dpg123

By far the best field in middle tennessee would have to be Battle Ground Academy's in Franklin. It really is the premier facility.

Will Myers and TJ Derrick combined for a 1 walk, no-hitter wednesday against the University School of Nashville in a 17-0 victory.

Hey McDaniel, i'm sure that it was alot closer than the score showed, and Gary Knows alot more than you'd expect. As for Centennial, i know alot of guys on the team and they are competitors----it's tough to decide the caliber of a team after it's 2nd or 3rd game. Good luck to them the rest of this year & i can't wait for the d2 season to get goin.

hey kerr, it seems as if you, gary, hawkspg31, and court technician all usually have the EXACT same comments about everything. Do u happen to have the name of that guy that pitched for the mets? i'm sure he's on the cal-state fullerton roster if he's so great. talk to you later.

Hey Gary, I'm pretty sure that that pitcher for the Mets is probably bagging groceries somewhere now--i saw him play and that description was a heck of an exaggeration. I agree that FR has a good staff, but there are a multitude of great pitching staffs in d2 this year. it's gonna be very interesting to see how everythign works out.

I got your back Izzy---Heaven is a Playground is a classic movie, i also love Above the Rim.

Tough game for the Bruins playing without their leader and point guard Danny Krow. This just shows how important he is to this Brentwood team. Much closer game with Krow in the line-up, probably a Bruin win, but you can't count out the heart and talent of Jason Harrison--he's definitely a prime time player.

I think that B.A. has a good shot at making this a game. Father Ryan is a little banged up, but they still seem to be playing pretty well. Thompson might not be playing, which is a big loss for the Irish, but they've had a lot of bench players step up lately. I'm excited though because this one should be a thriller. Both teams are very deep and use their deep benches to their advantage. Looking for a great game, but i pick the Irish to win because they seem to be playing great right now.

Hey play, i'm dont think that the state, let alone the middle region is a shoe in at all for Ryan. Plus, they only have 4 returning starters, not 7. It will depend on how their seniors play to see if they can repeat.

Oakland is the more powerful team, obviously. They are just going to be too strong for Cookeville. Too many weapons.

I don't see how NDfanPack and McCallie can come on here and say that Ryan was outplayed and will lose next time. You said that ND blew a 10 point lead with 2 minutes left. That will make 2 times in the last 3 games that Ryan has come back from double digits within the last 2 minutes of a game. That has more to do with Ryan than ND. OldCoacht is right, DeGraauw is the best post player in D2 and proved that again last nite. Good luck to both teams though later in the year.

I'll agree that the game tonite was great, but i'm not so sure that Notre Dame outplayed Father Ryan. This game was pretty evenly matched--Notre Dame was obviously more athletic, but the Fightin' Irish of Father Ryan proved once again why they are the reigning state champs. I have no doubt in my mind that these two teams will be in the 'boro come March. Good luck to both.

I have to agree with bigred about the middle region, it is a complete toss-up. The Big Red and BA both have alot of young talent coming back, and BGA is always scrappy, which gives them a chance to win every game--they're very well coached. With Father Ryan, they lost 11 seniors from last year, 5 of which were starters. Even though they have many great players coming back, its' gonna be tough for them to gel with practically a completely different line-up. Looking forward to this season.

By far the best rivalry in the state is MBA-Father Ryan. Their games are more heated than any in the state. They've been strong rivals for over 75 years now and it shows no signs of slowing down.

On Saturday nite, Father Ryan and Oakland will face off for the Father Ryan Invitational Championship. What does everyone think about this game? Can the Irish avenge their only loss of the season or will Oakland win the FR invitational for the 4th year in a row? This should be a great game. Looking forward to it.

I have said it since the very beginning that Jeff DeGraauw was a big time player. He proved me right once again after scoring 21 points and taking control at the end of the game by finishing the lay-up that defeated Blackman with 2 seconds to go. I'm excited to see the rematch between Father Ryan and Oakland tomorrow nite. [Edited by dpg123 on 12-28-02 9:58A]

Oakland beat Stratford big, Blackman edged out Columbia, and Father Ryan defeated Tullahoma. Blackman will play Father Ryan and Oakland will play Hillsboro.

Hey Gomab, i got one question for you. How can you say that Griffith is one of the top 100 players in the mid-state when he doesn't even start on Ryan's team. Two other seniors, Dylan Lynch and Jeff DeGraauw finish out the Irish's starting line-up. Lynch is the point guard and obvious leader of the team and DeGraauw is the hardest working player in the mid-state. I wish the Irish good luck this year, but i agree it'll be tough to beat Harding. Hopefully we'll see that game sometime throughout this year.

So, it seems as if Father Ryan is back in the driver's seat in division 2 after winning two more games down in Memphis--defeating ECS and a weak Briarcrest team. Doesn't look like anyone's gonna be able to de-thrown the Irish. We'll see what happens once tourney time starts though. i'm excited to see if the Irish can win it again.

I agree w/ you bigballa about Austin Clark---but you're wrong about 2 things. First off, Chattanooga Baylor made it all the way to the state championship last year after beating MBA convincingly in the semi-finals. Secondly, They had plenty of other atheltic players including all-star Jimmy Wynn.

I'll agree that this year will be tough to determine who'll end up region champs in teh middle region, nonetheless who'll end up on top in the state. But you can't forget about hte irish. The did lose 5 starters which is very very tough to make up for. The do have teh best pitcher in the state for D-II with Will Myers. THey also have 2 of the best hitters with Dylan Lynch and Ben Petsch. This team also works very very hard and they have the best coach in middle tennessee. Good luck to all this year.

The most underrated player in D-II is definitely Dylan Lynch. I've had a chance to watch him over this last year or so and he is always overlooked. He proved it in teh state championship last year when he single-handedly lead the Irish to victory. He is also the best defender in the state, no doubt. I'm looking for big things out of him this year. Good luck to the Irish this year and all others in D-II this year.

you have to be freaking kidding me. Smith is ok. Petsch is off and on. Polivka can be good at times. Proffit is no good. and Smithson isn't very good either. i hope you've actually watched these guys play before throwing out names.

are u serious??? every game a battle?? if every game was a battle, then FR had no trouble ending it after losing only one D-II game all of last year. they will have no trouble this year repeating as region champs.

I think that if you're talking about dynamic duos as in 2 players that are unstoppable together, you have to mention Dylan Lynch and Everett Bills from Father Ryan. When these two are on the court together, it's like each one knows exactly what the other is going to do. Not just on offense, they are like road blocks on defense as well. They will be turning some heads by the end of the year.