[OMG]

Your only saying this cause your from there. Truthfully they are good but not that good. Definatley not #2.

i wouldn't ever get on here on purposely bash another team but this is just not a realistic pick to win the region...imo

[Mr.Kimball]

i still think it will come down to paintsville and lawrence county in both the district and regional championship...and based on that outcome the winner should definetely go to applebees park for the state tournament...im not sure what the 13th has this season, but those two teams will be really tough to beat...

Gonna make a big prediction right now. The regional champion will be between Johnson Central and one of the other two teams in the 57th. They may not be the #1 team, but they will be good enough to be the #2.

[OMG]

Gonna make a big prediction right now. The regional champion will be between Johnson Central and one of the other two teams in the 57th. They may not be the #1 team, but they will be good enough to be the #2.

that is a very bold prediction, but not really based on the past few years...considering what they have coming back and what they've lost, if they make it to the district championship, the coaching staff will have done an unbelievable job...you can very easily be right, Grimm got knocked out of the district game last year, and if they can hit him like that again, then it could very well happen...it all depends on the seed i guess...so do you think they will earn the #2 seed for the tournament

[Mr.Kimball]

that is a very bold prediction, but not really based on the past few years...considering what they have coming back and what they've lost, if they make it to the district championship, the coaching staff will have done an unbelievable job...you can very easily be right, Grimm got knocked out of the district game last year, and if they can hit him like that again, then it could very well happen...it all depends on the seed i guess...so do you think they will earn the #2 seed for the tournament

As as happened the last few years their regular season district record has not been the districts best. I think that with the tough schedule they have this season, they will use those games to make themselves tournament hardened. They will get better and better and better as the season goes on. These guys are still young, but there is a lot of talent there. They may end up with a #3 seed, but, never the less I honestly believe that they are cabable of making it to the championship game and have a realistic shot at winning the whole thing. I know it's a bold statement, but one I firmly believe.

[OMG]

As as happened the last few years their regular season district record has not been the districts best. I think that with the tough schedule they have this season, they will use those games to make themselves tournament hardened. They will get better and better and better as the season goes on. These guys are still young, but there is a lot of talent there. They may end up with a #3 seed, but, never the less I honestly believe that they are cabable of making it to the championship game and have a realistic shot at winning the whole thing. I know it's a bold statement, but one I firmly believe.

well the 2 and 3 seed really are interchangeable and it suck that the top teams in the region are the 1-3 teams in the 57th

[Ring'Em Up]

I can see them making it thru as a 2 or 3 in the district. Come season's end, I think they will have 2 pitchers capable of beating either of the other top 2 teams in the district, regardless of the pitching matchup they face. Whether it's Grimm, Shepherd, whoever, I believe Conley or Parker have the ability to match them in a one game situation. Conley proved that last year in Game 3 of semi-states. After having to deal with following 2 outstanding performances by Fyffe and Blanton, and everyone saying there was no way the 3rd in the rotation could come up with a huge game also, he delievered a very solid game for the Eagles. Same would go for the region. If a team overlooks JC in an early round or even semis, hoping to have a favorable pitching matchup in the finals, either of those 2, or Vance can propel the Eagles to a win. But still, I see Paintsville and Lawrence as the 2 clear cut teams to beat.

[OMG]

I can see them making it thru as a 2 or 3 in the district. Come season's end, I think they will have 2 pitchers capable of beating either of the other top 2 teams in the district, regardless of the pitching matchup they face. Whether it's Grimm, Shepherd, whoever, I believe Conley or Parker have the ability to match them in a one game situation. Conley proved that last year in Game 3 of semi-states. After having to deal with following 2 outstanding performances by Fyffe and Blanton, and everyone saying there was no way the 3rd in the rotation could come up with a huge game also, he delievered a very solid game for the Eagles. Same would go for the region. If a team overlooks JC in an early round or even semis, hoping to have a favorable pitching matchup in the finals, either of those 2, or Vance can propel the Eagles to a win. But still, I see Paintsville and Lawrence as the 2 clear cut teams to beat.

so you are honestly saying that conley and parker are as good as grimm and shepherd? im may have taken that wrong, but it sounds like your saying if they are matched up with one of those two then they will be able to win...i really just dont see that...if your going on the section last season, the pitcher LCC had throwing the third game is not even close to being on the same level as grimm and shepherd

["INSIGHT"]

let me remind all of you guy's whoom are making predictions on this season without really reviewing last season stats...baseball is still all about stats ...the last time that i checked......so let's look at offense..paintsville had 4 players in all offensive categories in the ky high school coaches web site...these are the stats from which the mr. baseball award is chosen from..2 of these players are returning this season..Corey Adams #1 in state in runs scored top ten in all other categories... J.D. vanhoose top 15 in all offensive categories.... they also return the #1 pitcher in the region ...Shane Grimm..... so if you want to make pedictions then let's at least use a little bit of reason in the equation.....jc is a young team with a lot of pitching,but no dominant pitching,,,,,you can talk about parker all you want I've seen him perform in games that count...I was not impressed!!! but don't count them out...Pikeville does not have any good pitching and I've seen them all....that leaves the only other real contender LC....they have at least two good pitchers and can generate offense....so your regional favorite should be lc ,, paintsville ,, jchs ...in that order and i would be surprised ,,,,,really surprised to see any other team compete for a regional title

P- burg weak overall ,some pitching
Pikeville ,, all of their talent is young....almost no pitching...older kids did not even make the cut for their travel team...excluding daniel harmon ...
no other regional competetion

Keep in mind that some of this info is in my opinion only and not meant to belittle any team just going by the facts.....

[Mr.Kimball]

I can see them making it thru as a 2 or 3 in the district. Come season's end, I think they will have 2 pitchers capable of beating either of the other top 2 teams in the district, regardless of the pitching matchup they face. Whether it's Grimm, Shepherd, whoever, I believe Conley or Parker have the ability to match them in a one game situation. Conley proved that last year in Game 3 of semi-states. After having to deal with following 2 outstanding performances by Fyffe and Blanton, and everyone saying there was no way the 3rd in the rotation could come up with a huge game also, he delievered a very solid game for the Eagles. Same would go for the region. If a team overlooks JC in an early round or even semis, hoping to have a favorable pitching matchup in the finals, either of those 2, or Vance can propel the Eagles to a win. But still, I see Paintsville and Lawrence as the 2 clear cut teams to beat.

Mike Conley (junior)I watched Mike throw flat ground yesterday, and he looked very very good. Mike will have a huge year this year. Mike has made himself into an athlete. He has dropped about 35 pounds since his freshman year. He has disciplined himself while developing a great work ethic.

Cody Parker (freshman) can be one of those guys that could be dominating this year. He has all the tools. Lets see if he has a little maturity to go with his natural talent. He seems to be coming along a little in that respect in basketball. I have said before that he could become the best pitcher to ever come out of the 15th region.

Jeremy Stacy (sophomore) actually had the best velocity behind Fyffe and Blanton until Parker joined the staff later on in the season. He had a nice win against Perry Central early in the season, but had to fight off the injury bug through a big portion of the season. I look for Jeremy to become a very good pitcher as well as someone who will have an outstanding year at the plate.

Nick Vance (sophomore) has been working out in Lexington all winter getting professional training. Nick showed a lot of promise last year, and actually beat Lawrence Co. He came up with a huge save in the semi state championship game, when everything was on the line. Nick will do well this year and could become one of the regions better pitchers.

Dillon Baldwin (sophomore) pitched very well down the stretch last season in relief. He is just now obtaining a pitchers attitude. I think he grew more confident in himself every time he hit the rubber. Has a very nice curve ball that he drops down on, to go with some good velocity. He has worked out all fall and winter at the H.I.T Center and has become a lot stronger. Since he will be playing short,I look for him again to basicly work the closer roll. Again he did very well down the stretch last year.

As you can see they will all be back again next year, and the year after that they will lose only Conley. All 5 of these guys will throw 80+ this year. That in it's self is unheard of in the 15th region. Just look at their ages. This could become the best rotation to ever play at Johnson Central when it's all said and done.

Is a 4-peat possible?

[Mr.Kimball]

so you are honestly saying that conley and parker are as good as grimm and shepherd? im may have taken that wrong, but it sounds like your saying if they are matched up with one of those two then they will be able to win...i really just dont see that...if your going on the section last season, the pitcher LCC had throwing the third game is not even close to being on the same level as grimm and shepherd

He may not say it, but I'll go on record as saying it is very possible. I'm just full of brash comments tonight.

But then again we are not talking about LCC's pitcher . We are talking about Mike Conley. He beat a final 4 Boyd County team as a freshman.

Grimm is a good pitcher, but he was not Paintsville's #1 last season. Start to finish, Watkins was the #1.

[OMG]

He may not say it, but I'll go on record as saying it is very possible. I'm just full of brash comments tonight.

But then again we are not talking about LCC's pitcher . We are talking about Mike Conley. He beat a final 4 Boyd County team as a freshman.

Grimm is a good pitcher, but he was not Paintsville's #1 last season. Start to finish, Watkins was the #1.

well im sorry ive seen them both and especially watching shepherd last season as an 8th grader do what he did, i think its just a rediculus comment...he's no where close to being the pitchers these two are...these opinions keep getting more and more biast, its really hard to be serious towards them...

pitching one good game does not put you on the same level of these two..

[Mr.Kimball]

well im sorry ive seen them both and especially watching shepherd last season as an 8th grader do what he did, i think its just a rediculus comment...he's no where close to being the pitchers these two are...these opinions keep getting more and more biast, its really hard to be serious towards them...

pitching one good game does not put you on the same level of these two..

One thing you'll find out. I am not biased about anything. The statement was made he cam neat either one of them. Again he beat a final 4 Boyd County team as a freshman, and beat a UK signee Tyler Gatrell while doing it. I fail to see where Shephard or Grimm is any more of a challenge than that.

[Mr.Kimball]

One thing you'll find out. I am not biased about anything. The statement was made he cam neat either one of them. Again he beat a final 4 Boyd County team as a freshman, and beat a UK signee Tyler Gatrell while doing it. I fail to see where Shephard or Grimm is any more of a challenge than that.

Also , nobody said he was better than either one of them. It was only said that he is capable of beating Paintsville or Lawrence Co. And he is. Grimm didn't exactly look like Randy Johnson in the district did he? He mentally broke down very quickly. And if you remember Shephard pitched a couple of good innings in the regional game, but then mentaly fell apart himself.

[Ring'Em Up]

so you are honestly saying that conley and parker are as good as grimm and shepherd? im may have taken that wrong, but it sounds like your saying if they are matched up with one of those two then they will be able to win...i really just dont see that...if your going on the section last season, the pitcher LCC had throwing the third game is not even close to being on the same level as grimm and shepherd

No, that's not what I was getting at, at least referring to Grimm. Not to get off topic, and definitely not sounding sour toward any player, but for what it's worth, proven or unproven so far in their young careers, I will gladly take Parker over Shepherd if I had one game I HAD to win, including this upcoming season. Risky? Yes. Completely absurd? No. Shepherd has the making of becoming a great pitcher, all around talent, smarts, prob will keep you in a game 9 out of 10 times, etc. But Parker has the possibility, right now, of being a pitcher in a one game setting, that could pull a 2-3 hit, 12-15 K performance, easily. On physical ability alone. Both very young in their careers, but there is already a fairly wide-margin in experience and seasoning between the two, with that edge going to Shepherd, obviously. But I feel Parker has the open door to close that gap in the season(s) to come, after gaining experience and a better feel for situations to avoid and and spots to attack. He has been known in middle school, limited varsity time, etc, to go hard and strong, no matter the situation or batter.
Anyway, getting to the point I was trying to make, no matter the calibur of pitcher LCC had in game 3, Conley still held the offense to 3 runs in that game. Pretty valuable and good showing in my opinion, considering the setting and magnitude of the game. In short, all I was trying to say, that no matter which pitcher JC could possibly face in a 1st round or final of the district/region, they still have the capability of coming away with a win, more than just the upset way.

[OMG]

well for what its worth its baseball!! anything is possible and its pretty naive for me to think that this couldn't happen because it very well could, you never know what kind of a team will show up that day and you sure dont know who the baseball gods decide to look upon on any given day...i wish conley and parker the best of luck i really look forward to watching parker, he seems like he is a great talent....i hope all of us will be able to be watching them deep into the post season so we can continue this comparison in a few months...

[OMG]

One thing you'll find out. I am not biased about anything. The statement was made he cam neat either one of them. Again he beat a final 4 Boyd County team as a freshman, and beat a UK signee Tyler Gatrell while doing it. I fail to see where Shephard or Grimm is any more of a challenge than that.

i apologize for calling you biast, some of them were coming across that way..

[Mr.Kimball]

well for what its worth its baseball!! anything is possible and its pretty naive for me to think that this couldn't happen because it very well could, you never know what kind of a team will show up that day and you sure dont know who the baseball gods decide to look upon on any given day...i wish conley and parker the best of luck i really look forward to watching parker, he seems like he is a great talent....i hope all of us will be able to be watching them deep into the post season so we can continue this comparison in a few months...

:thumpsup:

[Mr.Kimball]

i apologize for calling you biast, some of them were coming across that way..

Double:thumpsup:

["INSIGHT"]

Mr kimball ....I would like to respectfully disagree with you ..on two accounts...I like yourself have seen mike conley and cody parker pitch all through little league and high school.....Conley had a few good games, but he is not a strong pitcher....and Parker has let down every team that has presumed to count on him when it mattered ....you may know more than I on this matter but from what I've seen in the past , would jchs not be better off counting on a nick vance or a jeramy stacy and I do not mean to take anything away from Mike conley, he has become a good player, but we are talking about pitching

[Ring'Em Up]

well im sorry ive seen them both and especially watching shepherd last season as an 8th grader do what he did, i think its just a rediculus comment...he's no where close to being the pitchers these two are...these opinions keep getting more and more biast, its really hard to be serious towards them...

pitching one good game does not put you on the same level of these two..

As Kimball stated, there is no bias here. Sure, I am a JC supporter, but I get as much out of seeing a well-played, fundamentally sound baseball game, (preferably a pitching dominated performance ) as I do seeing the Eagles succeed. Heck, I even jus stated that I think Paintsville and LC are the clear favorites this year in one of these threads. I feel like bias is when someone makes crazy "homer" comments that don't have much validity to them and most would agree they don't. These opinions are common baseball sense. To think that either Grimm, Shepherd or whoever, can go out this season, especially in the post-season, and be a guaranteed "W" is the opinion that I think is the one that is "ridiculous." Not getting raw on ya, jus my opinion. :p

Shew, jus saw ya other comments, but I not about to erase all this gomm I have typed, so, yeah, what you guys jus said....." :thumpsup: "

[OMG]

As Kimball stated, there is no bias here. Sure, I am a JC supporter, but I get as much out of seeing a well-played, fundamentally sound baseball game, (preferably a pitching dominated performance ) as I do seeing the Eagles succeed. Heck, I even jus stated that I think Paintsville and LC are the clear favorites this year in one of these threads. I feel like bias is when someone makes crazy "homer" comments that don't have much validity to them and most would agree they don't. These opinions are common baseball sense. To think that either Grimm, Shepherd or whoever, can go out this season, especially in the post-season, and be a guaranteed "W" is the opinion that I think is the one that is "ridiculous." Not getting raw on ya, jus my opinion. :p

Shew, jus saw ya other comments, but I not about to erase all this gomm I have typed, so, yeah, what you guys jus said....." :thumpsup: "

yeh im pretty sure i just said that and agreed...

[Ring'Em Up]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I made a correction to my post after I saw that you had a change of heart.

[OMG]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I made a correction to my post after I saw that you had a change of heart.

great thanks

[The Guru]

He may not say it, but I'll go on record as saying it is very possible. I'm just full of brash comments tonight.

But then again we are not talking about LCC's pitcher . We are talking about Mike Conley. He beat a final 4 Boyd County team as a freshman.

Grimm is a good pitcher, but he was not Paintsville's #1 last season. Start to finish, Watkins was the #1.

Well....you know, that I know, that you know baseball. And yes....Watkins had a great year for Paintsville. But he was never our number one. That has been Grimm for the last 2 years and will again be this year. If Watkins had been our #1 last year, he would have started against JC in the Dist.
Maybe he should have, who knows? But Grimm was our man, and I will stand behind him every time.

Have you ever seen a team befor that had another pitcher on staff that might have had a better year than their Ace? I have. But the Ace, is the Ace.

[Mr.Kimball]

Mr kimball ....I would like to respectfully disagree with you ..on two accounts...I like yourself have seen mike conley and cody parker pitch all through little league and high school.....Conley had a few good games, but he is not a strong pitcher....and Parker has let down every team that has presumed to count on him when it mattered ....you may know more than I on this matter but from what I've seen in the past , would jchs not be better off counting on a nick vance or a jeramy stacy and I do not mean to take anything away from Mike conley, he has become a good player, but we are talking about pitching

Not really understanding what you mean by "not a strong pitcher". Are you referring to velocity? or something else. You'll see his velocity up this year, if that is what you are meaning. Mike has been Johnson Central's #3 pitcher behind Fyffe and Blanton since his freshman year. Like I said earlier, he did beat Boyd, but even throughout his freshman year he was called on to throw against the better teams that JC faced and did remarkably well for just being a freshman. He was brutaly thrown to the wolves. Now it's his turn. Mike had some arm problems last season, and was not as effective through out a lot of the season as he could have been. He came out and pitched very well in the semi state after not throwing for some time, and you saw how that one turned out with a fresh arm. Mike is a very intelligent kid and is going to become a very good pitcher. He has taken his body and conditioning very serious.

As far as Nick, yeah I dont disagree about him being a very good option. He has a ton of potential, and did extremely well last season. He has just not had to face the level of competition yet that Mike has the last couple of years(Lawrence excepted), but I am very confident he will do well against that type of competition in the future when he does. Who knows he may end up being the go to guy, you cant rule it out, especially after what he has done here in the off season.. Jeremy has pitched very little at the varsity level. He was just starting to see some substantial time on the mound when he got hurt last season, and his time was cut short but you could tell that he was going to develope into a good one. He just does not have a lot of experience yet.

As for Parker, you have a valid point. As was mentioned in another post, the jury is still out on whatever level of maturity he may sustain at the present time, but there is no mistaking the raw ability that exists.

There is a bumper crop of very young talent there right now. I can see them taking their lumps throughout the season with the brutal schedule they have coming up, but really feel that come post season time they will be able to use those experiences as distinct advantages when it matters the most. They may very well in fact still be a year away from being where I think they will be, but nobody better take them too lightly. I guess that time will tell all about that though.

[TRAIN85]

You never know when your pitchers or your hitters are going to have an off day. This being said leaves this entire unplayed season up in the air for this year. I am looking forward to baseball starting up soon. Godd luck this year Panthers.

[OMG]

Not really understanding what you mean by "not a strong pitcher". Are you referring to velocity? or something else. You'll see his velocity up this year, if that is what you are meaning. Mike has been Johnson Central's #3 pitcher behind Fyffe and Blanton since his freshman year. Like I said earlier, he did beat Boyd, but even throughout his freshman year he was called on to throw against the better teams that JC faced and did remarkably well for just being a freshman. He was brutaly thrown to the wolves. Now it's his turn. Mike had some arm problems last season, and was not as effective through out a lot of the season as he could have been. He came out and pitched very well in the semi state after not throwing for some time, and you saw how that one turned out with a fresh arm. Mike is a very intelligent kid and is going to become a very good pitcher. He has taken his body and conditioning very serious.

As far as Nick, yeah I dont disagree about him being a very good option. He has a ton of potential, and did extremely well last season. He has just not had to face the level of competition yet that Mike has the last couple of years(Lawrence excepted), but I am very confident he will do well against that type of competition in the future when he does. Who knows he may end up being the go to guy, you cant rule it out, especially after what he has done here in the off season.. Jeremy has pitched very little at the varsity level. He was just starting to see some substantial time on the mound when he got hurt last season, and his time was cut short but you could tell that he was going to develope into a good one. He just does not have a lot of experience yet.

As for Parker, you have a valid point. As was mentioned in another post, the jury is still out on whatever level of maturity he may sustain at the present time, but there is no mistaking the raw ability that exists.

There is a bumper crop of very young talent there right now. I can see them taking their lumps throughout the season with the brutal schedule they have coming up, but really feel that come post season time they will be able to use those experiences as distinct advantages when it matters the most. They may very well in fact still be a year away from being where I think they will be, but nobody better take them too lightly. I guess that time will tell all about that though.

I will say one thing for Conley he is very matured on the mound and i do think that will carry him this year when he has to face some really good competition, the only thing i wonder is if they may use him too much with their schedule being the way it is...he may end up with the same injury type season as last year, i hope not i wish him the best, (unless he pitches against paintsville) or course

[Mr.Kimball]

I will say one thing for Conley he is very matured on the mound and i do think that will carry him this year when he has to face some really good competition, the only thing i wonder is if they may use him too much with their schedule being the way it is...he may end up with the same injury type season as last year, i hope not i wish him the best, (unless he pitches against paintsville) or course

A lot of Mike's problem last year was perhaps not having his pitching arm in shape because he played basketball. I think he realized to have to do some sort of throwing over the winter even if you are playing basketball, and took those steps this year.

I will give Shawn the utmost compliment on trying to perserve a pitchers health and career. He has consistantly adheered to pitch counts. When they start getting to that 90 figure , it's time to come out. No matter what the situation. A couple of years ago, when Adam Blanton was having problems getting a correct diagnosis on his back issues, Shawn would not let him take the mound even though Blanton pleaded to go back out. His exact words were that he had a future after high school and he was not going to let him take a chance of ruining the rest of his career. Somebody else had a no hitter going a couple of years ago, and he pulled them before the game was over just to go in line with the pitch count issues. That's pretty much how he has handled all of the pitchers since he has been there.

[OMG]

A lot of Mike's problem last year was perhaps not having his pitching arm in shape because he played basketball. I think he realixed to have to do some sort of throwing over the winter and took those steps this year.

I will give Shawn the utmost compliment on trying to perserve a pitchers health and career. He has consistantly adheered to pitch counts. When they start getting to that 90 figure , it's time to come out. No matter what the situation. A couple of years ago, when Adam Blanton was having problems getting a correct diagnosis on his back issues, Shawn would not let him take the mound even though Blanton pleaded to go back out. His exact words were that he had a future after high school and he was not going to let him take a chance of ruining the rest of his career. Somebody else had a no hitter going a couple of years ago, and he pulled them before the game was over just to go in line with the pitch count issues. That's pretty much how he has handled all of the pitchers since he has been there.

well thats good to hear that he does that, it is very much so needed at the high school level...i think a lot of scotty little's issues stemmed from too many innings in too many games, and he's just an example of what could happen if you dont go by a pitch count...i wonder how long it will be before they put in a pitch count rule for high school the way they have done for the little league...i dont know if i would be completely against due to so many injuries...

[White Lotus]

1.lawrence county
2.magoffin county
3.belfry
4.paintsville
5.pikeville
6.j.c
7.sheldon clark
8.pburg
9.allen central
10.er

y is pburg a head of AC on this list????????????