Park1221

I agree; but I firmly believe Bertke would have finished the game out. My charts had him at 80 pitches: 50 strikes and 30 balls. Pretty awesome for a sophomore pitcher facing a strong senior laden Holy Cross team. Beechwood brought in Smith for the 7th inner for the 8th, 9th, amd 10th hitter. I'll agree he earned a save;but I doubt he threw much harder than Bertke!

So are you second guessing the coaches for bringing a kid that earned a save in a 1 run ballgame ?

If Bertke had issued a walk to the first batter then a double that tied the game would you have been the guy to say they kept him in too long? You doubt Smith "threw much harder than Bertke"...is that a bad thing?

I heard Alphin fired a 1 hitter. That's impressive, considering Male may be the best hitting team in the 7th.

Should be lots of offense from both teams.

Another big win for the X:clap:

Not really a "big win", but considering it took Ballard 2 extra innings to beat J'town by 2 runs X will put it in the win columm.

Gott is injured, and so is Jackson. The Creek has been "Dammed"

Ouch...hope those guys get healthy.

Great pitching performance from Craig Pearcy for Manual. After giving up 3 in the first he kept X off balance the rest of the night with off speed and well located fastballs. Manual hit the ball well as a team, Harness delivered a couple key hits. The tiebreaker ends in a tie with each team giving up 10 apiece. X needs Ferch, Pehlham and Beavin to get healthy for next weeks doubleheader against Male.

Nate Grayson was the story in this one going the distance for X. Pitched out of a couple bases loaded jams. X took advantage of a couple Manual errors.

I think they will get both games in. I'm hearing Doering (2-1 lifetime against X) will not pitch because he threw 6 against Southern on Saturday?? If true maybe I don't understand how the district tournament is going to be seeded. I thouught X, Male and Manual would all be trying to win the regular season district in order to get the first round bye and an automatic bid to Region.

I would say Cov Cath and Western Hills have best chance to remain undefeated over the next three games.

From what I found on the scoreboard, there are eight teams still undefeated. I have included the region, the undefeated team and their next two or three games. It appears the undefeated teams will dwindle down to 1 or 2 in the next week or so. Who is the best out of the current undefeated teams? Will any of these teams make much of an impact in the post season? When is the last time, if ever, a team finished undefeated in Kentucky?

 

Region 1: Paducah Tilghman (Lone Oak, UHA, Murray)

Region 7: Male (Eastern, Ballard, Henry Clay)

Region 9: Covington Catholic (Conner, Boone, Cooper)

Region 10: Bourbon County (Grant, Harrison)

Region 11: Franklin County (Frankfort, Woodford County, Western Hills)

Region 11: Lexington Catholic (Lexington Christian, Estill County, Trinity)

Region 11: Western Hills (Woodford County, Frankfort, Franklin County)

Region 13: Bell County (Out of State Teams)

 

I could see Paducah Tilghman losing to Lone Oak or Murray. Male can lose any of their next three games. Boone County can definitely beat Covington Catholic. I predict Harrison will take care of Bourbon County. Either Franklin County or Western Hills will end the week with a loss (they play each other). Lexington Catholic will have tough games with Lexington Christian and Trinity. Not sure about Bell County.

 

Should be an interesting week for the undefeated teams. It seems we'll have many fewer undefeated teams to talk about next week.

This twilight twinbill starts at 5pm at Tiger Park. If either team gets swept it likely means no bye in district tournament and a tough first round game to advance out of district.

That is surprising that they both pitched. Butler losing 11-1 to Fern Creek makes their win over Bullitt East even more surprising. Did McGrath pitch for Butler in this game? Giving up ten runs doesn't sound like he's keeping too many batters off balance. I understand what you mean though. What year is McGrath? I haven't heard of him or seen him pitch. Committed to any college yet?

McGrath is a junior lefty...He played with Alphin last year on a summer team that played in a tournament in Danville.

I absolutely agree with this. Coaching is a special art and not everyone can be successful at it. It takes more than a knowledge of the game. You have to know how to impart that knowledge to 16/17/18-year of kids and then to be able to motivate those kids to reach their individual potential, as well as the team's potential. There are simply some coaches - even well meaning coaches - that lack ability in one of these areas (knowledge, teaching ability, motivation).

Very true...Bill Miller at PRP is pretty successful. If you ever watch him during a game, he might say 2 words to his players during the game. I think he tries to instill confidence in his players through proper preperation. Come game time, he lets his players play. PRP players are always enthusiastic during the game and seem to enjoy the game. Baseball is a game of preparation and confidence. It seems that coaches that master those two factors are very successful.

Along with Roenker (Holy Cross) I can't think of a better junior pitcher in NKY than Donovan. He was really awesome today against a top team in Kentucky. Keep it up young man, lots of innings to throw yet this year.

Did Trinity throw a junior pitcher? I've heard they have a pretty good one in Corey Littrell.

Yes, ESPN dictated that Louisville's game -vs- Pitt was to be Friday night, they get first right of refusal.

 

 

 

I am not giving an official answer, but will give it my best assumption. The Trinity/X weekend hosts the class that is celebrating their 50th reunion. A lot of these great men come in from out of town, and leave on Sunday, I am sure that came into play.

Makes sense, thanks.

I like Saturday better than Sunday....but I'm not following how the reunion presented a conflict for Sunday.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/apr/05/california-team-wins-classic/

Above is an article from the local paper about Arlington's loss to Yucaipa in the championship. Arlington played without their seniors who attended prom. They started a freshman pitcher who took the loss. X ran into this same situation with Dyersburg in their last game. I'm sure the California team was a little disappointed to fly to Memphis, make the championship and learn they were facing essentially Arlington's second team.

Does Riddle and some of his Western Hills teammates play for the Grizzlies in the summer? If so, they were a talented team and I'm not totally shocked they won...but I wouldn't have predicted they would beat PRP. I'm assuming Gibson and Harper didn't pitch for Ridge. I did have questions about the depth of PRP's pitching, but I'm sure their young guys will get better as the season progresses.

Brent Sweeney was outstanding on the mound and at the plate for the Tigers. He led off with a solo shot to center to start the game. Scheler and Brutscher delivered big hits. Uncharacteristic Bullitt errors opened up the margin of victory. Alphin of Bullitt did return the favor to Sweeney with a solo shot of his own in the 6th. Matt Spalding came in relief in the 6th and closed the game. Great win against a very talented opponent. This team may not be overrated after all.

Luke Maile is a terrific player and is a top candidate for Mr. Baseball. That being said it is ridiculous to think that if he played in the 11 region or the 7th region for that matter that his numbers would not be lower. I do object to the use of the word "good" in his description but he would be one of several "great" players that play in those regions. Those regions produce many D1 players every year.

I agree the 11th is the best region, 7th might be better than 9th year in and out, but Maile is the real deal. He would be POY in any region in the state IMO. Does it really matter that his batting average might be 10 or 20 points lower when he hits .470? Maybe he hits upper 80 and 90 mph pitching better than the mid 70 and low 80 stuff he sees on a regular basis in the 9th.

Thoughts/Predictions?

Eastern 4 Male 1

Eastern 4 PRP 3 (10 innings)

Why on earth would he anger some of his school's biggest supporters when the Trinity/St. X game has been scheduled for months. I'm sure ESPN could have found another Friday for the Pitt/U of L game.

 

I see the interest in U of L on ESPN is waning without any Tuesday, Thursday featured games. The Big East has only had several months to schedule their season games with ESPN. The SEC schedule was out in December.

 

35,000-40,000 folks attend this clash. U of L does keep the concessions, all parking and the rent for the stadium. I'm sure Jurich will blame the Big East and the Big East will put it on ESPN. How difficult is it to black out October 2? U of L could have honored the contract they inked in good faith with the high schools.

I agree, this coming from a UL fan. X and T have been on Friday nights ever since I can rembmeber going back to the mid 70's. Its almost sacrilege to not play THE GAME on Friday night. Now I have no excuse to leave work early on Friday(unless they move the frosh or jv game to Friday). Now the pep rally at 2 seems a little premature for the students, get fired up and wait 30 hours for kickoff?? I don't like it.

This may sound like sandbagging, but X at #4 is based purely on what they accomplished last year and not on what they have returning. Just in Metro Louisville I would rank Bullit East, PRP, Eastern, Manual and Trinity ahead of them. X lost 6 position starters and the top three pitchers off last year's squad. I'll be happy if they make it out of district.

Clay County and Maysville getting a 1st place vote?

Something wrong there...

Now if Maysville got a vote that's funny--they closed about 15 years ago!

Wow, What a Fan. You better check your resources before you start talking about these sophmores. One is a catcher and the other, an infielder. Yes, the catchers father is a freshman coach. The other sophomore is good enough to start either SS or 2nd. Coach Tompkins decisions may be questionable, but as he has always stated, life if not fair.

If we're talking about Ramser© and Armstrong(SS/2B) then "What a fan" owes both a big apology....Both have very good arms, defensive skills and bats.