[OffTheHook]

No better time than the present...lol.

What does everyone think. Pretty interestin season this year and next looks to be just as interesting. Pretty even field if I say so myself.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Paintsville and JC look to be the front runners. But, who knows. Wouldn't be the first time I may end up eatin crow...lol. Prolly wouldn't be the last...lol. Just my honest opinion.

[Ring'Em Up]

Go dawgs.

:biggrin:

[PaintsvilleTigerfan]

Paintsville all the way.

[OffTheHook]

Paintsville all the way.

Tigers gotta have a couple other guys step to the rubber next season to help VanHoose out. Should be an interesting season though through out. Especially with the new bats coming into play.
Gonna see a lot of decent pitchers do better. IMO, because of being able to go after hitters. Not, having to worry about old bats, that made average Joes look like studs. Gonna start seeing some REAL baseball strategies next season. A lot more small ball than normal. Coaching WILL come into play. Should be fun to watch though.

And yes I can wait! Cause it will be the last I get to see my son play High School Ball. Gonna be a tough one for me.

[PaintsvilleTigerfan]

Tigers gotta have a couple other guys step to the rubber next season to help VanHoose out. Should be an interesting season though through out. Especially with the new bats coming into play.
Gonna see a lot of decent pitchers do better. IMO, because of being able to go after hitters. Not, having to worry about old bats, that made average Joes look like studs. Gonna start seeing some REAL baseball strategies next season. A lot more small ball than normal. Coaching WILL come into play. Should be fun to watch though.

And yes I can wait! Cause it will be the last I get to see my son play High School Ball. Gonna be a tough one for me.

I think the small ball strategies will end up helping teams like Paintsville. Ik I have loved watching college ball this year with them. As for pitching who all will they have?

[OffTheHook]

I think the small ball strategies will end up helping teams like Paintsville. Ik I have loved watching college ball this year with them. As for pitching who all will they have?

They return:
Dustin VanHoose, Timmy Sublett, Colby Burchett, Josh Moore, Spence Taylor, Jordan Stewart....Could prolly see a few young arms next season as well. You never know.

[justafan62]

I agree with Hook, it will be an interesting season. I also feel that Paintsville will be strong. I think that was shown as the season progressed this year. The Seniors will have to step up and be the strong foundation for the younger players to build on. I can't wait for the season to start; though be it bittersweet for me as well as my son too is a Senior this year.

[PaintsvilleTigerfan]

They return:
Dustin VanHoose, Timmy Sublett, Colby Burchett, Josh Moore, Spence Taylor, Jordan Stewart....Could prolly see a few young arms next season as well. You never know.

That really a pretty good lookin bunch.

[OffTheHook]

That really a pretty good lookin bunch.

It is. This bunch has been together for a long time. Win or loose. I know they will leave it all on the field.

[3sportcrazy]

Looking forward to a great year of baseball in our 5 county area. Good players coming back. Lots of young ones too. Some awesome hitters out there.....Chase Blevins, Ethan Daniel, Colby Burchett...just to name a few. Can't wait to hear the bats in action once again !!!!:Clap:

[JCHS Alumni Eagle]

I think that if you look at tournament time last year and who lost who... You would have to say that Magoffin County has probably got the best pitching going into this year. Thats something that Im not sure I would have ever said, and really not sure that I am saying it now... But the 2 kids they threw in Districts looked as good as any kids I seen in Districts last year and they are both back. Every other team in the district lost there best.

[kai]

I agree about the pitching, and if they continue to improve Magoffin will be a factor for at least a couple of years. However, Johnson Central should still be the favorite with everyone else being more competitive. This year could be more about offense than pitching, which team can actually put runs on the board, historically always a problem central. Should be a fun and interesting year.

[black&gold#1]

jchs!!!

[baseballfan]

If you look back at tournment time and see what teams improved the most during the season and who is returning key players, then i would have to put Johnson Central and Magoffin County as the favorites! It should be a exciting come tournment time!

[OffTheHook]

If you look back at tournment time and see what teams improved the most during the season and who is returning key players, then i would have to put Johnson Central and Magoffin County as the favorites! It should be a exciting come tournment time!

OK...Let's look back. Paintsville beat JC 10-0 behind the bats of 6 returning starters this season. Then they lost in the LAST inning to LC, behind the arm or returning pitcher D. Vanhoose. Plus, factor in the new bats this season.

You can call it biased if you want. But, to quote you "If you look back at tournment time and see what teams improved the most during the season and who is returning key players".....I would have to give the edge to Paintsville. Am I saying that they will win the District...NO. That's why we play the game.


OH by the way ...It's spelled........tournament.

[baseballfan]

OK...Let's look back. Paintsville beat JC 10-0 behind the bats of 6 returning starters this season. Then they lost in the LAST inning to LC, behind the arm or returning pitcher D. Vanhoose. Plus, factor in the new bats this season.

You can call it biased if you want. But, to quote you "If you look back at tournment time and see what teams improved the most during the season and who is returning key players".....I would have to give the edge to Paintsville. Am I saying that they will win the District...NO. That's why we play the game.


OH by the way ...It's spelled........tournament.

Damn!!!! Grammar police!!! I can tell your passionate about your team, and I will admitt I did over look Paintsville a bit. It should be a fun year to watch!

But there is no need to be a smartass at the end! Mistakes happen and are over look!! That is why I will just over look your mistake where you meant to put OF* but instead typed "OR"!

[OffTheHook]

Damn!!!! Grammar police!!! I can tell your passionate about your team, and I will admitt I did over look Paintsville a bit. It should be a fun year to watch!

But there is no need to be a smartass at the end! Mistakes happen and are over look!! That is why I will just over look your mistake where you meant to put OF* but instead typed "OR"!

"Grammer Police".????....LOL. My mistake is common, especially when you have short fingers like I do. Just a misstruck key. You misspelled tournament TWICE...lol. And I wasn't being a "smartass", I was just helping you with the spelling of a word and pointing out some facts about Paintsville, that you seemed to have forgotten. But, seeing you want to call people names:

Grammer - the study of the way the sentences of a language are constructed; morphology and syntax.

Spelling - the forming of words from letters according to accepted usage : orthography. 2. a : a sequence of letters composing a word b : the way in which a word is spelled

:Thumbs:

[JCHS Alumni Eagle]

The fact of the matter is that pitching will be an issue for the Tigers. Jackson threw almost every big game that they had. If you want to get tech. about it Law. beat Magoffin 1-0 on a squeeze play. They lost 2 starters none of the importance Jackson played to the Paintsville team, and they return all their pitching. I think most don't want to admit that they should be pretty dang good because they have no history in baseball. But just looking at paper, they are my pick to win the 57th. I see Paintsville finishing 2nd. I also think that this will be a long year for JC they are going to have no pitching! Doesn't matter how many runs you score if you can't slow down another teams offense as well which I believe will be the JC issue this year.

[OffTheHook]

I never said MC wouldn't be any good next season. I KNOW THEY WILL. And anyone knows Jackson is a HUGE loss. BUT, the Tigers also return the rest of their staff. Paintsville also faced those MC pitchers and put up 18 runs in two games. Thing is...everyone knew that LC wasn't that great of a hitting team last season. Especially against lefties. VanHoose, who is a righty, almost had them as well. The thing that a lot of people are forgetting about, are the new bats. This will make a lot of average pitchers pretty good pitchers IMO and coaching will be a bigger factor also. So don't go and count JC out just yet. Coach Hall has had his team on the field and the weight room almost every day already.

[Bob Seger]

The fact of the matter is that pitching will be an issue for the Tigers. Jackson threw almost every big game that they had. If you want to get tech. about it Law. beat Magoffin 1-0 on a squeeze play. They lost 2 starters none of the importance Jackson played to the Paintsville team, and they return all their pitching. I think most don't want to admit that they should be pretty dang good because they have no history in baseball. But just looking at paper, they are my pick to win the 57th. I see Paintsville finishing 2nd. I also think that this will be a long year for JC they are going to have no pitching! Doesn't matter how many runs you score if you can't slow down another teams offense as well which I believe will be the JC issue this year.

I dont know how the health of JC's pitchers will be this coming year, so I dont know that one can predict that just yet. IF last years pitcher's arms are healthy they will have what I think is the best staff in the region. Going into the district Meek, Kestner, Ward, and Sanor were all hurt and could not throw. Kestner tried but just wasn't really able to go. I am not sure of the status of Sanor, but if he is back at least to 90%, you will see the region's best pitcher along with Hamilton. Granted Kestner is now gone, but all of the others are pretty good pitchers when healthy. Pitching has always been JC's strong point, it's never been their hitting or defense. They do have some good young ones coming up. Perhaps they can mature somewhat between now and next May and can fill the void if the returners are still on the DL. I think there might be a Big surprise or two, or three that you may not be aware of. Anyways I think they will be a little better than what you may be giving them credit for, especially considering they should be a pretty good hitting team this year to go along with it..

[JCHS Alumni Eagle]

I agree with this, however, I still don't see JC being what they have been in the past. I also know Shawn has had his kids on the field and in the weight room. I also know that Feltner and Dials has as well. And I agree that Paintsville did put up runs on MC's young pitchers last year. But I seen those kids from when we played them early in the year and then when they played later in the year. They went through a growing phase and matured as players in my opinion. Sometimes, when its young kids, and you have to remember all of MC's pitchers were sophomores it takes a little time for things to click and I think that it did. You also got to believe that they are getting some pretty good instruction in terms of pitching from over there now. They have had good pitching and it has improved every year since Dials made it to that program.

[OffTheHook]

^I agree with you. Dials has done a fine job. Given the situation he has to deal with at MC.

Quick question though. I haven't had any time to research it or even ask about it. How was the rule governing baseball practices edited so that schools/coaches can practice at this time of the year?

[JCHS Alumni Eagle]

Give me a few... Ill make a call and see if I can get it explained.

[JCHS Alumni Eagle]

Its my understanding that Sanor will not be able to pitch any more unless he has surgery. It also seems like any time Meeks is asked to pitch he ends up with a nagging case tendonitis... As far as relying on young kids to come in and make a difference, I don't like to do it. Unless they are special it usually takes a year or 2 of experience to compete well in the 57th.

[JCHS Alumni Eagle]

Ok, practice can be direct instruction, and to my understanding only during the dead period in the summer can it not occur. However, it is at the approval of the high school principal. One school can practice while another school may not be able to depending on what that schools admin decides. The way it was described they can play games etc, in the fall but they can't use high school uniforms or equipment.

[Bob Seger]

Its my understanding that Sanor will not be able to pitch any more unless he has surgery. It also seems like any time Meeks is asked to pitch he ends up with a nagging case tendonitis... As far as relying on young kids to come in and make a difference, I don't like to do it. Unless they are special it usually takes a year or 2 of experience to compete well in the 57th.

Yeah, I'm kinda aware of how long it takes. Kinda been there, done that .......a couple of times....lol

Like I said you may be a little surprised. You would have had to see some of the summer games against (57th comperable) competition from 3 of them to know where I'm coming from. It may be towards the latter part of the season, but non the less. You heard it here first.:biggrin:


As far as Sanor, I am not 100% sure on his prognosis as I dont think that the straight has ever actually been publicly or even privately disclosed, but you may very well be correct.

[JackRabbitSlim]

The 57th will be great to watch this year! It's going to be great to see just what kind of a coach Feltner really is? He's definetely had the talent and he's done good with it, but now the talent has slowed down and all of a sudden it comes down to preparation. I think that will be the difference this year? I think there are 4 teams with a shot at district, obviously the 3 studs and then you'll have your wild card in there. I think whoever the wild card ends up being will upset one of the 3, and in the end JC will come out with another district and another regional title. The reason I say that is because of consistency. His players know exactly what their walking into when they come up to the high school, which makes the transition much easier. He has a lot of focus on defense and pitching, which everyone knows is what wins championships. He also is the best small ball coach in the district, possibly the region, and that will put JC over the edge, no question in my mind.

I will say this though............Painstville is still in the honeymoon phase with their new coach, and they could very easily, by the end of the year, start buying into that program, catch fire, and make a good run thru the region? I think it will most likely stop once they get to the semi-finals of region, and that is based off of their pitching staff not being dominant enough to close out a tournament?

[JCHS Alumni Eagle]

Agreed... What I like about this season is how they will be seeding. I think that this is going to probably set things up for an interesting season in the 57th.

[JCHS Alumni Eagle]

I also believe that Feltner is a good coach. To many people believe that good talent means wins. It seems like more often then not, extremely special talent is harder to coach. The kids have more pressure on them and so do the coachs. He has done a great job at LC, and we all must remember talent is just that talent and it still has to be developed and Travis has done a great job of that the past few years.

[OffTheHook]

In the recent months I have spoke to many former and present D1, JUCO & NAIA players. The topic was the new bats. They ALL agree that it is a whole new world with them. Now, if it made such a drastic change at those levels. What do you think it is going to do at the High School Level?

You won't need a dominating pitcher that blows the ball by everyone next season. All though it is always nice to have one....lol. But, if you have a 3 to 4 man rotation that can consistantly throw strikes and be pretty decent at hitting his spots. Then, IMO, you will have a successful team. This is also going to bring in another big factor....DEFENSE! Going to have to be strong up the middle and everyone is going to have to know where they are going on EVERY play. IMO...most teams will be LUCKY to see a long ball next season. Mark my words,...Those shots that little junior was cranking of the wall last season, won't be anything but a routine fly ball this season.
As far as "honeymoon phase" at Paintsville....this group of boys have played together since the ball was placed on a tee for them. They have ALL also played for and against Coach for MANY years. They ALL know him and know what he expects and he the same of them. The honeeymoon is over. It's all buisness now