MountainTop5

Belfry / Middlesboro rained out.

At Mboro

Belfry plays at Mboro next week (not sure which day, I've heard both Wednesday & Monday), and we'll get a better idea of how the Pirates rate this season.

Don't worry, Miller didn't transfer. He started 9th grade at Mboro and stayed there. His Mom and Dad both grew up and attended school in Mboro, as did his siblings who didn't play sports. BTW, a kid who lives in Gibson Station VA is almost 35 miles closer to Mboro than to Lee Co HS. There are kids who live in Whitley Co. but attend Bell because they can't get to Williamsburg without going through Pineville.

Mboro returns 5 starters (all Juniors this year) from last year's team.

OK, my take on the Mountain Regions. 12th - Rockcastle, Danville, SW Pulaski & Mercer Co. are historically excellent teams. I'd pick Danville as a pre-season favorite. Rock has the best battery. 13th - Middlesboro & Corbin at the top, both have potential, but also potential problems with youth. I've heard a lot about South Laurel, Whitley is an up-n-comer. 14th - Powell County has ruled this usually weak Region for years, but I look for Leslie to assume the crown, with Hazard & Lee Co. in the mix. 15th - Pikeville & Johnson central at the top. Sheldon Clark as an up-n-comer. 16th - Belongs to Boyd Co., with Ashland as a dark horse. Don't know as much about the 16th, though.

Don't forget that there has been some re-districting. Rockcastle is now in the 12th. North and South Laurel are now in the 13th. I don't know about other Regions.

At Pineville or Hindman?

Any score on this scrimmage?

Skins - I guess it wouldn't break any rules to name names. Holbrook, Emert, Frady, & Russell are not on the team as of last week. That said, Mboro still returns - 1B - Breeding & Jones (look for Breeding to play some OF) SS - Hatmaker 3B - Earls, Brooks & Tolliver (Brooks will play some OF) OF - Hoskins Rookies will include Pittman, Moyers, Farr, Adams & Coach Sowders' nephew (not sure of the name - Jake?). Left out 3 or 4 more, I'm sure.

OK, as far as Mboro players leaving, here's what I've heard - all unverified, which means I haven't talked to the coaches or the players themselves. There are only 4, not "bunches". The two returning Seniors have decided not to come back this year. One has a great job after school, and he chose to pursue the dollar. The other came out for a few days, realized he would spend most of the season on the bench, and decided to spend his Senior spring doing something else. Neither of these kids would have got a whole lot of PT, IMO. One Junior player was apparently dissatisfied with the field position the coach wanted him to play and just got his things and left without talking to anyone. He could not have been depended upon anyway, because of persistent academic problems. A Soph player was still recovering from a football injury and decided his time was better spent rehabbing in the weight room and preparing for football, which he enjoys much more than baseball anyway. The Junior player will be missed on the mound, but like I said, the staff couldn't count on him being there anyway. The Soph player will be mised in the OF, but he wouldn't have been 100%, and probably did the right thing by letting his injury heal. Regardless, I've heard that practice is going great, there are some incoming players that are contributing, the hitting is WAY ahead of last season, and the returning players are showing a lot of leadership. Looking forward to a great spring!

TStruck - What's going on at the 'Boro? Who are the "bunches of kids" who have left? Any starters? One of the kids you mentioned struggles in class, so I've heard, so it may be grades. And I heard the lone Sr was upset about low PT, but I haven't heard about "bunches" of kids leaving. 13th A - Do you have any news about this? Don't forget - 3 or 4 kids will be joining the team after basketball (tomorrow, maybe?).

Middlesboro's Trevor Hoskins and Andrew Breeding were invited to WKU's Junior Day this weekend, and I think they both attended.

Unconfirmed, but the word is that Hoskins and Breeding have been invited and will be going to NIKE Camp at the Univ of Georgia. Earls may have been invited too, but none of the kids I talked to knew for sure. It's still early - I looked on the Student Sports website, and it said that only half of the invites have been sent so far. Also heard that Donnie Grigsby is doing some intense Combine Training with 4 or 5 potential D1 prospects, including Hoskins, Breeding, Brent Slusher from Bell Co, and some kids I don't know from Tennessee, who all have been invited to NIKE Camp. Grigsby is a heckuva trainer, and I expect all these kids to represent the Tri-State Area very well. Also unconfirmed, but I heard that Hoskins had been getting a lot of attention from Cincinnati & Marshall, and Breeding has been getting notice from Clemson and Illinois. Slusher has a long list of D1 schools keeping in contact with him. Funny, but no one mentioned UK as showing a lot of interest in any of these kids.

Every Mboro player I've talked to wants to play Bell every year, and was very disappointed when they were dropped. Every Mboro player believes they can beat Bell, and wishes they would be added in '06 instead of '07. Regarding the Middle School Program, when you have a very small school, about 100 in each class, talent runs in cycles. Next year's Jrs & Srs had a great MS Program when they were 7th & 8th Graders. I've also noticed that "types" of talent goes in cycles, too. Next year's SRs have some great skill players, but only a couple of linemen, while the JR class will be mostly linemen with only a couple of skill players. The Soph class is more balanced, and the upcoming Freshman class just has fewer talented kids overall.

Bell Co has Steven Hunter, Spencer Greer, and Kyle Nelson back.

ukbellco14 - Hoskins, Breeding, & Earls have been nominated, so I've heard. Don't know if they've been accepted or where they would be assigned.

It isn't just the gun, it's the technique. For maximum accuarcy, the ball has to be moving directly toward the gun (same principal as the traffic guns - if the cop is off the side of the road, it's inaccurate). That's why you always seat the scouts right behind the plate.

Mboro will probably have 40-50 kids cut to 25, if History means anything. Does sound like that many, but it's about 25% of the male population of the school. I don't know why one sport or the other generates interest. Baseball in Mboro is a tradition, back to the semi-pro teams I remember as a boy. Little League will have almost 200 participants. But the High School kids just don't come out for basketball - Casey Earls and Tyler Hatmaker anre the only BBallers I can think of that play Baseball and Football.

Three Mboro players come to mind. Andrew Breeding Power-Cleans 305 and squats over 500. A.J. Jones also squats over 500. Shawn Russell is probably the best at the bench, but I don't know what he lifts these days. Mboro usually doesn't bench much, they prefer the Olympic lifts. But I have heard that they have begun an intense benching workout in preparation for this year's Combines and NIKE Camp.

His (or her) guidance counselor should have an NCAA Publication called "Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete" that should answer your questions. If they don't have it, you should be able to wallow through ncaa.org and eventually find what you're looking for. NAIA has different guidelines, but they are very similar.

Corbin, Middlesboro, South Laurel, Cumberland, Whitley Co., in no particular order this early.

Anyone reading this thread is obviously interested in Combines. Those of us in the outer parts of the State often don't hear about upcoming Combines until they're over. Does anyone know what's coming up, where and when, etc.?

Don't forget that Middlesboro returns 19 out of 22 starting positions. Both starting Seniors were hurt early in the Belfry game, so the team that played the last 3 1/2 quarters against Belfry will most likely be the same as the one that will take the field against Knoxville Central in next season's City/County Bowl. I think this bunch will finally play to their potential in '06!

According to KHSAA, Madison Southern, Highlands, and Paducah Tilghman are smaller than Lawerence Co. Bell Co & Rockcastle Co have only a handful of students more than Lawerence.