[Polka]

Yes, he was touched. With bloops and handle shots. Hamilton and Maynard were rocked with line drives. But the LC offense is bad, according to everyone prior to the game last night. I mean they only beat Magoffin 1-0 and Belfry 1-0. Last night was a fluke...:eyeroll:

Well I do give LC credit. I dont know what Magoffin has in pitching but I know that Belfry's Tyler Williams pitched a great game with some good defense. I congratulate LC and hope they can win it all. Their pitching below Shepperd is underrated but I look for them to win a game or 2 down at state. Hopefully their bats heat up also.

[LC_Dawgs]

to be honest if the LC bats heat up and hit like they did the other night 1-9 then this mountain team with be a very tough out in the state tournament this year

[Polka]

Honestly I'd like to see it happen. It would be better for the 15th Region.

[mr.charlie hustle]

LOL Good one! Ya got me on that one. Like I said, it's all in fun as long as no one crosses lines. I sincerely wish LC well this week.

I repect your opinion.

[mr.charlie hustle]

:Clap::Thumbs:

Just like posts like that are a black eye to the Pikeville program. All programs have people that embarass their programs on this board.
I've got a lot of friends in Pikeville, Paintsville, Pburg and grew up in Louisa. People on here from every school make me cringe and people from every program represent well. The shame of it is that if you watch the kids on the field in whatever sport the majority of the time there is a mutal respect and they understand other parts of the state look down their nose toward them.
Congrats to Pikeville's kids. You guys have really put together a nice run.
Congrats to LC you guys did an outstanding job of battling through adversity as a team. Same goes for Shep. He should be flattered people are so excited to get a hit off of him while he is going to the state tourney again + once again Regional player of the year. I've watched how he interacts with players on the other teams and am very proud of the way he's handled his success. I think Tate Banks deserves a lot of credit too. Sometimes overshadowed he is a gritty kid that has really come up big for the Dogs this year! Coach Feltner went into this off season thinking he had Shep, Burton, Moore as 1 of the better 1/2/3 punches in the state. Season started and he only had 1 of them throwing for LC. He+ Coach Micheal have doen a great job and Tate has really been clutch.
As for the errors etc I think unless you have been in a game of that magnitude it's hard to figure out why things are that crazy. That's as much build up as I remember for a high school baseball game in this area in a long long time. Pressure makes funny things happen. People can say what they want about Balaclaws ave etc. Bottom line is when it was on the line he came through in the clutch. People shouldn't discredit the kid because they have no idea how much time these kids put in during the off season. I'm sure Pikeville is the same way or they wouldn't be playing at the level they are.
Proud of both teams for all of their work and they way they represent their programs outside of a kid or two. Best of luck LC in Lex! Hope to make the trip again.

:Clap:

[doomsday]

okay wow, LC spanked pikeville.
and who cares about records? pikeville plays nobody, LC could play pikevilles schedule and win every game. also pikeville has turf field, meaning they dont get rainouts.
there is no excuses the better team won shut up about it.
there was nothing out of the way an LC player did all night either.
great game nice atmosphere. in the moment the dawgs won, bottom line.



i love how the pikeville hypocrites are out too because last year LC fans said them losing was a fluke and if shepherd was healthy and sam didnt blow up it would have went the other way but it didnt and lc lost. this year Lc won and you trying to call flule?
2 hard hit ball of chan, hamiltons and the liner to the 3rd baseman.
lc hit hard balls off of all pitchers and cline roped one off burton.
congrats to LC.

[long_time_pirate]

okay wow, LC spanked pikeville.
and who cares about records? pikeville plays nobody, LC could play pikevilles schedule and win every game. also pikeville has turf field, meaning they dont get rainouts.
there is no excuses the better team won shut up about it.
there was nothing out of the way an LC player did all night either.
great game nice atmosphere. in the moment the dawgs won, bottom line.



i love how the pikeville hypocrites are out too because last year LC fans said them losing was a fluke and if shepherd was healthy and sam didnt blow up it would have went the other way but it didnt and lc lost. this year Lc won and you trying to call flule?
2 hard hit ball of chan, hamiltons and the liner to the 3rd baseman.
lc hit hard balls off of all pitchers and cline roped one off burton.
congrats to LC.

I don't think anyone should be called hypocrites unless you look in the mirror and call yourself one as well. LC has talked pure smack on here all season long. ALL season. It's baseball. At any given time the momentum of the game can change.You never know?.... you (LC) may be coming home from the state tournament 0-1. Personally and on behalf of one of the previous players and one or two on this years team, I hope that doesn't happen. IMHO both Belfry and Pikeville game LC a good game. I watched both so I saw a few things too. Keeping my opinion on that to myself. Just sayin, before you go throwing stones, you better make sure your house is made of plexi-glass.... :eyeroll:

[jetpilot]

Congrats to LC.

Baseball is a funny game sometimes and strange things happen.
They happened at the worst possible time for Pikeville. The SS and CC colliding and letting to pop fly drop really opened the floodgates. And the #9 hitter batting a buck thirty hits a seeing eye triple against Hamilton would happen once in about 500 games. Pikeville didn't play an inning like that all through their tourney run last year and in 38 6/7 games this year.
They would win 99/100 against LC scoring 6 runs on Shepherd. They would also win 99 out of a 100 against LC with a 5 run lead and needing 6 outs, no matter who was pitching. Props to LC though, they didn't quit.

But congrats Panthers you guys will always be known as having the greatest run in PHS history with the final 4 and then 35 wins this year.
Hold your heads up high.

Good luck to LC in the state tourney, you will have a lot of Pikeville fans rooting for you.

Here was my oringinial post, where I complimented LC three times.
Then some nut-job calls me a piece of crap for it. Yeah I responded and put it back in his face. So be it. I want to thank the guy on here whose opinion I respect the most for the nice PM also. And just so everyone knows he's not a Pikeville fan. I stand by my posts. If you call someone a piece of crap you better expect some retaliation or you are in for a very hard life.:eyeroll:

[dawgeers]

Here was my oringinial post, where I complimented LC three times.
Then some nut-job calls me a piece of crap for it. Yeah I responded and put it back in his face. So be it. I want to thank the guy on here whose opinion I respect the most for the nice PM also. And just so everyone knows he's not a Pikeville fan. I stand by my posts. If you call someone a piece of crap you better expect some retaliation or you are in for a very hard life.:eyeroll:

First off, not a "nut-job".

Secondly, you did type that you congratulate LC for the win but you add things like "well 99/100 times..." You and others kept saying how LC could not hit the lefty Hamilton. He was either too good or LC bats were too bad. When that theory was disproven, not many have come on to say "Wow, I was wrong and they can hit the ball and their coaches did prepare them". You and others act as if it was a fluke that LC had 9 runs and 10 hits.

Oh. You didn't put anything "in my face". It's over and done with as far as I'm concerned. Calm down and get ready for football season.

[Cardinalfootballguy]

Congrats to LC on winning the 15th and GL at State.

[jetpilot]

First off, not a "nut-job".

Secondly, you did type that you congratulate LC for the win but you add things like "well 99/100 times..." You and others kept saying how LC could not hit the lefty Hamilton. He was either too good or LC bats were too bad. When that theory was disproven, not many have come on to say "Wow, I was wrong and they can hit the ball and their coaches did prepare them". You and others act as if it was a fluke that LC had 9 runs and 10 hits.

Oh. You didn't put anything "in my face". It's over and done with as far as I'm concerned. Calm down and get ready for football season.

Reread the original post. It is nothing against LC. 99 times out of 100 Pikeville will hold onto a 5-1 lead needing only 6 outs. 99 times out of 100 the SS and CF don't collide and let the pop-fly drop. I wasn't taking anything away from LC, again I complimented them throughout the post.
LC won, congrats, I'm done.

[StrayBullet]

Wow Is this a topix board??? Geez guys.

[lcgrad2002]

Yeah StrayBullet I think it is Lol. Anyone that was in attendance knows this game was a game of a lifetime for both teams .It's unfortunate that one team had to lose but that is the game someone always loses. Pikeville by all means has a great team and showed class even in the loss. You hate to see some young men crying cause it was their last game ever playing in those uniforms. Lawrence County played well enough to win even after making some errors. Both teams showed fans why they were in the championship and no one can ever argue that. This was a CLASSIC game and I loved watching it...

[hardknoxs]

Great game of ball.

[Cardinalfootballguy]

Yeah StrayBullet I think it is Lol. Anyone that was in attendance knows this game was a game of a lifetime for both teams .It's unfortunate that one team had to lose but that is the game someone always loses. Pikeville by all means has a great team and showed class even in the loss. You hate to see some young men crying cause it was their last game ever playing in those uniforms. Lawrence County played well enough to win even after making some errors. Both teams showed fans why they were in the championship and no one can ever argue that. This was a CLASSIC game and I loved watching it...

Well said :Thumbs:

[StrayBullet]

Yeah StrayBullet I think it is Lol. Anyone that was in attendance knows this game was a game of a lifetime for both teams .It's unfortunate that one team had to lose but that is the game someone always loses. Pikeville by all means has a great team and showed class even in the loss. You hate to see some young men crying cause it was their last game ever playing in those uniforms. Lawrence County played well enough to win even after making some errors. Both teams showed fans why they were in the championship and no one can ever argue that. This was a CLASSIC game and I loved watching it...

I totally agree LCgrad2002. This game was everything one could ask for. Both teams played hard and it was a great game to witness. Tons of respect for the Pikeville baseball program and congrats Dawgs!! See you in Lexington.

[jetpilot]

I will be at the state tourney and the two teams I will be rooting for are LC and Clay Co. That's really the end of the story for me.

[PaintsvilleTigerfan]

So I am gonna go out on a limb here and assume neither pitcher was having a good outing. As for getting hits off Shep he throws so hard that if it gets any decent part of the bat its gonna go pretty far. Looks like Pikeville was managing to get around on him a little bit. But he is a 18 year old kid who is gonna have a few bad outings. Its all good. I believe LC will do just fine at state. As for Pikeville those seniors have nothing to be ashamed of they took their program to new heights and just came up three runs short.

[PHSForever]

So I am gonna go out on a limb here and assume neither pitcher was having a good outing. As for getting hits off Shep he throws so hard that if it gets any decent part of the bat its gonna go pretty far. Looks like Pikeville was managing to get around on him a little bit. But he is a 18 year old kid who is gonna have a few bad outings. Its all good. I believe LC will do just fine at state. As for Pikeville those seniors have nothing to be ashamed of they took their program to new heights and just came up three runs short.

Actually, the two were having great games, but each were done in by one really disastrous inning apiece. The Pikeville inning was worse, and that was the difference. BUT, Shephard was aces when it counted against the last 6 batters to keep Pikeville from coming back, and that's all she wrote. You gotta tip your cap to both pitchers, especially a freshman against a seasoned D-1 signee senior, IMO. Rick Bentley of the News-Express said it right: "Chandler Sheperd is the big thing now, and Jacob Hamilton showed he will be the next big thing in the area". Rick also went on to call Shep the best pitcher in the area in the last at least 30 years since Willie Blair at Johnson Central. Rick has seen a lot of ball games and that is saying a lot. So good luck at state LC, and Pikeville, there's always next year.

[PHSForever]

First off, not a "nut-job".

Secondly, you did type that you congratulate LC for the win but you add things like "well 99/100 times..." You and others kept saying how LC could not hit the lefty Hamilton. He was either too good or LC bats were too bad. When that theory was disproven, not many have come on to say "Wow, I was wrong and they can hit the ball and their coaches did prepare them". You and others act as if it was a fluke that LC had 9 runs and 10 hits.

Oh. You didn't put anything "in my face". It's over and done with as far as I'm concerned. Calm down and get ready for football season.

JP meant nothing by what he said, he was just pointing out the obvious. Pikeville WOULD hold on to win 99 out of 100 times when having a 5 run lead and needing 6 outs. This was just the game they didn't hold on. Awful time for it to happen, but it did. You totally over reacted by calling him a piece of crap for stating the obvious, YOU are the one who took it wrong, dawgeers. But like you and JP have both said, it is over. LC won, congrats and good luck at state, we will be rooting for you as the 15th rep.

[JackRabbitSlim]

Actually, the two were having great games, but each were done in by one really disastrous inning apiece. The Pikeville inning was worse, and that was the difference. BUT, Shephard was aces when it counted against the last 6 batters to keep Pikeville from coming back, and that's all she wrote. You gotta tip your cap to both pitchers, especially a freshman against a seasoned D-1 signee senior, IMO. Rick Bentley of the News-Express said it right: "Chandler Sheperd is the big thing now, and Jacob Hamilton showed he will be the next big thing in the area". Rick also went on to call Shep the best pitcher in the area in the last at least 30 years since Willie Blair at Johnson Central. Rick has seen a lot of ball games and that is saying a lot. So good luck at state LC, and Pikeville, there's always next year.

I think Rick Bentley needs to take a drive up US23 and watch Jackson before he makes that kind of a comment? Actually Bentley just needs to be at more than one game a year before he can start making those types of comments? Shep has been the ace since 7th grade, but the 15th region never got to see other LC pitchers like Blevins, who was only 6 or 7 years ago? I just think Rick shouldve done a little more research before making that statement?

[Bob Seger]

I think Rick Bentley needs to take a drive up US23 and watch Jackson before he makes that kind of a comment? Actually Bentley just needs to be at more than one game a year before he can start making those types of comments? Shep has been the ace since 7th grade, but the 15th region never got to see other LC pitchers like Blevins, who was only 6 or 7 years ago? I just think Rick shouldve done a little more research before making that statement?

Actually it is debateable if Willie was even the best pitcher on his team in high school. There are a lot of people who thought it was Mike LeMasters with Mike Hall right threre in the mix as well. Willie was good but he was also one of those guys in the right place at the right time while at Morehead. Then you have Jon Bevins who was a lefty right there in his own back yard from Pike Central who threw every bit as hard as Shepherd, and then there was Chase Huffman (Pikeville) who threw just as hard, and then there was Chaz Harmon (Paintsville) And then of course there was Stevie Blevins and then there was ...........get the idea?

Actually other than at a Pikeville game I dont think that I have ever seen Rick Bentley at a high school game.

[jetpilot]

You guys are right. The Appalachian News Express's coverage of HS baseball could not be any worse. Bentley isn't a Pikeville fan, I doubt he has "covered" HS baseball in years.

[PHSForever]

Actually it is debateable if Willie was even the best pitcher on his team in high school. There are a lot of people who thought it was Mike LeMasters with Mike Hall right threre in the mix as well. Willie was good but he was also one of those guys in the right place at the right time while at Morehead. Then you have Jon Bevins who was a lefty right there in his own back yard from Pike Central who threw every bit as hard as Shepherd, and then there was Chase Huffman (Pikeville) who threw just as hard, and then there was Chaz Harmon (Paintsville) And then of course there was Stevie Blevins and then there was ...........get the idea?

Actually other than at a Pikeville game I dont think that I have ever seen Rick Bentley at a high school game.

Irregardless, Willie was the only one (of those named above) to make it to the pros, which I think colors Rick's judgement of him a little, as it should. While I somewhat agree with your assessments of Rick's actual coverage of high school games, I have seen him at a few, and not always just Pikeville games. As SID at UPike now, I imagine he is more focused on that...Anyhow, to the original intent of my post...I think Rick probably meant the next big thing he has personally seen, and didn't clarify that. My goodness, Matt Coleman of Pikeville was left out of the posts here completely. Still in the top 10 in a couple of UK pitching records, played a year in the minors for Detroit, was an All-SEC team pick, etc. Certainly worth consideration for being among the best out of the mountain area too.

[PHSForever]

You guys are right. The Appalachian News Express's coverage of HS baseball could not be any worse. Bentley isn't a Pikeville fan, I doubt he has "covered" HS baseball in years.

It is mostly Holbrook that "covers" the sports nowadays. Pretty pitiful coverage, I agree.

[jetpilot]

It is mostly Holbrook that "covers" the sports nowadays. Pretty pitiful coverage, I agree.

Most editions of the paper there is no HS baseball coverage at all. How many articles have they even written about Pikeville the last two years.
Should have been something in EVERY edition during baseball season.
You will be lucky to see something about Pikeville once every 2-3 WEEKS.

[PHSForever]

Most editions of the paper there is no HS baseball coverage at all. How many articles have they even written about Pikeville the last two years.
Should have been something in EVERY edition during baseball season.
You will be lucky to see something about Pikeville once every 2-3 WEEKS.

Agreed. That's why I put "covers" in quotation marks. It's not going to change anytime soon, and I have actually stopped buying that paper due to it being an embarrassment to me as a native Pike Countian to read all the grammatical errors and lack of true coverage. More interested in making money off Eric Conns' Social Security ads.

[JackRabbitSlim]

Rick is a good guy, but he knows nothing about high school baseball or the history of high school baseball. If he wants to write an article saying Shep is the best he's seen, then fine, but he should never lead the mountain people to think he knows every pitcher dating back 30 years? Shep is good, but there have been several kids if given the opportunity and resources couldve been in the same situation? Shep is well deserved, but put Pikevilles lineup up against Jackson or Harmon or Stevie Blevins, and I bet they don't score 6 runs?

[PHSForever]

Rick is a good guy, but he knows nothing about high school baseball or the history of high school baseball. If he wants to write an article saying Shep is the best he's seen, then fine, but he should never lead the mountain people to think he knows every pitcher dating back 30 years? Shep is good, but there have been several kids if given the opportunity and resources couldve been in the same situation? Shep is well deserved, but put Pikevilles lineup up against Jackson or Harmon or Stevie Blevins, and I bet they don't score 6 runs?

Hey, I'm a Pikeville guy, don't get me wrong. And I have to disagree with you a little. Now, I didn't see Jackson or Blevins (I don't think), but I have seen Harmon, and I can almost guarantee you the lineup they've had over the past two years could get 6 runs off of him. Everyday? No, but more often than not. As for Rick, I like the guy too. I've known him well over 30 years. He played in high school, and back when he was an everyday reporter for the News-Express, he was out covering MANY games during the season, I saw him at them. So I think it is fair to say he has seen enough to make a halfway decent assessment of someone, so I'm going to take it for what it is... HIS opinion, and HIS only. I'm old enough and smart enough to know the difference and I believe most true baseball fans are, and will take it as just that, his opinion. We're all entitled to one.

[Bob Seger]

Hey, I'm a Pikeville guy, don't get me wrong. And I have to disagree with you a little. Now, I didn't see Jackson or Blevins (I don't think), but I have seen Harmon, and I can almost guarantee you the lineup they've had over the past two years could get 6 runs off of him. Everyday? No, but more often than not. As for Rick, I like the guy too. I've known him well over 30 years. He played in high school, and back when he was an everyday reporter for the News-Express, he was out covering MANY games during the season, I saw him at them. So I think it is fair to say he has seen enough to make a halfway decent assessment of someone, so I'm going to take it for what it is... HIS opinion, and HIS only. I'm old enough and smart enough to know the difference and I believe most true baseball fans are, and will take it as just that, his opinion. We're all entitled to one.

As much as I like the last two Pikeville teams, as well as the '04-'05 versions, I respectfully disagree 100% that either one of them could have done that "more often than not". Harmon was as nasty of a pitcher that has come out of this area in the last 15 years. He threw about where Shepherd does velocity wise, only had a nastier repitore of breaking balls to go with it.