JC#1fan

Bravo! Well put. If the coaching position is aimed at the student/ahtlete and their future success then there would be no use for this post.

As I understand it your job is teaching. What you are crying about is what you think should be a "perk" because you are a teacher, no one on this board has said that only 5 years of assisting should allow someone to take your job(teaching). 5 years of assisting at my profession would be what the real world calls internship. "Perks" in the real world are things like extra vacation and bonuses at Christmas time, not being able assume another position just because I want to. Dancing Bear you may be well qualified to assume both positions and for the kid??™s sake I hope you are, but your position that faculty members should automatically be coaching is ludicrous and another indictment against you that you are not really there for the benefit of the student/athlete, but that it pads your pocket a little while doing something you enjoy. And while we are quoting famous coaches, here is one we all know. "There is no I in team!!!!

They CANNOT take a head job, give the TSSAA a call and see what they say! TSSAA online handbook page 41 states: Q. Are student teachers considered non-faculty coaches? A. If he/she is currently student teaching, he/she is allowed to do whatever his/her supervising teacher (college professor in charge) allows him/her to do as part of his/her total educational experience. He/She would not be considered non-faculty while he/she is student teaching. Thus, being considered a faculty coach they can be a head coach.

Maryville actually did throw two different pitchers against JCHS. They started with the sophmore and finished with another pitcher. I am nit familiar with Maryville's pitchers(shame on me), but the second pitcher was alittle smaller with dark blonde hiar if that gives you a clue to who she is. Anyhow there was little difference in pitching between the two. If this was not the junior pitcher you referred to mwtfan then Maryville is really loaded with pitching.

Dancing Bear, I have tried to keep a distance to the latest post on this board, but alas I remain quiet no more. I hope your passion is for your kids and not your reputation. Your education gives you NO advantage over other coaches on the softball field, that is unless they have started softball 101 as a required course for your degree where you attended college. Case in point, I know a "travel ball coach who has a double degree, works 9 to 5, volunteers their coaching time, has multiple players attending college on softball scholarships due to their talent and his commitment and hard work(including a player who has played with the ju-co Olympic team for two years running) all to have a high school teacher to get their picture in the paper and all the credit when one of his players signs a commitment(never hear a word from him cause its about the kids not him). I say one of his players because he coached these athletes since they were 8 years old only to have the teacher/coach reap the rewards of his dedication and long hours TEACHING these athletes the fundamentals of the game. In fact he has probably been coaching since you were in rec league(about 20 years). No accolades, no pay, successful athletes sounds like a winning combination to me. How do you stack up? If you are qualified you are qualified. I stick by my earlier comments to this post. Do you want a softball coach teaching high school math? NO!!! So why would you want a math teacher coaching softball when scholarships are on the line. Dancing Bear at some time you will have to put the student/athlete ahead of your agenda. You reap the benefits of coaches who developed athletes you now have the opportunity to coach, yet you give no thanks to them. You would do good to set under some of East Tennessee's many experianced travel ball coaches and learn what "earning" something is. Your comments on lining the field and keeping up with other aspects of coaching are a joke. Travel ball coahes do the same thing, you know they do need equipment , fundraising, motel rooms, finding a field to practice on, and oh! what was that about parents? Most high schools I know of have closed practices and "no comment" policies pertaining to parents, something travel ball coaches do not have the luxury of. Your tirades are nothing more than what sounds like the wailing of a spoiled brat that thinks they "DESERVE" something. IT'S ABOUT THE KIDS NOT YOU OR ANYBODY ELSE!!! When we as high school coaches, travel ball coaches, and parents will put the girls first, they will not only become more successful athletes, but better individuals also. I wish the best of luck to your student/ athletes it sounds like they are going to need it. There I feel better now.

According to TSSAA handbook sub/graduate teachers are allowed to accept any responcabilities allowed by their professors up to and including the head coach position of any sport.

I am unsure of her name. I do know she is their returning pitcher from last season.

I can't think of her name. I think it is Cassey. She's the highly tauted softmore pitcher returning from last year that was so good. All I know for sure is that she was throwin' smoke. Probably the most heat I saw all weekend. And if you consider the teams that were there (Gibbs, Heritage, William Blount, Seymor) thats saying a lot. Heritage's pitcher(about 4' 9" and 85 lbs. soaking wet) was throwing the smoke as well. Leon(freshman pitcher for JCHS) has a little heat too. Overall the best pitcher this weekend was the pitcher from Maryville even though they went 2-2 for the weekend (losses to JCHS and Heritage).

The quote "Greeneville will be Greeneville" was not meant to be derogatory in any sense. If the rest of the message was read you would understand what was meant by this statement is that it is harder for them to compete in this conference of county wide high schools. There is enough talent in Greene county "if they were also a county wide school" to win this conference every year. I agree they will be a sleeper and will give anyone in the conference a run for their money. Let it never be said that JC fan underestimates any athlete, coach, or school program. Shipley, Kelley, Renner and Story will be valuable assets the rest of the year. By the way , How did Greeneville do at Winged Deer this week-end? I wish the best for all of the girls at all of IMAC schools. My blood just happens to run Red, White, and Blue. GO LADY PATS!!!!!!!!!

JCHS played them this weekend. Team looks good, exspecially third and short stop. Leah Kelly(short stop) is the only player I know and she is awesome. Pitching looked as good as any JCHS faced this weekend. I believe they beat Maryville this weekend and played very well against Gibbs. (unsure of final score vs. Gibbs and who else they played besides JCHS). From what I saw this weekend they look pretty good overall

JCHS at Heritage playday Pitched senior(Helton) vs Seymor 5-4 JCHS led 5-0 til bottom of last inning when Seymor finally found Helton and started hitting the ball Pitched freshman(Leon) vs. William Blount 4-0 JCHS Pitched junior(Earl) vs. Heritage 8-1 Heritage Pitched freshman(Leon) vs. Maryville 1-0 JCHS 3-1 vs. good competition. Pitching looked good, exspecially Leon, Hill(softmore) not available. JCHS answered the call as they started hitting the ball this weekend. Defense looking great. The loss to Heritage probably due to experimenting with players at different positions and throwing what is probably the # 4 pitcher. Heritage hits the ball well and their pitching is stout, but as a whole pitching looked good on all teams JCHS faced. JCHS scrimmages Carter Thursday. Any other early season reports from IMAC teams? Come on guys how is everybody else looking early!

Actually there was to BK's Britney Kinsler(centerfield) and Brooke Kinsler (catcher) were they both seniors last year? Loss of either would hurt.

Score 8-3 off the books. Pitching depth starts with the softmore and freshman class. At Farragut senior pitcher gave up 5 in 2 innings, junior gave up 2 in 1 inning, softmore gave up one (unearned) in 6 innings, freshman gave up 0 in 2 innings. Pitching is young and good. Softmore started the first 6 innings then they brought in the other pitchers as both teams rotated in all the other players

Question? Will Romano(SG pitcher) have to set out even though she tranfered to a school in a different division? If the reason for the transfer rule is to prevent schools from "recruiting" then should she not have to set out her senior year? From what I saw last year SG was solid with good coaching why would you want to move under those conditions? Loss of BK hurts but rest is intact is it not?

To keep my integrity intact on this board (ha! ha!) I must regretfully make a correction from my post on the JCHS vs. Farragut post. The final score after 13 innings was 8-3 Farragut as new pitcher entered for JCHS in last inning and gave up two more runs. Don't misspercieve what I am saying Farragut rotated their team as well, but the two starting teams were very well matched. Score after "starting" teams left field 1-0 Farragut on hit batsman and two botched routine plays at third. Lance as you may well recall I broke my crystal ball last year, but am happy to report the purchase of a new one. I got it from the Betsy Ross school for phsychics it does however tend to predict all scores in favor of PATRIOTS!!!

I agree the move should be and will be moved to 43. Reply to saftey issue have you ever seen a car go by at 90 mph(about the speed a well hit softball is going) three feet at that speed is nothing as far as reaction time is concerned. Reply to earlier post about who doesn't have a pitcher that can't throw the ball 43 feet. How far you throw it is not the question, but how effective can they be. It is a whole new ball game from 43. The distance should be moved because as I said in a earlier post I have seen high school pitchers try to adjust for college exposure tournies and most have problems. Curves break to far out of zone, change ups don't reach the plate and etc. How impressive is that when your presenting yourself in front of college recruiters. Comparing baseball to softball is lsilly. There is NO comparison between the pitching styles so you can't compare distances. If you have 9 guys on a baseball team, you have 9 guys that can throw it overhanded across a plate. Fastpitch is totaly different, in most cases it takes years to develop the technique to be effective. Besides this is a softball forum.

More offense, more defensive plays to be made, and higher scoreing games would be the result. Pitchers being safer is arguable, more balls hit mean more shots up the middle and another three feet don't mean alot with todays bats. With that being said I have seen pitchers go to college scout tournaments and really struggle due to the extra three feet they are not used to. Others I have seen make the transition with no problems, this is what separates the women from the girls. All things considered I think moving the plate back to 43 would be a great help to any athlete wanting to pitch at the next level. College coaches would definately like this change as they get athletes with less transition to the college game. To get even with players from Florida, California, Texas and other states you need two things. 70 degree weather year round and the dedication to play that long. Oh also TSSAA to let your child play when they are not on a TSSAA roster(i.e. 50/50 rule). Before I end I should mention one advantage certain pitchers would have. Any pitcher who throws movement pitches such as the curve, screw ball, drop, or rise will have the advantage of more room for their pitches to move plus 4 years to adjust their pitches to the new distance instead of 4 months.

Amen!!!!

Farragut vs. JCHS very interesting. Typical early season srimmage. The girls played 1 game 13 innings long. Hill ptiched first 6 innings_8 Ks_no walks score tied 0-0 igoing to the bottom of 6th when HIll hit lead off batter and there were two consecutive errors on freshman 3rd baseman that allowed Farragut to score 1 run, After that there was a lot of player subtitutions. New pitcher for Jeff gave up 5 runs in the bottom of 7 including no out grand slam. Jeff battled back to a score of 6-3 at the end of 13 innings. Leon freshman pitcher for Jeff pitched two innings giving up no runs. Overall Jeff looked strong defensively with the exception of few early season errors, they seem to very deep this year with a lot more options than last. JC hit the ball fairly well for early in the season just couldn't score. Like JC fan said pitching and defence not the problem scoring is the issue New head coach had the troups fired up. With the starting team on the field Farragut(as mentioned befere one of the best in D-2 AAA) had all they could handle with a team composed of mostly softmores and freshmen. JCHS will play them twice this regular season should be interesting. Lady Patriots seem to have their muskets loaded and their sites set. Little duckies may have turned into beautiful swan this year, don't forget Hill was not on the mound at Greeneville in the loss as she was both times they defeated Greeneville last year.

Metal cleats or no metal cleats,hummmmmmm. The advantage of metal cleats are huge. As an athlete that wore them(many years ago) The grip is awesome; however injuries will increase. Twisted kness, sprained ankles, sore feet, and permenant cleat scares for short stops are the results. I really don't like this rule because who wants their 14 to 18 year old with messed up knees or ankles due to hanging a cleat or taking a cleat off the shins. If all athletes wear the same style(i.e. rubber cleats) no paticular athlete has an advantage over another. What's the gain here, a couple of more kids get thrown out tryin to steal second compared to a couple of kids with torn ACLs. Here's my quote of the year Duhhhhhh! As usual TSSAA don't care about youre kids well being(physical or educational).

I have read many of the responces and decided to respond to this one because it leans more to my opinion. It is a simple deduction. These athletes put their all into this sport so they deserve the best coaching available,just like they deserve the best educators. The advancement of athletes to the next level is important and why many of them play the game. Scholarships to advance their education not their softball playing skills are what is a stake. It is highly unlikely that your student/athlete will play professional softball, but highly likely they will try to achive a higher education. To resolve this issue one must ask a simple question. Do you want someone that is only qualified to be a softball coach teaching high school math? I didn't think so. Then if scholarships are the goal to achieve a higher level of education why would you want someone only qualified to teach high school math coaching softball? It is a no-brainer, but the truth is there must be someone on staff to handle problems associated with the day to day operations of the team(i.e. scheduling, student behaviour, etc.) The TSSAA needs to consider the athletes in this case not the educators(ins't that what an education is supposed to be about). If you know the TSSAA you know this not the case, as in the 50/50 rule. We'll save that argument for later!

Hey guys JC#1fan here. Its that time again and here we go. Cherokee figures to be the horse to ride out of the gate, winning the conference and only losing one senior should do that for you. The pitching is strong there(Gilbert is as good as they get)Remember though this is the IMAC! East is loaded with talent exspecially on the offensive side of the ball and should figure in to the conference picture if they can play together as a team. West's only concern after last year was the loss of senior leadership and pitching; however rumor has it pitching may no longer be a problem(we'll have to see) JC is young and getting younger. the majority of their talent pool lies in the softmore and freshman classes. Pitching is solid at JCHS with Hill returning to the mound and the addition of a talented freshman pitcher(Leon), should be a combination like Cherokee had last year. JCHS has enough pitching and defense to compete for the conference title, but they must prove they can score. They could have competed for the title last year if they could have scored. We'll find out tommorrow as they go to Farragut for a scrimmage. I'll post something tommorrow after the game. Greeneville will be Greeneville. They will compete, but the lack of a complete team will be their downfall. I guarantee they will come to play ball. I have a lot of friends in the Greeneville community and there is enough talent there to win this conference every year, but five high schools is a disadvantage for them when competing in this conference. Cocke County will be improved with the addition of two new freshmen. Nicole Ball could start for anyone in the conference as a freshman. If they can find no more ptiching she will probably be the starter, but if they move her to short stop look out. The story this year will not be the talent. Every team in the conference can be spoilers for any other team . The story is the new coaching. With new coaches at four schools the question is can they motivate their athletes to compete and are their coaching skills up to IMAC standards. This is going to be a great season because nobody knows what is goning to happen. Should be a shootout every game and I can't wait. See you all at the ballpark!!!!!!

Sorry for the miss information I meant to say she reached four times that night ( it was a double header with Rhodes pitching the second game. As for the comment that she didn't know any better, What I was insinuating was that she didn't worry about who was pitching she was just swinging the bat like it was anybody else on the mound. It was ment to be semi-humorous, loosen up alittle bit every body. I HAVE THE GREATEST RESPECT for what Katie and many other of our IMAC girls have accomplished.

If Rhodes (tennesse's # 2) can't handle Hawaii, "How do you think she can handle Arizona a 7 time national title team?" The answer for the question (not nessasarily the one every one wants to hear) is that the pitching motion for a softball pitcher (as mentioned earlier) is a natural one. (you don't walk around flailing your hands over your head, you walk with them by your side) thus the softball pitching motion (below the waist) does not cause a pitcher to tire or get injured as easily (throwing a lot of curve balls is an exception). If you have the most dominant pitcher in NCAA college history you would be a fool to not throw her, just like you would be a fool to put a freshman pinch hitter with no RBi's and no HR's in with one out and the winning run up to bat like Tennesse did last night in the 10th inning. If you have much knowledge about the softball pitching game you will notice the difference between a good pitcher and a great pitcher. Compare the difference in the combination of pitches thrown by both pitchers in the previous three meetings. Abbott was all heat in the first win then threw movement and offspeed (change=up) in the second. Arizona threw more change- ups in their win than was probably thrown in the rest of the college world series. Guarantee tonight you see a completely different set of pitches from both pitchers. In baseball (which I think you are comparing this to) pitchers usually have one or two good pitches and tire more easily because of motion and # of innings in a game. IN softball most pitchers have 4-5 different pitches causing greater pitch selection per pitcher and they do not tire as easily. It is not about the pitcher you see it is about the combination of pitches. The one variable here is the top pitchers in the country bring something only players can attest to (reputation). 6'3", 72 mph fastball, All time leader in strikeouts, All-time leader in games won,most strikeouts in a college world series, "Do you think any batter in the country (beside Katie Jett,4 for 4 with 2 homeruns in the same game off of Abbott earlier in the season, 'she didn't know any better") is not intimidated by that. If you do, refer to the statement made earlier about putting a freshman in to bat with the world series on the line, you get the same result.

Morristown West and Cherokee in the IMAC conferance championship. Morristown had to beat Cherokee twice to win the championship. 1st game went 12 innings tied 3-3, until senior catcher for West hit home run to win 5-3. 2nd game followed immediately after the 12 inning game Cherokee won 3-2 in 7 innings. That's 19 innings in three hours with a differance of 1 point. I was tired just watching it.