MJHO

Next year will be MJ in a run away, Haydel was the only irreplaceable loss. Ethan Gross will be one of if not the best SS in the state plus he proved his pitching worth in the state championship game holding Farragut to 2 runs. They retrurn 6 full or part time starters from a AAA state runner up team. Will be very deep in pitching with Harper the ace of the staff , Gross , Gray , Carroll , and Smith all of who saw significant mound time in the state tourney. Plus they have about 4 kids that were freshmen this year that will contribute. Nothing but big plans in the future of MJ Baseball

MJ bracket is postponed until 4 and 7 tomorrow ( 5/7/09) don't know about the Beech side

Science Hill lost both games at Mt.Juliet last night Clarksville 10 - Sci Hill 3 MJ 6 - Sci Hill 5 in 8 innings

MJ made a bit of a statement last night at Hendersonville with a 19-0 thumping of the commandos with their "ACE" on the mound. Good luck to the rest of 9AAA if MJ pitches and plays like this during district play.

Mt. Juliet looked impressive in a 7-2 win over Ravenwood yesterday. Strong outing by Haydel, solid defense and timely hitting. Haydel also hit a bomb. This team will be there at the end due to balance and the ability to have everyone contribute on a given night.

Andy Landers (Georgia's womens coach) was at the game last night. I am sure he was impressed to see his star signee get dominated by a Freshman. Good luck in the SEC if that's what you got. It's not ever easy in the "Cave" Old or New

Any talk about the best teams in the mid-state has to include Mt. Juliet. They return a solid nucleus from a team that went to state last year. They will be extremely deep in the pitching rotation

MJ is the cream of this crop, several good arms return and a deep junior class that went 30-1 as sophomores on the JV level last year

The initial prognosis on Emily Gurichek was 6 weeks, but I hear maybe a little sooner. 6 weeks would put her about tournament time. They will get a big boost when she returns.

Maybe I used the wrong word when I used "tired" in my post. In no way do I think the MJ girls are out of shape. There isn't a team out there with better coaching or conditioning. My only observation was that their movement of the ball around the perimeter was not as crisp and quick as normal which normally creates a lot of openings in the post. LaVergne outplayed them on Friday night and perhaps that has to do with youth or talent but it certainly wasn't due to conditioning.

MJ looked tired to me. I think the youth factor must be catching up to them. LaVergne just flat outplayed them. No excuses here. Jefferson is as good a player as I've seen, definitely the most athletic. MJ needs Gurichek back in a big way to take some pressure off of Willliams in the post. Some of the MJ perimeter players are gonna have to step it up for this team to get back in their early season groove. They just don't look like the same team from early on and I've seen almost every game. They'll be back, LaVergne still has to play WC twice. This district contest is far from over.

Freshman Helen Mitchner has started every game at point this year for Mt. Juliet and is holding her own quite well. That is saying a lot when you play in the best district in the state plus play the likes of Shelbyville , Mcgavock and Marshall Co. also.

I would definitely say that tonights MJ / LaVergne game will go a long way in deciding the #2 spot in the district with Wilson Central undefeated in the league. Should be a good one. Lavergne is really athletic but I'm not sure they can handle Caya Williams on the inside. If MJ guards shoot well, they should win this one.