Imhisdad

Great points on NKU. My only argument would be that shouldnt you at least try? Heck, by your example, no way at first glance my wife says yes to me. Way out over my skis there, but I tried and she said yes. You just never know, dangerous to assume you know the answer if you dont at least ask.

Really good question dinger. I can only hope I am in that position as a parent at some point. One thing about these kids these days, they have swag, which us old guys call cockiness. Watched Beechwood play three or four times last year, and one constant was Stringer thought he was the best kid on the field, even if he wasn't. Tough to tell a kid like that to go NAIA and forego their D1 dream, which in reality is what these kids dream about. They don't plaster Sinclair or Bellarmine flags all over their room. I am a huge proponent of JUCO and smaller schools, but really tough to get one of these kids to buy it. As for NKU, don't get me started on how they have chosen to build that program. Great opportunity in a really appealing D1 baseball conference to go after top local talent, and they choose to go to Canada? C'mon man.

IMO Combs will be committed by spring, giving Beechwood 3 d1 commits. That is going to put the bullseye on their chests. They will see a steady diet of #1 pitchers. The three mentioned will be fine, but how will the rest of the lineup do? I will go Cov Cath, Ryle, Dixie, and Wood, in that order.

#1 in my rankings. So under rated.

Not sure he made a blanket statement. Simply stated his opinion,.

You are correct about the why. Bottom line is it just not a pitch that anyone will recommend a young kid throw. Wow, way off topic and thread jacking. My fault. Here is one of the articles I thought was very good, comes from both angles on the velo, but pretty firm stance on who should be throwing it Do Cutters Kill Fastball Velocity? | FanGraphs Baseball

As long as you pay for his site, I am sure he will be grateful and send Big Cat a cookie.

I think a lot of football coaches would argue that their kids get November and December off. I would say nice, but so what? We live in kentucky. Not exactly an awesome place in those months, and there is still school to contend with. Give them a month in the summer to be a kid. I think they woyld be surprised the positive results that would produce in freshness and attitude alone.

Not sure I buy that, TOG. Coaches aren't forced to go year round, they do it by choice. As was mentioned, some in the state have already instilled a longer dead period. Coaches do it because they are afraid to fall behind the competition, greed breeding greed.

Then that is good. BTW, I did not call it a cutter, simply replied to a post that he was throwing it. Don't know the kid from Adam, was certainly not implying I did. Make sure the only thing that is happening is grip pressure. Not many young kids have the strength in their hands to throw it, and the elbow supinates and that is where the issue is.

Bravo. I personally feel the entire month of June, or half of June and half of July, should be a dead period. What the KHSAA allows coaches to get away with is ludicrous. Three weeks is a start, but does anyone really think that giving 16 and 17 year olds a month off will harm the programs, especially if the entire state is doing the same?

Man, don't know this kid, but if you do and know his parents make him stop throwing that pitch. I will not let any kid I coach throw that thing, and that is after extensive online research and talking to some HS and college pitching coaches. That is something pitchers add to their repertoire after they are fully mature. That is worse than any curveball, my awareness came after listening to Jeff Brantley speak at a function for youth baseball.It has also been proven not only to harm the arm, but to decrease velo over time. I was surprised how much info is out there on it, and it all is consistent in the message.

I am sure my man Chris Fuller at PBR Ky is thrilled you cut and pasted for pay info over here for the gen pop.

No reason to get upset, and nobody mentioned Midland. PBR has Mitch and Zach rated 41 and 89 in the 15 class, respectively. I know thats not the end all, but they have both paid their cash to them and got evaluated. This discussion is top players in the entire state. They are not there yet. Mitch is going to get a chance vs top comp this summer, he is pitching for the Flames. If warranted he will rise quickly, I think he is great. Needs to improve his velo a little bit. Zach is a really good hitter, elite even, but does not show well at showcase type venues. He needs to get out in summer and face top comp. Both significantly under valued at this point, should move up ranks.

Both good, but neither a full time varsity catcher yet. Not gonna make this list. Seth Caple Dixie Mason Forbes, Ryle Not sure there is a position player in the state I would take over Mason, certainly not an OF. He may be most under rated in state

That Thawk twitter is a good follow. They are flat loaded, D1 kids all over the place. With addition of Brett Slusher, 3 Beechwood kids on roster now.

Either party can change their view, which to me makes it a no risk scenario. I will take you that no school wants to be known as the one that is randomly throwing out offers and reneging on them. I will admit, I completely did it wrong in my process, committed to two schools and ended up signing with a third. I have regretted that most of my adult life. I hope these kids kids have families that instill integrity in them and teach them a commitment is a commitment. I was on my own from an athletic standpoint, had no role model or mentor, and screwed it up. As for what is the point, as I mentioned it's like taking number at the deli. It ensures you a slot, at least it should as long as the coaches honor their word. Most conferences, save the SEC, are putting rules in place around over signing, which is a way to protect the kids and a great practice.

Is Cameron going in as pitcher or player? Dual role maybe?

Agree. If that is what they want, that is where they need to be. I am sure it was a very tough decision for Brayden Combs to leave his Beechwood buddies and that Jaxx team for Midland, but kid had a goal and did what he thought he needed to do. At 6'4 and 225 and and the way the balls rockets off his bat, he would have been noticed by someone, but would the bigs boys? Not sure.

Mitch is a fantastic pitcher. I am a snob, fire away, but watch what happens with him now that he is playing for the Flames. He will blow up, and some really nice schools will start calling as long as he performs like I think he will. I know it's not a popular stance, but playing for the Flames, Midland, etc really pays dividends when it comes college time. Kids get looks just based on texts/calls from coaches, and seeing who they play for. Level of comp is game changer. I am not saying it's better baseball than what local NKY kids play, but it's the perception.

They are down 10 schloarships this year, and 5 next year. Thats significant. They have been under sanctions two years at 65. Complete rebuild. Only good thing is they have a really good young QB.

Penn State is still under significant scholarship restrictions, the fact they even have slots left is surprising. I wonder if Franklin is shuffling out some of O'Briens recruits, or if they simply had very few commits. I would say his job in Happy Valley is far more difficult for the first couple years even that winning at Vandy in the SEC, which is daunting on it's own.

The thread on the commitment of Ethan Stringer caught my eye, and there is a thread with similar discussion over on Yappi-the Ohio version of this-pertainining to the early commitments. I am new here, and not sure how much we can discuss one kid's commitment, so I thought this was a great topic. Full disclose, I am very involved on both the Ohio and Kentucky side of the river in select baseball, and know the kids pretty well. Kids are committing earlier and earlier these days in all sports, not just baseball. LSU had an 8th grader commit to play football. Ohio State just got a commitment from a freshman QB from Massilon. In baseball, with the commit of Stringer, that's 13 of the top 20 ranked 2016 baseball players in the midwest (per PBR) that have committed, and my guess is several more will commit before their sophomore years are over. Stringer makes the third kid off his Midland Tomahawk team alone, other two to Kentucky and Vandy. So, why is this? I see here that some say it is "risky". Why? I understand there is nothing binding on either party, it is just a handshake. What is the risk, that the school changes their minds? Why is that an issue? I can assure you that Stringer and all the other commits will continue to get phone calls, there is not a recruiter that is worth his paycheck that will stop calling. I can also assure you that the parents are fully aware, and will not sever the phone lines. The pressure is on these kids big time from the schools to commit. Louisville is really hot right now, this is their their third 2016 commit already. Vandy has more than one, as does UK. I personally see zero risk, other that public scrutiny if the kid, or school, decides to go another direction. You wait to commit to UC, or Xavier, or any other up and coming program. The big boys ask for your commitment immediately, and while you are mulling your decision they keep recruiting, and are very upfront that the offer is there unless someone else takes it. I personally know a 2015 had been offered by a strong D1 school back in the fall, did not commit, and was just called and told sorry man, another guy took your slot and we have no room. Luckily this kid did not quit taking calls, and has several other options. I guarantee you that Ethan and the others that are committed will have plenty of opportunities should their dream school not pan out. I understand Louisville was Ethan's dream slot, so if I am him I jump on it too. The kid that committed to Vandy, his dad chimed in on the thread in yappi and explained that Vandy was his "auto-yes" school, and he jumped on it. There are exceptions of course, there is a lefty on the same Midland team that is being offered by every school in the country. He is 6'4 and sits in 84-86 range, and has touched 88. These are legit numbers, from Perfect Game and PBR, and this kid can afford to wait as long as he wants. Kid with those measurables don't grow on trees, and they hold all the cards. By the same token, another big lefty from that team in the 2016 already pulled the trigger to UK, which was his top choice. In Stringers case, I don't want to say outfielders are a dime a dozen, but they kind of are. He was targeted by Louisville as their top OF choice in this class, so they offered, but I can assure you they were staying hot on #2,3,4, etc. So I ask again, a couple on here talked of risk. What exactly is that? The only way these kids don't end up at their school of choice is if their skills erode, in which case the offer would not be there if they hadn't signed anyhow. If it was your kid, could you convince him/her to wait? The girl at Notre Dame, the VB player, she committed to Penn State in the 8th grade, right? That one worked out just fine. Look forward to the responses.

I know the Tigers are an afterthought in hoops, but this frosh class pretty good there too. Fieger may start varsity, tjink he played a little there last year. Problem we have is keeping them playing. Looks like Slusher,Stringer and Combs all not coming out. I think all 3 of those would log significant JV minutes. That is really disappointing, but I certainly get it. Tough to be a three sport athlete these days.

Thanks,bird. You've called this from day 1. I know its a long way to go, but with two frosh champs in a row, and a middle school title this year, things certainly look bright for the future . .