Homerun

(Somewhat tongue in check, and possibly an apology to begin with) I thought the private schools were reponsible.....and yet another reason to separate them.

I also heard that WKU did see Matt play a couple of high school games. Too, it is surprising of how small the "baseball world" can be and who sees who play. Interestingly, WKU last year had wins over the SEC champ Ole Miss, U of K, and 2 wins over Missouri.

Great job, Matt. Continue love the game, learn, and work hard.

Just an encouraging thought.

I was not at the game, but...............I would think that the weather conditions maximized the strengths of St. X and minimized the strengths of Covington Catholic.

I was trying to think of the players on the team that year. Could someone refresh my memory? Thanks.

Anybody got any updates on this game?

The situation is Oakland is sad, and you have to wonder why. I follow Oakland because Michael Bush is there. But with keeping the topic on high school sports, the posed question about which high school team could give Oakland a game is, of course, ludicrous. It might a good time, though, to mention the difference between high school players’ size and speed compared to the pros. Jermiah Neal is listed as 5’ 10” and 185# as a running back for X. McFadden is listed as 6’ 2” and 210# and ran a 4.3 40 yard dash. Michael Bush is 6’1” and 245#. What high school linebacker would like to tackle Mr. Bush? It can be hard with even trying to project a good high school player playing college football because of size and speed differences at the next level.

There’s a lot of truth to some of the things that you say; but again, I think your words could be misleading to other people—especially those outside of Louisville. You mention “program size,” but I think it is hard to not put into perspective the size of Manual High School and the very large pool from which they draw students. What would make their football program stronger? Bishop David back in the 1970’s was a small school that was beating some of the big boys in football? Why? Mississippi State, Arkansas, and LSU lead the country in average home paid attendance in baseball with about 8000 per game. Why do those schools do that and not U of L? I just have a concern with a school like Manual with over 1800 students to portray itself as some “David” in a battle with “Goliath.”

Excellent posts (as usual) by The Engineer and Central KY Baseball. The more I talk to people in the Lexington area, the more I hear how much talent Tates Creek has (and has had). Can Tates Creek utilize their talent and win probably the toughest district in the state? Lexington Catholic was not the most talented team last year in Lexington, but they worked hard and were well coached.

First of all, Manual is an excellent school and turns out a high level of National Merit Scholars. My concern with your wording about the “player pool” is that it is misleading, especially to people not living in Louisville. I would not underestimate the pool of student/athletes that Manual draws from. The way I understand Manual today (and after going to the school’s website) is that it is made of 5 magnet programs that accepts students from the entire county. To my knowledge, Manual does not even have a district like the Manual of old. In fact, under the “Frequently Asked Questions” on the website under “About Manual,” there is the question “Is transportation provided to Manual? --YES. JCPS bus transportation serves the entire county.” Are there as many talented athletes as students as Manual? That might be hard to answer as well as if football is as high of priority as it is at Trinity and St. X. I had heard more than one person say that the baseball coach left Manual and went to Ballard because it was harder to get student/players into Manual. There was a Courier-Journal article not too long ago about how high of enrollment Male High School has and it is “busting out at the seams.” Some say this high enrollment makes it harder for athletic coaches to get players/students into Male as it use to be.

Yes it does. Fortunately, two of the best academic schools in the state.

Well said.

The Kentucky Baseball Club 18U played in a tournament at Austin Peay University two weekends ago. A number of college coaches were there. The 18U team played at the University of Kentucky this past weekend. Playing at the University of Kentucky was 2 top national teams, Cangelosi Baseball (from the Chicago area) and the Royals Scout Team (organized by the Midland Braves from Cincinnati) as well as the much respected Indiana Bulls and the Indiana Yankees. The Cangelosi Baseball 16U team just won a Perfect Game National Underclass tournament in Arizona and last year their 18U team advanced to the championship game at Jupiter. The Royals Scout Team is preparing for the Perfect Game World Wooden Bat Association World Championships at Jupiter, FL, later this month as well where they have had strong showings in one of the biggest tournaments of the year. The team organized by Midland has often had some of the best players in the nation on the team. KBC beat the Indiana Bulls and the Indiana Yankees while losing a close game to Cangelosi Baseball. The 18U KBC team will also play at the University of Evansville-Fall Wood Bat Championships next week as a tune up before playing at Jupiter. KBC has also sent an underclass team to the WWBA Underclass World Championships in Ft. Myers, FL, this past weekend. This is a growing underclass tournament where teams from across the country played and over 100 college coaches were present. The KBC team was largely composed of sophomores that will be able to return to this underclass tournament next year. KBC did well, tying for first place in their pool with a 2-1 record. A number of players from KBC also went to the Perfect Game Southeast Underclass Showcase in Atlanta, GA, earlier in September.

Wasn't this the young man the was MVP of a major tournament out in Las Vegas?

Dangerous post. Have you started to tailgate already? First of all, rivalry games can cancel out a lot. Trinity' s offense is hard to prepare for because you don't see it a lot. Throw in turnovers, penalties, injuries, early scores and momentum ...................

Knocking this year may be one of the best opportunities X has had for the door to open.

Hall is a tremendous athlete. I am watching NFL games this Sunday (and switching back and forth from the Yankees and Boston baseball game) and started to think about Daylen. Long term, I believe with his speed he could go further in baseball than football.

Well said.

St. X coach, Mike Glaser, is approaching 300 wins. If St. X wins on Friday, he will become just the fifth football coach in Kentucky to reach this mark. Here is the article in The Courier-Journal about Coach Glaser: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090923/SPORTS05/909230433/1002/NLETTER01?source=nletter-news

I am sorry that you seem to be taken aback by my comments, almost blaming me. I hope none of us are beyond scrutiny of our posts on this message board or not open to comments that we may not disagree with or like. I want to make one other comment, then move on. St. X has emphasized that there is no “I” in TEAM. Players even have shirts with “TEAM” on it. That was the underlying basis for my comment about winning and losing as a team. What I hear you saying (whether it is conscious or not), really, is “don’t criticize the coach, don’t criticize the football program, but I can mention how two players did not do as I expected.” Maybe Lamont and Neal did not have the game that you expected of them, but maybe there were factors that played into that. You said that you made statements based on what actually happened in the game? Maybe it might be better to say that your comments were based on your view of what happened in the game. I bet that Lamont’s family does not participate on these message boards and that they might present a different point of view of the game. Nor is Lamont’s family wealthy or socially powerful. That also sometimes makes a difference in how comments are made. I guess I have a propensity to take up for the little guy.

He plays for Trinity. He pitched in last year's state high school tournament in a delayed game. The game was continued but Corey went to his grandfather's funeral and Trinity ended up losing the game. He has given a verbal commitment to U of K. He pitched in the exclusive East Coast Showcase. He played last summer for the Kentucky Baseball Club 17U and had some impressive wins, including one in Cincinnati against a top team from California.

St. X wins as a team and loses as a team. I respect that you declined to comment on play calling because “I really can't comment. I am not a coach.” I am all for complimenting quality play of individuals, but does not the comment “I expected to see the same from Neal and McMurray” fall into a similar category as your comment about play calling?

Was the lack of impact from Neal and McMurray as much do to the defense of Cincy St. X rather than to the efforts of these individuals? How much difference does it make if Louisville St. X is blowing the other team off of the line? How often is St. X dominated on the line? Usually, Louisville St. X can wear down another team and control the line. What about the speed of Cincy St. X’s defensive backs? How much does the St. X play calling have to do with the outcome? Can St. X succeed against teams like Cincy St. X primarily running the ball?--not only just running the ball, but also being very predictable on where and how they run the ball? How much also comes into play psychologically when St. X is not use to playing a team like Cincy St. X?

X and Trinity play at another level compared to local schools, but Louisville is not the center of the football world.