jimmyref

Hey, sometimes the better team doesn't win. I've heard that before. I guess the question is, isn't CAL better than X and T because they won? Be careful how you answer because you can't have it both ways. HAT's off to Bill Gray by giving his team the opportunity to win.

Here's the difference that I see. X had the luxury of two choices for your senior pitchers-a 65 pitch Mosby or a fresh arm with Just. They chose Just and we didn't get it done. You can second guess and I am not willing to say publicly who I thought should of started. But let me throw something at you-maybe X had a Plan of pitchers throughout the rest of the tournament in wishful thinking that they got there. If you don't throw Just last night against CAL, then when do you throw him? He pitched against Seneca in the last game of the season two weeks ago. If you sit him last night, then it will be 3 weeks before game three of the semi state. Let's say that Mosby and Amlung beat the region 5 team in 2 games. When do you throw him now? If you think X needs Mosby against Heath/Apollo in the state game 1, then Amlung against PRP in the semi finals, then Just throws the state final with a month off? I don't agree or disagree but it is a thought process relevant to this topic. One thing of note-Grayson handled CAL easily because of his fielding prowness.

Whoa -are you asking X fans to cheer for Trinity? Pretty selective hearing if you think the X fans only cheered when the clean up hitter, starting center fielder, and closer retaliated and got removed from playing in the final? And yes, we did cheer for Andrew when he got a well deserved award.

I think that you have a senior pitcher, you give him the ball and he goes and beats the team in front of him. I don't agree with the overpowering- I agree with better fielding pitcher might of helped but frankly CAL's freshmen matched the senior pitcher after 3 innings. Now maybe Roney or Deeds are better fielders than a fall off to the left southpaw and most every bunt down down the other side. What was Hohman's record-7-1? Here- take ball - win it and put T in the final. It didn't happen.

A couple take aways from last night. It was apparent that the 2 games in one day took its toll on the Shamrocks. You could see in the first inning when Coach T went to the mound that he was going to have to provide the fire but he tried but couldn't get the Rocks over the heap. Also early on is the foul ball approximately 25 feet behind third base that drops that the SS needs to get over there. The batter got a hit and scored I believe to set the tone. What is lost in this discussion about umpires and whatever is CAL got 11 hits last night. It really doesn't matter how long the hits are. Hats off to Coach Bill Gray. As to pitching, I thought T's starter was matched by the CAL starter as it was 3-3 after 3 innings which gave CAL confidence. I thought the final pitcher for Trinity really hurt them with the wild pitch that brought in either the tying run or go ahead run. I know that run gets charged to the previous pitcher but that was a crucial mistake. My hats off to the seniors who gave their heart and soul for 4 years. Trinity will be better next year.

Alabama Larry, I don't know how sincere you were but let me throw out a scenario. Trinity and Manual battle and throw either 1 or #2 against each other. The Ballard/X eastern game is before Fern Creek/Manual/Trinity game and the winner decides to keep the best pitcher back for the regional final. So Manual/Trinity number 3 goes against Burkett, Fern Creek's number 1. Manual/Trinity gets surprised by the creekers. Now Fern Creek may not have much left for Ballard Eastern X in the final but it could play out that way.

John Fidanza -

As a future Transylvania baseball parent, tell me about what position, strengths, what teams he has played for ( summer ) etc.

It is tough to coach for the public schools. I have liked Coach Dogg but I thought the timing of the comments were off. Do I disagree with them? No I think parents have changed and kids have changed? So do you continue to use the same methods? I thought the team this year was as talented of team as he has had over there for 6 years-but in a public school with limited talented players you have to tolerate kids missing practice and thrown helmets and gloves. I think that it probably ate him up inside but the situation was that he needed the talented kids to play to compete. Male can afford to throw XXXXXX off the team. The program has replacements. Now a new coach can come in and set new rules and make the necessary program improvements. I thank Coach Dogg for his many years of service to high baseball.

I am so glad that you added Fern Creek to the equation and let's not forget Christian Academy with Coach Bill Gray.If you remember last year, they beat Eastern in the district and then sent Male home from the regional. Fern Creek has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory too many times this year. But if for one game, they play like they have in 90% of the innings, beware. What a regional!! Does anyone know when the drawing is for the pairings?

If we are talking about A J Riley, manager on the Trinity team getting a chance to play in the game, then this is a good thing. A J came out of the Hikes Point baseball program and played for Tim Brian, father of Brandon Brian, junior catcher on the team for many years but was not an all star. He reminds me of the catcher on the movie "Sandlot", only with glasses but his heart is solid as gold in his service to St Barnabas and Trinity. His dad was Jeff Riley, Division 1 basketball referee that I had the pleasure of sharing the court with many times in lower levels. Jeff would always work CSAA games in the morning and then drive to Dayton, or Evansville or wherever and work the college game that night. Jeff passed away a few years ago suddenly and A J could of drifted away from baseball without the opportunity to help out the Shamrock program as manager. He has gotten in his freshmen and sophomore year in the last game of the year and it sounds like he finally got in a varsity game. Ten years from now, no one will remember the score of this game but A J Riley will forever remember it. His dad would be proud of what Coach Tompkins did.

I don't want to downplay a great win for the Tigers last night but for the people that were there, PRP is for real. Trey Harper and Franz are good pitchers but they're not Zach Cox and Kris Sipes. X pitched their best 2 against PRP's 3 and 4 and we came out on top. PRP's second batter hit 3 shots that ended up as 5 outs. Zach Osborne hit a shot that should of scored 2 runs but X came up with a web gem. The game could of turned on a number of things-including just a little call in the tenth whether the batter avoided the inside pitch and pushed the reventual winning runner up a base. PRP will be heard from.

X vs CAL Last night Runner on first, Pitcher from stretch begins by lifting leg. batter in box calls time and steps back. Home PLate Umpire doesn't grant time IMHO or my poor eyesight Pitcher gets to the release point of the pitch and stops. He doesn;t release Base Umpire steps in and calls time Now 3rd base coach asks what is going on. Count stayed the same. What did go on? Nothing based on the count didn't change. Should it been a strike since the batter stepped out-one opinion or a ball or a balk since time wasn't out and the pitcher didn't release the ball on a movement toward home.?

You know the answer-between the Lumber,Hikes Point, and CSAA, there are at least 28 kids that played high school baseball off those teams. We have kids on X, Manual, Fern Creek, Seneca, Ballard, Male, and Eastern besides Trinity so I follow their progress and the kids we played against including Rueff, Epperson, and some kid who we lost to in the Fern Creek Invitational that was the best 9 year old shortstop I ever saw( Chris Berry ).I admit, there isn't as much to talk about in the Fern Creek or Seneca forums! Baseball is a great sport and you build friendships on and off the field. I hope Trinity the best and that Trinity makes it far-maybe losing in the regional final to Poplar Level. One thought from a current Trinity dad told me that has stuck with me. He won a state championship in football and had a MVP in volleyball for a daughter but he remembers the walk off home run that won the state championship over Owensboro that his son hit as a 10 year. That's what baseball can do to a dad. I am proud to be a coach and a dad.

To answer your question if certain players were playing, then the senior class would be better represented. Plug in Weitlauf( bad arm ) at DH and Stein in center, move Deeds to 3b and the lineup changes. If Gardenshire stays then he may get time at catcher. But.... they're not there so the coaches put the best out there. This is a question for the Trinity that I can't answer. Were the coaching dads that are the topic of this thread on the field at Slugger? I saw the JV coaches in the dugout and I could hear Mr Roney ( alright, they could hear him from the Watterson X-way!! By the way, he is really a great guy, a good singer, and Daniel is a great kid.) but is the practice routines that were mentioned above and coaching during the game an every game event or just so often?

I am a babe ruth coach, just like most of the dads in every program in the city. I met Coach K at the CSAA championship when I asked him if he had any kids playing thinking he was the grandfather of one of the players. I was impressed when I heard he was one of the Trinty coaches. We talked long and hard about a certain celebrated player that was starting but not performing, actually an underclassman. He said that he was going to make a move to a kid that actually got cut his first 3 years but still came out and made the team. He made the move and Trinity went from being a .500 team to the state semi finals. If he made that move to help the team, I am sure and I trust his judgement to make the moves necessary to help his team this year if warranted. I have only been to one Trinity game since I support another team but Coach K is a no nonsense guy regardless of the dad. I understand that one of the potential subs at third base was hurt but now may be back. If he is better, he will play, rest assured. I happen to be pretty good friends with the head varsity coach at one of the inner city public schools and he would kill to have dads around willing to pitch in and assist the program. Imagine if you will having the football coach calling conditioning practice and half of your baseball team goes to the conditioning practice. I can assure you that there are no former AAA pitchers hanging around willing to help out at that school. Be thankful for what the Rocks have- a 76% winning percentage over the last 6 years and quite possibly "the best baseball coach in the city". ( That is taken from the St X radio network broadcast interview of Coach Jefferson before their game against Trinity). Coach John L Smith had a famous speech about either being in the boat or out of the boat. I think we all know where you stand.

Whoa! It takes 11 wins to win a state title in baseball( 2 in district, 3 in region, 2 in semistate, 3 in the state tournament) , just 5 in football.Also, last time I checked, you have to go away to win baseball, not playing in your stadium or Papa Johns for 9 out of last 10 football playoff games. Any night along the way you can run into a Zach Cox, or Daniel Webb, or Tyler Dunaway or Ryan Mosby that can end your season. When the Rocks faced Chaz Roe from Lafayette in the state tournament a couple of years ago, that was a home game for the boys from Lexington. As for coaches, Jay Tedesco doesn't have a son on the team, he played at UK and went to Oak Hills in Cincinnati, Sean Erie doesn't have a son on the team, he played at NKU and went to St X, Jimmy Brown played at Western and at Bellarmine, and he doesn't have a son on the team, Coach K is older than dirt but knows baseball inside and out and he doesn't have a son on the team. Those guys have been around the program and help shape it along with Coach T. Once again why not have a former AAA ballplayer give advice. I don't know the particulars but this sounds like someone feels their son should be playing. Ok, I agree, you son should be playing unless someone is better or equal not because his dad sat in the car next to the pitching coach.

First of all, I don't think anyone has given Apollo the kudos in this game. They shut down a pretty good hitting team. They are ranked number 2 and last years number 2 won the state. I am not a Trinity fan as most of you know but I am a huge Tompkins fan. As to Coach T using dads and hitting coaches like Holland, Littrell and Sturtzel, why not? If you have an opportunity to hear Coach Littrell speak about pitching, you can tell he knows a boatload about the game from the Dodger organization. Sturtzel is in the Hall of Fame at Bellarmine, for goodness sakes! Is that political to have someone on your staff with those credentials? This is high school baseball and the wealth of knowledge that Coach T has assembled over the years with his contacts is amazing. But with all of that talent, it is well understood who makes the call. I don't think many people have questioned Coach Beatty's use of Phillips, Whiting, or Petrino in their sophomore years. If the seniors were better or healthy, they would play. The other part of this is how many kids Coach T gets to play college ball. Believe it or not, last time I checked the Trinity website, there are more Trinity baseball players playing college than Trinity football players in the last 6 years, even with 4 times the number of players on football versus baseball and with the recent success of the football team.

Roc, who pitched for the Rocks? I noticed yesterday that they have rolled off an impressive streak here at the end of the year, beating X, Dunbar and a number of the other top teams in the last ten games. I also heard that Carrico, Rueff, and Littrell have all been pitching pretty well behind Stephen which bodes well for the region play.

If you go to http://www.khsbca.com, that is the baseball coaches site. If you click on links, it has many of the Ky High teams sites.

Tigers win 5-1. Nice 2 RBI single by Zoeller. Nice game by Brinkman at leadoff with 2-3 and a walk. Amlung continues to hit well. Ballard went after Amlung's first pitch on most AB's. Obviously it was a strategy that may work since he throws a lot of first pitch strikes. They have a good team but Tigers come out on top.

Apollo or Heath could.

Here's the dilemma. Let's say they go through their region over Butler and Bullitt East. They play 8 th region champs and let's say they make it to state. When do you throw Cox, first round( should win), semi finals ( 7th region winner or Apollo or Daniel Webb's Heath) or save him for the finals like last year and he never got to pitch? Coach Miller may have that in front of him unless the Bullitt East youngsters end their season in the regional.

Grayson started for X, Burkett for Fern Creek. Fern Creek's Daniel Bracken hits a triple for the only excitement offensively. Golemboski comes in for X in the 6th and 7th. Fern Creek has runners at first and second, one out, left handed ninth hitter up and FC coaches has him bunting. Probably not my first choice but he knows his team better. Golemboski gets off mound, fields bunt and throws out lead runner at third. Bracken up with 2 on 2 out and ball one gets caught by X catcher Amlung and thrown down to Scheler at first, tag applied, and rally thwarted. Bracken never gets to hit. After 2 out in the bottom of 7th, Brinkman gets hit by pitch, Amlung walks and Zoeller hit pop down the right field line that blows fair. FC RF and 2nd baseman collide in a scary collision as Brinkman scampers home with 8th win for X in their last at bat. Sometimes, it is better to be lucky.

from the paper it was Tyler Bough( ? ) for Ballard and Toomes for Eastern