[Panther Thunder]

I think you need to do a little Homework before you go making statements you have NO CLUE about.

1948 (Prestonsburg) State Champs
1989 (Paintsville Runner-up)
1990 (Paintsville) State Champs
2007 (Paintsville L.I.T. Undefeated)
2008 (Paintsville All A Runner-up) (I bet LCA remembers us)
2008 (Lawrence Co. Runner-up)

Now if you would like to go and look at how many Final Four Appearances the 15th has since it has been played...PLEASE feel free:

http://www.khsaa.org/Publications/Record...istory/rb/

You just may be surprised....I'm not.

Also 2 of our 3 Seniors are playing College Ball next season.

I think he was referencing only last season in terms of state titles.

Just to throw in a sentence or two on the whole 11th thing, On an almost yearly basis the 15th will have 1 or 2 teams that can compete at a high level with any team in the state. But just being realistic, the top 10 teams of the 11th would normally be among the top 3 or 4 in the 15th. The 15th has no depth on a state level. Their is solid individual talent at 5-6 schools, but sheer population dictates the % that will play D-1 or Pro Ball. The facilities and education of the game in Central KY definitely help as well. It is not to say that EKY does not have people capable of teaching the game, because they certainly do, but in Lexington or Louisville you can have professional instruction 3-4 days a week all year long. Meaning the instructor's JOB is to teach baseball to these young men. In EKY, the best instructors have jobs or careers in other fields that limits their time and ability to see a high volume of athletes on an annual basis.

There is a huge advantage to being able to specialize in baseball in an area where you are literally working the majority of the week and getting fine-tuning from individuals that make a living from teaching baseball fundamentals to athletes in those areas. When I last really played, the biggest jumps in my development were when I went to Lexington every Sunday in the winter into the spring for individual instruction. And that was just one day per week. Imagine having the ability to realistically be able to have those session 4-5 times a week, or 20ish in a month. It is just something that is not common here in EKY. It is getting better, but it still needs to become more common and facilities and more permanent instructors are important.

Being from a metro area will not automatically make you a better athlete. But there are definite tangible advantages these athletes have. Once again, it IS possible to replicate the same formula in EKY, but I know of very few that do it. And that is the point. Volume is clearly higher because of numbers and availability in a metro area. Of course EKY is not sending as many to play college or pro, because there are just not as many athletes. But on occasion you will see the high level college player come out of EKY.

I will agree slightly that there may be a scouting bias. And maybe it is unfair to those players that deserve more recognition. But to play past high school, it is rarely about your unmeasurable baseball savvy and more about the measurables. How hard you throw, how fast you run, bat speed, etc... And those are some things that I think go overlooked here in EKY. You must focus on both sides to get serious looks. EKY could benefit most if the programs that struggle could get the right baseball guys into their schools and become more competitive. Competition breeds success, and top to bottom, EKY is just not very competitive in most years, in terms of high levels of play.

Congratulations to all those selected, shout out to Gavin Miller of Pikeville as he adds to his Hall of Fame resume at PHS with an honorable mention! I do not think people really understand how much his solidness will be missed.