[baseball1974]

I am very curious about the 11th region this season? There have been a several coaching coaches that have occurred since last year, and I'm wondering how much that could affect the region as a whole?

One of the best coaches in the state, Gene Combs, has just started in the 11th region and he is very well-known for getting average teams to compete at a high level. I know they had several 8th graders, freshman, and sophomores that made up the majority of their team, and I have heard he has a few descent pitchers and a good ace that could beat anyone on a given day. He always puts together a great staff as well. I'm interested to see the turnaround at southern this year?

Clary has left East Jessamine for Sayre and Sayre has several good players and were very young as well.

Woodford struggled since getting a new coach last year but they were also very young and I have heard these kids have started buying in to each other and an overall goal? Woodford has been one of the biggest drops I've seen at the high school level since their state title a couple years ago.

Western Hills also has a new coach. It appears they took a chance on a kid with not a lot of experience and hopefully he figures it out quick or the 11th region will chew him up and spit him out. I'm anxious to see that team as well?

Bryan Station was down and have a lot of question marks as well and so does Frankfort and Franklin County.

With all the changes being made could it possibly open up a situation where a sleeper team could run away with it this year, or are the normal powers just too strong?

[Pupaw]

Sayre is my sleeper team in the 42nd District. Clary is a heck of a coach and he'll get the most out of his young team (they have some very good young talent). As long as he doesn't run into problems like he's had before, I look for Sayre to make some noise in their district. It also helps that the rest of the district is down compared to their standards though. As for Bryan Station it's tough to count them out as long as Eddie Brooks is in the coaches box. IMO he's a top 3 or 4 coach in the state.

But as usual I think the winner of the region will come out of the 42nd. Those teams will be absolutely loaded yet again.

[baseball1974]

Sayre is my sleeper team in the 42nd District. Clary is a heck of a coach and he'll get the most out of his young team (they have some very good young talent). As long as he doesn't run into problems like he's had before, I look for Sayre to make some noise in their district. It also helps that the rest of the district is down compared to their standards though. As for Bryan Station it's tough to count them out as long as Eddie Brooks is in the coaches box. IMO he's a top 3 or 4 coach in the state.

But as usual I think the winner of the region will come out of the 42nd. Those teams will be absolutely loaded yet again.

Sayre has more talent than they've had in a really long time. I've never been real impressed with how Clary conducts his business, but I do look for them to have a good year.

I've always wondered about the good coaches in eastern KY and how well they'd do if they were in a larger area? I think Gene Combs is going to be a good Ginny pig for that experiment at Southern. With the exception of maybe Model and maybe one other school, he's at one of the worst places to be in the 11th region. He's always been known for getting average teams to play up to a higher level, but Southern will be a huge challenge. I do know their pitching staff is descent and they have a #1 that can compete against anyone's #1 in the region. I heard he is in the process of putting together a good coaching staff as well. I'm anxious to see how quickly of a turnaround they'll have if any?

I can't imagine the 42nd winning this year? Its always competitive, but the winner last year was a .500 Henry Clay team that lost a lot to graduation. Scott County also was loaded with seniors as well. Bryan Station was 8 games under .500 and even though they didn't have as many seniors as the other two, they had did have quite a few. Sayre put up a 21-9 record with a very young team that is all coming back. I think this will be a unique season in the 11th region and very possible for a sleeper team that can get hot at the right time and win it.

However, Tates Creek and Madison Central will be the overwhelming favorites. Creek lost a couple but Central brings back their whole squad that lost by a run the finals to Tates Creek. TC also has several young talented kids that can fill any spot that was lost. Even though I'd like to see a sleeper team win it, it will be extremely difficult for anybody to knock these two teams off. I think Central wins it and ends up in the state championship game this year as well.

[Pupaw]

I meant to type 43rd my apologies. You're right about Coach Combs, he's a great baseball mind. He's got his hands full but we'll see where it goes. I can guarantee that he'll get the most out of the kids he has available.
A friend of mine got the job at Model, I'm hoping he has success but similar to Combs he'll have his hands full, especially since it's his first head coaching job in his career.
I look for Tates Creek or Madison Central to win the region as well. As long as Dom is there they will absolutely tear the cover off the ball, but can they get over the hump and win a state championship?? Year in and year out I would go as far to say that they have the most talented lineup top to bottom in Lexington, but can never get that monkey off their back. Even when Trevor Gott was near untouchable they still got beat by Western Hills like 8-7 or something in the first round of the Region (granted they had JT Riddle but still).

[baseball1974]

I meant to type 43rd my apologies. You're right about Coach Combs, he's a great baseball mind. He's got his hands full but we'll see where it goes. I can guarantee that he'll get the most out of the kids he has available.
A friend of mine got the job at Model, I'm hoping he has success but similar to Combs he'll have his hands full, especially since it's his first head coaching job in his career.
I look for Tates Creek or Madison Central to win the region as well. As long as Dom is there they will absolutely tear the cover off the ball, but can they get over the hump and win a state championship?? Year in and year out I would go as far to say that they have the most talented lineup top to bottom in Lexington, but can never get that monkey off their back. Even when Trevor Gott was near untouchable they still got beat by Western Hills like 8-7 or something in the first round of the Region (granted they had JT Riddle but still).

Model is an interesting position because you never know how much support you'll get from administration? They don't have their own field anymore and there are no plans to change that. They will sharing EKU's field, which is good and bad. They'll be able to get a lot better caliber teams in there to play them with them playing on a division 1 field.

[baseballdude0217]

I believe Lexington Catholic and Tates Creek are definitely the favorites in the 11th, but I will give LC the edge. LexCath returns 8 starters from last years team and has a nice pitcher in Ethington, who played for Midland this summer. They also bring back a really nice looking LHP Carroll who had TJ last season. They have a big kid from FL that came in that played this fall for KBC and really swung it well.

TC brings back a nice core of guys like Fucci, Shelby, etc. but they did lose a lot of pitching. LCA would be a darkhorse with a really nice RHP names Schact (sp?).