banana slug

Well done, I concede.

I believe that is a "feigned attempt" to make it look official by Clyde. If you can cite paragraph and article number of the MLBUM, I will concede. Nothing is ever that clear-cut in an umpiring manual.

I agree with Stang, I do not believe he can throw it to a position player that is not covering a base or making a play to cover(even 2nd). I've never seen it on a play like described, but I have seen a balk called where the pitcher threw it to a first baseman who was not deemed to be close enough to first base, to be considered holding the man on. IMH and untrained O, I consider it a balk.

Ben earned his spot by playing well in the preseason and early on. The PT he got was based on the merits of his performance. He hit a clutch HR to beat HC the first game of the season. He will be a contributor for Varsity this year, and I believe he'll enjoy a fine varsity career over the next 2-1/2 years. Spartan, please PM me. I'm curious as to who your friend is that you mentioned, or other examples that you may be thinking about.

I should have added, Ben Maile is a very good player that has earned his opportunities based on his own fine performance.

So what you're saying is that his name wasn't enough to keep him in the lineup. ... I rest my case. This year, Adam W. is a better pitcher by far. That has nothing to do with why Adam S. pitched last year. So someone that got bypassed in a sport, blamed it on politics. How novel. It just doesn't happen with CovCath baseball. BTW, Adam W's father played for Krumps. Just curious how Krumps chose one "name" over another? Names don't win games, performance does.

Spartan, you're right, it was politics or as you would say, Park Hills Mafia, blah,blah,blah. I guess Krumps just doesn't realize that Ben is actually Luke Maile's brother. That alone should put him in the lineup, right ! Actually Spartan your logic is counter intuitive. Last year, a year that Krumps truly believed that the team had a very good chance to make some hay, he would chose to play a lesser player "because of his name"???? How many outs do you think that name got Adam S. ? You have no idea how many "names" have been cut by Krumps. He just doesn't care about that stuff. Do you realize how flawed your logic is here? Adam W. is a very good pitcher, and he's having a great year. He had a poor preseason last year, and didn't have command of his curve. Maybe it was mechanical, maybe it was mental, I don't know. Last year, he just couldn't work his way back into the rotation when given a few opportunities, as everyone else was doing well. He really had some success in the summer and fall, and has performed well this year as a result of his work since last h.s. season. Nothing more.

Three weeks into the season now, how would you rate the top 10?

Next game for CovCath is Sunday at 1:00 pm, at CCH. I believe they will play the winner of Dixie vs. Boone. Great job Michael Hellman ! Very solid team victory, good defense and heady plays. Camels are a good team that was 9-3 going into the game, including two wins over Ryle.

KL (and ye of little faith), Krumps is playing the best players regardless of whether they're srs., jrs, soph's. He doesn't care what grade you're in, who your daddy is, or anything else; just whether or not you make the team better. That's the way he has always done it, that's why last year they had several 2,3, and 4 year starters. The starting lineup he had last night included 7 seniors and 3 sophs. Not only are the seniors generally the best players on the team this year, some may receive regional recognition at year's end. Some of the seniors have opportunities to play college ball, if they choose. The underclassmen are good, will eventually be very good, and will be a big part of the teams success this year as they gain experience. TOG has shown much discretion with his posts, not to single out a player's transgressions with his recaps. KL, you have truly misconstrued what's going on. Come watch a game and get informed. This is a team that has the potential to win the region. At this point they're a notch below a couple teams, but not by a lot. I think they've proven that they can play with the best teams in the region, and in fact beat #1 & 3 ranked teams in the region, and played the #2 ranked team in two very tight games and they had late leads in both games. McNick was highly rated in GCL Division II. They've beaten Stansberry and West, 2 of the top pitchers in the region. CCH has had some growing pains due to the inexperience of some players, not talent. If they make a couple more plays, or a couple more hits per game, they're 8-2. Krumps is developing players and is debugging things. The changes that you see the balance of the year will be more subtle, than drastic. They are 5-5, not a record that anyone at CovCath is happy about, but most reasonable people realize is a developing team that continues to improve in a wide-open region. Stay tuned.

Absolutely ridiculous statement ! TOG is one of the most fair posters on BGP. As a scorekeeper, he is incredibly fair and consistent, ask any CCH player that may rib him when a decision doesn't go in their favor. The same standards apply to both teams. Are you a "Call it both ways blue" guy DD? He is an avid and passionate graduate and fan of CCH; however, he is generous with his compliments of all schools, players, coaches, etc. He is also fair with his criticism when CCH does not play well. He is more objective than most posters on the high school forum; he does not have family playing in the game and does not have that emotional attachment that many of us do. Get on the St. Henry vs. CCH thread; His first comments were Congrats to the Cru, then mentioned how they outplayed, out hustled, executed, etc. better than CCH (and he was right). He has posted detail threads, game assements, boxscores, etc. on many sports and schools, including many that don't involve CCH, and is generally very complimentary and positive. He is a great ambassdor for high school sports, as well as CCH. His attibutes generally debunk any agrument that he is a homer with skewed and biased judgement or objectivity. You may disagree with his scorers decision, no problem. If you question it in person or on this forum, he generally would justify his rationale. If he's not certain on a call at a game, he may discuss it with his friends around him (CCH and otherwise). I grew up thinking Glenn Sample was the 'dumbest' guy on this planet. All baseball fans question the scorers decision even at MLB level. TOG's stats are for his benefit, and all BGP viewers. They are not the official stats provided to the paper or elsewhere. It is nice service to both teams and their fans. Don't try to minimize his work by calling into question his 'standards' or "motives". If Ryle scored it as an error, no problem. That kind of play can be called either way. I have no idea how the CCH team stat scored it. I would question your motives a lot more Clint for questioning his decision on a bunt single. He didn't mention in his text, only on the boxscores. Was your son the pitcher and it affected his ERA? To quote the h.s. coach who was standing next to me on that play, " doesn't matter, he wasn't going to get him anyway". I thought it was a bad hop, but even if Hempel fielded it cleanly, he wouldn't have gotten an out IMO.

Excellent work Coop, thanks.

Great posts ! Do you have access to a list of 9th Region Baseball Champs ?

I'd like to hear what any Indian or Tiger fans have to say about that.:laugh: Let's just say their district opponents respect them more than that. For the sake of this discussion, "even":D if Ryle and CCH cancel each other baseball-wise; I believe that HC and BW have more Regional Championships than Boone and Conner. Bulldog or TOG, can you verify?

I think the last two Regional Champions (BW and NCC) would disagree with the notion that a bigger school yields a better program. Maybe one of the 9th region historians can post a list of past champions; however, I would believe that the smaller schools have had more success than the larger schools ( CCH being towards the middle size-wise). While over the last couple years SHDHS and HC have not had a lot of success, they traditionally compete fairly well (and HC will this year). In this snapshot in time, the 34th is light and the 35th has good teams, but that hasn't been the case in the very recent past and may not be moving forward. I think a Boone for Lloyd swap would make sense though, although Lloyd wouldn't like it. BTW if you want Holmes in your district for baseball, then you also get them for basketball.

You are correct on both points CKB.

...then does that mean the invitation has been rescinded?:lol:

Sorry Champ, very astute observation and thank you for the warm invitation. I struggle sometimes hiding my overzealous passion for Conner, but I didn't realize that my hatred for Dixie was so obvious. I'm not sure what you mean though by saying that the Cougars "are going to fall apart before the season even starts". Also,help me understand why Dixie should be such an obvious #1.

Got it;... yes, you nailed what I was referring to.

I was kidding about the sleeper, acknowledging my omission since I also had a 6a, 6b, and 6d, but not 6c. If I were to add a 10th team, it would be Lloyd. I agree with most of your assessment of Ryle. It's not that I disagree with anything, I'm just not familiar with some of the kids on your projected starting lineup. I was little surprised by your order; more because of couple kids are listed lower than I would've guessed, not because the kids listed higher aren't deserving.

Not true, you just didn't notice my "sleeper" which apparently will be 6c. :idunno: Regarding CCH; So you're suggesting that replacing Mr. Baseball plus 4 other college-bound players will be difficult, pa-shaw. No doubt they have a lot of runs and innings to replace. They do have some returning starters that had a lot of success (Siemer,Martin);some that got a lot of PT and did well (Schlegbaum, Stayton); a lot of depth and talent that had to sit behind those studs;plus the re-emergence of a healthy Klein, who was very good starting as a soph (.400 BA, 5-0 pitching). They have a couple positions that are up for grabs, but some strong underclassmen that I suspect will win the job, and eventually do very well. I believe the pitching (Warning, Gerwe,Klein, Shumate, Schlegbaum) should be very solid and keep them in every game. Regarding Conner, Boone, Ryle, Dixie; all good teams, but all have to base some hope on players that are very unproven at the varsity level, plus have some shortcomings on their teams also. I think my five will shuffle around in the #1 spot in the rankings all year. There are also 2 other teams that may be heard come tournament time (IMO), NCC & HC.

1a. Conner 1b. Boone 1c. Dixie 1d. Ryle 1e. CCH 6a. Holy Cross 6b. NCC 6d. Campbell County 10. Beechwood I don't think there's a distinct difference between the top five teams on my list. They all have good players with returning experience, and at least two good pitchers on each team. There isn't a single dominant pitcher in the region that would separate or carry a team. At the same time, they all have some question marks.

I've heard that Roenker's shoulder injury (surgery?) may limit his pitching. Will it also limit his playing time in the field or his hitting?

Shack, it was stated that he was clocked at an average of 87 or so at the Ky. Colonels tryout. I agree with you that perhaps it's time for that gun to be recalibrated. I don't think anyone implied that he did 'great things last year', that he's gods gift, or that he's faster than Isler. I believe he will be the #3 or #4 starter on a team with pretty decent pitching. When the poster asked, "what has he done"; regardless if the intent was facetious, demeaning, or just honest curiosity, I tried to provide an answer based on his experiences and merits, not just potential. Again, although his performance was decent but not stellar last year, he certainly did more than many of the kids on the original list; one of whom hasn't even gotten enough playing time to merit a varsity letter. I really don't know if he deserves to be considered, because I'm not familiar with all of these kids. But that's my point; there are some kids that are mentioned that I've never seen play, and I saw their teams play at least 7 or 8 games last year. BTW, Isler was very consistently 87 or 88, I don't think he was ever in the low 80's. There were recruiters at several games that he pitched, and I stood next to coach with a gun during a game when he topped out at 90. I was told that he hit 91 when working out for a UC coach. ...why don't we move on .:thumb:

Does either Colosimo pitch? Joe used to be pretty good when he was young, but I've never seen him pitch in high school.