rockdog

Congrats to Chandler. Very impressive youngman. I hope he can stay healthy for the Wildcats sake. Has great command, good downward plane on his fastball, and a nasty slider. Have heard that even after his surgery he has been able to maintain his plus velocity!

Thought I would drop my two cents worth for an all-decade teamRHP :

RHP: Josh Ellis Dunbar

RHP: Chaz Roe Lafayette

RHP: Thomas Royse Dunbar

LHP: Robbie Ross LCA

LHP: Maronde Lex Cath

LHP: Tommy Warner Lafayette

Catcher: Wes Caldwell Lex. Catholic or Schornick Lex. Catholic

1b: Jeff Derickson Bryan Station / Henry Clay or Michael Taylor Henry Clay Chase Ponder Madison Central

2b: Jimmy Stanley LCA or Travis Redmon Lex. Catholic

ss: John Shelby Tates Creek or Patrick Brady Henry Clay

3b: Logan Jackson, Michael Bertram Lafayette

OF: Willy Mays Bryan Station, Cameron Flynn Henry Clay, Collin Cowgill Henry Clay, Ben Revere Lexington Catholic, Keenan Wiley Madison Central

Utility: J.T. Riddle Western Hills, Marty Parks Madison Central,

Just wondering if anyone played today?

Martha Layne Collins Trailblazers....

Since she was the 1st woman governor for the state, kinda has a nice ring to it.

It is up to individual coaches. Most larger schools have JV players that are Juniors on it due to position depth.

Think South Laurel may be a little high. PRP should be a tad higher. Overall a pretty good list. Don't forget to mention Greenwood, Owensboro Catholic, and Owensboro. Also, Bryan Station has a couple nice arms to make some noise.

As the hot stove draws to a close, who are some teams that could surprise some folks this spring?

Can someone give me the strengths and weaknesses of the top teams?

who are some of the top players in the region beside Russell (anderson Co.) and Pelphrey (Grant Co.)?

Assistant on that coaching staff.

Wondering what schools out there have new coaches? Please name their replacements as well.

It's tourney time in the "Bluegrass".

With the tourney starting today, anyone want to throw out some tourney upsets?

Does Russell have a shot at beating Greenup?

Can Manual beat St. X?

Will Scott County beat Henry Clay?

What are some interesting first round matchups?

Hard to tell who votes. According to the website, they only had 29 people vote. If this is 29 head coaches total, you definately have a small representation of head coaches voting. Especially if 10 of the 29 are from a certain area.

I think the poll would be taken much more seriously if you could have a sample size of 75 coaches compared to 30.

Wondering if anyone went to the Ohio Valley Showcase in Lexington over the weekend. Heard there was a big turnout of players from all over the state.

Wondering who stood out?

What colleges / pro teams were represented?

Region 1 -Heath (they lost alot.....look for ballard memorial or Marshall Co.)

Region 2 -Christian Co.(good choice if they can recover losing their coach)

Region 3 -Appollo (clear favorite, lost some important pieces, watch Owensbo.)

Region 4 - Bowling Green (very balanced region...several teams could make noise)

Region 5 - Larue Co. (Central Hardin and Etown will duke it out for pride of Hardin County)

Region 6 - PRP (Dont sleep on Bullitt East and Butler....interesting to see how PRP does post Cox and Osbourne)

Region 7 - Eastern (manual is my sleeper pick for the 7th).

Region 8 - Anderson Co. (Does Anderson have the pitching to win 8th?)

Region 9 - Beechwood (hard to pick against B-wood or Cov. Cath.)

Region 10 - Harrison Co. (my favorite to make title run)

Region 11 - Lex Cath (good pick, watch out for Creek and Frankfort teams)

Region 12 - Danville (IF West can replace Greene, watch out)

Region 13 - Corbin

Region 14 - Powell Co.

Region 15 -Lawrence Co.

Region 16 -Greenup Co.

Trevor Gott: Tates Creek P looks to be ace of strong Creek squad

Brandon eggenschwiler: Dunbar OF good lefty stick / started for dunbar for 4 years

Pretty solid list. I almost think you have to include Bowles over McCarthy, but McCarthy is a beast. What about the kid from Manual? Turpin from Anderson County is pretty solid as well.

Oh yeah,

Honorable mention or possible candidates to crack top 25 as season gets going:

Conner, Lex. Catholic, Boyle County, Ashland, Ow. Catholic, Franklin Simpson, Shelby County, Christian County, Heath, and Etown.

Time to have a little fun.

1. PRP (until they get beat.....young)

2. Eastern (May have best pitching staff in state...offense is suspect)

3. Bullitt East (May have best 1&2 in Mcalpin and Bowles)

4. Harrison County (Very athletic and fundamentally sound, experienced)

5. Tates Creek (very talented group that needs someone other than Gott)

6. Manual (can hit it with anyone)

7. Trinity (maybe best young left arm and solid SS)

8. Apollo (talented young group, can they get out more balanced district?)

9. LCA (return 8 starters.....do not have deep pitching)

10. Lawrence County (returns states best arm in Shephard?)

11. Western Hills ( best year for Frankfort baseball in sometime)

12. Male (can swing the stick, will they have arms to make run)

13. Bowling Green (If I remember, return some quality arms)

14. Franklin County (could make some noise this year)

15. Central Hardin (Good run in 08 and have experience coming back)

16. Bryan Station (have some exp. / talented arms, can they hit and field?)

17. Covington Catholic (probably should be higher/led by UK signee Maile)

18. West Jessamine (core group has been starting for awhile,will miss Greene)

19. St. X( always talented, will rely on younger team)

20. Danville (overachieved in 08, but returns majority of team)

21. Ballard( should end up higher ranked....McCombs and catcher are back)

22. Rockcastle Co. (Can anyone other than Perkins step up?)

23. Anderson Co. (several starters return for the returning 8 Region Champs)

24. Boyd Co. (will new coach = trip to Lexington)

25. Ballard Memorial (region 1 contenders with talented arms)

Do you think it will be better than last year.

I dont ever remember a year with such talent. This year may be more even across the board, but it will be hard to compare to the hype that was generated off of the class of 08!

11th region should be interesting. LCA, CREEK, Catholic, Franklin, and Western Hills should have good years.

Station should have decent pitching, What about the other squads?

Please understand, I am not sayinng baseball is the most popular sport but I do feel the talent that has been produced over the years is very impressive. Div. 1 rosters from Arizona State to Yale are littered with Kentucky products. Not to mention the instate Division 1 programs success over the last few years and now the presence of major leaguers from the Bluegrass making major contributions to their organization.

Along the lines of the previous posters, i would love to see more African Americans play this great sport. With the increasing cost of the sport, the competition for participation, and the year around emphasis for all sports, this makes it very difficult.

It would be fun for the Herald Leader or Courier Journal to track all of the College players like they do for minor leaguers. As such, I wonder how KY's division 1 numbers compare to other states and to the other sports in KY.

I know Kentucky has always been a basketball and football state, but the arguement can be made in the last 10-15 years, that baseball may be the states best sport.

For years, the state of Kentucky has been well represented on the professional and Div. 1 level.

Just this year, Corey Hart was selected to the National League All Star team, Joe Blanton was an important piece to the Phillies World Series title run, AJ Ellis and Corey Wade were members of the Dodgers, Paul Byrd was a solid contributer to the BoSox, and Trevor Miller was a valued member of the Devil Rays bullpen.

Ben Revere, Collin Cowgill, Jon Shelby, all from Lexington, have already been selected as top prospects for their prospective organizations.

Not to mention, baseball programs across the state are developing unmatched baseball facilities that high schools and most colleges across the country would love to have.

Interesting point about the one class system being the reason ST. X and Trinity have not fared as well.

I wonder how many times in the last twenty years, Trinity and St. X lost to a team in the tourney that would not be in their class?? Or for that matter, how many times Trinity and St. X would have lost in football had they had to come across the best football teams from their semi-state area?

Queen is a nice player.

Joiner Christian County/ John A Logan Memphis

Kidd Ohio County Univ. Kentucky

Joe Devine Owens. Catholic / Wabash Valley Univ. of Kentucky

Lady Lou. Eastern Evansville

Not bad list for a basketball state! And this is a down year for the state!

Berry from Trinity to WKU

SS or 3b from Western Hills to Murray State

Boiling from Bryan Station to Gardner Webb