[DALE]

Well, Hazard may have an argument against that claim. They are still alive...and pretty good too. Not to mention that Greenup County had a very bad draw in this year's tournament. Having to match up with St. Xavier in the first round derailed their run early. I've seen both Greenup and JC, and Greenup looked better. Still, good run by JC. Represented eastern KY well.

Greenup defeated JC 5-3 at Dodgertown and was ranked as a Top 10 team in the country going into the state tournament. Probably safe to say they were the best team from the East. Hazard bowed out to a team JC beat in a neutral site game and Greenup lost to a St. X team that was defeated by the team that knocked JC out in mid May. Baseball is a funny game that when a team is clicking in all facets of their game they can just about beat anyone.
Errors and the inability to get timely hits to manufacture runs was the difference in this game. JC hit the ball well but on this day, unfortunately, it was right to the defense of McCracken. You simply cannot expect to pull it off against a senior laden team that has yet to lose a game to a KY opponent if you don't have a few balls bounce your way. JC is a very young team that brings back all their arms minus Hitchcock and their entire group of everyday fielders outside of 2nd baseman Harless. I look for Gabe Ferral to fill in for Hitchcock in the starting rotation as the Freshman had several strong showings this season including one against Pike Central in the Region tournament and Freshman Grant Davis will probably fill in the 2nd base position. Grant is a good contact hitter, decent wheels and has a nice glove. He got some very useful experience this year starting at 3rd when Braxton was pitching and playing LF while May was out with injury. This season provided a foundation to build on for what is hopefully another strong showing for the Eagles in 2017.