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TigerRat34
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Posts posted by TigerRat34
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𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗪𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗦 𝗝𝗔𝗬 𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗢𝗧𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠The Beechwood Independent Schools is very pleased to announce, with both great pride and optimism, that Jay Volker has been selected to serve as the next head coach of the storied Tigers football program. For the past two seasons, Volker served in the same role on the sidelines at Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio, after successful stints as an assistant in the greater Cincinnati area. In nearly a half century of football in Fort Mitchell, Volker will be only the fourth head coach to oversee the Beechwood program, taking the torch from Bernie Barre (1975-1990), Mike Yeagle (1991-2005), and Noel Rash, who wore the visor for seventeen seasons (2006-2022) and retired from coaching in February. All told, the Tigers won 17 KHSAA state championships under Barre, Yeagle and Rash and have established a tradition of excellence both on and off the gridiron.“I am excited, honored, and incredibly humbled to be the next head coach at Beechwood, because it is a top-tier school both athletically and academically,” said Volker. “You look back at nearly fifty years of Beechwood football, and three head coaches have been here. They’ve thrived and loved it. It tells you all you need to know about how special this place is and I can’t wait to get started.”A Cincinnati native, Volker played in the highly-competitive Greater Catholic League (GCL) as a team captain for both the football and track and field programs at Elder High School. After graduating from Elder in 2008, Volker stayed close to home and played college football for Thomas More University, where he was a three-year team captain for the Saints. After college, Volker embarked on a career in teaching and coaching.Volker served as an assistant coach at Kings High School during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and as the defensive coordinator at Moeller High School during the 2018 campaign. The Crusaders won an outright GCL championship that season and Coach Volker mentored six players that landed first team all-conference honors.From 2015-2017, Volker served as Associate Head Coach in a program that won back-to-back Ohio Division II state championships at LaSalle High School. The head coach during that run of excellence, Jim Hilvert, also served as the coach at Thomas More during Volker’s playing career.“Jay is a great leader of men. He’s a relentless worker and a coach that will carry on the winning tradition at Beechwood,” Hilvert said.Volker has also worked alongside some of the bright football minds in Division I college football. Volker got his start in coaching as an assistant at Georgia State University from 2013-2015, where one of his colleagues on the coaching staff was Jesse Minter, currently the Defensive Coordinator at the University of Michigan.“Jay is a very relentless and very passionate coach that cares deeply about all of his players. He’s the most football-hungry person I’ve ever been around,” Minter said. Coaching and football also run in the Volker family. Volker’s brother, P.J., is the Defensive Coordinator at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.“I’m excited for Jay and Beechwood. This is a perfect match. Beechwood High School is getting a passionate coach committed to developing players on and off the field.” And P.J. Volker added, “His enthusiasm, work ethic and leadership will continue to grow Beechwood’s championship program.”Volker became the clear choice during the application process by enthusiastically laying out an ambitious and attainable vision for every facet of the Beechwood football program: both on and off the field, in the classroom, the weight room, the community, and at the younger and more developmental levels of the program.“Jay Volker carries himself with a polished and professional presence that can only come from experience. He not only learned excellence, but lived it at Kings, LaSalle, Moeller, and during his playing days at Elder High School”, principal Justin Kaiser said. “What resonated most was his passion to grow our student athletes into men through a brotherhood you can only find at Beechwood.”Volker graduated from Thomas More University in 2008 with a B.A. in biology. He earned a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education in 2022. He and his wife, Erika, welcomed their first child, a daughter named MacKenzie, three months ago.Kaiser, the principal at Beechwood, sees only great days ahead in the next chapter of Beechwood football. “From ‘Pride, Brotherhood and Unity’, the moniker of the 1990s, to ‘Commitment, Sacrifice and Brotherhood’ of the 2000s, I am truly excited to see what this next generation of football brotherhood grows into under Coach Volker’s leadership”, Kaiser said. “This is a great day.”Athletic Director Ryan Booth and Assistant Athletic Director Brandon Slusher said in a joint statement, “We are excited to welcome Jay, Erika, and MacKenzie to the Beechwood and Fort Mitchell community. He takes over a football program that has such a rich history of developing our student athletes into outstanding young men and tremendous football players. We are confident that Coach Volker will continue this tradition and will lead our program with pride into the next era of Beechwood football.”A “Meet and Greet” for the community and parents will be held on Monday, March 20th at 6:00pm in the varsity gym.
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It's official. Beechwood just posted it on their Facebook page. Jay Volker hired as new head football coach.
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Congratulations Coach on your retirement & for an absolutely stellar career! Without question, one of the best to ever do it & truly a great man, mentor & human being. Thank you Coach for your tremendously positive impact you had not only on my son while he played for you, but also my daughter who you taught as well. You will be deeply missed, but couldn't be happy for you & Julie. Enjoy your retirement, sir! You certainly have earned it!
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23 hours ago, rjs4470 said:
My high school used to do this as part of an alumni game. The event was always in October, and each player had to pay $40 to participate. Sponsors were also solicited for the event, and admission charged. The Derby was held the night before (a Friday night) and the game was on Saturday, followed by a afterparty event at a local hangout. The derby format was 10 swings in round one and the top 5 advanced to finals, where each player got 10 more swings, and if there was a tie, all tied players got an additional 5 swings. In the three years I participated, no ties ever happened. It was a fun event, however, the district shut it down after 5 years for liability reasons. That's probably the biggest issue you may face....may not be as big a deal if you're only doing a Derby.
Greatly appreciate your response & information, that helps me out a ton. Thank you!
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I am in the very beginning stages of trying to organize an alumni home run derby for a fundraiser for our high school baseball team. Was wondering if anyone else has done this before at your high school? If so, what format did you go with? What format do you think works best for this type of event? What time of year did you have it? What time of year do you think would be best to have it? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
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Monster upset that I don't think anyone other than the New Cath team saw happening. A great win for the NCC baseball program. Congrats to the Breds coaches & players!
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Knowing that Beechwood did not throw their best pitchers in the two regular season matchups against Dixie either, I'd say you still have to give the advantage to the Tigers due to their batting lineup. There's truly not one "easy out" from top to bottom. Not saying that Dixie can't hit, not saying that at all, because they obviously can. You don't make it to the 9th Region tournament if you can't hit well collectively as a team. But seeing that Beechwood scored 27 runs in two games, even if it was not against Dixie's best arms, and the Colonels only scored 7 runs in those two matchups, advantage goes to Beechwood. Just my humble opinion...
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Beechwood 1st Round Prediction: Beechwood 12 Dixie Heights 2
Beechwood convincingly defeated Dixie Heights twice in the regular season: A 13-1 drubbing on 3/31/22 with pitcher Samuel Cottengim pitching all (5) innings of the 10 run rule shortened outing. The Tigers again bested the Colonels on 4/27/22 with pitchers Matthew Kappes throwing (5) innings & Landon Johnson finishing off the final (2) innings. Five of Dixie's six runs came in the last innings, so Beechwood was easily in control of that matchup as well. The consensus favorite when the two schools meet tonight at neutral Meinken Field is Beechwood. The red & white Tiger bats will once again prove to be too much for their opponent, which has been the case in the vast majority of their games this season. Beechwood has outscored their opponents in 2022 by a 9th Region leading margin of 301-89.
Beechwood 2nd Round Prediction: Beechwood 8 Conner 5
On 4/15/22, the Tigers fell in a hard fought away game against Conner. Pitchers Sam Stacy & Torin O'Shea both hurling (3) innings each. Beechwood head coach Kevin Gray has forgotten more about baseball than I will ever know & is easily one of the best coaches in the region if not the state, so I'm definitely not trying to speak to what he or his excellent coaching staff will do; However, conventional wisdom would assume he will preserve Tiger ace Mitchell Berger in the 1st round for a likely rematch against the Cougars in the 2nd round. If that is the case, that should tilt the scales in Beechwood's favor. Berger has started (8) games & won (6) of those starts. With his 2.67 ERA in 36.2 innings of work & (53) strikeouts, the son of former major leaguer Brandon Berger, is a formidable foe for any opposing lineup. When he is "On" & "feeling it", he is unquestionably one of the toughest pitchers to face in the region, if not the entire Commonwealth. If Beechwood can avenge their 7-11 loss to Cougars, in what is most likely going to be the showcase game of the 9th Region tournament, they have an excellent chance of defending their regional crown.
Beechwood 9th Region Championship Game Prediction: Beechwood 11 Highlands 3
Which team Beechwood will face in the championship game is anyone's guess. Going through Highlands, Ryle, Covington Catholic & St. Henry's schedules & comparable matchups, my best guess is that it will be Highlands. When the Bluebirds & Tigers met on 4/25/22, Beechwood's bats & pitching were dominating in a 12-2 win. That trend should continue & Beechwood will once again find themselves representing the 9th Region in the state tournament.
Beechwood Players to Watch
#19 - Cameron Boyd: .436 avg. / 1.059 SLG% / 15 HR (tied for state lead) / 37 RBI / 51 Runs / 16 SB
#2 - Brice Estep: .478 avg. / 5 HR / 52 RBI / 14 Doubles / Amazing catcher with incredible arm
#0 - Brett Holladay: .419 avg. / 4 HR / 31 RBI / 40 Runs / 26 BB / 7 SB
#30 Mitchell Berger: .410 avg. / 6 HR / 33 RBI / 27 Runs / 14 SB / 6 Wins - 2.67 ERA - 53 K - 36.2 IP
#42 Sam Stacy: 5 Wins / 2.40 ERA / 39 K
#24 Samuel Cottengim: .365 avg. / 26 RBI / 20 Runs / 5 Wins - 1.31 ERA
#6 Ben Meier: .383 avg. / 21 RBI / 28 Runs / 9 SB
Beechwood Team Stats & Rank in State
Team Batting Average: .378 (1st in State)
Team Hits: 305 Hits (18th in State)
Team Doubles: 82 (3rd in State)
Team Triples: 14 (14th in State)
Team Home Runs: 36 (2nd in State)
Team RBI's: 283 (3rd in State)
Team ERA: 2.79 (34th in State)
Good luck to all eight teams, coaches & players competing in the 9th Region tournament. But as always, GO TIGERS!!!
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Coach Alvis Johnson, Harrodsburg HS Legend, has passed away
in KY Football (High School)
Posted
On behalf of our 1996 Beechwood football team, who played against Coach Johnson & Harrodsburg in the 1996 Class A final, we send our deepest condolences & respects to the Johnson Family & Harrodsburg community. RIP in Coach.