jpa2825

Plan is to play varsity today (v. Walton Verona) and 3 games tomorrow (varsity v. Beechwood & Holy Cross and JV v. Holy Cross at 1700). We shall see. If you go, bundle up!!!

Birds lost 2 of 3 in their opening day at Lawrence Co. Based on reports I got, here is a brief summary (please correct any errors): Lawrence Co. 3 HHS 2 (8 inn.) Birds pitched well (4 inn from SO Jones & 3 inn from SR Liggett) but bats were a little silent. Facing 2 more games before returning home, they dipped into the bullpen in the 8th and found some wildness to allow in the winning run. Overall, a well played game for the 1st game of the season facing a team already playing their 4th. HHS 13 Capital (WV) 6 Birds got out quickly with 7 runs early, suffered a lull in the middle of the game to allow Capital to cut it to 7-6 and then cranked it up to finish strong. JR Vermeil for 4 inn & 3 inn from JR Cochran helped preserve the staff and both pitched well. No details on offensive performances other than a bases clearing double with 2 outs from SO Mills. Prestonsburg 3 HHS 1 Birds led 1-0 going into the top of the 7th. PBurg had few or 0 hits after 6. Not sure of the details on how they scored in the top of the 7th. SO Martin and SO Ball both pitched great through 6 inn. SR Murray may have pitched a bit in the 7th. SR Schultz did not pitch. Not sure if he will pitch this week against Holmes (TUE) or Conner (WED). Hope there is no injury or arm soreness.

AP Physics. He and his Cornell diploma aren't your typical Driver's Ed Coach from our era.

Just a quick data point -- 6 of the 9 SRs on the team have played each and every year. 1 of the 9 SRs took a year off (and played some summer ball after the last HS season he played). 2 of the 9 SRs are new to the program and will be valuable assets in many ways. Starting 2B, SS and 2 of the 3 starting pitchers for the Regional games are underclassmen that contributed mightily during the stretch run last year. (The 3rd SP is a SR referenced above.) That said, Papa Bear is correct. If they didn't learn anything from the late season surge of 2012, and play like they did in the opening 1/2 of last season, they will certainly qualify as "over rated." As they say, that is why they play the games!!!

If it really was for "speed up" purposes, only do it with 2 outs. If that is the rule and the CR is not ready to sprint to the bag occupied by the C when the 2nd out is made and time is called, they missed their chance and we play on. Wish I had a nickel for all the time that was "saved" bringing in a CR when the Coach first has to be alerted, 2nd has to decide who the CR should be, 3rd that kid needs to find a helmet, 4th that kid needs to find his "sliding gloves," 5th that kid has to stretch and finally jog lazily to the base occupied by the C (who then sits around in the dugout shooting the breeze and doesn't start putting on his equipment until after the inning is over anyway!!!)

@coop - Agreed on the dirt somewhere on the field. Ripken in Myrtle Beach does this with dirt mound and home plate areas. When you get rain, you hustle out 2 smaller tarps and cover those areas. Gives a much better feel for the 2 spaces where 80% of the action takes place in any baseball game. @Otb84 - not sure what the different material is, but the Ripken fields in Myrtle Beach permit regular metal spikes to be worn

HHS is scheduled to travel to Lawrence Co. for 3 games (Lawrence Co., Capital (WV) and Prestonsburg) on SAT.

Coaching "who shows up" will not be enough. Need someone who will "recruit" within the student body to make sure all those that are capable and might be interested in playing basketball are encouraged, allowed and excited to do so. THEN coach all those guys hard and energetically.

sbII -- do you mean at the end of the 3rd quarter or after the game? :jump:

Other issues aside, I think the Ripken trip to Myrtle Beach has been a big boost to the policy. Those that go on the trip look forward to it AND, most importantly, have a very high likelihood of playing a bunch of games & practicing during that week (currently scheduled for 7 games & 3 practices in the 5 days they are there and with all turf fields to play & practice on, lightning is about the only reason they don't play). I also think the younger kids strive to get to the "Varsity +" roster that gets to take that trip. Getting a Ripken Spring Break T-shirt to wear around school sort of indicates you "made it to the show." If they aren't there yet, I know they are looking forward to the year where they get to go.

AFAIK, cuts have been made but rosters haven't been "finalized." Even when "finalized," there will be some dual rostering and floating between Frosh & JV and JV and Varsity, especially early in the season. As such, no need to put any "labels," expectations or disappointments on anyone until games get started. Even then, nothing is set in stone. Only thing certain is the 9 SRs (Murray, Schultz, Lester, Heck, Molina, Liggett, Seidl, Schroder & Collinsworth) will be Varsity.

Lots of players played and pitchers threw. Low scoring game when I was there. SK scored some runs on HHS' 5th or 6th pitcher due to walks and sloppy defense (amazing how those go together, isn't it?). In addition to those mentioned above, the following saw action when I was there: Liggett (SR) - P & 2B Schroder (SR) - 1B Collinsworth (SR) - OF Seidl (SR) - OF Vermeil (JR) - P & 3B Gesenhues (JR) - 2B Jones (SO) - P & OF (looked good on the bump) Ramey (SO?) - C (Hennigan is not throwing yet) Murray (SO) - OF Mills (SO) - 1B (nice hit to deep CF but got thrown out at 3B w/ no outs -- JB not happy) Martin (SO) - 1B Lester, Molina, Schultz, Allen, Liggett, Jones, Vermeil all pitched. Don't think Murray (SR) pitched, but may have before I got there or after I left. Sorry if I forgot anyone that played.

New URL is http://www.Highlands-Baseball.com. Rosters have not been posted yet. Varsity schedule is entered under the Highlands HS 2013 Varsity Team. JV and Frosh schedules will be updated in the near future. Also, the results page for each team, like last year, will be posted to the main page prior to games getting underway.

I would expect that post from "Randy Parker."

I have heard the same from many sources. iTunes? Amazon Instant Video? Redbox? Netflix streaming? What are the options for getting it?

Except I think the flowers would go to Danville and not Union.

I was there and found nothing inappropriate about the student section cheers. Mr. Robinson and Coach Mueller apparently saw nothing that merited their intervention. I was surrounded by parents of players and other parents who made no comment on the cheers. I would not make too much about it.

NCC's only misstep last night was their student section playfully starting the "Let's Play Football" chant briefly. They are a very good team that played very well. Nice to see lots of kids that I watched in grade school and AAU performing at this level. To the NCC fans: any JV or Varsity players that also play football? I know Franzen plays, but not sure about the rest.

Molina did a good job at the leadoff position last year and also has good speed. Fairly confident Seidl has played both INF and OF prior to his year off as a JR running track. Regardless of who starts, his addition certainly boosts depth and team speed.

Thanks for "a" definition. I agree that a Coach that did all of those things could be "doing a good job" and still not have many "Ws" to their credit. That said, I don't know if Coach Flynn meets all, some or any of those qualities. I am not close enough to OR knowledgeable enough about the situation to form or express an opinion. I am, however, interested in learning the opinions of those that are close to and knowledgeable about it. Thanks for sharing.

JOAT -- can you fashion a definition of "good job" to which you would answer, "Yes, in my opinion the current coach is doing a good job as defined?" Just wondering because I would like to read that definition.

Is it a triple header or just JV and Varsity? Tip times?

Post #5 has several of this year's SRs that have contributed in past years (Murray, Shultz, Heck, Molina, Lester, Liggett) along with the 2 others mentioned above by others.

It WOULD surprise me if 15 seniors were told "don't bother" trying out. It WOULD NOT surprise me if they, and anyone else that asked for that matter, were told they could try out and if they could help the team and abide by all rules and obligations of other baseball players, they would be welcome.

Stairway to Seven!!!