[Redneck]

JC has a very good top 4 at the plate in Shepherd, Callaham, Callaham, and Preece. The Callaham brothers really improved last year and I expect them to have big sophomore years at the plate. Lots of question outside of that especially in the outfield and behind the plate. The one addition that could be big is if Logan Morrow plays this year after being out all of last year with a football injury. He really came on toward the end of his freshmen year and showed some pop at the plate. The pitching should be solid with Montgomery and Rose as 1-2. You always know with JC they are going to play a difficult schedule and they are going to be well coached with Coach Hall in the dugout.

Paintsville has a really deep pitching staff with Kincheloe, Horn, Stratton and Lauffer. That is going to be a big strength for them this year. They are solid at the plate too. I thought I read in the offseason that Alex Johnson was transferring to Pburg for football. How is that going to affect baseball this spring? Has he already transferred or will he be in the field for the Tigers come March? LOL. He hit over .300 last year so that would be a big loss for Paintsville and big pickup for Pburg.

He’s at Prestonsburg which will help replace what we lost with Nic Kidd graduating. AJ should slide right into the SS position and also help with pitching depth. On top of that, what he brings offensively will help Prestonsburg tremendously. Prestonsburg with Allen, Luke Hall and AJ as your top 3 with Brayden Tussey and Brody Napier as relief gives you decent depth at pitching. Offensively is where my concern is with Prestonsburg this year. We’ve lost a lot of offense the past couple of years due to graduation so how do they respond? AJ will help plus Luke Hall and Barrett Hunter returning keeps some fire power at the top of the lineup. We will need to see Allen, Stumbo, and Brady Allen really step up offensively this season to help carry the pitching. I like this years team though. Should be a good one.

Is Johnson eligible? Last I heard, he hadn’t been ruled eligible by the KHSAA, but that was back in December.