ft bronc

Ditto on that!

That's the problem with one and out tournaments. Given the time constraints, however, I don't know what else they could do.

Awesome win Birds. :clap: Keep it going!

A very good point I hadn't thought of. I know this is a seeded/non-seeded discussion, but I don't think you can talk about this issue in isolation from the issue of classification, or lack there of. If baseball were classified like football (but with a smaller # of classes), seeding wouldn't be such a big issue as the teams in each district would be much more equal in level of competitiveness than they are currently. Without classification, I don't think the smaller schools in Dist. 36 will ever vote for seeding. Why hasn't the state mandated seeding? IMO because they know it would increase the push for classification, something they have always resisted. Why have they always resisted classification? That's a debate for another thread.

You know what they say about offensive lines: execution, execution, execution. But that's when they're not saying, quickness, quickness, quickness.

But how do you really feel about it?

Duly noted. I also dislike the inconsistent nature of holding calls in football. The threshold for holding by offensive players in the NFL gets much tighter in the last two minutes of each game than it was in the previous 58.

Yes, but neither of which are so fundamental to their games as balls & strikes are to baseball.

Keep your heads up Birds, especially the seniors! I know you would have liked to have had this one to cap off your careers at Highlands, but you've worked hard, represented the school well & helped move the program forward. All the kids coming behind you will reap the benefits of what you've done the past few years. Congratulations on your upcoming graduations & best of luck in all your future endeavors, both athletic & academic!

Amen brother! What if football officials took it upon themselves to redefine what a completed pass is?

Completely agree & I think it's our jobs as parents to push this "glass half full" line of thinking with our kids. It will serve them well in life.

I do have a kid who was directly affected by JV freshman coming down for the tourney, and like you, I didn't like it either. Had I been the coach, I would not have made the same decision. No matter what sport I’m coaching, I’m a firm believer in riding the horses that brought you. However, because I didn't like it doesn't mean I was right & the coaches were wrong, or vice versa. It's simply two different philosophies. By leaving the JV frosh up, both sets of kids would have gotten playoff experience (since those frosh will play in the JV tournament anyway). By brining them down, you’ve robbed the younger kids of the experience of playing under that kind of pressure, which would seem to be not in the best interest of your program long-term. You’ve also left those kids with a bad taste in their mouth for the off-season, which is never a good idea when you’re building a program. By bringing the JV frosh down, however, you greatly increase the possibility of a good showing in the frosh tournament, which could be argued is definitely in the best interest of your program long-term, especially when you’re building a new program. Two sides of the same coin.

And now it's not narrow. I hate software changes! :eyeonyou:

Ditto. Keep posting. I know your first foray into the forum got you in hot water, but we need more opinions on the baseball side. Things can get slow over here (compared to the football side where people are always arguing!).

Same as they did last week against NCC, but with very different results. The same frosh that struggled to make square contact against NCC were hitting it on the screws last night against Beechwood. If they can stay hot, anything can happen.

Not unless there's some new enrollment data out there that I'm not aware of.

:laugh:

pick - I believe you're talking about their left fielder Dustin Herrmann, and if so, he's a fine player and a great kid. Keep an eye on him because you're right, he does hit the ball very well.

There's another answer here: small barrel metal bats. My son had to use them out west in Little League, and there's a HUGE performance difference between them (2.25") and the big barrels (2.5-2.75"). The ball comes off the bat much more like a wooden bat, but the bat is light enough for smaller kids to swing them. To me, it's the best of both worlds. They're safer, while still allowing kids to enjoy the game w/o fighting the weight of wooden bats, and the lower trampoline effect encourages better swing mechanics.

When was the last time you saw a group of kids playing a pick-up game of baseball? For me the answer is about 30 years ago. I honestly can't think of one time in the last decade that I saw a full group of kids playing baseball on their own. IMO, this is the biggest factor in the decline of baseball, not coaching, not parents, not organizations. Get kids back on the ball fields having fun, and you'll see the quality of play improve. Would you expect a high school kid to be a good basketball player if the only time he touched a ball was at team practices & games?

I know it's not exactly on topic, but since inconsistent strike zones have been mentioned, I'd like to say that the quality of the umps at my son's frosh games this year has been a significant improvement over those at his SWOL games last season. Thanks Blue.

Very, very good point, and a pet peeve of mine about college, and even more so about professional, football these days. WAY to many players get D1 scholarships or are drafted into the NFL because they fit the physical "metrics." How often do we hear about 6'6", 325lb offensive lineman drafted in the first round despite the fact that they've exhibited "erratic" behavior the past couple seasons, and display a work ethic that lead people to question whether they truly want to play football or not? Unfortunately, the answer is we hear about it way too often.

Being a good high school football player is an achievement in and of itself, regardless of weather you play another down after graduation. Same thing with college ball. Despite what you hear said on ESPN, not making it in the NFL does nothing to diminish your achievements as a college player. They are two completely different sports.

Year in, year out Highlands offensive line is the class of the field, and although they have to replace quite a few starters, I see no reason to bet against them this year.

From my experience, I found the level of pitching to be the biggest difference between KY & the west coast - at least at the youth level.