JohnLex7

Today's Herald-Leader had a note about the team from Lexington that won the 2001 Cal Ripken World Series. The article pointed out that 11 of the 15 boys from that team are still playing HS ball in Lexington, and have been successful HS players. (3 have been on state championship winning teams and 3 on a state runner-up, with possibly more honors to come this year) I'm curious to know how many of the kids from Louisville that won the LLWS the very next year are playing HS ball.

The Lexington Catholic-Dunbar game was halted in the bottom of the 5th inning due to lightning, and while waiting for the lighting delay to end, the rain came. Game will be picked up where it left off at Catholic on Monday at 5:30.

No one should be surprised at this. Just look at some of the teams in Lexington and look at their records against teams outside of Lexington...Sayre is 13-6, but 13-2 outside of Lexington. Lexington Christian has 10 losses, only 2 of them are from teams outside of Florida or Lexington. Lafayette is in last place in the 43d District at 16-10, but they are 15-2 in games against teams outside of Lexington. If you want to see what Lexington baseball is all about, come by Lafayette High School on May 8...Dunbar v. Lexington Catholic at 5:30, Lafayette v. Tates Creek at 8:00...and the admission price is right...free.

Unless Catholic has a bad night against a hot pitcher, no one is going to beat them in the region. They play very solid defense, and have no holes in their batting order. The only teams that have a shot are Henry Clay and Dunbar and I would actually give the edge to Henry Clay because they are a more consistent hitting team than Dunbar is. Dunbar has great team speed, which puts pressure on teams that are not as solid defensively, but Catholic can handle the speed and is also just as fast as they are up and down the lineup. The reality is that this year, this region is the 43d District and a cast of others, since even the last place team in the 43d has run ruled teams from the other districts, teams that could end up in the region. My picks: Lexington Catholic, Dunbar, Henry Clay, Scott County, Franklin County, Woodford County, Madison Central, Madison Southern.

C, 1B, 2B, SS, CF, LF, #1 starter as well as two other starting pitchers, and many backups at the positions I mentioned. They are loaded, and good.

Lex Cath is that good. There is a large gap between Lex Cath at #1 and everyone else. They play great defense and there are no weak points in their batting order.

Final.

The Babe Ruth leagues in Lexington have produced 2 first round MLB draft choices and numerous college players in the last 10 years, that sounds like a pretty good feeder system to me.

Game played at LCA, first game of a city doubleheader. Dunbar's #2 starter against Lafayette's #1. Lafayette outhit Dunbar 7 -5, but also left more runners on base (8-5). Dunbar scored 1 in the 1st and 1 in the 2nd, Lafayette scored 1 in the 5th. Lafayette had two runners on in the 6th and again in the 7th but Dunbar held on for the win.

They are very very good, add to that the ease with which they will win their district and they are going to be sitting rather nicely for the region. The only thing that could derail them early in the region is if they draw the #2 team out of the 43d in their first game in the region. However, as they have shown, they can hold their own with any of those teams and are a real team to watch.

5 innings, 3 Lafayette pitchers combined for a no-hitter.

You're absolutely right...just look at the scores from Madison County over the weekend for examples of up and down days. Letcher Central loses badly to Lafayette on Friday and then beats Madison Southern and Madison Central on Saturday. Lafayette run rules Letcher Central and Southern, then loses a close one to Madison Central. Teams have to take their shots when they get them, and WH did that against Marion I'm not convinced that Western Hills belongs in that middle grouping of teams yet, not without more consistent performance.

MC's starter pitched a great game...Lafayette's starter also pitched well, had a shutout during his 5 innings pitched and MC scored their runs off the relievers in the 6th and 7th.

Final

I would agree completely, I have seen them play a couple of times, they are a very good team and better than many people think they are.

By "you" I meant anyone who just wants to walk up and watch baseball. As for "paying" to play, that depends on which team you are talking about. It is possible to play for some of them inexpensively (and by that I mean virtually for nothing) if you are willing to sell ads, work bingo, etc.

After seeing this poll, it is difficult to argue with the assertion that the toughest district in the state is the 43d. Four of the 5 teams in the district are ranked in the top 7 in the state. The 5th team, Lafayette, is 10-6, and out of the top 25, but 4 of their 6 losses are inside the district. As of tonight, the 5 teams in the 43d have only 7 losses outside of district games. However, only TWO of those losses have been to Kentucky teams (Lafayette lost to Henry Clay, Tates Creek lost to Butler) In other words, the combined record of the 43d against Kentucky teams outside the 43d is.....39-2. It is rather unfortunate that after the first week of the playoffs, 3 of these 5 teams will be sitting at home.

The best buy in HS Baseball in this state.... No charge for city doubleheaders played at the HS fields in Lexington.

I saw Harrison County use that one on a pinch runner in the Semi-State against Lafayette 3 years ago.

Madison Central v. Lafayette for Friday night was cancelled, Madison Central and Lafayette each played Calloway County instead. They did not play on Saturday.

Well, that's a bit of a misleading title, since I only know the score of one game. In the first game of a city doubleheader tonight at Tates Creek, the score was Lexington Catholic 11 - Lafayette 0 (5 innings). Catholic jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two and coasted from there. Maronde pitched 4 innings for Catholic and Riley threw the 5th, limiting the Generals to 3 hits on the night. The Generals have had to face Henry Clay, Dunbar and Catholic's aces back to back to back, it's hard to imagine a tougher week for them. In two 43d District games, Catholic has outscored their opponents 22-2. I have seen them play twice now, and there is no doubt in my mind that they deserve the #1 ranking in the state. The second game was LCA v. Tates Creek, but given that I actually like to have feeling in my limbs, I chose not to stay for it

Games played at Lafayette High School: Lexington Catholic 11 Lexington Christian 2 Catholic jumped out to a 8-1 lead after 2 innings and never looked back, 2 HRs by Riddell, including one on the roof in CF (Those of you who have been to Lafayette will be impressed at that shot) Dunbar 6 Lafayette 0 Dunbar took advantage of their scoring chances by scoring 2 runs with two outs in the 2nd and 3 with 2 outs in the 5th while Royce held the Generals to 2 hits through 6 and Bracken closed out the game in the 7th. Wednesday night's games at Tates Creek: Lexington Catholic v. Lafayette Lexington Christian v. Tates Creek

Lexington City Doubleheader (Non-District Games) At Cliff Hagen Stadium: Dunbar 11 - Bryan Station 1 (5 innings) I didn't see that game, so not too much I can report on from it. Henry Clay 9 - Lafayette 1 A 1-0 Lafayette lead after 4 evaporated as Henry Clay scored 9 runs in the last 3 innings. Two 3-run home runs by Zuckerman provided the bulk of the runs for Henry Clay. HC's #1 starter, a senior, pitched a complete game, while Lafayette started a sophomore on the mound. 43d District Play starts tonight with a doubleheader at Lafayette: 5:30 Lexington Christian v. Lexington Catholic 8:00 Dunbar v. Lafayette

While BIG snowflakes are flying here.... Lafayette 9 - Sequoyah (GA) 7 From last night... Pace (FL) 4 - LCA 1 That's a great game given that Pace is the #1 team in Class 5A in Florida and has been playing games since the beginning of February. In fact, we should all be impressed with how well our KY teams do against these teams from Florida who aren't saddled with the rule that they can't play regular season games until after basketball season is over. They get to start their season early and spread their season out and their kids stay fresher (IMHO). Our season is just beginning, theirs is toward the end, yet our guys do great.

Lafayette 4 - Choctaw (FL) 1 Lafayette scored 4 runs in one inning and made those stand up for the win.