EARLE

1991 Knott Central Final Four (third consecutive regional championship for coach Hammonds). 1989 and 1990 teams probably had more talent from top to bottom (Ratliff and Jacobs class of '90 played at Morehead, Mason Slone class of '89 crushed the ball) unfortunately Paintsville was in Section 4 and were state runners-up in '89 and state champs in '90. 1980 Hazard State Runner-Up 1995 Hazard lost in Final Four to state champion PRP 7-5 2004 Hazard 30 wins, regional champs, lost in semi-state play 1987 M.C. Napier Final Four (second consecutive regional championship for coach Bill Dixon) 1994 M.C. Napier great regular season, upset by Dilce Combs in the district tournament. 1988 Lee County regional champs, Shawn Little '89 signed with Morehead before transferring to Cumberland and being named first team all-American in NAIA. His brother Jack signed with EKU. They won the regional championship game like 17-2 over M.C. Napier. 2000 and 2002 Lee County, regional champs. 2002 team went undefeated in regional play, beat Pikeville in 9 innings before losing to Middlesboro in the sectional finals.

Pitch count would be best...however, who is going to police this? I think the good programs already do a good job with their pitchers because they realize that overuse in April and May does them little good in the post season (which is all that matters). The current system is self-policed too. While there is a pitch rule, if a team plays out of region on Saturday, comes back home on Monday and plays in region does the umpire ever check the teams KHSAA pitching verification form before the game? If you've never seen this form here's a link: (It's the first form listed) http://www.khsaa.org/baseball/forms.html

Yes. The year was 2003 though. Three one-run ball games, Hazard won game one 2-1, and then lost games two and three 3-2 and 1-0. Hazard also faced and defeated Rockcastle Co. in the old format in 2001, when Clay Salyers pitched them to a 1-0 win. In 2000 Rockcastle beat Lee Co. 2-0. Boyd County was loaded both years and won the sectional. In 2002 Lee Co. won in nine innings over Pikeville, and then lost to Middlesboro in the sectional final.

:thumb: Estill and Powell return more than the rest of the field. PCC, Leslie, Hazard, and LCC all lost key position players and more importantly pitching to graduation in '07. I think that Martin and Combs (Hazard) will emerge as two of the top pitchers in the 14th this spring. Breathitt Co. and Jenkins lost only two and three starters respectively, and return all their pitching from a year ago.

I think most of the problems have stemmed from "off-the-court" issues from past coaches. Coach Noble is a good teacher, person, and coach. I think the first two mean as much or more at OCHS than the latter. Hopefully, Coach Noble will want to stay and raise his family in Booneville.

Coach Baker inherited the schedule that Whitley Co. has now. Give him a couple of seasons and he will have a competitive schedule. at Breathitt County H.S. (regular season tournaments) 2001- Central Bank Cardinal Classic at GRC (Dist. Champs/Reg. S.F.) 2002- Central Bank Cardinal Classic at GRC, Clay Co. Classic, WYMT Classic (Dist. Champs/Reg. Runner-up) 2003- Won Ashland Blazer Tournament defeating Lafayette in finals, was Runner-up in the Perry Central Tournament to host school (Dist. Champs/Reg. Semi-finals) Besides these tournaments, Breathitt County always played the top teams in the 14th region each year too.

Ginan, Lee Co. (1984) UK Chaney, Breathitt Co. (1985) Morehead

Lee County has had some good defensive catchers that could hit over the last 10 years. Todd, Hobbs, and Shuler were all good catchers.

You may be right. But with the way Lee County's schedule looks, I'd predict that Drake will pitch against Powell Co. and Estill Co. twice in the regular season. Who will catch for Lee Co. this year now that Shuler has graduated? I thought that he and Drake were one of the better duos in the 14th last year. 4/1-Estill Co. 4/8-Powell Co. 4/21-Estill Co. 4/29-Powell Co.

2005- The favorites were Powell and Leslie (PCC won region) *Powell and Leslie met in the semi-finals 2006- The favorites were Lee and Leslie (Powell won region) *Lee and Leslie met in the semi-finals 2007- The favorites were PCC, Powell, and Estill (LCC won region) *Estill and Powell met in district semi-finals (Freeman threw a bunch of pitches and had to bounce back to pitch against a hot Leslie Co. team in the first round of the region in the early game after a 2 hour bus trip). John Couch (14th Region POY) had a tweaked hamstring for PCC and wasn't 100%, Couch wasn't available to pitch in the semi-finals because they drew a good Lee County team. Alot depends on the draw, whose healthy, and who gets hot at the right time. Like last year there isn't a dominant pitcher that can shut down any of the top 5 or 6 teams in the region. Freeman would probably come the closest when he's on. Drake gave Powell and Estill fits last year.

He's the best returning middle infielder in the 14th, a pretty good pitcher, and the best returning right handed hitter in the region. I would say that you could argue that the best overall player is between him, Drew Freeman, and Cory Brewer. I didn't think he had a bad attitude, he might be seen as a little cocky, but most good athletes are.

They could meet in the All A Classic State semi-finals on Saturday, Feb. 2nd if they both take care of business.

1. Powell County 2. Perry Central 3. Estill County 4. Letcher Central 5. Breathitt County 6. Hazard 7. Leslie County 8. Lee County 9. Jenkins 10. Buckhorn

I would say it is safe to say that Gene Combs has over 200 wins in his 13 years of coaching.

http://www.khsbca.com/coaches_active.php Here is a link to the (reported) winningest active coaches in the state of Ky. Dixon's record is 285-155.

I would agree with this, contact the head coach and make him aware of the situation. It's tough to keep an eye on 50-75 student-athletes. Good programs let their players know up front what is expected in all settings (overnight trips, eating at restaurants, on the sideline, in the hallways and classroom at school, and out in the community). You cannot just assume that they will know how to act, just like you can't assume that they know the fundamentals of the sport just because they played in youth leagues and middle school. The coaching staff must set the standards and have consequences for ALL that decide to abuse these standards.

Zach Osborne plays shortstop for PRP. He was ranked as the 87th best junior in the country by Baseball America.

Usually your first deposit to go on one of these trips is due by mid to late October. Just another reason why the KHSAA should allow for a week of fall baseball practice / tryouts (football has spring practice). If you could make cuts in September, then you would know who needed to do the fundraising.

Those rankings were based on the votes by the coaches that are members of the KHSBCA. Tradition and last years performance goes a long way. I agree though Bourbon County has to be the favorite in the 10th this year.

This game was not nearly as bad as the semi-final and championship games at the 2003 games in Stanton. Breathitt County really got the shaft (leading by as many as 21 points) in the semi-finals. Powell fans shouldn't be complaining at all. Of course they got what they deserved when Oldham County drilled them by 23 points at Rupp.

Other non-classed sports in the 14th: Girls Basketball 2007: 2 of 8 teams in regional tournament qualified for class a (KCC, Wolfe Co.) Powell, Leslie, Breathitt, PCC, LCC, and Estill (25% class a) Girls Basketball 2006: 1 of 8 teams in regional tournament qualified for class a (Wolfe Co.) KCC, Powell, Leslie, Breathitt, PCC, LCC, and Estill (12.5% class a) Softball 2006: 4 of 8 teams (Lee Co., Jackson, Hazard, Jenkins) LCC, PCC, Breathitt, and Estill (50% class a) Baseball 2006: 2 of 8 teams (Lee Co., Wolfe Co.) KCC, PCC, LCC, Breathitt, Powell, Leslie (25% class a)

64.7% (11/17) qualified for the class a this season, but all districts now seed in boys basketball (with the exception of the 54th). Non-class A: Powell Co., Estill Co. (56th)...play each other tonight Breathitt Co. (55th) are in Leslie Co., Perry Cent. (54th)...both out, lost to class a schools Letcher Cent. (53rd)...lost to class a school Class A: Owsley Co., Lee Co. (56th) Jackson, Riverside, Wolfe Co. (55th) Buckhorn, Hazard (54th) JBS, Jenkins, Cordia, KCC (53rd) You would think with the seeding and this years draw in the 54th, that at least half the field would consist of the larger schools.

75% of the 14th region tournament will be made up of schools that qualify for the Class A tournament (6 of 8)... LCC and PCC were ousted by class a schools in both '06 and '07. Estill Co. knocked off Powell Co. in the '06 district, and are playing tonight (they are coming in as the #2 and #3 seeds behind Lee Co. a class a school for the second straight year) Breathitt Co. was knocked off by Wolfe Co. in '06. Leslie Co. was knocked off by Hazard this year 2007: Owsley Co. JBS Knott Cent. Hazard Wolfe Co. Buckhorn (Breathitt Co.- 2A and Estill Co./Powell Co. winner - 2A) 2006: Hazard (winner) Jackson (runner-up) JBS Cordia Lee Co. Wolfe Co. (Leslie Co. - 2A and Estill Co. - 2A)

1. Dunbar 2. Catholic 3. Henry Clay 4. Lafayete 5. Christian or Tates Creek