[Bob Seger]

Even though Sheldon Clark was ranked for most of the year, they were still the #2 team, IMO. Paintsville started with Soph. Josh LeMaster and was knocked off the mound I believe in the first inning. Just one of those days that pitchers sometime have. Personally I thought it was AC that for the most part had the one man team, with that being Allen. As for throwing hard, he topped out at 83 in that game, which for a lefty is pretty good, but not overpowering, but you are right, he was certainly a heck of a player. As for the regional final, I wouldn't say that JC ran out of arms but they were very young that year. As far as their pitchers in the regional tournament that year,sophomore Adam Blanton beat Pike Cental in the opener and sophomore Cory Conley beat Pikeville in the second round. A third sophomore,Travis Montgomery started in the finals and was cruising along easily when his leg started cramping. After several game stoppages because of Montgomery's cramps, freshman Matt Fyffe came in and pitched a couple of innings with freshman Justin Blanton finishing the last two. Both freshmen did outstanding in their 4 innings but JC coundn't generate any offense in that game. Those were 5 pretty talented pitchers on that squad. They all played in college, except Conley, who could have, but chose not to.

As for being lucky, I wouldn't say that. AC had a good team. They did beat JC earlier in the regular season, so I wouldn't call that an upset win. But I do think that with Paintsville and SC being knocked out early it greatly enhanced their chances. To their credit they did take advantage of the opportunity, and do have the title and the trophy to prove it. They earned every bit of that championship. It was a fun tournament that year.

Isn't it also ironic in that history was probably made after that game. Both the regional runner up and championship coach were both not rehired for the next season.

I do need to correct one thing after thinking about it. Those two were 8th graders that year instead of freshmen.