year version of the Ky Colonels.

 

I coach a knothole team and they have more baseball smarts than that, and if they did slip up and do it he would've been pulled. I'd rather lose with a kid with more heart and less talent back there than the situation you described.

I've heard more than one person tell me some of these popular "name" players are overrated. I saw the U16 team play a couple of weeks ago and I over heard a couple of parents sitting behind me say that they heard this is Walt's last year coaching the Colonel's. Does anyone have any idea if this rumor is true?

I too have heard alot of the same comments. I haven't been there to see but a few games it seems there are several players that IMO probably shouldn't be on the team for lack of proper attitude and talent. If the coaching staff played those that "want to work hard" and sat a few (and this goes for ALL summer teams) this would not be a discussion.

As for above mentioned players being "overrated! Very much incorrect

Mr Baseball Luke Maile U of Ky

Isler U of Cin.

EJ Murray not sure

Connor I heard the other day he was made some sort of offer from Xavier

Nutini headed to Thomas More

sounds pretty solid to me! And there are probably more heading to college. When I watched them the above mentioned players played very hard and smart.

E. J. Murray of Scott? Aren't they in the 10 th?

 

Yes but Scott is located in Northern Kentucky and this team comprises alot of Northern Kentucky players but also has players from Indiana, Ohio, and much more southern and central parts of KY as well...