Homerun

The 43rd District clearly has to be the toughest in the state, with Lexington Catholic, Lexington Christian, Tates Creek, Paul Dunbar, and Lexington Lafayette in it. The 25th District also has to be one of the toughest with Male, Manual, and St. X in it.

2009 Pre-Season Poll - March 5, 2009 1. Pleasure Ridge Park 2. Apollo 3. Eastern 4. Lexington Catholic St. Xavier 6. Tates Creek 7. Trinity 8. Harrison County 9. Lawrence County 10. Henry Clay 11. Bullitt East 12. Lexington Christian 13. Christian County 14. Paul Dunbar 15. Greenup County 16. Ballard 17. Daviess County 18. Male 19. Covington Catholic 20. Elizabethtown 21. Henderson County 22. West Jessamine 23. Bowling Green DuPont Manual 25. Owensboro Catholic Points Others Receiving Votes — Boyd County 22, Heath 20, Greenwood 17, Boyle County 15, Central Hardin 15, Franklin-Simpson 14, Shelby County 13, Beechwood 12, Bell County 12, Christian Academy 12, Hopkinsville 12, Lafayette 12, Madison Central 12, Larue County 11, Warren East 11, Bryan Station 10, Clay County 10 (one 1st-Place vote), Mayfield 10 (one 1st-Place vote), Ashland Blazer 9, Grayson County 9, Rockcastle County 9, Washington County 9, Anderson County 8, George Rogers Clark 8, Mercer County 8, Newport Central Catholic 8, Scott County 7, Western Hills 7, Campbellsville 6, Cumberland County 6, Franklin County 6, Ryle 6, Somerset 6, Danville 5, Estill County 5, Holy Cross-Covington 5, Louisville Collegiate 5, Marshall County 5, Ohio County 5, Owensboro 5, South Laurel 4, East Jessamine 3, Butler 2, Corbin 2, East Carter 2, Paintsville 2, Allen County Scottsville 1, Edmonson County 1, Johnson Central 1, Muhlenberg North 1, Oldham County 1, Trigg County 1

Both are fine programs. Coach Evans at Mercy does a great job, yet a special congratulations to new Assumption coach Ron Ferch.

Our sympathy to the family and community.

Who are some of the top teams in the 15th region and how do they rank state wide?

I would like to hear more about Chandler Shepherd and Lawrence County. What is his height/wt? Who does Lawrence County have coming back? Do they have much competition in their region?

I'm sure this last line must be a rhetorical question. The higher the level the play, every position is important. At some positions maybe more plays are made?

I went to a recruiting seminar recently where there were representatives from D1, D2, D3, JUCO, and NAIA. A question was asked where college scholarship money goes and why. The answer was somewhat predictable, yet interesting. The answer was the scholarship money first goes to pitching—particularly good left handed pitchers. Pitchers in baseball can have more to do in the outcome of the game than any other position. There are 25 scholarship positions in a D1 team out of 35 roster spots. 15 or 16 of the scholarship players could be pitchers. The second position where scholarship money goes was a little surprising to me. I have always valued catchers; but the coaches said that they like to have a quality catcher when so many scholarship players are pitchers. They like to have a smart defensive catcher that can be a coach on the field. Their last answer for where money goes was a little different. Rather than answer the middle of the field—shortstop, centerfield, etc.—their answer was “speed.” I guess they feel that if they have quality players with speed, they can fit those players into where they need them.

Neat countdown. This ice storm makes it not seem like baseball weather, but I'm sure it will warm up by the 15th on February.

Bullitt East may have more talent than PRP in the 6th region this year. BE needs to demonstrate that they can beat PRP in a big game. The 6th region is not super strong and PRP may be able to save Harper for a one game match-up. Eastern and Trinity may be the front runners in the 7th, yet this is a tough region to get out of. Ballard, Manual, Male, and St. X could all have a shot at it and I guess you can’t fully count out Christian Academy. Male, Manual, and St. X are in the same district and one of those teams doesn’t go to the regional tournament. Last year it was Male.

I don't play beer league softbal and question whether you have read my posts or not. I have said enough.

Excellent point.

One other obvious point when talking about how numbers in baseball are different than numbers in football is that one player in baseball -- the pitcher -- can make more difference and impact than in football. An exceptional pitcher has the potential with a little defense behind him to shut another team down.

Coop…. First of all, you say that you understand what I am trying to say, yet do not validate any of the points that I make. You proceed to find flaws in any of my examples. Three state championships would be different than the six like we have in football, and I guess that’s where my logic of giving a lot of trophies out might apply more to six state champions. Clyde says “Winning breeds excitement and nothing gets kids more excited than a trophy in the case.” So somewhat I’m responding to are statements like this. According to this reasoning, it might be best to have 10 or 20 state champions so more schools could get trophies. We have a society that sometimes wants to give a lot of kids trophies and not necessarily promote excellence. But you have not have even acknowledged that quality of players on the baseball field and numbers can be two different things. You state “Smaller schools field their football, baseball, soccer teams, etc, by generally drawing from a lesser talent pool than the big schools - simply due to numbers.” This isn’t necessarily so because numbers do not necessarily equate to talent. Thsrocks makes the point that Trinity has been losing in baseball to smaller schools. Look at some of the 6A Jefferson County football teams. Also, you fail to look at other factors that make up a championship team besides numbers. Valley Sports and Elliot County are in an environment where the sport played is life. What about the parental support and example as well as the financial support of football players at St. X and Trinity. What about fields, equipment, and practice facilities. What about the quality of coaching? Doesn’t that enter the picture? What about the tradition of the sport at that school. What about the feeder system or how much training the players coming into that sport have. These points have not even been mentioned. Also, numbers in football can make a greater impact than in basketball and baseball. Extrabasehit says “What it comes down to is in baseball you have 9 on the field and football you have 11. To be good in either of those your players on the field have to be good. The more players you have to choose from the better those on the field are going to be. That’s why the bigger schools have the advantage.” The problem here is that St.X in football platoons and hardly anybody goes both ways. Numbers also allows them to specialize in special teams. They can wear down other teams much more easily. Eleven on offense, eleven on defense, kick-off team, kick-off return team, punt team, punt return team—that can involve at least 40 or 50 players. Parkway and Blue Magic tried to make this point.

Your points are well made, yet I am not for sure that you in fact do know what I am trying to say. You say you understand what I am trying to say, yet do not see any value of the points I really made. I was not trying to say that giving 2 or 3 trophies is the same as a trophy for everyone just for participation, yet I was saying that you have to look at a society where things like that go on. When you try to refute my points in this way, I wonder if you do understand what I am trying to say. Your second point, that just because something has been done a certain way does not mean that they cannot be improved, makes me believe that you do not understand what I was trying to say. I said that if a change needs to be made, do it—just look closely at why it is being done. I think some of the discussions about sports have not been objectively discussed. I also think that easily throwing out my examples because they are “exceptions” may cause people to miss important points. Why not try to look at Elliot County and Valley Sports Little League and see if what they are doing can be repeated more often?

Numbers do play a role, but one cannot reason that more numbers alone will field a better baseball team. Quality of the players and the program is not being considered at all. It does take fewer quality players to win in basketball and baseball than football. I do not believe that Valley Sports Little League is the largest Little League Program in the state (or the world), but the area has the mentality that “baseball is life” and won a Little League World Series. Joe B. Hall says that his favorite basketball team is Elliot County High School—with an enrollment of 325. See this link to The Courier-Journal: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090116/SPORTS05/901160505/1031/SPORTS05 I know that if you want to win, that you “have to have the horses;” but we seem to live in a society though where a trophy is given to every child just for participation alone, not for excelling or doing something well. I see parents be on the board of directors of Little Leagues to get their kids on all-star teams rather than help them learn how to play baseball. We seem to live in a society where personal responsibility has gone out the door and it is always “somebody else’s fault.” There has just been a tradition to the Sweet Sixteen in basketball and the baseball tournament. If there needs to be change, do it—but the above factors are not being considered much.

I was not at the game to determine who did or did not play well. Sometimes the opposing team has a role in how the other teams plays? I wish coach Ferch the best.

I have mixed feelings about this statement. On one hand, I can understand it. Berry has come in with a lot of hype, but so have some of the other players-- especially the current junior class. Berry could definitely provide the leadership, play in the crucial middle of the infield, baserunning, and a hot bat that could fuel the Shamrocks this year. On the other hand, to put so much on one kids shoulders, especially a young man about 18 years of age, might not be realistic. A pitcher in some ways can control a game more than one position player. I also think that the entire Trinity team would benefit by consistent, strong play, possibly led by Berry, to be successful.

But besides the flex technology, the weight distribution is much different in the Easton bat the the Exogrid.

I too remember some of the quality teams at Bishop David and am not an alumni of Bishop David or Holy Cross. When schools played Bishop David, they knew they were in for a battle. Weston is a fine man and I wish him the best. I am not for sure what Holy Cross has in mind for their head football coach. I would just not conclude that Holy Cross is going down hill as a school. Ray Reidinger (sp?) was doing some great things as a football coach. I do not know of all of the details of the "recruiting" violations that led to his exit, though at a gut level I thought Holy Cross was used somewhat a "scapegoat" by the KHSAA. I felt that the KHSAA association knew that Holy Cross could be more easily targeted without much resistence by the school than going after any of the "big boys"--either private or public.

Engineer, I thought you top lists for teams had some strengths. Some of the players on this list I know, some I do not. Would you be able to make a brief note of the players on your list with their strengths and what qualifies them to be a "top 20" player? Thanks.

Interesting note about junior colleges in today's Courier-Journal. Blake Driake, a 2007 graduate of Eastern High School, attended Wabash Valley College (a division I junior college) and is a sophomore this year. He has signed to play baseball at Arkansas for the 2009-10 season. I thought I had heard that he was originally going to U of L as a freshman.

Are there coaching changes at Holy Cross?

I had heard that he is playing at U of L and is listed on their roster. He is a very bright young man and I think is in their engineering program.

Question: Are all junior colleges 2 year or are there 4 year junior colleges as well?