Bobbythe Brain

Yes Rocketsdad you are correct I meant the 6th. I always get going and get those crossed up.

Believe I mentioned that Apollo team has a sleeper. Beat Madisonville North Hopkins last night. May be most impressive win of the year for anybody.

1 McCracken- machine keeps on rolling 2 Madisonville North Hopkins-hitters could make this a 1 and 2 final 3 Daviess County-Watch out for Apollo. Had some nice wins this year 4 Warren East-may have picked South Warren here but the Shelby Nunn injury really hurt 5 Central Hardin 6 Butler. Bullitt East is right there. Mercy looks to be falling back of these two in last week or so. Holy Cross getting better but still step behind Butler and East 7 Ballard. I think I like them right now. Male is 1A obviously. 8 Anderson but Collins is right there as is Oldham County. 9Highlands 10 Harrison County 11 Woodford Co. but got to get the Scott Co gorilla off their back to see this season as a success with the talent on that team 12 East Jessamine has been good all year 13 Clay County 14 Estill County 15 Johnson Central 16 East Carter

Yea I hope so too but PH2 is right, take your power pitcher on the road and go over there to Scott County and play PH2's team, heck any good team would love to have a chance to face Fouts. I'd love to see Bullitt East play them so I can see her and Taylor face off. Got to play somebody soon though because they didn't last year and they haven't to this point this year. East Jessamine, Scott County, Woodford, etc are easy drives for them and likewise for those schools. Should be no reason why that team has played the schedule that they have this year with the talent that they can throw up on the mound every day. Just one persons opinion.

It's not a softball season without a Josh Bloomer thread. I wouldn't throw to Taylor Roby at this point either. Very interested to see 7th Region Tourney this year. East, Mercy, and Butler all fighting it out. I think either can beat the other on any given day. Mercy and East ride with one pitcher. If pitching depth comes into play Butler may inch to the top line.

I believe James, Roby, Mayo, Fouts were all on my list. Coppage wasn't. This is a good class.

Great pitcher. Hard to get a good gauge because they have not played the kind of schedule that they would be expected to play being the 12th ranked team in the state. May not be able to pin that on anybody but most of the top 20 teams in the state play plenty of games against each other to at least have some kind of idea on how good each are. Can't do that with East Carter at this point.

1st round game between arguably the Top 2 teams in the state this year and the two teams that played for title last year. It just doesn't make sense that this seems to randomly happen more years than not.

Rankings look like I wasn't too far off. My top 5 is still McCracken, Woodford, Scott, Madisonville North, and Male. Assumption lost more than I anticipated. Probably ranked them too high but they are young. Lot of season left. E. jessamine is solid. I should have had them higher. Collins wasn't on anybody's pre season list and I pegged that. Apollo looks like a team I missed on. They beat Anderson last week in Florida. I feel pretty good about my early prognostications.

he was already deep with pitching with Kelly, Brill, and Sinnott. If shes that good that might be the deepest staff in the state.

Woodford and Scott then everybody else. I guess I would say Dunbar could crash the party but they have shown a propensity to be really inconsistent. Woodford's pitching is deep and Scott is really going to depend on Sullivan to pitch most of the big games which by the way she has handled admirably to this point.

I hope those kids get to play softball. That would stink.

Here is my list of the Top Seniors for 2016. Lot of great choices out there and a lot of great players so it is really tough coming up with the 13-15 best. Anyway I enjoy the hand wringing and arguing that goes along with all of these lists. I just can’t wait to get the season started and I am sure the rest of you feel the same. I'm sure I have left a few off. OK. Here we go. In no certain order 1. Allison Schubert-OF East Jessamine. Member of the East/West and All state team in 2015. Hit 481 with 10 HR’s. Seems like a lot of E. jessamine on these list. Have to be a strong choice to get back to Owensboro. 2. Hannah Ridolfi-P/1B McCracken. East/West and All State in 2015. Union commit. Hit 489 with 3 HR’s and was 11-0 on the mound. Really solid player and a stalwart in the McCracken program. 3. Morgan McElroy-SS Madisonville North Hopkins. East/west member. UK Commit I believe. Hit 398 last year for the best offensive team in the Commonwealth. 4. Paige Dabney-C/1B Campbellsville. Member of All State and East/West team in 2015. Hit a whopping 680 with 11HR’s. 5. Rachel Ayer-C Meade County. All-State and East/West member. Bellarmine commit. Hit 500 with 12 HR’s in 2015. One of those challenging for All time HR record in KY. Great kid and player. 6. Caitlin Ferguson-SS Woodford Co. UL Commit. Another talented piece of this 2015 roster for Woodford. All State in 2015. Makes a ton of plays for her team particular on the defensive side. 7. Malin Miracle-3B East Jessamine. Member of East/west team in 2015. Hit 458 with 16HR’s 8. Jazzy Howard-SS Magoffin. All state in 2014 and 2015 and member of East/West team. Hit 362 last year. 9. Mikayla Vires-P/OF North Laurel-member East/West. Hit 383 and had 4 HR’s in 2015 also lead her team on the mound with a 21-8 record. 10. Sidney Vaughn-3B/U Madison Central really good leader and hitter for MC. Member of 2015 All State team as well as East/west member 11. Jordan Ison-C Scott County. Really a calming influence for the Cardinals behind the plate. Hit 392 and had 3 HR’s for the 11th region champs. 12. Shelby Atzinger- Holy Cross Louisville. East/West and All State member. Can do a whole lot of different things for the underrated Holy Cross Cougars. 13. Shelby Graybill-Highlands and UL Commit. Best player in Northern Kentucky for the 2016 campaign. Very versatile and can hit it with the best of them. 14. Randi Conway-2B/OF Union County. Member East/West and All State team in 2015

PH I can't put the whole Stunners 99 on the list. LOL! Yep she's a good player but tried to get some flavor around the state with the group. I could have 10 more on here really easily.

Let me say that when I began to look at this that I didn't realize that when I finished I would come to the conclusion that this class of 2017 is probably the best class that has ever come out of Kentucky. Big time names committed to big time schools. I don't think we will see a deeper class in the next decade. I got to also mention that this list is not in order. This is one persons opinion based on info. I get and also watching these players. I heard these lists were being posted on FB as rankings. NO! These are opinions of one person trying to get more coverage on softball. I miss good players so let me know and I will get them on my watch list. Here we go 1. Mallory Peyton-IF/P Madisonville North Hopkins. UK Committ. Hit 500 and had 16HR's for the best offensive team in the state. Can they get back to Owensboro because there are high expectations in Hopkins Co. 2. Kaylee Tow- Madisonville North Hopkins.She hit 700 last year. 700! Alabama commit also had 19HR's in the regular season. 3. Jessica Tucker-2b/OF East Jessamine. Hit 512 last year and a big reason her team went to State in 2015. 4. Olivia Suski-P/OF Male. finished 17-5 last year and seemed to always come up big when her team needed it. Will need to do as much this year to get back to state. 5. Bailey Curry-C Anderson County. On her way to being States all time HR leader, Hit 16 last year along with a 562 average 6. Lauren Johnson-IF Daviese County. UK Committ hit 583 and had an amazing 71 RBI's in 2015. Expecting to get back and do more in Owensboro in 2016 7. Lindsay Renneissen-IF Bullitt East. Evansville Committ Always a gritty player that finds ways to help her team win. Was all state as a freshman and had a solid year in 2015 8. Jordan Thomas-OF Marion Co. Western KY Committ- great outfielder that hit 400 with 5HR's in 2015. 9. Taylor Thomas-IF Elizabethtown. Her Dad was a great player and he passed it on. Great all around talent with big power. 10. Kara Decker-IF Grayson County. Decker does not get a lot of press especially being at Grayson but she is a Mizzou commit and she is a great player from the left side. 11. Ally Klein-IF Holy Cross. Holy Cross has a overlooked program in Jefferson County and Ally has been a big part of it for the last several years. Really nice player that is expected to carry the load in 2015 12. Bethany Todd-P Woodford County. Another example for the loaded Yellow Jackets. UK Committ. Widely considered to have the best rise ball in the state. 13. Caitlin Karo-P Woodford County. Are you kidding me Woodford's staff is ridiculous not to mention JR Ariel Daily who probably should be on this list. Karo is very solid. She's a UT Martin commit 14. Shelby Nunn- in speaking with some who see her play at South Warren she's got one of the best change ups in the state. Has been overlooked on the recruiting trail but have heard that some offers have started to come her way. 15. Haile Fain-IF Scott County. Hit 336 last year for the Cardinals and her team has been to back to back state tournament appearances. 16. Haley Meyers-P/IF/OF Newport Central Catholic. 17-9 as a sophomore with a solid bat as well. One of Northern KY’s best. 17. Laylee Burchell-OF/P Magoffin County. 2015 had a 488 avergage, 14-8 on the mound and was an All State selection

I am familiar with her. She played for a Illinois Force I believe. I know I will be keeping my eye out for information on her this season. Thanks,

Putting this out as fact is absurd and if I thought this info. would have been used like that then I would never have taken the time to do it. Just thought it would be fun for some of the diehards of this board to have some water cooler conversations. I'm now second guessing my Junior and Senior lists I am currently working on.

No official list, I'm just some old guy that thought it would be cool to get some lists of some of the good players in each class to support softball. I have no idea really if there are 5 or 10 girls better than the few I listed. I am familiar with these players and have seen many of them play but I am no expert in projecting who the best are. This was a strictly for fun exercise and that is the way it should be looked at. Nothing more nothing less.

Aware of both but not in my top 15 right now. South Laurel had a good season last year but when coming up with these I have to look at the schedule that is being played by some of these other teams. HS Stats are subjective. Their best win last year was GRC and I'm assuming GRC's big lefty was on the mound. Not knocking the kids at all because I know they are good players but their is some research taken into account. It is all good anyway because it is one person opinion.

Katie Gardner needs to go on this list. had a really nice State Tournament for Warren East. Best pitcher in class of 2019. She was on the bottom of my notepad and I missed it. Looking forward to seeing her play this year.

Back with a list of the top Sophomores in the State. I always preface by saying this list is not complete. I know there are some I am missing but I try to take my best stab at it based on those I see in the Spring and Summer and based on my people out in the state. So here you go. (Numbers are not overall ranking) Sophomores have to start with the 3 top pitchers in the state. One could argue that the sophomore class in KY in 2016 is the deepest class 1. Montana Fouts-P East Carter-Alabama commit. Has been on the cusp of leading them to State Tourney but the Blazers have had a star of their own in Megan Hensley so East Carter has had to wait. regarded as the best pitcher in her class in the nation. Good hitter as well. Hit 587 last year. 2. Taylor Roby- P/1B Bullitt East-UL commit lead her summer team to ASA national Title. Will take Bullitt East as far as they can go. Still developing as a hitter but has big pop in her bat especially at the band box in Mt. Washington. 3. Kennedy Sullivan- P/OF Scott Co.- the only 1 of the three that has been to state tournament in the last 2 years. Was 3-1 in Owensboro last year. Future may be in the outfield at the next level. 4. Payton Blades-UT/P Apollo- really a do all type for Apollo. Apollo stacked with young talent but Blades will have to hit at a high level to beat Daviese County in the region. 5. Alyssa Case- IF Male. had a tough State Tournament but really was a spark for Josh Bloomer in the regular season where she hit close to 385. Kid developed her power game in the summer as well. 6. Maddie Martin-C/UT Carlisle County. Hit 450 as a sophomore last year 7. Jaci Babbs-UT Union County. UK Committ. Another Southern Force product that was a honorable mention all state selection last year. 8. Elle Montgomery- 2B/UT Garrard County- Hit close to 500 last year. Garrard will compete in the region if she has another big year in 2016. 9. Hannah Davis-IF Scott County. Not big in stature but gets it done at the plate and in the field. The Marshall commit has played well especially on the big stage. 10. Sarah Ratterman-OF/P Christian Academy. Hit close to the 500 mark for a very solid CAL team in 2015. 11. Brooke Hill-IF Dunbar. has been a pivotal player for Dunbar and hits it well although not as consistent as it could be. Dunbar was Jeckyl and Hyde last year and will look to be Lexington's finest in 2016. 12. Eden Mayo-2B/OF East Carter- 521 avg in regular season last year. 2nd part of the dynamic duo at East Carter. 13. Lindsey Carroll-P/IF -McCracken Co. had a great summer but is it enough to push through and be a big time contributor at the Crack. I would guess that her role will increase this year as McCracken looks to go back to back. 14. Hannah Judd-IF/OF Green County- had a great 2014 State Tourney as a 8th grader hitting a home run against Mercy. Green Co has some talent and looks to get back to Owensboro in 2016. Judd has typically hit it well and she's a versatile defensive player. 15. Hannah James-P/IF East Jessamine. Was no surprise that James came over and East Jessamine broke through to Owensboro in 2015. James hit 378 and had 8 HR's as well as getting 17 victories on the mound. East Jessamine has a lot back so I would expect that they will challenge again.

14U A National Title in Salem, VA

Took a stab at a look at some of the top freshman in high School softball in Kentucky this year. Please feel free to add to it. These are girls I've seen play in the summer and for their High school teams. 1. Brianda Owens- Clay County. Was their #1 as an 8th grader. Also one of their better hitters. 2. Emmy Blane- IF/C Christian County. Solid defensive and offensive player. Member of Southern Force National Champion team. 3. Rachel Gabbard-IF Highlands. One of the top kids her age in Northern KY. Versatile player that will carry a big load for the Bluebirds. 4. Kasey Goedde-one of the reasons Central Hardin will be favorite in their region. Posted a great record last year as an 8th grader and that only looks to improve as she clearly is the #1 for the Bruins going into the season. 5. Payton Beger-another versatile utility player that can play multiple positions for her team. 6.Elizabeth Ivers-C/OF Shelby County. Big kid that runs above average for her size. Has demonstrated power but needs to get more consistent behind the plate and at the plate. 7. Madison McCoy-SS Male. Did not play a lot for the Bulldogs in 2015 but Bloomer will find a way to get her some more in 2015. Kid has good skills at the plate and is getting better defensively. 8.Loren Simpson-UT Christian Academy. really has a good swing from the left side of the plate. was a solid run producer for the Centurions and really found a home at 3rd base in 2015. can play multiple positions. 9. Allyson Long-1B Collins Power hitting 1st Baseman that will benefit from a short porch at Collins stadium. Kid needs to get more consistent but has potential for huge power numbers. 10. Carson Murray- P/UT Collins. Will be called upon to pitch and hit big in order for the Titans to challenge Anderson Co. in the 8th. Solid hitter with big frame 11. Emily Stanley-Owensboro. Another big kid that showed large power potential on the summer circuit. 12. Ashton Dowdy-IF Assumption. Comes over to assumption as a starter last year at North Oldham. versatile infielder that continues to improve at the plate. 13. Emily Cole-P/IF Spencer Co.-will be looked at to carry a big load on the mound. had a nice year in 2015, hitting over 430 as an 8th grader

Jayhawks that top 25 is a guess no doubt but I would suggest that most of the teams have a history over the last couple of years of being really solid "teams". We mention individuals because every good team has talented girls and it's good to mention those for each team. Probably missed a bunch and I'm sure that list will change at the end of the year.

Beger and Goedde are young so you can't hang your hat on them carrying this team. Meredith Jones is very solid player.