BigBlueBash

George Sparks, pitcher at Scott. I heard 10 SO's against Highlands JV. 10 SO's is tough no matter who's at bat (that's not a cut on HHS JV). 6'3" lankey lefty with a little monkey to boot. He's been taught by one of the best , and he is far from full development

Hall did well. HBP in the 7th, but ump made the call that he didn't get out of the way of the pitch. Tough call... kid didn't have any elbow armor on. So, stepping back in the box with a busted up arm, Hall decided to line a base hit to right on the next pitch to set the table for the next batter, J Bertke. The rest is history. As a side note, 4 of the the JV/FR Colonels and 4 of the JV/FR Beechies will play together on the U15 Bluegrass Lions this summer. I'm thinking the Lions beat a lot of U16 teams this summer.

8th grader, Brilz, goes the distance for the Beechies giving up only one hit and a few walks.

Another post had the Beechies frosh thumping the CCHS frosh (when they played a couple of true frosh). So, if you're going to put the Beechies JV team at #2, then you have to have their frosh at least at #2.... it's a small school, probably the the same players on both teams. I think CCH may be little weak this year as frosh and soph level. Ryle will be strong, once they can sort out the shear numbers. Have not seen the Brossart frosh yet. Boone County has a quality frosh team, but I know of two frosh that only play JV... Dixie has a couple of frosh that play JV for now, and one at varsity.

It's a shame for the kids that are good soph's and juniors, as in maybe a shade different than the kids playing varsity, have to play JV.

Agreed, re-read post #9. Same goes with frosh.

Keep in mind that there are at least 3 frosh from Cov Cath and 5 frosh from the Beechies that you will not see on the frosh field until the finals. :sssh:

No question he can throw the ball hard. But 85mph, with no monkey, could easily turn into batting pratice. I believe you can get by in HS with a FB and a C-up. But, if you want to throw gas for 3+ innings... good luck.

I know that Ryle has some kids (8th thru 10th) that could play varsity anywhere. IMMHO, that's why the smaller schools can compete... but that's another topic.

Ryle and CCH (to name a few) have the numbers to field a frosh team with frosh and have a true JV team. I know that Dixie, Beechies, and a number of others play 7th and 8th graders at the frosh and JV level. With that said, I know the teams in last years frosh final, Beechies and Conner, had a number of 7th or 8th graders starting. Not as slam on the other schools, just a compliment on the upcoming talent pool and the JV and varsity schedule conflicts. Now, to judge a frosh or JV team at this juncture is not possible. I know of numerous frosh that do not even play frosh ball in NKY until the tourny. The only true way to tell is during the finals and the varsity coaches allow their stud underclassmen to play down.

I think I'm with you here. At CF you have to throw the ball in a line for 150 feet, but as pitcher throwing 60 feet, that may not work unless you have 90+ speed (85 for high school). Everybody can hit a fastball.

The Bluegrass Knights summer team will be the Bluegrass Lions (15u) for the summer of '08. The Bluegrass organization continues to provide good baseball for kids in NKY, Not a slam, but the Reds, Riverbats and a number of other teams are no longer around. All but 2 are frosh, but all play JV and/or varsity. Some of the players for the BG Lions and respective schools that I know of are: B. Popham / Dixie A. Shumate/ Cov Cath B. Leeke/ Beechies J. Bertke/ Beechies Cottingham / Cov Cath C. Bertke /Beechies C. Fuller /Holy Cross (cov) C Wendlen/ Boone County C. Hensly /Ryle N. Hall/ Beechies N. Ritter /Holy Cross (cov) L. Scheaffer/ Cov Cath A. Hegge/ Bellevue (IMO best kid on the Bellevue team, not my kid) Others that I cannot remember, but are every bit as good.

OK, we're on the same page. This game is important, but not so much as to who plays what position, and who wins (to a certain degree) but who learns from it, and who can make the best of the situation for later in the year. With the talent in NKY this year (again) I would love to see a team form NKY take state. NKY has certainly sent their share to state ... in recent history. "Stats" (or statistics) is just "situation" spelled incorrectly. get it?

Not sure I follow what point you are trying to make... if it is at all different from from mine about seeing how good you are and what you have. Each team is good, each team only has a few games under their belt, it's a good time for the coach to get some insight on who his best players may be. To the kids, it's bragging rights (and yes they'll learn a thing or two about themselves also). Not sure about the stats boosting either, where's that coming from?

Somebody said it before, the game means nothing more than bragging rights (for the kids). IMO play a number of kids and throw a number of pitchers... it's acid test time. Take time to learn something about your players that will pay-off in 2 months. The winner here is the coach that picks up some insight about his club.

Could be true, but there seems to be a lot of assertions that the teams in the NKY rankings are deserving because of their "KY top 25" play list. Which IMO, does not mean very much at this juncture.

Agreed. Does anyone have stats on how many ranked teams in March are in the final eight at Applebees? With all the coverage and analysis on March Madness, isn't this the first year that all the #1's (as determined 4 days before the tourney begins) made it to the final four????

I got the Beechies in this one, but only because I heard that that the Reds are sending Harang down after a disapointing opening day. They might be able to squeek it out then.

In NKY there were at least a dozen kids that were 8th graders and played at the freshmen level (some at JV and a few at Varsity). This goes for Single A schools all they way to 6A schools (although that should not matter, they're all in the same class in KY, but that's a different story). These kids mostly played for 14u AABC teams in the summer, and had the benefit of playing excellent talent. IMO, their 14u summer teams would beat a majority (over half) of the HS frosh teams most of the time and give any team a run for their money. In the NKY frosh tourney final last year between the two teams, Beechwood and Conner, there were at least 6 starters that were 7th and 8th graders. For those of you in the Louisville area, I know of the Bulls and the Lightning last summer, two great teams, that traveled to NKY and played... they lost some and won some, but you get the idea of the talent of some 8th graders. At the JV level, many blend in well as far as skills go, but they stand out because they don't have hair on their face. There are a few that blend in well at the V level (same goes about the facial hair).

A run per inning... not that bad when your team can match it, but sometimes you just gotta circle the wagons.

That may be true, but you gotta love a NKY powerhouse with low enough numbers at the upper classmen level to let some younger kids get a little PT. Oh yea, these kids play other sports there also... and that's O.K... from what I hear.

Agree. Sounds like the AABC-Riverbats/Monarchs teams. But, it should be a good series with the Beechies. Some of the frosh Beechies played for the Bluegrass Knights. Maybe these players will meet in the frosh tourney.

Load 'em up, move 'em OUT....:thumb:

ya, ya, ya... AJ "chuck wagon" smith with the beechies is the one to watch this year. junior, 6'6", 85+mph cruiser with junk.

There is a blizzard outside... go further indoors. In fact, head for the congressional bunkers under the hills of West (by god) Virginia!!! But to be serious, the problem is not the weather or what drills to do, the problem is keeping the kids interested (as you already know). Make it fun... don't make it a "drill" or an "exercise". There were some good posts on how to keep it fun, yet fundamental (pun intended). Good luck to all the coaches during this period... that's why you make the big bucks. JK, LOL