[Jackman]

The 13th will be very competitive this season. The teams that will be battling for the title will be:
- North and South Laurel - Both have quality programs and will be very young and talented. They have one senior combined. Both teams should be fast and rely on young pitching. North will pitch Gregory a 10th grader. South will throw 9th grader Jervis and 8th grader Gray. Both will play a competitive schedule to prepare for post season. South will also be hosting the regional tourney. One of the 2 teams has won the region and advanced to the state tournament every year since Fastpitch became a sport. Will that streak end this year? Both teams have, or will have shortly, 600 wins. Only 6 teams in the state has accomplished that and 2 of them are from Laurel County.
- Clay county will be hard to beat. They lost some key players but still have Owens pitching and a lot of talent. How will they schedule? Will they play better teams to prepare for post season?
- Corbin, or as some has been calling them the 13th region Redhounds, has a very different team this year. They have players from South, North, Knox Cent. Bell and W'burg. They will be very talented. The question for them is how will those players mesh and how will the Corbin supporters like it when these new players play and the Corbin kid sits on the bench?
- Middlesboro has very strong pitching. Their girls throw harder than anyone in the region. Can they field and hit with the top teams?
- Harlan County returns a lot of very good players. They had a tremendous record last season They will be a very good team. Like Clay, How will they schedule?
- Williamsburg returns their entire lineup from last year. They have strong pitching and catching. They beat Corbin last year to advance to the regional. They also had South on the ropes. They could be a dark horse in a very competitive 49th district.
1. Clay
2. South Laurel
3. North Laurel
4. Corbin
5. Williamsburg
6. Middlesboro