The Great Game

I agree with this statement and will add that some of the pitchers may be clocked at 80-82 on a few pitches, but the key word is consistently. So if they throw 25 fastballs I would say 20 or 80% need to be in that range to be called consistent. Let's remember that a change of speed is a good thing... If you keep pumping in fastballs at 84 mph right down the middle you will get hit hard. Having one complimentary pitch, that you can throw for a strike, to go along with that live fastball is great, but to have a third pitch (change up) means domination at the high school level.

Please keep in mind there are 9 young men on the field during a high school game... you make it sound like he was the only player on the field for the Camels in those losing efforts. This past summer I saw him win some big games in some of the best tournaments in the country. It is surprising what happenens when you take an excellent pitcher and surround him with other excellent players ("Team"). He shut down the top team from Michigan in the Indian Bulls tournament and then 3 hit a team from Colorado (struck out 10) in the World Series in Nashville (most of the top 18U teams in the country). That Colorado team went on to win the Tournament. He wasn't just a good high school pitcher, has was an excellent high school pitcher, 1.80 E.R.A. and the leader in NKY in strikeouts, come on!. I coached at the DIII level and played at the D1 level and by the end of last summer he was throwing in the high 80's and could have gone to a lot of schools at almost any level and been very effective. He just chose not to do so.

There should be some stiff competition at 3rd for the Raiders.

I heard that Bray landed a scholarship not sure where though.

I saw both of them pitch alot last summer and both were excellent. Bray was healthy and beat some big time teams on a big stage last summer. One being the Elite Rawlings team out of St. Louis at the Indiana Bulls tournament at University of Purdue, where he 4 hit them. Not taking anything away from Woodruff but run and fielding support also goes into wins and losses. I was told by coaches and players alike that Hurd was one of the most respected and feared pitchers to face in NKY last year.

But surely no Hurd or Bray in their battery...

I don't remember anybody saying that any of these players are the next coming and you are entitled to your opinion, that's what makes BGP.

Have you seen the players mentioned in this thread play?

You are correct to put them in the same class, both are real good hitters

Brown is the best hitter of all the ss in this group and one of the better hitters in NKY and a good fielder, but nowhere near as good of fielder as Leatherbee. Range being the key.

He is a 2nd baseman, very quick with good range. He can switch hit if they decide to go in that direction-solid gap hitter.

You are exactly right:thumb:

But he has... all summer and fall. I would contend that in the summer you play against better overall competition than in the spring. It goes back to that discussion we always seem to have on here about "varsity experience". If you can play, you can play, period.

I personally don't know about the D1 interest and can't comment on that, but since we are talking about the summer programs in NKY, I do know that Ryle in their junior and senior class right now will have 2 players on the Colonels, 5 on the Kings team, and I believe 3 on the Bluegrass team. So obviously there is some type of talent.

There is no doubt that Elliot is a tremendous athlete, a joy to watch play baseball and a real good football player, but was he recruited by a D1 school in football? Please remember that one D1 player doesn't make a program, it takes a team (like Ryle and Beechwood have experienced the last couple of years) to go to state. You are correct that "the proof is in the pudding" but Ryle has some excellent talent in their baseball program coming through in the next couple of years. Are there any D1 players? I don't think anyone could say definitively either way because Ryle unlike most baseball programs in NKY has had a philosophy of "you have to wait your turn". What happens in this scenario is that you really don't get to see how good someone could be untill his junior year when he gets a chance at the varsity level.

I heard recently that they have quite a few seniors this year...

Now I am interested in how many they made?

Well said:thumb:

After looking at this bracket I will say Holmes vs. Ryle with nobody able to beat Holmes any way.

I was at the game and came away impressed overall with Holmes. Ryle had alot of good looks in the first half when all the starters were in (heard they shot 30% in first half):confused:For some reason mid way through the 3rd qtr when the game had just started to really get away from them, they mailed it in and played young guys the rest of the way. Last night Ryle was a shadow of what they were at the start of the season, big man Russel quitting, senior starter Porter out with the flu, and there biggest man inside Tate Nichols out for the season with a broken foot. Definitely not enough guns to compete with Holmes. I also thought Henderson was OK last night, great defense & drove to the hoop well, but his outside shot was off.

You're exactly right and I might even add talking to them during the season and letting the kid know where they stand by explaining why they are playing where they are playing, playing the number of minutes they are getting, ect.

I agree with this statement and agree in principle that juniors can play JV, but I state once again that if your going to keep a junior to play on the JV to get ready for next next year play them don't sit them.

I agree if that was decided at the beginning of the year and was conveyed to the athelete. What is happening in the situation I am speaking of is this particular coaching staff is buckling under the pressure to play the sophmores and the junior player is languishing on the varsity bench or getting little or no minutes on the JV because they are pressured or have decided to play the sophmores. They also have him playing a position he has never played before in his life, so how is that individual going to end up even having a chance to improve. This is very sad, but just another story of how some kids with talent slip through the cracks because of the circumstances. If this is what they had planned for this athlete this year they should have cut him so they didn't waste his time.

I agree totally... see my first post on this thread.

Yes, probably should have been cut so is not to waste the atheletes time, yet I know of a situation exactly like the one I described going on this year. To me quiting is not an option in this instance because you made a commitment and you stick it out. The coach does owe it to the athlete to let them know before the season starts what they are planning for him or her and keep them updated on their progression as the year goes on, but this is not happening in this instance.