Trey Stapelton picks up the win for Pburg, as he pitched a complete game.
Blackcats scored 3 runs each off of Hamilton & Maynard of Pikeville.
Congrats Blackcats on repeating as 15th All A champs!
Congratulations to Prestonsburg. They did what they do and were not stopped.
Pikeville will not win many games like this. Something needs to be changed offensively. The best bats need to get the most ABs.
Just a couple notches below the previous couple of years in every facet. The ideal situation would include a drastic change in approach at the plate and a tremendous improvement in defense and the understanding of the game. It just seems to be lacking and it all goes together. Not knowing the situation can lead to poor approach at the plate and being out of position in the field.
I really want to see the team continue to improve and be ready for the Regional Tournament. That is all that really matters now! Pick it up and let's go get it!
Congrats to Coach Simpkins!
Congrats to the Blackcats!
An ability to string together some timely hitting/small ball tactics combined with some VERY uncharacteristic errors from Pikeville to produce 3 runs off Hamilton and 3 runs off Maynard. Prestonsburg is a very scrappy team...
Both teams struggled with the mountain that was the Shelby Valley pitching mound. Tallest mound I believe I have ever seen.
Pikeville will rebound and improve. No worries about that.
Prestonsburg will get better also. Much room for improvement in this still young Blackcat squad.
Good luck to both teams for the remainder of the year, and good luck in the All "A" Tourney, Blackcats.
Panther Thunder Wrote:Congratulations to Prestonsburg. They did what they do and were not stopped.
Pikeville will not win many games like this. Something needs to be changed offensively. The best bats need to get the most ABs.
Just a couple notches below the previous couple of years in every facet. The ideal situation would include a drastic change in approach at the plate and a tremendous improvement in defense and the understanding of the game. It just seems to be lacking and it all goes together. Not knowing the situation can lead to poor approach at the plate and being out of position in the field.
I really want to see the team continue to improve and be ready for the Regional Tournament. That is all that really matters now! Pick it up and let's go get it!
Not enough time to teach understanding, prolly not enough time to teach fundamentals on D, this team will ride Pitching when there are no tough plays to make and struggle otherwise. What can be done is fix the batting order as you said and hope everything else falls into place.
Congrats Pburg!
Commanche Wrote:Not enough time to teach understanding, prolly not enough time to teach fundamentals on D, this team will ride Pitching when there are no tough plays to make and struggle otherwise. What can be done is fix the batting order as you said and hope everything else falls into place.
Congrats Pburg!
is pikeville's coach in some hot water? he has the best pitcher in the region returning from last year and he still gets beat in big games. last year he did against lawrence county. i believe it was a 5 run game late and lost with his ace. this year losing to prestonsburg again with his ace. all i hear about pikeville's coach is how much people do not like his coaching. is what i hear only the minority speaking?
Congrats Blackcats back-to-back Champions.
Great day of baseball. Not a fan of playing the semis and finals on the same day. I know they do this in basketball but those kids have about 6 hours to go back to the rooms and relax. Prestonsburg was there from 1:00 to 10:45, played 14 innings of baseball and sat thru another 6 innings (Pikeville vs. Shelby Valley). Great coaching job by Simpkins in both games. Several substitutions in the Magoffin game (played 14 kids) and pulled it out in the top of the 7th. The defense stepped up in the Pikeville game behind an outstanding pitching performance by Stapleton. Clean up the errors and P-burg is going to be hard to beat.
Congrats Coach Simpkins and the Blackcats.
lchsalumnus Wrote:is pikeville's coach in some hot water? he has the best pitcher in the region returning from last year and he still gets beat in big games. last year he did against lawrence county. i believe it was a 5 run game late and lost with his ace. this year losing to prestonsburg again with his ace. all i hear about pikeville's coach is how much people do not like his coaching. is what i hear only the minority speaking?
I am not big on the whole "FIRE ______" whoever game that a lot of people like to play. I think that there is some responsibility that lies on the staff, as is always, but also a lot of responsibility lies at the feet of the players and their families. Baseball is not a Feb-May game. If you want to excel, it has to be Feb-Sep at least, and ideally into Nov with games and still in the cage in the winter. A lot of these guys did not prepare for the high school level like the previous groups from '04-'05 and '10-'11 did. And you can see it play out on the field.
Like Comanche said, realistically, there is only so much that can be done at this point to help this club out. IMO, it would be to move Miller, Hamilton, and Maynard to the top of the order. I get what the staff is looking for in a #1 and #2 hitter, but really this team doesn't have anybody that really embodies those roles well enough for it to outweigh the benefit of just moving your best bats up. It is not a slight to those guys, but I believe the team would benefit the most with those guys receiving more at bats. It gives the team a better chance of stringing something together.
The most valuable things in baseball are outs. When you have a lower probability of making an out in the first three batters (opposed to the higher probability now), the odds are you will score more runs. It is just simple math. Right now it seems too many times, Miller, Maynard, and Hamilton come up in an undesirable situation (at least one out, many times two). Give those guys 3 outs to work with and knock the ball around and then with runners ON BASE, give the bottom part of the lineup at bats. Allow them to maximize their average. If a guy hits .275 with a couple of RBI's every other game it is not a huge issue for this team. It just needs to be able to maximize the potential for scoring runs, and IMO, it is not doing so right now. It is not something I am shy about, if anyone asked me personally I would tell them the same thing. I have no agenda, I just want to see this team win baseball games!
Panther Thunder Wrote:I am not big on the whole "FIRE ______" whoever game that a lot of people like to play. I think that there is some responsibility that lies on the staff, as is always, but also a lot of responsibility lies at the feet of the players and their families. Baseball is not a Feb-May game. If you want to excel, it has to be Feb-Sep at least, and ideally into Nov with games and still in the cage in the winter. A lot of these guys did not prepare for the high school level like the previous groups from '04-'05 and '10-'11 did. And you can see it play out on the field.
Like Comanche said, realistically, there is only so much that can be done at this point to help this club out. IMO, it would be to move Miller, Hamilton, and Maynard to the top of the order. I get what the staff is looking for in a #1 and #2 hitter, but really this team doesn't have anybody that really embodies those roles well enough for it to outweigh the benefit of just moving your best bats up. It is not a slight to those guys, but I believe the team would benefit the most with those guys receiving more at bats. It gives the team a better chance of stringing something together.
The most valuable things in baseball are outs. When you have a lower probability of making an out in the first three batters (opposed to the higher probability now), the odds are you will score more runs. It is just simple math. Right now it seems too many times, Miller, Maynard, and Hamilton come up in an undesirable situation (at least one out, many times two). Give those guys 3 outs to work with and knock the ball around and then with runners ON BASE, give the bottom part of the lineup at bats. Allow them to maximize their average. If a guy hits .275 with a couple of RBI's every other game it is not a huge issue for this team. It just needs to be able to maximize the potential for scoring runs, and IMO, it is not doing so right now. It is not something I am shy about, if anyone asked me personally I would tell them the same thing. I have no agenda, I just want to see this team win baseball games!
why doesn't pikeville do anything in the fall? i know for a fact that lchs goes at it all year long. now that the rule has changed the coaches are going to be spending 11 1/2 months with the players. tons of summer and fall games, then winter workouts, and the back out for spring season. is pikeville's lack of summer/fall games on the head coach's shoulders or do the players just not show any interest in doing it? i honestly have no clue other than hearing some whispers of unpleasantry about the coach.
lchsalumnus Wrote:why doesn't pikeville do anything in the fall? i know for a fact that lchs goes at it all year long. now that the rule has changed the coaches are going to be spending 11 1/2 months with the players. tons of summer and fall games, then winter workouts, and the back out for spring season. is pikeville's lack of summer/fall games on the head coach's shoulders or do the players just not show any interest in doing it? i honestly have no clue other than hearing some whispers of unpleasantry about the coach.
Honestly, I don't believe the school does a lot in terms of off-season play. BUT, that is not an excuse. There are plenty of organizations through out the state and it is not that hard to start up a team as I know of at least three groups that played in Pikeville for over 5 years. That is the lack of interest from the players. If you really want to play in the off season, you can play.
I do think PHS would benefit from a school affiliated summer/fall organization now that the rules have changed. I think softball is about to start one.
in my opinion, there are 4 players on pikeville that ive seen hit the ball most thus far. Maynard, Hamilton, and Ward are your 3 dependable contact hitters, and Miller is the big stick. Its going to take more than the 4 returning starters to win ball games. The 3 and 4 hitters always get to the plate with 2 outs because of a weak lead off and 2 spot. If 3 of these 4 players are seniors, whats in store for phs after this season for a couple of years?
If i were coaching, Id stick Maynard in leadoff and move Hamilton to the 3 spot. in my own holding opinion.
Congrats to Pburg for their win and represent the 15th well!
Congrats Blackcats! The future looks bright!! I agree that there is much room for improvement but I don't doubt that they will. Up until Saturday they had played some pretty clean baseball for this early in the season. The Magoffin game was IMO their worst this season by far. One error turned to two and then as we've all seen happen, it snowballed and all of a sudden they've given up a 5 run lead and in a fight. With that said though, I didn't doubt for a minute that they would win the game. Apparently, Coach Simpkins didn't either as he continued to stay deep in his pitching order. I look for the errors to be cleaned up with a little more field time, and with a couple changes made in the bottom part of the lineup, this team will be tough, and a legitimate threat to take the region 15 title this season. again...IMO
By the way, PT. What did you mean by: they did what they do. Really not trying to stir anything up. Just curious what you meant.
606sportsfan Wrote:By the way, PT. What did you mean by: they did what they do. Really not trying to stir anything up. Just curious what you meant.
They put the ball in play, stole bases, played small ball, capitalized on errors.
They gave their offense the best chance to maximize their run volume. Being aggressive and putting pressure on the defense is their key and it worked out well.
One of the most underrated things in baseball, IMO, is PUTTING THE BALL IN PLAY. It gives you a chance. It makes the defense make a play and sometimes you bloop one in and cause havoc. But striking out 7-10 times is just too easy for a defense. I do not have statistics, but I bet you $$$ that a team that avergaes lower K/7 innings will often have a better W/L percentage and a higher volume of runs. Prestonsburg did a pretty good job of this in this game.
Congrats P-burg on the win. Have to agree with Pt. that the Panthers are only a couple of notches away from being as good as the last couple of yrs. teams. It seems as though some batting order adjustments and a critique or two here and there may be whats needed. This team seems close to be doing what it needs to do, but apparantly not there yet,imho.
I have to question the extended season / additional playing period deal. I know I'm an old guy and "out of touch" with today's methods, but when I was in school, it was nothing for a kid to play all three sports. But everything has become so specialized and "year round" now that it really takes away from small schools' ability to challenge against bigger schools in all sports. For example, no Spring Football Practice for Pikeville this year because so many of their players are involved in other sports. Pikeville has always been good in baseball, dating back to my high school days in the early `80's. Fundamentals are taught at an early age. Yes, the player must continue to work and improve, but by the time they walk out on the high school field, they should have most of that down. Too late to learn by that time. Just tired of all the AAU stuff requiring players to pick one sport and play it constantly.
Live Maroon Wrote:I have to question the extended season / additional playing period deal. I know I'm an old guy and "out of touch" with today's methods, but when I was in school, it was nothing for a kid to play all three sports. But everything has become so specialized and "year round" now that it really takes away from small schools' ability to challenge against bigger schools in all sports. For example, no Spring Football Practice for Pikeville this year because so many of their players are involved in other sports. Pikeville has always been good in baseball, dating back to my high school days in the early `80's. Fundamentals are taught at an early age. Yes, the player must continue to work and improve, but by the time they walk out on the high school field, they should have most of that down. Too late to learn by that time. Just tired of all the AAU stuff requiring players to pick one sport and play it constantly.
It is just the reality. If you want to compete against those bigger schools, you must do what they do. Shelby Valley would have never won the State Title without AAU. Pikeville would have never made a run to the Final Four without Summer/Fall Baseball. Lawrence County could not have finished runner up without it. If you look at the more successful teams in baseball or basketball, they have players that play year round.
This does not mean you cannot play all sports. Taylor Ratliff played baseball through out the summer and fall while still playing basketball and football. It can be done, granted, it probably is more taxing on the player. It can be done though. It does place smaller schools at a disadvantage. I encourage all of the kids I talk to to play all sports, but I also advise them to work on the one they love year round. It all boils down to winning, and at a place like PHS, you must win or people lose jobs.
Panther Thunder Wrote:It is just the reality. If you want to compete against those bigger schools, you must do what they do. Shelby Valley would have never won the State Title without AAU. Pikeville would have never made a run to the Final Four without Summer/Fall Baseball. Lawrence County could not have finished runner up without it. If you look at the more successful teams in baseball or basketball, they have players that play year round.
This does not mean you cannot play all sports. Taylor Ratliff played baseball through out the summer and fall while still playing basketball and football. It can be done, granted, it probably is more taxing on the player. It can be done though. It does place smaller schools at a disadvantage. I encourage all of the kids I talk to to play all sports, but I also advise them to work on the one they love year round. It all boils down to winning, and at a place like PHS, you must win or people lose jobs.
Great points...on both sides of the argument. I too have long lamented the "year round" mentality of each sport as it is on the high school level now. At Prestonsburg, football is literally a 365 sport, with weights and conditioning being held on either a formal or informal level all year (except during dead periods). Now, at Prestonsburg, the best athletes have always leaned towards football, at the expense of other sports. With the recent success of the baseball program, we are seeing some cross-over, and hopefully we can begin to see long term improvement in the baseball and basketball programs.
But it begs the question: How much is too much for a developing athlete? Theoretically, if you have a superior athlete who is a 3-sport star (like Ratliff from Pikeville, or Grant Anderson from Prestonsburg), sports literally consumes their lives. Speaking as a parent of 4 kids, all of whom play sports, it can be nearly impossible to try to schedule a vacation, or heck...even a long weekend, just to try to relax.
But, as PT said, (and to quote "The Godfather"), this is the life they have chosen. If one wants to succeed in competitive sports, they must either just be ridiculously more talented than their opponents OR outwork, outtrain, outhustle their opponents, which means you must train year round.
Such is life in high school sports today, and it is greatly magnified on the small school level.
This has been an enjoyable thread to read and I agree with everything that you guys have touched on.