MktgAdMan

Add another top TN player to those who have chosen to play for Coach Bubba Cates at UT Martin: Miles Moore - P - Crockett County HS The "snowball" keeps rolling....keep 'em coming! Exciting additions to the Skyhawks program this fall. Congratulation to Miles Moore and his family!

Congratulations to Miles and his family, as well as Coach Cates. The Skyhawks program has added another Top Tennessee 2004 Player to it's impressive class coming to campus this fall. Can't wait to see these fine young men contribute to the revitalization of the UT Martin program under Coach Bubba Cates!

Again, congratulations to Joe and his family. Someone once mentioned the "snowball effect" - land a few top players and more will want to follow. Hope this is the case for Coach Cates.

Many congrats to Joe and his parents! Here's to Coach Bubba Cates at UT Martin! Word is getting out that he is building a solid program starting with talented first-year players who can play immediately and contribute for four years. Look at the TN blue-chip players coming to campus this fall: P John Hooper - Goodpasture HS C Chris Rezabek - Bolton HS OF Bryce Carden - Centennial HS IF Blake Turner - Brentwood HS IF Joe Raccuglia - Franklin HS And word is there may be a couple more West TN standouts that will also commit very soon. Coach Cates runs a positive and upbeat program that will benefit from the addition of these first-tier athletes. Keep an eye on the Skyhawk program in the coming years.

Top Senior Catchers -- http://www.eteamz.com/knoxstars/#TopCatchers

Congrats to Neil! Surprised to see Dave Anderson at U of M signing any of the best local players. Many were contacted once last fall, but then never again. Makes Neil's signing that more special. Not sure what Anderson's motives are, but seems that he would make a greater attempt to keep the best Memphis-area talent at home (as Football Coach Tommy West has shown).

Recapping West TN and Memphis players committed to play college baseball. Please add anyone to the list that is missing or may have signed recently: West TN -- Will Powell - Jackson Central-Merry - Arkansas State Judson Powers - Humboldt - Union University Dane Archer - Henry County - Vol State CC Memphis Area -- Will Hogue - Houston - Austin Peay Rawley Bishop - Houston - MTSU John Lalor - Houston - Mississippi State Zack Cozart - Collierville - Mississippi Chris Rezabek - Bolton - UT Martin Drew Clothier - CBHS - Army (West Point) John Morgan - CBHS - Samford Phillip Reed - MUS - Baylor Robert Williams - St. Benedict - Southern Arkansas Daniel Bird - St. Benedict - Southern Arkansas Jay Hollenbeck - Cordova - Millsaps Cody Overbeck - Munford - Union University What about other West TN players - Jackson area, Milan, Ripley, anywhere. Do any other schools have commitments to add?

Schedule for this weekend's Worth Invitational posted on www.tbca.org seems to be out of date. Can anyone provide an updated schedule or link for this tournament? Would be greatly appreciated!

Hands down: Rawley Bishop - Houston HS. All-around complete and solid player.

http://www.eteamz.com/knoxstars/#TopCatchers

Strong 1-2 pitching combo in John Lalor or Tyler Watson. LOTS OF SPEED in their lineup with Zach Miller, Jeff Porter and Will Hogue. Rawley Bishop is as competitive as they come at 3B and drives in runs consistently. JR's Russ Porter and Trey Weidman are also solid contributors. Coaching staff is smart and competitive and gets the most out of their players. Impressive team.

Strong pitching, motivated coaching...and they're all great kids! Houston should be the team to beat in the Memphis area -- and will be in the state tournament to challenge Farragut again.

Agree with a couple of posts here: jdmtpb is right on target with his comment that: "If you can play, then the coaches and scouts will find you." And believe TNAthletics2b is also correct about the advantage of playing on a competitive summer team or participating in a highly visible competitive fall program. In addition, you need to take the initiative to contact the coaches from schools you're interested in with a letter of interest, a schedule and additional summer team information that will act as an invitation to come see you play. You do not have to attend all the "pay-for-play" showcases to get noticed. Do your homework and maybe select one event that is recommended by past attendees. Take advantage of any free showcases -- such as the TBCA Worth Showcase -- when such opportunities are available in your area.

No question... Phil Clark, formerly of Germantown and now at Bartlett HS. Great motivator and teacher of the game.

Absolutely agree! My son was also a two-time TBCA Worth Showcase attendee. We're convinced that this showcase generated more exposure and interest from coaches and scouts than any other "paid" showcases he attended. The "pro-style" tryout, followed by actually playing in three games against the best from the state of TN, combines to give the athlete the most opportunity to exhibit his skills. Every eligible player who has aspirations to play at the next level should take advantage of this TBCA select event and tryout for his region's showcase team.

Great to see your recognition of Chris Rezabek from Bolton HS. From your Top TN Catchers, Shortstops and Outfielders lists, couldn't help to notice that Chris, Blake Turner from Brentwood and Bryce Carden from Centennial have all committed to UT Martin. Add Goodpasture's John Hooper (Pitcher) to that list and Coach Bubba Cates has a great start to a pretty impressive 2004 Freshman Class.

Late addition to keep an eye on: Chris Stevenson - Bolton HS CF with great quickness, speed and coverage in the outfield and a strong arm. Hit .340 his junior season, has some long ball pop, and is always a threat to steal bases with a 6.6-6.7 time (maybe faster) in the 60. Chris will get some looks playing AAA baseball in the always competitive Memphis Mid-South region.

Would definitely add the following quality players to your initial list: Pitchers Chase Carpenter, Drew Clothier - Christian Brothers Zane Adams - Millington Chris Coleman - Germantown Todd Cox - Harding INF Zack Cozart - Collierville Jeremy Finney - Christian Brothers Cody Overbeck, Matt Akin - Munford Phillip Reed, William Stout - MUS Mark Foster, Philip Gibson - Cordova OF John Morgan - Christian Brothers C Scott Hawkins - Collierville

No question...Phil Clark -- formerly of Germantown, now coaching at Bartlett. Any young player can benefit from his teaching, his insight, his motivation and his caring for his players.

Know the activity level in the Baseball Forum has significantly fallen off after the Spring Season, but... can anyone provide a report on player performances at last weekend's TBCA Worth Showcase at MTSU? Thanks!

Congratulations to Farragut for a sensational season! Our boys from Bolton were one of the VERY FEW teams to get close to a win against the Admirals (11-10 in 8 innings) in Tullahoma in March. What impressed me was the solid hitting consistency from the top to the bottom of their lineup. Having played against the competitive Memphis-area teams during the season, Farragut was by far the best hitting club seen all year. 48-1 is unbelievable...anywhere! Just another note to a much-deserving team -- Munford Cougars. Bolton and Munford compete in the same district, then played a 2-1 regional title game won by Munford on a walk-off home run by Zach Lowery in the bottom of the 7th. We are just as proud of their boys as their school, parents and fans! They flew in to the tournament "under the radar" and were content to play SOLID BASEBALL when all the attention was being given to the Houston Mustangs. They are to be applauded and commended for a wonderful run in the tournament! This Bolton parent is extremely proud of the effort and fight shown by our "hometown district" boys -- the Munford Cougars!

Say "Goodnight" to Germantown...for the second year in a row! Couldn't close the deal against Collierville, who also went on to beat Houston in the district tournament final. History doesn't mean squat -- only what your team does "in this game -- on this day." Germantown can now get out the caps and gowns and think about "days gone by".......

Agree with bd4vols. Coach Cates is beginning to turn the program around and is now getting serious consideration from several of the top players (both 2003 and 2004 classes) in West TN and Memphis. Several reliable sources characterize Coach Cates as a coach that truly cares about his players, always promotes the positives, and is totally honest and fair. His success at building a solid program at Jackson State CC is carrying over to the Skyhawk program. Also, if the Lottery Scholarship bill for TN eventually passes, many ballplayers in the 2004 graduating class will begin to consider the baseball programs at TN colleges and universities. They will be able to use the scholarship $$$ to supplement the 1/2 athletic scholarships given to most baseball players. This can only mean that more top-level HS players will begin to consider Coach Cates and what he is building at UT Martin.

Final regular season standings for 14-AAA: 1) Bolton 2) Bartlett 3) Munford 4) Cordova 5) Millington. Bolton earns automatic regional birth. First Round Games -- Friday & Saturday at Bolton HS 5/2 Game #1 Cordova vs. Millington 4PM 5/2 Game #2 Bartlett vs. Munford 7PM 5/3 Game #3 Loser #1 vs. Loser #2 1PM 5/3 Game #4 Bolton vs. Winner #1 4PM

Based on this thread and other evaluation sources, here is a summary listing of the top catchers from the 2004 class - in no particular order: Chris Kirkland - South Doyle (D1-AAA-East TN) Chris Rezabek - Bolton (D1-AAA-West TN) Alex Watson - Riverdale (D1-AAA-Middle TN) Justin Pickett - White House (D1-AAA-Middle TN) Ryan Headden - Boyd Buchanan (D1-A-East TN E.T. McCreary - Rockwood (D1-A-East TN) Bubba Herbold - Webb (D2-East) This is a SUMMARY list - by no means a complete list. If you have someone to add, please reply and provide relevant info and statistics. Continued success to all these guys.