deepdrive

IMO the best player in the region is not even on the list, and she is in the discussion for best player in the state as a junior. I saw it for myself last night when an average team in 2014 like North Oldham took down Ballard in 2015 4-0 last night. How did they do it, it's easy wihen you have a D1 player that takes over the game by going 4-4, scores 4 runs and plays the field like Ozzie Smith in his prime. She plays a different level of the game than the other girls, talent is talent. The region teams will figure it out and pitch around her or just put her on base and let her steal her way around and score at will. It is better to give up one than 2 or 3 by letting her hit. Dossett is an excellent player, but my vote is for Ozzie from North Oldham.

Congratulations to the Bulldogs, they will be one of the favorites in Owensboro and a tough out for anyone. I thought Bloomer did a great job putting the game in Wireman’s hands for all three nights and I like the batting order mix of power and speed. Wireman mowed down the heart of the Ballard batting order with a swipe of her hand, and made it look easy dealing K after K. Bloomer’s post game comments as published in the CJ mixed no words in that the region is going to go through Male for a long time and that Male is the standard for the region. Once past Ballard 4-2, there was little resistance from Assumption with a 9-3 win. Regarding Ballard, it’s the same old-same old. As has been said here before, plenty of talent (4 or 5 D-1 players) at Ballard, but the lack of “in season” or “in game” adjustments is a season-ender for the them when the A-level teams take the field in the “one and done games”. Let’s just say the Ballard innovation was on par with a Woody Hayes offensive game plan. What happened at the Male game? 1. This is a game for seniors, Male went with Wiremen 3 straight days, and rode her to the promised land - a Gatorade POY performance. Ballard opts to ride an 8th grade pitcher, when 2 seniors are ready to go. By the time a change is made to Adell (2013 Gatorade POY), it is game-set-match. 2. Why pitch to McIver (one of the top power hitters in KY) with an open base and 2 on? The home run she hit off the 8th grader went 260, and puts Male up 3-2. 3. And finally the Ballard batting line-up had no imagination, it was tired and the results very predictable. Let’s pass the stubborn billy-goat horn helmet to Ballard, double chin-strap if you would please. Good luck to the Bulldogs!

Regarding errors on the Ballard side, my sources said 5 errors for certain with a 6th being borderline if the game would have been scored correctly for Ballard. They must have a team dad or homer scoring it on game changer. Butler would have won regardless.

I was not at the Butler game, but have seen a couple of Ballard games this year. I stand by the comments in my recent post that stated the Ballard defense has more holes than a whiffle ball, they make a lot of errors and lack a vocal on field captain calling out the plays. I bet Ballard had a lot of routine plays that resulted in errors last night. When the regional games hit, I'd rank them in a cotton-mouth "one and done game" as: 1. Male, 2. Assumption, 3. Sacred Heart and 4. Ballard Last thoughts: Historically making in-season and in-game adjustments has not been a strength of the Ballard coaches, if you disagree, then why they have not won a state championship with their talent? Bloomer is a master of big game adjustments, like him or not, he will beat his with yours or yours with his. The Ballard best defensive player has not been ready to go, unless that changes, the holes just get bigger in the big games. Congratulations to the Butler kids and coaches, they went into #3 Ballard and really made a statement that they are a team ready to make a regional run. Good job Butler!

I'd call it a timed straight steal, as I recall Parker hit home plate as the catcher stood up after receipt of pitch readying to throw the ball back to the pitcher. It was bang-bang, and a cloud of dust. Overall I saw holes in the Ballard defense that will be exposed by Male, Assumption and Sacred Heart late in the season. Ballard has earned the rankings they have, but in my opinion I did not see the total game that it will take to move out of the region. When the regional games hit, I'd rank them in a cotton-mouth "one and done game" as: 1. Male 2. Assumption 3. Sacred Heart 4. Ballard It will be an interesting regional as always.

I stopped by Ballard to see the #7 MAXPREPS nationally ranked Russellville, Arkansas high school team play Ballard on Saturday afternoon. The Russellville #1 pitcher that is an Alabama commit had gone 0-2-1 during the weekend, the head coach made the call to sit her out and throw their #2 went against Ballard. Unfortunately for Russellville it was like watching a teenage kid play MLB 2K13 on XBOX: right thumb-stick and hit the A button = game over. The game was stopped after 2 1/2 innings with Ballard up 15-0. 1. Highlights were: Adell showcasing blazing speed with an inside the park home and Parker stealing home like Ellsbury back in 2009, also home runs by Hull and the Ballard 1B. 2. Russellville Arkansas went 0-3-1, so much for the hype of the MAXPREPS ranking, Russellville obviously over ranked. 3. Ballard looked strong and fast, but I still do not think they can get past Bloomer in the Regional, he will find a way to stop Ballard. [video=youtube;z1Wa7-k9kKU]

Just like the many All-State Football team (BGP, AP, Lexington Herald, etc.) recognition, here's another view of the top Public School ranking from US News: Top Kentucky High Schools | Best High Schools | US News - US News 1.DuPont Manual 2. South Oldham 3. Ballard 4. Brown 5. Eastern 6. Beechwood 7. Male 8. West Jessamine 9. Ryle 10. Atherton

Great analysis. I would take it a step further and say on paper Ballard has the most talent in the state with 4 or 5 D-1 players, and 3 players that are top 5 in their class: Adell (2014/Lady Vols commit), Hull (2015/S. Carolina commit) and the best player on the team Parker (2016/Lady Vols and the PAC12 will fight it out for her). I also look for Male to come out of the region due to Bloomer out coaching the others: “he can beat you with his” and “he will beat his with yours" - Bloomer's results are what they are. 1. Male 2. Ballard 3. The rest cannot make up the coaching or talent gap.

It's very unfortunate that only 100 of 221 coaches participated in 2013 - sounds like Groundhog Day. 1. Why does the C-J even bother to publish the team given such a low participation rate year in and year out by the coaches - other than checking a box and keeping their streak alive? 2. Why not call it the C-J Coaches Football Team? Maybe the coaches will take it more serious if they own the name/team. Take a look at the 2012 thread, the comments could be cut and pasted for 2013. An interesting comment about Frakes/C-J making a few changes... http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/2012-cj-all-247282.html Honestly in 2012 when Dawkins (Trinity) was left off the 1st team I was done with the C-J team, and take for what it is. The AP and Lexington Herald-Leader both appear to put more effort into their teams.

My top 4 are all in the bottom half of the bracket, so they will beat each other up. http://khsaa.org/football/2013/brackets/2013_6A.pdf In the top half of the bracket I like Butler and Simon Kenton; I think Butler wins out and faces St. Xavier in the finals. I expect St. Xavier with a healthy Walker and Broyles to win it in 2013. You're in San Antonio, so what do really I like? Sitting outside at the Gristmill River Restaurant in New Braunfels listening to Dan McCoy.

Nice work on the rankings, my top 4 in order would be: 1. St. Xavier...healthy with momentum ^. 2. Trinity...Coverdale will let it rip. 3. Scott County...tough offense to game plan for. 4. Male...last two games have been bumpy.

No disrespect or discredit to Trinity at all, my point was that there was a lot of talent in the Florida, Georgia or Texas teams equal to the level of Trinity. When you get to the Tier 1 level of teams, talent usually wins out, as we see at the D-1 FBS level. Attach whatever poll you want to any of those eight or ten teams I mention, but those teams outside of Don Bosco and Trinity had a lot of high level D-1 talent. So I simply believe that it was more than a two horse race...in a eight team playoff I went with Grayson (GA) and Good Counsel (MD), and Nkemdiche Grayson team winning it all.

Let's look at the USA Today final poll as a starting point for the states you mention. How about Florida...arguably the best high school team may have been Armwood, Florida. Why? They beat three teams that finished in the USA Today Super 25 final poll. They were an outlaw program, and eventually paid the price, so if we throw Armwood out of the mix then we have the teams that Armwood beat...#3 Armwood (FL) 15-0, beat #5 Bishop Gorman (NV) 15-1, #14 Miami Central (FL) 13-1 an outlaw program and #15 Plant Tampa (FL) 14-1. 1. #1 Don Bosco (NJ) 11-0 did beat Bergen Catholic (NJ) 8-3 which finished as the #10 East Region team, no wins were against teams that finished in the USA Today Super 25 final poll. 2. #2 Trinity (KY) 14-0 did beat Cathedral (IN) 12-3 which finished as the #10 Midwest Region team, but no wins against teams that finished in the USA Today Super 25 final poll. 3. Regarding Texas and Georgia, they had perennially power teams like #4 Grayson (GA) 15-0 and #10 Lake Travis (TX) 15-0 that were unbeaten, and let's not forget #6 Good Counsel (MD) 12-0. These three teams were loaded with high level D-1 talent, Grayson had Nkemdiche/DL, the #1 player. A playoff with these 8 teams would have been great, the outlaw #3 Armwood (FL) 15-0, #5 Bishop Gorman (NV) 15-1, #14 Miami Central (FL), #15 Plant Tampa (FL) 14-1, #1 Don Bosco (NJ) 11-0 , #2 Trinity (KY) 14-0 , #4 Grayson (GA) 15-0 and #10 Lake Travis (TX). If you don't like Armwood and Central, I'll add #6 Good Counsel who was loaded with D-1 talent and #21 Valor Christian (CO) 14-0 to the mix. To compete against these teams, a team needs a roster with high level athletes possessing both size and speed in both the junior and senior classes, at this level a team is as good as its talent. The teams I mention are loaded year in out with D-1 talent; look it up on Rivals. Trinity was loaded with a junior class talent that may never be seen again at the school, what about the senior class? 2013 Trinity Football Class 1. Two Players ranked in the Top 250 Nationally. 2. Five Players Rivals Position Ranked Nationally. 3. Three Players ranked in the Rivals Top 10 in KY. 4. Five Players earned D-1 FBS Full Athletic Scholarships. 5. Five Players earned all Bluegrass Preps 2012. 6. Four Players earned first team 2012 All-State AP. 2012 Trinity Football Class 1. Zero Players ranked in the Top 250 Nationally. 2. Zero Players Rivals Position Ranked Nationally. 3. Zero Players ranked in the Rivals Top 10 in KY. 4. One? Players earned D-1 FBS Full Athletic Scholarships. 5. Zero Players earned all Bluegrass Preps 2011. 6. Zero Players earned first team 2011 All-State AP. In 2011 there were a lot of good teams in Georgia, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Nevada, Colorado (Valor) and California (De La Salle) that were definitely on Trinity's level. These teams would have brought the arms...Lake Travis is QB U, they had Mayfield/Texas Tech or Gorman had Soloman/Arizona..backs like Armwood Jones RB/ Florida, Grayson RB Gallman/Clemson or Good Counsel Brown/Maryland...they would have brought speed and size at WR to challenge the Trinity secondary like Good Counsel Diggs/Maryland and the OL/DL like the Grayson #1 Rivals player Nkemdiche who starts at Ole Miss DL or the Bishop Gorman kid Stanley who starts Notre Dame OL. These teams would each bring multiple big maulers on the OL/DL, D-1 speed to go with the D-1 size. Trinity was an excellent team, but in an 8 team playoff without Armwood or Central, I would take Grayson and Good Counsel as reaching the final game with Grayson winning it all.

This is my Kentucky math for the "Tale of the Tape"...The 2017 team is work in progress. 2013 Trinity Freshman Football 1. Two Players ranked in the Top 250 Nationally. 2. Six Players Rivals Position Ranked Nationally. 3. Four Players ranked in the Top 10 in KY. 4. Six Players earned D-1 FBS Full Athletic Scholarships. 5. Six Players earned all Bluegrass Preps 2012. 6. Five Players earned first team 2012 All-State AP. 2012 Trinity Freshman Football 1. Zero Players ranked in the Top 250 Nationally. 2. Zero Players Rivals Position Ranked Nationally. 3. Zero Players ranked in the Top 10 in KY. 4. One? Players earned D-1 FBS Full Athletic Scholarships. 5. Zero Players earned all Bluegrass Preps 2011. 6. Zero Players earned first team 2011 All-State AP. 2017 Trinity Freshman Football 1. ____ Players ranked in the Top 250 Nationally. 2. ____ Players Rivals Position Ranked Nationally. 3. ____ Players ranked in the Top 10 in KY. 4. ____ Players earned D-1 FBS Full Athletic Scholarships. 5. ____ Players earned all Bluegrass Preps 2016. 6. ____ Players earned first team 2016 All-State AP.

Seriously? Really? Any discussion about Trinity football freshman classes starts and end with the 2013 high school class...period...end of story. Take your hands off the keyboard and step away from your computer. How many times in the history of Trinity, city of Louisville or state of Kentucky has this much freshmen talent been on the field? I'm not talking about the opinions of mom, dad or grandma or anyone else in the stands at Trinity. Here is a view from outside the Trinity football stands from Rivals: 1. Two Players ranked in the Top 250 Nationally. 2. Six Players Rivals Position Ranked Nationally. 3. Four Players ranked in the Top 10 in KY. 4. Six Players earned D-1 FBS Full Athletic Scholarships. 5. Five Players earned all Bluegrass Preps 2011 and 2012. 6. Five Players earned first team 2012 All-State AP. James Quick WR Trinity Rivals 4-Star and #9 National WR and #76 Overall National/Rivals100 and #1 Overall KY and All Bluegrass Preps 2011/2012 and 1st Team All-State AP. Jason Hatcher DE Trinity Rivals 4-Star and #8 National DE and #221 Overall National/Rivals250 and #3 Overall KY and All Bluegrass Preps 2011/2012 and 1st Team All-State AP. Ryan White CB Trinity Rivals 3-Star and #40 National CB and #4 Overall KY and All Bluegrass Preps 2011/2012 and 1st Team Team All-State AP. Joey Bloomfield OT Ballard Rivals 3-Star and #57 National OT and #7 Overall KY and All Bluegrass Preps 2011/2012 and 1st Team All-State AP. Dalyn Dawkins RB Trinity Rivals 3-Star and #9 Overall KY and All Bluegrass Preps 2011/2012 and 1st Team all-State AP Travis Wright QB Trinity Rivals 2-Star This 2013 class team would have beaten this 2017 class team by a wide margin, and would have easily handled the 2012 freshman team as well. Honestly the 2017 class team will be very lucky to have 1 D-1 FBS full scholarship player, same as the current 2014 class with only one (Bonnafon), even the 2012 graduating class had just one (Warburg) - right? The bottom line is there is just a huge-huge talent gap between what the 2013 class had versus 2017 or 2012, the facts are the facts, please explain these facts to 2017 team player's mom, dad and grandma at the next game.