THE FAN

South is tough with Smith on the mound, but what if they have to use him before the finals? I think M'boro is by far the top in the 13th. They have deep pitching and a great defense, their offense can break loose at anytime and put up double digits, just depends on which team shows up to play.

Has anyone heard if John Smith is leaving Whitley County?

Hoskins from Middlesboro should have a big year McCumbers for the Colonels should have good season Trey Smith should be Top in 13th.

Who is the favorite in the 13th in 2007? Middlesboro?

How did the rest of the weekend tournament go?

Does anyone know what happened in this game?

ukbellco, do you play for whitley? If not how do you know what their excuses were? I recall shelley through 3 good innings for the colonels and then the hounds started hitting the ball and won the game, thats all there was to it. You are right there probably is a mental thing there, corbin has beat whitley for so long in every sport. But I gurantee, They are getting their moneys worth out of Coach Smith and his assts.

Listen, Whitley had a few miss handled ground balls that was the difference in the first game. Second game Coach Smith got tossed over a bad call that cost the Colonels 2 runs. Both game were close and could have been won by either team. I have not heard one Colonel player , coach or fan make any excuses. Two good games and Whitley came out on the bad end.

A play or two on defense for Whitley was the turning point of the first game. It should have ended 4-2 Whitley. Defense has plagued the Colonels all season. They have beaten themselves in every loss they have.

After an earlier post i did some checking around. If this John Smith is indeed the same John Smith that played at M'boro that is coaching at Whitley co., I know for a fact that he learned most of his baseball form his Father. I played summer baseball with the John Smith that played at M'boro and his father was always around and always talking with the team. I would have to say he gathered all of his knowledge from his father. Plus he was always studying the game and I would say he still does. Someone please let me know if we are talking about the same John Smith. As far as coaching under Coach Powell that was probably just a stepping stone for him to get his own Coaching Job. Coach Powell may be a great coach, but dont give credit to someone for teaching someone if you know nothing about it. But someone please let me know if we are talking about the same John Smith, I would like to get in touch with him. He would have been a great player no matter who coached him!!

I dont think that whitley has had a coach in the past that could help get them there. But i believe M'boro was at the house early last year. I like M'boro baseball and enjoy watching them play, most of the time, but they have had a couple of rough seasons. Even 2004 was a disappointing year with all those seniors and everyone expected them to be in the state tournament. I think and this is just my opinion they feel like they can just walk on the field and teams are going to roll over because it is M'boro. This isnt so anymore, teams are getting better with the addition of new coaches in the 13th.

you know, we can sit here and argue about this stuff all winter and get nowhere. Lets just wait til spring arrives and let the bats speak for themselves. I dont remember seeing anyone talking about or dogging Coach Powell. He has had some great teams with "great players", that carried him through the tournaments. As far as the 13th goes Rockcastle has pretty much dominated it lately, wouldnt you agree. Except for last year when I thought they should have won it again. If coach Bussel had it to do over I'm sure he would not have thrown his 2 at Whitley instead of his 1, it cost him another region title in my book.

Thats three guys. And by the way they were not in the regional finals in 2005. I agree year in and year out M,boro is right there, but I see the team slipping away from that tradition and hard nose play that Coach Powell built over his 20 some years as head coach. I think that is the reason he is back and I see him back as head coach in a couple of years if not sooner.

I dont see M,boro or Bell co. being a contender for the 13th this year. Too young and no big tournament experience, also there are to many attitudes to contend with on these teams.

It seems like there are alot of holes in that line-up offensively. A number of those players have a hard time hitting off-speed pitches. It will be an exiting season in the 13th.

I thought the Jackets lost alot defensively in the field by putting Frady behind the plate. I thought he was their best infielder. I agree that the catcher is an important role/position on the field. He has to be a leader and in command of the game. But, does that mean you should weaken your infield by moving one of your best infielders to that position. Why not make a catcher during the fall "conditioning". Or dont run off your catcher, if that is what i happened, i dont know what happened in the Comparoni deal. I felt like he was probably their only proven #1 pitcher.

Thunderstruck, whats up!!!!

Frady was probably the best catcher they had last year after Comparoni quit. I felt like they lost alot defesivly and pitching by having to leave him behind the plate. As far as shortening strides of pitchers, you cant do that, you can lower their leg lift to help stop the running game. South Laurel returns a lot of players from last year. I think they will be a contender in the 13th. As far as Whitley, i dont know much about their coach but they did make some great strides last year and turned some heads in the tournament, especially after beating Rock 1st round of the region.

Without Frady behind the plate i think teams will be able to run on M,boro. They have no other catchers with any exp.

What does everyone think about South Laurel joining the 13th? What are the chances of Corbin repeating as 13th region champs having to replace so many starters? What about Whitley Co., thay should have a great deal of talent returning?