Habakkuk

The game in which AC lost to Shelby Valley was the season opener. AC had 3 seniors gone on senior trip. Those 3 seniors are now batting 1, 2, 3 in the lineup and each is hitting above .400. Also, to note in this game, AC led the entire game until the 6th inning, when inexperience up the middle made a few errors and allowed SV in the game and to take the lead. The other 2 losses where to respective 1 and 2 in the polls as of lately, and who may be well deserving of their ranking. I agree that each of these teams could be 1 through 5 week in and week out including Belfry and Sheldon Clark right in the mix.

I just think it gives a fair chance to all the kids playing. If they are playing well, and have beaten Pikeville, Paintsville, etc... whoever they have played, I think they deserve to take their spot until they are proved to be worse. Most of the time Pikeville is ranked at the top because they deserve it, but they have fallen a few times unlike last year and I am just giving a few other teams their props. Just trying to be the most unbiased as I possibly can. Doesn't mean I don't think Pikeville isn't good, or not worthy of a spot higher than 4, but just that this week other teams were a little more worthy.

It's a weekly top 10. After this past week and 2 losses Pikeville moves down, just like in the NCAA college poll. Once they win some more, which I'm sure they will, they will move back up. But for this week, after losses to Paintsville and Lawrence County, they move down in the poll. Just the way it works for a weekly poll. If they win next week and teams ahead of them lose, then they will move up in my poll. If not, then they will move down. In my experience that's just how polls typically work.

1. South Laurel 2. Cumberland 3. North Laurel 4. Corbin 5. Bell County 6. Whitley County 7. Middlesboro 8. Cawood 9. Knox Central 10. Williamsburg

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

1. Leslie County 2. Paintsville 3. South Laurel 4. Lee County 5. Lawrence County 6. Allen Central 7. Pikeville 8. Cumberland 9. Johnson Central 10. North Laurel

1. Paintsville 2. Lawrence County 3. Allen Central 4. Pikeville 5. Johnson Central 6. Sheldon Clark 7. Belfry 8. Pike Central 9. Betsy Layne 10. Prestonsburg

Final from Archer Park. Tyler Turner gets the win. Scott Little sees some mound time. The Rebels hit 3 HR's -- 2 from Turner and 1 from Jacobs. After 11 games the Rebels have hit 13 HR's and 45 Stolen Bases. AC pitching has recorded over 100 K's as well. This team is starting to hit the stride and look very dangerous. Good luck Rebs!

1. South Laurel 2. Cumberland 3. North Laurel 4. Whitley County 5. Bell County 6. Middlesboro 7. Clay County 8. Williamsburg 9. Corbin 10. Cawood

1. South Laurel 2. Leslie County 3. Pikeville 4. Lee County 5. Paintsville 6. Allen Central 7. North Laurel 8. Cumberland 9. Johnson Central 10. Sheldon Clark

1. Pikeville 2. Paintsville 3. Allen Central 4. Johnson Central 5. Sheldon Clark 6. Johnson Central 7. Belfry 8. Phelps 9. Pike Central 10. Betsy Layne

This was an exciting game. The Rebs got started early and Little hit his 3rd shot of the day to put the Rebs on top. AC was a little sloppy in the 4th allowing 6 unearned runs. They found themselves trailing 10-8 in the bottom of the 7th. Alex Hammonds started the inning with a hit. Music got out. Then Kidd got on base, and Jacobs hit a shot in the gap. Turner hits a hard hit grounder in the hole at third that was fielded and attempted to throw a runner out at home but AC scored and Jacobs crossed the plate on the throwing error to bring it home for the Rebs. Nick Music went the distance for the Rebs.

AC is one of the top teams in the 15th. However the 15th is well represented with Pikeville, Paintsville, Johnson Central, Lawrence County and Sheldon Clark -- all who will battle for a region crown this season.

Josh Prater (FR) got the start for the Rebs and struggled early on giving up 4 long balls. That put the Rebs in a hole they couldn't dig out of. Overall AC looked pretty sharp defensively except for a couple of errors in the 6-7th inning. Pitching wasn't bad either. Kidd finished the game and pitched really well until the 7th. Looked as if he just ran out of gas. Ironton threw their Ace and he was very talented -- one of the best pitchers I've seen in a quite a while. Good luck Rebs! Ironton had a heck of a team. They had a very good catcher who hit 2 HR's and had a cannon behind the plate. Best wishes to that young man. He'll have a bright future ahead of him.

They have one game in which they cannot hit the ball and they have no offense. They have gotten 6 players in their lineup with .300+ hitting, with 2 others right under the .300 mark. Granted, the struggled with Grimm vs. Paintsville, but to say that they have no offense is an overstatement in my opinion. 4 out of 5 games, they've had 10+ legitimate hits in each game with at least 5 HR's. They even got 5 hits vs. Grimm on a very good day for Grimm. Just arguing the point -- don't judge based on one performance. Even the best have off days because of a great pitching performance.

This was an exciting game to watch. Belfry jumped out early 5-0, but the Rebels finally showed some life battling back and putting together a string of hits. West started for Belfry giving them many good innings while Hammonds made the start for the Rebs. He went 2 innings, then Turner went 2, Music 2 and Kidd closed it out for the save.

They had 5 players hitting .500 plus after 3 games. The pitching they faced wasn't the best, but that is good hitting in my opinion. I agree they'll struggle against better pitching until they get to see a lot of it. By looking at their schedule, I think they'll see more good pitching than bad. They'll be ready by the end of May. As far as Little goes, they keep saying it is tendonitis, but he needs to go have himself checked out so that he and their coach will know for sure how to handle him for this season. He did pitch a lot last season, but he never threw more than a 100 pitches (averaged 75-90) in a game until the one against SC in the region. That game he did throw a lot more than he should have. I hope for Little that its just a case of the dead arm and a little tendonitis. He needs to confirm that however. The longer he lets it go, the more it hurts himself and his team. If it is just dead arm and some tendonitis then he can fight through it with some rest and taking care of his arm properly. I hope everything turns out fine for this young man. He is a tremendous athlete with a bright future. Keep up your confidence.

1. South Laurel 2. Cumberland 3. Clay County 4. North Laurel 5. Corbin 6. Middlesboro 7. Whitley County 8. Bell County 9. Cawood 10. Knox Central

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

1. Pikeville 2. Paintsville 3. Johnson Central 4. Allen Central 5. Belfry 6. Sheldon Clark 7. Lawrence County 8. Phelps 9. Betsy Layne 10. Pike Central

1. South Laurel 2. Leslie County 3. Lee County 4. Pikeville 5. Paintsville 6. Cumberland 7. Clay County 8. Perry Central 9. Allen Central 10. Johnson Central

Tyler Turner was hitting .877 after 3 games with all legitimate hits. However, after today's game against Paintsville I am sure it dropped some as he went 1 for 3.

Little pitched for AC. He went 2 innings and had to come out due to elbow problems. He pitched well, but he has been struggling with tendonitis in his right elbow. Prater came in after the 2nd and finished the game for the Rebels. Grimm pitched extraordinary for the Tigers. AC had 5 hits from Grimm -- 3 of which came in the 6th inning, but could never put a string together. The tigers took advantage of early arm struggles from Little as he walked 4 batters and walked in a run. He was squeezed a little by the umpire which hurt the situation, but that's baseball -- it happens. A couple of strikes here or there for Little and it's about a 2 run game in the 4th-5th inning -- just the way it goes though. Congrats to Paintsville for taking care of business. Good Luck Rebs the rest of the season.

April 10th Belfry vs. Allen Central April 11th Allen Central vs. Lawrence County Perry Central vs. Hazard Lafayette vs. Lex Cath April 13th Corbin vs. Middlesboro North Laurel vs. Southwestern Boyd Co. vs. East Carter Pikeville vs. Johnson Central

Friday, April 7 5:30 pm Allen Central vs. Paintsville 7:30 pm Pikeville vs. Sheldon Clark Saturday, April 8 1 or 2 pm Championship Game