Baseballinmyblood

Mr Graue has final say so. Mr Gish has quite of bit of pull on the decision. Those two have been and continue to be the search committee. All of the hiring over the past 4 years has been their decision. I do know that they have reached out to Coach Meiman, Coach Brady and Coach Maile to get some input on perspective coaches. At one point during the season those 3 and 2 other coaches were talking about Coach Schmidt's replacement if it was going to happen. They mentioned Grimme and mentioned Myerhoff. Nothing ever came of it except for some private meetings with the Administration which could have been after Schmidt resigned. Not sure on that one. They did not want to leave the impression that they were trying to get him out because three of the coaches had kids playing in the program. They also reached out to my source to get some in depth information about the clubhouse leader at this point. I am probably giving out too much info at this point.

So it sounds like no one internally put in for the position?

What team are you talking about?

I'm assuming from his name "LCDAWGS19" that he is from Lawrence County?

I've got a handful of kids ready to go, but quite a few doing fall/winter sports.

I'll be honest with you, I don't keep up with the 15th that often, but I have always been a fan of softball. I have family from Louisa so I always kept up with the baseball and football as well as softball. I am beyond shocked the coach hasn't done more than he has? Two years ago they won 24 games with I don't think any seniors and a bunch of underclassmen. They didn't make it to region but everyone seemed to chalk that up to youth. Then last season a below .500 record and again didn't make it to the region. If they had lost a bunch of seniors I'd understand but there's no excuse for a team to go backwards like that. I had the understanding this was the coach they'd wanted for years and he was suppose to be their savior. Anytime a team gets worse like that its nobody's fault but the coaching staff. I was wondering if you had any insight as to why this happened? I apologize for being so blunt but I am just really confused by it?

The announcement will come shortly. The administration wants to look like they have been as thorough as possible. I feel somewhat sorry for the heat that they took now that I know the behind the scenes stuff that went on.

Coach Schmidt was such a disaster that one of his staff members resigned after two weeks into the season. I do not think he was ever told that. The staff member finished the season because the administration asked him to stay. The staff member that resigned was there to mentor him and make a smooth transition but Schmidt's immaturity and arrogance would have none of it. Two members of the JV and freshman staff also had a meeting with the administration telling them changes had to be made for them to stay. I know all staff members but two wanted a change. One of the coaches that did not was one of a Coach Schmidt's friends that he brought on. The other did not want to rock the boat because either he was trying to get a full time job at the school or just oblivious to the problems. He too resigned at one point. Needless to say I along with most of the varsity team parents are glad he is gone. I just wish my sons final season could have been a better experience but hope the new coach is as good as I hear he is.

The only downfall to that is the risk of a coach with no track record. If he doesn't have experience winning then its always a gamble as to whether or not he will win or build a successful program? St. Henry does have potential to be a school with a dominant baseball program and I was hoping they'd bring somebody in that has experience building a winning atmosphere at at least one school? Its better if you have somebody that has done it at more than one place, but I know that is very hard to find.

That's actually the second person I've heard say Schmidt was on the verge of termination when he left.

The second interview was just to check everything one more time. My source was contacted by the administration to also do some checking on the candidates. After he talked to some people about the candidates and reported back that is when he was told the would talk to each of the two left but their decision was made.

To the person asking why they can not hold onto coaches. I will go into great detail on that. The information I have is what I have been holding back. It will definitely shine some light on some on the coaches which is quite negative on a couple of them. All I will say is that the administration was guaranteed by each coach they hired that they would not leave if another job opened up. Only Schmidt was in trouble by the administration when he left. He was very close to being fired. The administration is very happy with all the other coaches on the baseball staff and want all of them back. Two of them could have been the new head coach but both declined.

That makes sense I guess. So the second interviews are over and we're waiting on announcement?

The favorite has ties to Northern Ky. Many will not know his name but is a very solid hire. Comes very highly recommended by a very well placed coach. He is young and has the time to build the program as it needs to be done. My source has had multiple conversations with the coach that recommended him. He feels it is a solid choice although he was hoping it would be an older well established coach that he has great respect for. Once he knew they would not hire his choice he was open to the new coach coming in. The other finalist is a current head coach from Southern Indiana around Louisville. The choice has been made and it will be released shortly. I have some great info to share once the hire has been announced.

I'm confused? If the choice has been made then why the charade with the second interview?

He could be one of the finalist as he was when Coach Schmidt was hired. I wish they would have hired him. He has problems with being a basketball coach there and the seasons overlapping somewhat. My source told me the person he knows about is not Grimme but would not divulge the name of the one he knows about. Heard rumblings that the most of the staff wanted Schmidt gone. Will post some very interesting stuff after the hire is done. I do not want to adversely effect who they get. My source says he knows the person that is the leader and is very happy of the choice if it happens.

Local guy?

Yes, plenty of ways to get there, as in any sport. Scottie Pippen wasn't a D1 player. Neither was my favorite Bengal Kenny Anderson. That said, odds are much better. In the 2014 MLB draft, only D1 and HS players were taken in the first two rounds. Many kids at the D3 level give up the game, can't afford it. Yes, coaches can get "creative", but many D3 schools are very expensive, and still leave a very large bill left even after the aid. At a state school in Ky, which are all D1 baseball programs, the college bill can be very minimal after athletic, academic, grants, and KEES $. Little tougher over here in Ohio, but still there. JUCO is used for kids that either didn't have the grades or didn't like their draft status, and there are no obligatory wait years that route. A lot of D1 programs also use JUCO as a farm system, and there are some great programs. One or our kids, Zach Shannon, went that route--he didn't have the grades to fulfill his Ohio State commit. At any level, making it to the show is a WAY long shot, but recent history shows the big programs can offer a better % and for cheaper.

Unfortunately the NCAA doesn't allow D3 schools to give athletic scholarships. However, they do allow them to give "awards." Which is basically a substitution for a scholarship. How it differs is a starting pitcher or your starting catcher or whomever it may be can't get anymore of an award than say a chelo player. They allow certain people to hand those out but they're very strict on making things equal when it comes to that. All extracurricular activities are on a level playing field. This does kind of hurt them talent-wise, but they can get money. Personally I think they are on the bottom tier when it comes to competing and idk how I would even rate them? Maybe look something like this just off the top of what I've seen over the years.

1. Division 1

2. JUCO

3. Division 2

4. NAIA

5. Division 3

**I THINK DIVISION 2 AND JUCO ARE VERY CLOSE. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE PROGRAM. I know many JUCO teams that could beat D1 programs, but I also know many NAIA programs that could beat D1 programs as well and I also know JUCO teams that could get beat by D3 schools. I'm not sure if you could rate it?

True there are more D1 players drafted.. That's because D1 highly values the "measurables" which can equate to MLB talent in the future. My point being, there are still very few D1 players that will make it to MLB. And as you said, the yearly scholarship carousel can be crazy at D1.

The odds of making it in pro ball are so small... It's hardly worth discussing.

Just saying, most players are a step or several steps below MLB... So, in many cases, it's better to play everyday at a lower level and have more school paid for...than it is to go D1, hardly play and have more school debt.

So, in a long winded reply, I think we mostly agree. MLB will find you if you have the talent much more easily than college coaches find talent. Colleges have smaller staffs and less time to recruit than MLB.

One thing about your previous post, D1 schools are allowed to have JV programs unless things have changed in the past few years? Financially it doesn't make sense because the money they have they normally will feed it back into their varsity program.

Division 2 is still at 9 with scholarships, which is almost three less than D1. Obviously D3 has no scholarships, but most are very cheap. NAIA schools can give 12 scholarships and then JUCO is basically a free for all with 24. However, that doesn't mean that all of these schools are fully funded? For example, a NAIA program may not be fully funded, so their school only gives them 10 of the 12 scholarships. This happens a lot in the NAIA. Only nine scholarships for D2 is a big reason why competitively there isn't a difference in D2 and NAIA or JUCO. I know several JUCO programs that could play on the D1 level, but you can give every single player money though. Good coaches will always find a way to make 12 scholarships cover the majority of your team. There are lots and lots of money out there and other financial aid programs that coaches can add to a partial scholarship and get most of their school paid for.

I think it would be a great experiment if we threw several D1 teams in a tournament with say Faulkner, Lewis-Clark State, and maybe Walters State and made them all switch jerseys out, and see who won? I think it'd be more interesting than people realize.

This D1 and D2 talk has always baffled me when it comes to college baseball. It isn't the same thing as basketball or football... Meaning, the best players are not always choosing to play at the D1 level. The reason is simple: look at MLB rosters and you'll see D1, D2, D3, NAIA, Juco and drafted straight from high school players all over the place. Albert Puljos and Bryce Harper played at Junior Colleges... Why? So they could get to the majors quicker.

When you understand that D1 only has like 11 scholarships to give on a 35 man roster... You can see why so many kids choose D3 (which only gives academic money) and NAIA schools (which tend to stack athletic and academic money).

Anyway, not trying to start an argument with anyone at all...

I just wanted to point out to parents and even kids that may read this stuff... It's not like you aren't a great player or have no chance to play pro baseball someday if you don't play D1. That's all... Sorry to ramble.

I agree. Bryce Harper is a pretty crazy story. He quit Las Vegas High School after his sophomore year and got his GED which made him eligible for the 2010 draft. The main reason he chose that JUCO school to play at is because they use wooden bats during their conference games. Wilson Ramos better be glad the Nationals decided to make him an outfielder because he is probably one of the best catchers in the league and Ramos would have been sent down if Harper decided to stay as a catcher. He also pitched a couple games while he was in junior college. He is freakishly good and a pure five tool player. Not many have that label. He plays like his pants are on fire.

I never realized Pujols was primarily a shortstop? He played shortstop for one season at a community college after he finished high school in December of his senior. The only difference in the two really is Pujols had enough credits to where he didn't have to get his GED. That is pretty amazing when you're that confident in your skills you can do things like that.

JUCO schools are used a lot for major D1 prospects when their grades are not up to snuff. Several universities have relationships with JUCOs in which they use them kind of like a minor league. Just as an example, Potomac State Junior College and WVU have that kind of relationship. 90% of Potomac players attend WVU after their two years is up. Kind of makes you wonder when Bluegrass Technical School is going to start a team? Might as well.

I was under the impression that Graue was a baseball guy? Also, didn't Gish use to coach baseball? You'd think it'd have some sort of focus from them? Hiring people bc their name is known in northern KY doesn't seem to be working. I say its time to widen Graue's horizon with a better hire. There has to be a young experienced successful coach that would want the Saint Henry job?

Congrats on your tenure, I am sure it's well deserved. I simply disagree with just about everything you are pushing here. Go pull a college roster, at least a D1 or D2 one. You will be hard pressed to find a kid that has any kids that did not play some type of travel ball or select. Don't mean to be harsh, but legion ball is dead. Thing of the past. My team played three of them this summer, we threw kids that dont even pitch and run ruled them all. In the 80s legion was all there was. It's changed.

I used legion as an example. Also, if you go back and reread my posts I was very clear about the importance of kids playing throughout the summer. It is a must in terms of preparing them for a gruelling college season. The only summer teams I am talking about are the ones that charge an ungodly amount of money with no real promise of anything. And if that is like how your team is then I would expect you to disagree with it. There are great summer programs and their are some that have no business being around the sport. The latter is who I am referring to.

Little League "got it right"? You must be kidding? 12 year olds throwing 40% curve balls just to win a game? I know many former Hamilton West Side LL pitchers, their arms are rags now. You have posted a lot of stuff off base in this thread, that one may be the topper.

Read more carefully before you shoot off. I'm referring to pitch counts. Those kids should only be throwing change ups at that age when it comes to off-speed. I'm talking about high school regarding their rest system for pitchers.

Nothing is off-base that I've said. It may be different from your opinion, but its an observation I've spent over 25 years in baseball developing.

Hopefully kids and their parents are starting to learn to be smarter about this stuff. Although, it sounded like the one pitcher from SK just about threw his arm off in the State Tourney this year. I wasn't there, but heard that from several reliable sources.

Little League got it right by going by pitch count. Idk y some still go by innings? Kid throws 60+ pitches in three innings and has the same rest as a kid that throws 20 pitches in three innings. Not sure where the logic is with that?

Great points Baseballinmyblood!

I agree about not blowing money completely...

But, as you said, kids have to reach out to college coaches. They like getting an email or a phone call from a kid. They're much more interested in hearing from the player than the parent.

 

Also, I like for these kids to join teams that do a lot for little money... Like Midland for example.

And, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that PBR is not all that expensive...

Anyway, we agree on principal... I've never been interested in egos but I'm very interested in work ethic..

And I think kids involved in PBR for example, they're working hard to see where they stack up with their peers... And hopefully identify strengths and weaknesses in their game.

Unfortunately now in most situations you'll have to pay something. I even know high school summer teams that want to keep their high school squad playing together will charge them something, which is crazy to me. There are several high school coaches that know of his players playing for other summer teams but will still make them play for their high school summer teams. Then you get into a situation where a kid hypothetically pitches seven innings for his summer team tuesday and then on Wednesday catches seven innings for his high school team, never communicates with his high school coach and ends up pitching again in a couple days for his high school team also. Neither coach knows so the kid ends up pitching twice a week and participates in showcases and events all summer and fall. By the time January comes around his arm is completely dead and now he has to start preparing for another high school season to start.

The system is flawed and I wish there was a way to protect the player more. He's a young kid that thinks he's invincible. Majority of kids will not turn down a game they can play in. So the adults need to do a better job policing these situations. If not, its going to go from 1-5 pitchers getting tommy john surgery to 1-3 very quickly.

I think as several posters have pointed out... Recruiting is, like everything else in society, evolving. So, yes, I'd like to see kids involved in these type of events as much as possible...

Not for their egos, but for their recruitment. PBR and others collect stats and game info on kids and recruiters (as earlier discussed) can go to fewer events and see more prospects.

Yes, if a kid is an unbelievable talent, word will get around.

But a good, solid, average to slightly above average future college player... That kid needs to get his name out there or he could be lost in the shuffle.

Also, recruiters like to see kids playing with and against high level competition... That's another thing you get to see when a kid plays on a high level summer team and when he goes to events like PBR.

Everyone knows that a .600 batting average against weak competition isn't as impressive to scouts as a .350 batting average against great competition.

PBR and other organizations can help recruiters see through all of that. Nothing is perfect, but sitting around, hoping recruiters will find you... That's a big mistake IMO.

There isn't one player that myself or anyone else has posted about on this thread that isn't going to easily be good enough to play college ball... Some will be D1, some DII or DIII, and some NAIA.

It doesn't really matter, because each kid needs to go wherever they are the best fit.

But in today's world, if the player and/or his HS coach and/or his summer coach isn't reaching out to colleges... They very well may get overlooked. That's a fact.

I completely agree with you. As a former retired recruiter at both the college level and the professional level, I know what they look for. I know when they get a lot of stats it is more of a red flag than anything. Even videos are not looked at as much as people believe unless they are on the D2, NAIA, JUCO, etc. I do disagree with you regarding the events. It is very hard to evaluate a player in a showcase setting. There can be enough there to prompt another look in a game setting but that's it. Several recruiters like to see kids in a practice atmosphere as well. Over the years I have been to a plethora of practices to see how kids interact with their teammates. The media age has changed recruiting. It is a money making avenue and that is the only thing I am preaching against. There are summer teams that don't cost much and can get you a lot of top notch competition to compete against. However, for every one of those there is five more summer programs that will cost you 4k before they even tell you who they will play and where. Those are the programs I'd like to see filtered out. They prey on young insecure kids whose parents will do anything to help them and unfortunately they do not know any better. College and professional recruiters like to see game atmospheres with great competition but the middle of the road player is not able to play in those scenerios. So then they are left with the only choice of mortgaging their homes for their kids to play summer ball. All I am saying is that is not necessary. A lot of times you do not have to wait on your coach to help. You as a player can take that step. Coaches appreciation that more than you know. Coaches also know if they are at a game with two teams full of D1 talent and they are coaching in the NAIA, they may be in the wrong place. Those coaches have to work harder and those coaches will rely on video to initiate a visit. Those are the coaches that will find somebody in the area they trust to go watch a couple of games and practices to see if its worth them coming in to town to see them. More than not players seeking that level will be invited to come workout or go through practices and go from there. I just do not want to see the mid-level player feeling like they have to fork over that much money to get seen. It is not always necessary.

From my original post that started this thread.... We've since seen quite a bit of info on "The Beechwood Gang", Evan Slone and Ricky Raisor.

Hoping to see more on Seiter and Smallwood soon. They're both good players as well and need to do some PBR, Baseball Factory or Perfect Game events to get their names out there like these other kids.

Are you wanting them to be talked about on message boards or recruited? There's a difference and they both do not go hand in hand. They can be recruited at a high level without going to these events. They may not get talked about on here bc there names are not on a list, but that is more for parents and kids' egoes.

I should of said kids don't get recruited as much from their high schools. College is playing the same time that high school is and coaches don't have time to go watch high school games. I know some high school coaches that do a great job getting their kids names out there. On the other hand I know a lot more that do not. Like I said before on a lot of the bigger summer programs from ages 16u-18u you don't pay much at all to play. I can almost guarantee that if you are on a Midland or Flames 17u team you are getting some money to play baseball in college somewhere.

I agree with that too. All I'm saying is most would get it regardless of who they played for.

Another reason to be part of a good organization..

Haha! Touché

How was this list compiled? Is it something that each club had to be a member of PG or were all these teams nominated?

Non-members were not added in to the mix? I was under the impression Perfect Game had an unbiased system when it came to rating players and teams? They have membership restrictions??

Anyone have any updates on this coaching position???

I can tell you without a doubt they would not of been exposed to those high level colleges without their summer teams help. The high level college programs look at those summer teams for talent because they know the kids have to be good to be on those teams. If you can scout 10 kids at 1 game rather than 10 different games why wouldn't you? Kids don't get recruited from their high schools anymore. They get recruited from going to scouting combines, playing high level showcase tournaments and playing for notable organizations. Most of the coaches on these high level summer teams have so many DI connections it isn't funny. It all helps!

I agree with you from the recruiting aspect as to seeing multiple kids at once. However, saying kids do not get recruited from high school is not correct and is not even close. If that has been your experience then the coach at that high school did not do what he was supposed to for his players. If you have talent you will be found. That is not even adding to the fact of what the coach and player can do to help that situation. It is not difficult to contact a coach and ask to come work out for them. D1 talent do not need to do that, but things like that go a lot further with a college coach than what summer program he plays for. I do agree over the years these teams have developed a reputation of having great talent, but that is not the only reason. It may have given that coach an extra game to watch him, but there are a plethora of different ways other than forking out your life savings to play for a summer team. I see your points and they are valid, and all I am saying is I don't believed the summer teams were the only reason. I guess we can just disagree on that.

I'm not saying its bad across the board. However, several kids and parents are fed a fairy tale and end up with nothing to show for it, and 9 times out of 10 they'd get the same exposure if they hadn't played on one of those teams.

On the high level teams you pay next to nothing to play. I am with Maliburunner on this one. The proof is in the pudding..The recruiting game has changed over the years.

So you can honestly say those kids would never have gotten scholarships if they hadn't played for those teams? Unless you can say that there's no proof in anything. The only thing you can prove is they have players committed to colleges, but unless you can say they wouldn't have been recruited without that team, then you're wrong. Good talent will always be found regardless.