[baseonballs]

Spalding's stats weren't that great for the year. The article that announced him winning 7th region player of the year had him batting .289(.280something) and 6-4 on the mound. I know he pitched against some good teams but still. He did play well at State. There is no way they use stats to determine this award. According to the Courier-Journal (Louisville paper) the Angus kid from PRP had better stats than all names mentioned in this thread. Im not saying that any player is better than the other. All mentioned are great baseball players. Im saying stats are not a major determining factor in this award. Congrats to Biggs and good luck to all on whatever path they choose. I hope they all go to college.

There are a lot of other factors that are involved in Spalding’s statistics than meet the eye. Yes, his stats costs him Mr. Baseball. He showed how well he could play in the regional and state tournament. He pitching record was affected by his high school team playing an exceptional difficult schedule as well as his team struggling for much of the year to produce runs. Spalding took a 1-0 loss to Male. How can you win when your team produces no runs? He gave up only 2 hits, I believe, against one of the best hitting teams in the state. The run produced by Male was by playing small ball. The scoring run was produced by a ball put in to play in the infield to score the only run.

Spalding also took a 3-2 loss to Central Hardin, the eventual state champions. St. X was up 2-1 and in command of the game. I believe the last two runs Central Hardin scored were unearned. Central Hardin is also an excellent hitting team.

Spalding also took a 3-1 loss to Indianapolis Cathedral. Cathedral was ranked in the top 25 nationally in multiple high school polls. Dillon Peters was on the mound for Cathedral. He is a highly regarded left-hander that has committed to the University of Texas and was also drafted. I had heard that he was asking over a million dollars for his signing bonus. I had heard that that was a major factor in him not getting drafted higher. The score was tied 1-1 in the fifth inning. St. X had their scoring opportunities, but had difficulty producing other runs. The game was played in Indianapolis.

Spalding also took a 5-3 loss to Cincinnati Moeller earlier in the year. Moeller at that time was a top 50 nationally ranked team in multiple polls. Moeller got all of their runs in one inning when St. X gave Moeller six outs in that inning. The game was played in Ohio.

Biggs has a phenomenal, highly projectable body frame. He has tremendous upside if he stays healthy. I would not be surprised if he is a corner outfielder in college and beyond before it is all over. I congratulate him and wish him the very best.

Shepherd has had unbelievable high school statistics. I hope he stays healthy, particularly after already having Tommy Johns surgery in high school. He, too, has a very projectable frame as a pitcher. I wish him the very best. I had heard, though, from professional scouts that his fastball velocity most of the year was 88-90, not 90+ or to the mid-90’s. His performance in the state tournament with the radar gun at the stadium supports this (I had heard that the radar gun at the stadium as one to two miles an hour slower than the actual velocity). He does have a really nice breaking ball. I will guarantee you that Shepherd’s statistics would be much different if Lawrence County played the schedule that St. X did.