footmaster

Ludlow 8th grade girls will play Dayton girls for the small school championship on Saturday... Ludlow beat Sharp and Dayton beat Bracken Co tonight to get there... Both Ludlow and Dayton only dressed 5 girls each.... I've never seen that before... And they both won.

Indeed... and they have maybe the nicest baseball field I've ever seen at the D3 level, just a beautiful facility.

According to PBR via Twitter... We can add Hunter Turner from Cooper to the list of 2016's out of NKY that will play at the next level... Hunter has committed to play baseball at Earlham... D3 school in Indiana... Congrats!

You might not have been a D1 athlete, but it certainly didn't help that you were a freshman running against top level seniors either... I'd venture to say, whatever time you posted that day would've been significantly better three or four years later... Maybe still not nearly their level though.

I heard that this win makes it 3 straight seasons that Ludlow has been undefeated in their conference... Congrats to the Panthers!

No doubt... Great school, but costs a fortune.

Whatever happened to the Miami (OH) talk? Was that walk-on ? Or was that a baseball possibility?

If he doesn't have 3rd party "verified" numbers for say... His 60 yard dash time, throwing velocity, exit velocity, etc... Then yes, he should at least do one PBR event or a college showcase where he can get those numbers verified. If you already have those "measurables" on record and he's already getting exposure on his travel team and high school team... Then he might not need it. I always like to see a kid do one of these events though, so they can get an idea how they really stack up against their peers from an unbiased party's perspective.

Ok, so we have these kids signed from the 2016 class: Combs UK Stringer Louisville Slone ABU Ziggy Morehead Purnell Morehead Friend FGCU Raisor JLC And according to Twitter... Slusher has committed to play football at Morehead... So, he's off the board. Anyone have any news on other kids in NKY that may play college baseball? Smallwood from Dixie? Heppler from CCH? Seiter from Bellevue? Hayes from Bellevue? Trame from Scott? Kreeger from Highlands? Any other kids I haven't thought of?

^ not sure how many of those schools in that conference have football teams though... In theory, CCU may need to schedule schools like Georgetown to get more games in. Idk

Yeah, they are NAIA Div 2 competing in the KIAC conference I believe... Includes schools like Alice Lloyd, Brescia, Asbury and Rio Grande...

Saw on Twitter today from D2 Baseball News that Travecca Nazarene University is ranked Pre-season #2 for all of the Midwest in D2 baseball... That includes 3 conferences I believe, so TNU is definitely expected to be the team to beat in the GMAC this season...

^This same group of girls at Ludlow had an undefeated season in 7th grade and are continuing their winning ways this season. They are on an impressive run right now... A legit chance to have back to back undefeated years.

Agree... And it'll be several years before we know any of that about 2016 or even '13 and 14 for that matter. That said, I do know that there were at least 4 or 5 NKY kids in 2016 ranked in PBR's top 25 and add several more in the top 50, top 100... I realize there was no PBR in '92.. But still, that's pretty strong for the 16's...

Agree. As much as I loved the 2014 class, I think 2016 will have nearly double the number of kids going to the next level. Will a few drop out? Probably yes, but still think the sheer number of commits will be stronger than in many years. Too add to your list... Apologize names are escaping me at the moment... But, I know a couple of kids from Campbell Co should make it, as well as some SK kids and a couple from Brossart too...

Talented family...

Is that Brandon Berger from Beechwood on your list? If so, he was a '93 graduate... Drafted by WhiteSox, but went to college at EKU... Then drafted by the KC Royals... I know Etler was really solid, surprised he didn't have a career in the majors... I think he got injured.

Agreed.. I expect at least 8 to 10 more NKY kids to commit to D3 and NAIA schools down the road.

I like 2014 a lot, but there will be more 2016 commits before it's all said and done... Plus Caple left UC before they got started... So, as good as he was, I can't include him.. You could also add Thornsburg-Pikeville to your list, but he also left school before the baseball season started.

I've heard he's leaning towards football... Guess we'll find out soon.

I've been following NKY for 15 plus years and this is one of the stronger classes I've seen... Ive seen a lot of great players year in and year out... Maile for example, but there is a high number of high-talent kids in 2016... You have the 5 D I's you mentioned and also both Slone and Raisor had D I options, but chose wisely (IMO) for themselves to go D II and JUCO. Clyde maybe you know... What are Heppler's current offers? Also, I've heard rumors of Seiter from Bellevue going to Berea... I've not heard anything on Smallwood from Dixie or Hayes from Bellevue... But I think they're next level players... As well as Dawson Hogan from CC.. Anyone got news on those kids?

Agreed... Most people don't understand how college baseball is structered... There are many JUCO and D II programs that can and do defeat D I programs all the time. Much like we discussed in Slone's thread...he chose to go to a strong D II program in a great Conference. Same thing here. This is a strong JUCO baseball program and a great Conference. From the outside looking in, I think it's a good fit for him.

Good to hear! Also agree with you 100%...the 16 class is as good as I've seen in NKY in a long time.. Heck, the whole state has a strong 16 class for baseball.

I expect he'll be a leader at AB in due time as well. The kid seems to be driven for sure.

I do believe TNU won the Conference last year and maybe the year before as well... AB finished right there near the top in regular season, but got knocked out in tourney... If I recall, it was Ohio Valley University that knocked out AB at Prasco Park... I think this conference is recruiting NKY more heavily now too... Slone is on his way to AB and I think the SS kid from Dixie (Ethan Harrison) did go to TNU.