Bluegrassrivals

Baseball season is just around the corner, what is everybody's thoughts on preseason rankings??

I wouldn't be surprised to see Corbin move into the drivers seat. They definitely have the talent.

Based on what everyone is supposed to have coming back, I would say 1. North, 2. Knox Central, 3. Corbin, 4. Middlesboro, 5. Clay Co., 6. Harlan Co.

Corbin's catcher is out for the year, and 3 seniors quit. Unexperienced players on the field but there is some talent in there.

1. Knox
2. North
3. Harlan Co.
Clay
South
Middlesboro
Whitley
No guarantee if Knox or North wins the 13th region though. Every team I listed 3rd has 1-2 stud pitchers that could knock out any team on any given day.

I think I'd put North first because the pitching and fielding is better..

I've heard Gambrel, Vannorstran, Barnes, Gibson, Roark are not playing cause they decided to not play, Taylor (their catcher) isn't playing due to knee injury in football, so unsure about the Redhounds, Whitley may sneak up on some.. Heard their pitching should be pretty good with Dylan, Caleb, and Tyler Downs on their staff and as we all know you have to be strong on the mound? I think the nod has to be given to North or Knox with a sleeper in Harlan County for the 13th. I just think there will be more parity in the Districts this year than most. South in the 50th will always be strong due to their numbers alone, but who knows???

Barbourville has a decent coach and ok talent and Middlesboro has the McCullough kid that can help you by himself, I wonder if Williamsburg or any of the other small schools will make any moves to better their records this year in their respective "All A" tournys

Baseballgeek Wrote:I think I'd put North first because the pitching and fielding is better..

Knox is a lot deeper at pitcher. North has one stud, and then a couple solid pitchers. Knox has at least 3 stud pitchers, and a ton of solid ones. But like I said, you can only use one, so who knows.

baller1989 Wrote:I've heard Gambrel, Vannorstran, Barnes, Gibson, Roark are not playing cause they decided to not play, Taylor (their catcher) isn't playing due to knee injury in football, so unsure about the Redhounds, Whitley may sneak up on some.. Heard their pitching should be pretty good with Dylan, Caleb, and Tyler Downs on their staff and as we all know you have to be strong on the mound? I think the nod has to be given to North or Knox with a sleeper in Harlan County for the 13th. I just think there will be more parity in the Districts this year than most. South in the 50th will always be strong due to their numbers alone, but who knows???

Barbourville has a decent coach and ok talent and Middlesboro has the McCullough kid that can help you by himself, I wonder if Williamsburg or any of the other small schools will make any moves to better their records this year in their respective "All A" tournys

I didn't know that many had quit. Sounds like the wheels may be falling off. Either way. The jr, so, and fr classes are stacked with talent. They may be a year away, but after this season the coaches seat will start to heat up a little of he doesn't produce. He has the best run of talent Corbin has had in a long time.

If anything, North Laurel has 2 studs. Griebel and Campobianco are studs, but they have plenty to choose from up there so don't count them out. It is Laurel County, so they seem to come up out of nowhere up there

Philpot has the hounds ready to compete. Still trying to dial them in but come tourney time the will be fine. Kids like him and parents do also. I wouldn't write them off just yet. Thanks coach and staff

I know some of the Corbin kids personally. The main reasons behind the seniors of Corbin not playing is the coach. The kids felt as if they were wasting time because the coaches did not give them a chance to succeed. Gambrel was a very large part at the plate for the Redhounds, and Vannorstran was a viable piece on the mound. Other seniors may not have contributed, however, the loss of Grant Gibson is huge. Gambrel, Vannorstran, and Gibson were in the starting lineups last year. It is time for a change in Corbin, if they ever want to see their baseball team produce.

Baseballmania Wrote:I know some of the Corbin kids personally. The main reasons behind the seniors of Corbin not playing is the coach. The kids felt as if they were wasting time because the coaches did not give them a chance to succeed. Gambrel was a very large part at the plate for the Redhounds, and Vannorstran was a viable piece on the mound. Other seniors may not have contributed, however, the loss of Grant Gibson is huge. Gambrel, Vannorstran, and Gibson were in the starting lineups last year. It is time for a change in Corbin, if they ever want to see their baseball team produce.

Didn't think they win district and make it to second round of region last year?

SW which is way down from previous years beat corbin 10-1 the other day.

Corbin will make it to region and then anything can happen.

ky playmaker Wrote:SW which is way down from previous years beat corbin 10-1 the other day.

Season opener, a lot of nerves come tourney time they will be hard to handle

With the pitching of other teams in the region and lack of coaching at Corbin, there Is no possible way to make a run. The southwestern game was sad, errors everywhere but Estep and kids getting picked off consecutively because a lack of attention from both coaches and players. I am so disappointed in this program, it's like the school no longer cares about the kids.

Yea season openers can be tough. Corbin def has some great talent and will be fine. Sw just beat west jess in west jess season opener too. Maybe sw can get thru the season playing all season openers. Lol

South laurel has looked pretty good to start the year Better than some expected this early.

Whitley beat Knox 6 to 5 last night at Knox.

Knox falls to 0-2 with a loss to MBoro as well

Middlesboro maybe better then everyone thinks.... Beat a good Corbin team tonight will see Thursday....

After a week or so, North is 1-2 with a loss at Harlan Co., Knox is 0-2 with home losses to Middlesboro and Whitley, Corbin is 1-2 with a home loss to Middlesboro, South is 1-3. Middlesboro has been impressive with their two good road wins, Whitley is off to a 2-0 start, so is Clay Co. Overall, looks like it will be a really wide open year in the region, will depend on who can line their pitching up the way they need it come regional tournament time.

Very early in season. Great win for HC over North , anytime you can get win over North it is a good win.

Baseballmania Wrote:I know some of the Corbin kids personally. The main reasons behind the seniors of Corbin not playing is the coach. The kids felt as if they were wasting time because the coaches did not give them a chance to succeed. Gambrel was a very large part at the plate for the Redhounds, and Vannorstran was a viable piece on the mound. Other seniors may not have contributed, however, the loss of Grant Gibson is huge. Gambrel, Vannorstran, and Gibson were in the starting lineups last year. It is time for a change in Corbin, if they ever want to see their baseball team produce.

Trashtalker Wrote:Middlesboro maybe better then everyone thinks.... Beat a good Corbin team tonight will see Thursday....

Corbin looks to be struggling with the loss of so many deciding not to play. Middlesboro will be a tough out when McCullough is on the mound. We will see what they can do when he is not. Whitley coming out somewhat stronger than expected. I look for Clay and South to be leading the pack. Knox has the talent, must get it playing together. Who knows going to be a fun year, don't count out the Black Bears.

Tyler McCullough for Middlesboro struck out 13 batters in the game against Corbin last night. They will undoubtedly lose something when he is not on the mound but they then have ht advantage of being having the best shortstop in the region.

The region seems to be much more wide open than in years past. There may be a handful of teams that are capable of taking the title this year.

Corbin loses to Middlesboro finishing with two hits the entire game. Starting to look live a very long, struggling year for the Redhounds

The boys are back out of the closet!!! Welcome back. Good start for the baseball season. Make sure to keep us up on all those stats.

NextGeneration Wrote:The boys are back out of the closet!!! Welcome back. Good start for the baseball season. Make sure to keep us up on all those stats.

I'm always around for Middlesboro baseball! I may fade away for football each year but that won't happen again as I don't plan to venture back to that forum anymore.

If I have any stats, I will continue to add them. I just got the numbers from McCullough from the Corbin paper.

How 'bout those Colonels??? They have a very strong pitching staff that should carry them along this season and will compete for the District Championship for sure. Middlesboro has a good coach and a very good ball player in the McCullough kid. He has been a very good baseball player since little league and should have a strong career in college.

North Laurel and Knox Central tonight! Should be an interesting game, KC off to a slow start, looking for them to get turned around.