[PCBaseball]

Please accept my humblest apology for having the gall to even suggest that a trivial thing such as not having a feeder system may have a direct affect on a high school baseball team's performance on the field! Of course, a coach Combs, Varney, or Dean could take a kid who hasn't played since T-Ball (no coach pitch, just hitting off the tee), and have him playing at a high level with no trouble at all, couldn't they? You ever see a high school kid try to so a simple act as THROWING a baseball when he hasn't thrown one since he was eight years old? Or have you ever seen a kid try to hit a baseball thrown by a high schooler when he has never even seen a ball thrown by a little leaguer???? If you haven't, I'll tell you, it aint a pretty sight. Now imagine taking over a whole team of "talent" like that and competing at a high school level. That is basically what happened. I know. I saw it. It wasn't pretty.


You keep hammering at the fact that Wolfe County doesn't play or practice on Saturday's as being the main culpret for their past failures. Personally, I think they SHOULD schedule a few Saturday games, but am smart enough to know that NOT playing on Saturday's wasn't the reason for Wolfe's 3-11 record in 2002 or their 4-18 record a couple of years ago. Actually, if those teams had played on Saturdays, their won/loss record would have only been worse. Why not ask your coach what he would rather give up if he had to, a feeder program, or Saturdays? As far as some of our "past" players are concerned, they were notorious for coming up with excuses to "be out of town" when Saturday practices WERE scheduled. I'll wager some of the same guys complained to you about not practicing on Saturdays. We had a player a few years ago, one of the best athletes to ever play at Wolfe, never take baseball seriously at all. Quit as a Sophomore. Walked out on the team for a week as a Junior. Missed practices left and right as a Senior. With about two weeks to go in his Senior year and no game scheduled, Mr. Potter called off practice on that day. Had to take his kid to the doctor or something. This player went to the principals office complaining that "we ain't playing enough." I bet this same guy complained to you, as well.

By the way, you mentioned coach Varney in your post. If he fails to make the Regional tournament this year he should be fired as well. I have not been at all pleased with the job he has done the last two years. He had the most talent both years and we didn't get out of the District either year. No excuses for him either.

[Ridgerunner]

By the way, you mentioned coach Varney in your post. If he fails to make the Regional tournament this year he should be fired as well. I have not been at all pleased with the job he has done the last two years. He had the most talent both years and we didn't get out of the District either year. No excuses for him either.

Yea, you guys definitely need to get out of the District this year or the natives will grow more restless.

[Spider Monkey]

I would have to say
Ritchie from Breathitt has not had much since his freshman year but has put alot on his hitting
Lawson from Breathitt is a fast kid for Breathitt and hits well. He is good behind the plate as well
Terry from Breathitt is a fast outfeilder that is a good lead off hitter for Breathitt
Hayes from Jackson City does well for Jackson, he hits excallant out of his postion and pitches good.
Goeff from Jackson City is also a good player he effictifly plays his position leting very little go by and he also pitches well

out of the young people
Dylan Creech is ok for wolfe, he tries putting to much on his fastball and is good behind the plate.
Alex Hamilton is well for Breathitt, he has some good gas for and 8th grader and was rarded in the upper 70's and is coming along with his hitting.
Ryan Cox has stepped up as well, he is batting second for Breathitt and is playing good at second base.

[PCBaseball]

We blowed Owsley out tonight. Dotson went deep again for his 3rd of the season. I swear the Owls threw a pitcher that did not break 50, it was pitiful. Looks like it will probably be us and Lee meeting in the first round of the District for the third year in a row unless someone upsets Estill which I don't see happening.Final score tonight: 16-0

[slugger35]

This is sad, Owsley has fallen so far from what they used to be.

[PCBaseball]

Yes, they were good, all five of them. If that is the most that one can come up with out of an entire county, then I would have to say the feeder system is pretty weak.


And you should see the current state of the little league system. Pretty sad. I would not be surprised if they don't have one this year. To date, there have been no sign-ups, at least to the best of my knowledge.

Having said that, a weak feeder system is a whole lot better than not having one at all. Wolfe has been there, done that.

That's where a good high school coach comes in. He gets involved in the lower levels and builds that feeder program himself. That's how we do it here and it is how Combs did it for years at Lee. Let me ask you this, Did Potter even play college ball and does he have the ability to teach the younger kids the game as it should be taught?

[PCBaseball]

I would have to say
Ritchie from Breathitt has not had much since his freshman year but has put alot on his hitting
Lawson from Breathitt is a fast kid for Breathitt and hits well. He is good behind the plate as well
Terry from Breathitt is a fast outfeilder that is a good lead off hitter for Breathitt
Hayes from Jackson City does well for Jackson, he hits excallant out of his postion and pitches good.
Goeff from Jackson City is also a good player he effictifly plays his position leting very little go by and he also pitches well

out of the young people
Dylan Creech is ok for wolfe, he tries putting to much on his fastball and is good behind the plate.
Alex Hamilton is well for Breathitt, he has some good gas for and 8th grader and was rarded in the upper 70's and is coming along with his hitting.
Ryan Cox has stepped up as well, he is batting second for Breathitt and is playing good at second base.

You say the Creech kid is o.k. I beg to differ. He is the best young player in this region and I sure hope he comes down here next year. Pitching is not what we want him for. We want that big bat and that big arm behind the plate.

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, they were good, all five of them. If that is the most that one can come up with out of an entire county, then I would have to say the feeder system is pretty weak.
And you should see the current state of the little league system. Pretty sad. I would not be surprised if they don't have one this year. To date, there have been no sign-ups, at least to the best of my knowledge.

Having said that, a weak feeder system is a whole lot better than not having one at all. Wolfe has been there, done that.

Look, you keep making excuses for him and there is none to be made. You keep forgetting that I played for him for 4 years and never missed a practice or a game. You never played for him so you don't know what you are talking about. As I said earlier, I like the man and have absolutely nothing against him. That doesn't make him qualified to coach high school baseball. The fact is he is not. This is why we never get any better because we always want to make excuses for someone rather than just being honest and making the changes that desparately need to be made. Until we change that, we will never do any better than what we are and are very likely to continue to lose our best talent to other schools that are making the tough choices and getting the job done. I wish I would have had the opportunity to transfer but I couldn't because of our financial situation at home. If I could have, I would have just to play baseball under a qualified coach.

[PCBaseball]

Look, you keep making excuses for him and there is none to be made. You keep forgetting that I played for him for 4 years and never missed a practice or a game. You never played for him so you don't know what you are talking about. As I said earlier, I like the man and have absolutely nothing against him. That doesn't make him qualified to coach high school baseball. The fact is he is not. This is why we never get any better because we always want to make excuses for someone rather than just being honest and making the changes that desparately need to be made. Until we change that, we will never do any better than what we are and are very likely to continue to lose our best talent to other schools that are making the tough choices and getting the job done. I wish I would have had the opportunity to transfer but I couldn't because of our financial situation at home. If I could have, I would have just to play baseball under a qualified coach.

That's alright young man, I know alot if really good, nice people who can't coach baseball or basketball. The key is for them to recognize that fact for themselves.

[class of 2001]

That's where a good high school coach comes in. He gets involved in the lower levels and builds that feeder program himself. That's how we do it here and it is how Combs did it for years at Lee. Let me ask you this, Did Potter even play college ball and does he have the ability to teach the younger kids the game as it should be taught?

Very few coaches "run" their little league programs. For many reasons. The main one being it is physically impossible to be in two places at one time. How can he be coaching his high school team and running a little league system when a good chunk of BOTH of their seasons are running at the same time?

Most coaches are teachers as well, so the thing that they do to put food on their familes tables takes up a lot of time. A whole lot more the the 7:30 to 3:00 school day, I might add. Plus they have familes and children that have activities that they need to attend to. But, I guess that is just making excuses.


Coach Combs is a rare exception to this; I still can't see how he juggles so many balls as well as he does. He is to be commended. I still say that type of person is hard to find. Most coaches that have been more successful than he is doesn't put in as much time as he does. But even HE never had to put a little league system together from the ground up because there wasn't one to begin with, as a certain coach from Wolfe County had to do.

And guess what? A few years back, I met and talked to Coach Combs during one of his high school games. It was near the end of the season, and I asked him if he was planning on playing summer ball. He told me he couldn't, he didn't have the time, and couldn't find anyone to do it for him. Imagine that!

[class of 2001]

Look, you keep making excuses for him and there is none to be made. You keep forgetting that I played for him for 4 years and never missed a practice or a game. You never played for him so you don't know what you are talking about. As I said earlier, I like the man and have absolutely nothing against him. That doesn't make him qualified to coach high school baseball. The fact is he is not. This is why we never get any better because we always want to make excuses for someone rather than just being honest and making the changes that desparately need to be made. Until we change that, we will never do any better than what we are and are very likely to continue to lose our best talent to other schools that are making the tough choices and getting the job done. I wish I would have had the opportunity to transfer but I couldn't because of our financial situation at home. If I could have, I would have just to play baseball under a qualified coach.

And you, as well as a couple of others, keep dancing around points I make altogether, such as how great of an impact that the LACK of a feeder program has on a high school program, or you address it with half-truths, or misleading statements.

You say you played for Mr. Potter for four years. Did you play on his District Championship team in 2006????? If so, you KNOW the team got a whole lot better, and that means even without Chris Stamper.

If you didn't, that meant that you had to have graduated in 2005 to have played all four years for Mr. Potter; his first year was 2002. If you graduated before 2005, you played part of your career under another coach. Simple math tells me this. Having said this:

The class of 2005 had only one senior on it. It does no good to mention names, but he played in a few games as a Freshman, only a handful of games as a Sophomore, missed several games and practices as a Junior, and a bunch of practices as a Senior.

Based on these statements, it is easy to deduce that there is NO way you could have "played four years for Potter and never missed a game or practice," if you graduated in 2005 or before. If you graduated in 2006 or after, then you played on teams that were a lot better than in prior years, which goes against your, "teams never got better" statement. Either way, you are not telling the whole truth. You are entitled to you opinion of Mr. Potter, of course, but should also use facts and the truth when stating your case.

[jr92]

Look, you keep making excuses for him and there is none to be made. You keep forgetting that I played for him for 4 years and never missed a practice or a game. You never played for him so you don't know what you are talking about. As I said earlier, I like the man and have absolutely nothing against him. That doesn't make him qualified to coach high school baseball. The fact is he is not. This is why we never get any better because we always want to make excuses for someone rather than just being honest and making the changes that desparately need to be made. Until we change that, we will never do any better than what we are and are very likely to continue to lose our best talent to other schools that are making the tough choices and getting the job done. I wish I would have had the opportunity to transfer but I couldn't because of our financial situation at home. If I could have, I would have just to play baseball under a qualified coach.

Coach Potter has never had a SINGLE player to play four years without missing a single practice or game.

I'd guess few, if any, coaches anywhere, at any level, can say they had a player go four full years without missng a single practice or game.

Get your facts straight before arguing your case!


I'm also going to take a wild guess and say that you enjoyed playing basketball too much at Wolfe County to consider transferring to another school for baseball. Just a hunch on my part. Maybe you are one of the few baseball players who did not play basketball. If that is the case, I apologize, but my gut instinct tells me you played basketball, as well.

[Ridgerunner]

And you, as well as a couple of others, keep dancing around points I make altogether, such as how great of an impact that the LACK of a feeder program has on a high school program, or you address it with half-truths, or misleading statements.

You say you played for Mr. Potter for four years. Did you play on his District Championship team in 2006????? If so, you KNOW the team got a whole lot better, and that means even without Chris Stamper.

If you didn't, that meant that you had to have graduated in 2005 to have played all four years for Mr. Potter; his first year was 2002. If you graduated before 2005, you played part of your career under another coach. Simple math tells me this. Having said this:

The class of 2005 had only one senior on it. It does no good to mention names, but he played in a few games as a Freshman, only a handful of games as a Sophomore, missed several games and practices as a Junior, and a bunch of practices as a Senior.

Based on these statements, it is easy to deduce that there is NO way you could have "played four years for Potter and never missed a game or practice," if you graduated in 2005 or before. If you graduated in 2006 or after, then you played on teams that were a lot better than in prior years, which goes against your, "teams never got better" statement. Either way, you are not telling the whole truth. You are entitled to you opinion of Mr. Potter, of course, but should also use facts and the truth when stating your case.

Yes I played for him for four years and I stated that I like him as a person and he is a great guy. He did and does the best that he can,but he, in my opinion does not have the baseball knowledge to be a high school coach. I stand by that statement so why does that make me the bad guy. I don't understand.

[Ridgerunner]

Coach Potter has never had a SINGLE player to play four years without missing a single practice or game.

I'd guess few, if any, coaches anywhere, at any level, can say they had a player go four full years without missng a single practice or game.

Get your facts straight before arguing your case!


I'm also going to take a wild guess and say that you enjoyed playing basketball too much at Wolfe County to consider transferring to another school for baseball. Just a hunch on my part. Maybe you are one of the few baseball players who did not play basketball. If that is the case, I apologize, but my gut instinct tells me you played basketball, as well.

I have my facts straight and why would you get so angry with me for my opinion of his qualifications and coaching ability? If you bothered to read my post, you would find that I was very complimentary to Mr. Potter as a person. He is a fine man and I happen to think alot of him. I just don't think he is qualified to do this job based on my experience of playing for him. Why should that make you so angry at me? Whether or not I played basketball does not make a difference. I could have played that sport somewhere else had I been able to transfer.

[jr92]

I have my facts straight and why would you get so angry with me for my opinion of his qualifications and coaching ability? If you bothered to read my post, you would find that I was very complimentary to Mr. Potter as a person. He is a fine man and I happen to think alot of him. I just don't think he is qualified to do this job based on my experience of playing for him. Why should that make you so angry at me? Whether or not I played basketball does not make a difference. I could have played that sport somewhere else had I been able to transfer.

No one mad at you. You have the right to state your opinion.

However; When say you played for him for four seasons, you are using that "fact" as both qualification and credibility in your opinion.


When I say there is no way you played four years for him, I am saying that takes away your qualification and credibility, because you didn't tell the whole truth. You did not play four years for him without missing a practice. You didn't even play for him for four years, I'm know, unless you admit playing for his district championship team, which was a vastly improved team, which once again, would go against your statement that his teams "didn't improve".


Whether you like him or not is not the point. You have some kind of bias against him, which, I guess you are allowed to have. Maybe he didn't pitch you as much as you wanted to. Maybe you didn't get to bat in the three hole when you think you should have. Whatever, you should get over it. Have you seen his teams play recently? While by no means are they a world-beater, they seem to at least act like they know what they are trying to do. Looked pretty decently coached to me. Still makes mistakes, like all high school teams will do, but actually look pretty decent at times. They do not look at all like a team that has a coach that does not know what he is doing.

[Ridgerunner]

We got alot better when we got Chris and that is the plain and simple truth. I have no axe to grind at all. I just simply have my opinion and you have yours,but I know that alot of my former teamates agree with me as well as many of the current players as well.

[jr92]

We got alot better when we got Chris and that is the plain and simple truth. I have no axe to grind at all. I just simply have my opinion and you have yours,but I know that alot of my former teamates agree with me as well as many of the current players as well.

You continue to prove points I am trying to make. In earlier posts, I argue that Coach Potter lost a lot of games early in his career because he didn't have enough talent. You, and espesically a couple of other posters, argued that it was a lack of coaching. Now, when I bring up the 2006 District Title team, you say it is because of TALENT, not COACHING! Can't have it both ways, bub.

[PCBaseball]

jr92 and class of 2001, you two must be his assistants or one of you is his wife and the other his assistant or something, because I have never seen two people gang up on a former player who can't be very old, because he states the truth. Face it, you are what your record says you are, and in this case the record is beyond horrible.

[mandan]

I thought this thread was about the best players in the 55th district, not Wolfe Co.'s coach or program. Ritchie, Hayes , and Goff are the best in this weak district, IMO. There's no way a 7th or 8th grader is the tops. Maybe in a year or two, but not yet.

[PCBaseball]

I thought this thread was about the best players in the 55th district, not Wolfe Co.'s coach or program. Ritchie, Hayes , and Goff are the best in this weak district, IMO. There's no way a 7th or 8th grader is the tops. Maybe in a year or two, but not yet.

Here is why I will take the Creech kid from Wolfe. According to all the reports, he is hitting close to .600 with 15 RBI's and I think that Wolfe has only played 8 or 9 games so far. Give me some numbers on your guys and let's compare them. Out of all of these players, Creech is the one I would love to have come to Powell.

[Ridgerunner]

Here is why I will take the Creech kid from Wolfe. According to all the reports, he is hitting close to .600 with 15 RBI's and I think that Wolfe has only played 8 or 9 games so far. Give me some numbers on your guys and let's compare them. Out of all of these players, Creech is the one I would love to have come to Powell.

You sound like you are trying to recruit. I hope you are not a coach or an assistant at Powell. After looking at those numbers, I sure can't blame you for trying.:thatsfunn :thatsfunn :thatsfunn irateSho

[PCBaseball]

You sound like you are trying to recruit. I hope you are not a coach or an assistant at Powell. After looking at those numbers, I sure can't blame you for trying.:thatsfunn :thatsfunn :thatsfunn irateSho

Great post, no I am not a coach, just a parent of a player here and a former Pirate myself so I can recruit all I want and we need this kid and the kid would be far better off playing down here than at Wolfe if Wolfe keeps the same coach they have now. irateSho irateSho

[class of 2001]

jr92 and class of 2001, you two must be his assistants or one of you is his wife and the other his assistant or something, because I have never seen two people gang up on a former player who can't be very old, because he states the truth. Face it, you are what your record says you are, and in this case the record is beyond horrible.

I can't speak for jr92, but the "former player," if he is telling the truth, is only a year or two older than I am. I've been around the school and players for several years and know what is going on. If you, as you have said before, do not get a chance to watch Wolfe County play because your son plays for Powell, how the heck do you know what is going on from a distance???? How do you know about Wolfe's great feeder program that produces tons of great players that you suggest that they do????? How do you even know a single thing about Mr. Potter if you haven't watched Wolfe play, other than listening to others obvious biased opinions????

Being a teacher in the school system for awhile now, I see and know a few things you possibly cannot know. Do you realize that last year, when little league sign-ups were announced, OUT OF THE ENTIRE COUNTY a grand total of 13 kids showed up???????? And that, after three sign-ups and allowing 13 year olds to play, 40 kids made up 4 teams in the league??? And many games were cancelled because there were not enough kids to field a team on a given day?

Do you realize that, in 2002, with the high school baseball program in shambles, NO ONE wanted the baseball coaches position?

Mr. Potter took the job when he was asked to do so, with NO prior experience, because he was asked to do so, and no one else wanted to.

Fast forward a few years. Mr. Potter, who himself admitted that he would have liked to spent a few years as an assistant, but never had the chance, is starting to put a decent team on the field. Wolfe now has a very nice new ballfield. Now, it seems someone is trying to have Mr. Potter removed. Funny how no one cared three years ago. They probably didn't have to spend all day sweeping water off the old community center field and shoveling sand to try to dry the field out, basically putting in a good days work, so that the team could get shelled that afternoon.


BTW, I am not an assistant coach. Just a former athlete from Wolfe county who hates to see its sports slammed from someone in another county show is seemingly "in the know" about Wolfe County. And while I am not going to give away anything about myself, you may or may not even have the GENDER correct about me, I will say Mrs. Potter was NOT in the class of 2001!

[Spider Monkey]

i mean i cant say much about creech but he is good but he is limited he can only hit certian people. If u get him away from his dad he would be an exallant player. he worries to much about what his dad wants him to do.

[PCBaseball]

i mean i cant say much about creech but he is good but he is limited he can only hit certian people. If u get him away from his dad he would be an exallant player. he worries to much about what his dad wants him to do.

Shows what you know. My son played some with his dad's traveling team whenever they needed an extra player and his dad is the one who taught him to hit. He also really helped my son out with his swing. I wish we had someone here at Powell that knew as much about hitting and baseball in general as that guy does. When you make a statement like that, you first better ask yourself one question, who taught Creech to hit? Whoever it was, sure knew what they were doing.

[PCBaseball]

I can't speak for jr92, but the "former player," if he is telling the truth, is only a year or two older than I am. I've been around the school and players for several years and know what is going on. If you, as you have said before, do not get a chance to watch Wolfe County play because your son plays for Powell, how the heck do you know what is going on from a distance???? How do you know about Wolfe's great feeder program that produces tons of great players that you suggest that they do????? How do you even know a single thing about Mr. Potter if you haven't watched Wolfe play, other than listening to others obvious biased opinions????

Being a teacher in the school system for awhile now, I see and know a few things you possibly cannot know. Do you realize that last year, when little league sign-ups were announced, OUT OF THE ENTIRE COUNTY a grand total of 13 kids showed up???????? And that, after three sign-ups and allowing 13 year olds to play, 40 kids made up 4 teams in the league??? And many games were cancelled because there were not enough kids to field a team on a given day?

Do you realize that, in 2002, with the high school baseball program in shambles, NO ONE wanted the baseball coaches position?

Mr. Potter took the job when he was asked to do so, with NO prior experience, because he was asked to do so, and no one else wanted to.

Fast forward a few years. Mr. Potter, who himself admitted that he would have liked to spent a few years as an assistant, but never had the chance, is starting to put a decent team on the field. Wolfe now has a very nice new ballfield. Now, it seems someone is trying to have Mr. Potter removed. Funny how no one cared three years ago. They probably didn't have to spend all day sweeping water off the old community center field and shoveling sand to try to dry the field out, basically putting in a good days work, so that the team could get shelled that afternoon.


BTW, I am not an assistant coach. Just a former athlete from Wolfe county who hates to see its sports slammed from someone in another county show is seemingly "in the know" about Wolfe County. And while I am not going to give away anything about myself, you may or may not even have the GENDER correct about me, I will say Mrs. Potter was NOT in the class of 2001!

Hey, I personally could care less, if you keep your coach or not. Personally, for selfish reasons, I hope you do. Just stop picking on one of your County's former atheletes who played for him that has a different opinion than you do. After all, that is his right.

[Ridgerunner]

i mean i cant say much about creech but he is good but he is limited he can only hit certian people. If u get him away from his dad he would be an exallant player. he worries to much about what his dad wants him to do.

Boy do you not know what you are talking about when you say that. I coached agaist his dad some in Little League and his dad is the one who taught him everything he knows about hitting. In Little League we would all practice on the same field and several times when we would have practice after his team they would still be there working on hitting. I was still in high school at the time, and boy it was fun to watch. His dad coached him for at least 5 years that I know of so I don't he needs to get away from him as you put it. They sure beat our brains out everytime we had to play them and Creech hit a couple of balls over 300 feet against us as a 12 year old.

[33sharpshooter33]

ok my child played with creech on his traveling team. and saying that he can only hit certain people is a big line of bull. Ive seen the kid hit guys trowing 85 and thats when he was 13 and hit them hard. he is by now means the best player n the region but he will be next year once freeman from estil and napier from perry are gone. You dont hit 600 and just be able to hit certain guys. also as far as his dad goes he is the reason why he is so great. the only thing that hurts creech is his tempure he wants to hit the ball great everytime and is upset if he dosent. but he is getting better at controling it now that he is starting to relize that no one hits it great everytime.

[PCBaseball]

Boy do you not know what you are talking about when you say that. I coached agaist his dad some in Little League and his dad is the one who taught him everything he knows about hitting. In Little League we would all practice on the same field and several times when we would have practice after his team they would still be there working on hitting. I was still in high school at the time, and boy it was fun to watch. His dad coached him for at least 5 years that I know of so I don't he needs to get away from him as you put it. They sure beat our brains out everytime we had to play them and Creech hit a couple of balls over 300 feet against us as a 12 year old.

That same year, my son went with them to Nicholasville to play in the thirteen and under World Series. He was the only twelve tear old on the team and out hit every one there. He hit one around 340 feet to dead center. I could not believe what I was watching. That is why I am recruiting so hard. irateSho irateSho

[PCBaseball]

i mean i cant say much about creech but he is good but he is limited he can only hit certian people. If u get him away from his dad he would be an exallant player. he worries to much about what his dad wants him to do.

By the way, the competition he faces in the summer is far better than he faces in high school in our area and he has no trouble hitting all of that pitching so your comment that he can only hit certain pitchers is really funny. Like I said, We would love to have here at Powell.