CoachJV

Well said Coach. But as a former parent I wanted to say Good Luck and Great Job. I have said it before and I will say it again I am glad my daughter played for you for the last 4 years and you, and all of your players deserve the praise and success. Teaching the game, how to throw this pitch or that pitch might have come from some pitching coach or camp, but the greatist compliment I can give you is about something else. It is the thing's you DIDN'T teach her. You didn't teach her the game was more important than her faith and family. You didn't teach her that her success is only of her doing, and not have anything to do with her teamates. But most of all, even though it was not the best thing for wins and loses when mine was injured, you told me you were shutting her down to prevent her from hurting herself worse and that probably saved her career. I don't know if it's coming out that way but that is the highest compliment I can give you. I don't know if you will win it or not but I know you deserve to and I hope you do. Good Luck Lady Raiders! JV

Not to speak for Pedo, but I took it he was speaking to the "syndrome" all humans have of we "forget" the 100 calls we agree with, but fixate on the one that we didn't. Great game on all sides.

That's off Exit 111 on I-24, which is Highway 55 (McMinnville, Tulluhoma exit). Turn south toward Tullahoma, and take the first right into the park. It's North Waite St. The High School is south on Hwy 55 about 3 miles. The ball field is behind the school.

Did you guys post the All Tournament team anywhere? Some that were not there when it was announced were asking.

David Lipscomb Greenbrier Marshall Co. Cornersville Ravenwood Shelbyville Bolton Marion Co Hendersonville Warren Co. Independence Forrest Brentwood

These have "committed"...they are 2012's.....can't "sign" their NLI until next November. This thread was all signings of this years 2011 seniors. Just wanted you guys to know why they haven't been added to the master list. Congrats anyway and well worth mentioning. All good kids and hard workers. They will do well.

My bad nursecass...you are correct...I missed SIU-E because they were not D-1 in 2010...or they may have been but it was their first year in D1. My apologies to Brit on that one...maybe she won't hit me when she sees me at the park.))) From what I see they are going to be strong and will help the OVC be a stronger conference.

I TOTALLY agree.

Congratulations to these young ladies and their families. Also congratulations to the coaches, both H.S. and travel ball that helped these girls achieve their dreams. It takes a lot of commitment and effort to get to this level. I did do a sort on this data to see what schools had multiple kids signed. I know travel ball is where they get seen, but it is good data. Thoughts? 5 LAWRENCE CO 4 GOODPASTURE 3 RIVERDALE 3 SODDY DAISY 2 COFFEE CO 2 EAST ROBERTSON 2 JOHNSON CO 2 KARNS 2 MT. JULIET

Bump

Yep, There must have been a late change on that one.

Add: Carter Mansolino Dickson Co. UT- Martin Brittany Pendergrast Riverdale UT- Martin

Sounds like Caralisa Connell did well at Louisville. http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/092510aaa.html

I would start this in the college section but I am afraid it would not be seen.... Maybe if we get a little interest going we can move it there.... How are the college fall ball games going? Any reports? Any scores? I heard Trevecca had a big win over UT Martin last weekend. How did MTSU, etc. do.

LOL...it doesn't have to be a secret for me not to know...lol. I stay in the dark....That is good to know and it explains why the coach from Wallace State was so interested in them. Like I said before it was a good tournament I thought...good competition and I feel good that our two losses were against the number one and number two teams there. Wins and trophys are nice but it is far better to get the experience and learn to play better ball for what lies down the road. I am just glad mine gets another year of this and another year of high school ball before she has to go off to college. Thanks for the info.

Forget about Clarksville, every good team plays teams that you would rather not have to play....it doesn't help either team...but that happens. I am sure we would not have made that trip...and like Michael said it was a short notice thing...if we had known what kind of competition was there I don't think we would have gone. Early in the year we had to make a decision as a team what tournaments we were going to. We did that in an open meeting. Like I have said before on this board, given the same information, people make the same decisions. I would have voted the same way I did all over again...and I will tell you why....we have played good competition....and there is no doubt in my mind that my kid has gotten better. From what I see they have all gotten better. From what I see posted on the TN Exposure web site, "Little Sister must have beat "Big Sister" in the battle of the Renfroe's to get to the championship and that doesn't suprise me. Maybe someone can give us a rundown on how it wound up....but I can tell you this...."Little Siter" had it going on in the game against us. She did not look like the same kid we saw last fall. If she keeps throwing like that Tennessee is going to have a very good year next year with the two of them throwing. I am going to have to keep this short and get off here...but I want to say a couple of things out of an obligation I think I have to parents of younger players that read these boards. Years ago some of the old timers here would email me and answer questions and that helped me to help my child. I am just trying to pass that on to the next group so they can in turn pass it on to others. Before I start, let me say that when I talk about "other coaches" I am putting myself into that same group. I didn't know any better...and others don't One thing is I see "other coaches" go to exposure tournaments and not play all their kids. I have watched Michael get in this rotation thing and no matter what happens he would stick to it. Very rarely have I seen him do otherwise. Chasing an ASA berth would have required him to sit someone...and that is not what he has been about. He has been about getting kids seen, getting them better and playing good competition. I like that. Second thing is rotating pitchers. He has been rotating pitchers pretty much every 2 innnigs no matter what the situation. I have heard some people complain about that and you can debate that, but frankly I like it. You could debate does it help a pitcher, hurt a pitcher, help/hurt the opposing team? I don't know...I could argue all of that...but I tell you what it does do. It makes them learn to warm up quick. It makes them learn to go to the mound sometimes without their best stuff. I could go on but I am out of time. The common thread that I see is that he is doing what is best for his kids. The times he has gotten on to his kids, he has been right...and he is being a lot easier on them than the college coaches they are going to play for will be. Like I said before, mine has gotten better. Far better than she would have playing for other coaches, (remember that includes me) and that is all I am looking for.

A few girls are not...he is trying to get the ones that are not committed or signed, seen by colleges....plus trying to give the girls that are signed or committed the opportunity to play good competition. From what I have seen it has all been about the girls and not the trophies or the bragging rights.....and I like that.

I enjoyed seeing Ms. Connell back on the mound today after her rehab. The 6 innings she pitched were just dominating. That young lady has very bright future ahead of her. I know she struck one kid out twice but the ump wouldn't call it....lol. I am sure they are good umps but honsetly, the one inning that Jackie Baird called balls and strikes was the best called inning I saw...lol...GOOD JOB CATCH!! Three good teams working to get better. That is what this is all about. Good luck this summer to all the young ladies that were there today. I am sure they will be successful.

You too sir....I hope you don't hold your breath on the dance team. I think she had better stick with softball although she could use some cardio it looks like.....lol. Pitched in 2 games in North Georgia today and heading to Clarksville for 2 more tomorrow. She was worn out on the way home. She smacked a double off the wall in the second game and told me all she could think about on the way to 2nd was she hoped Michael didn't try to make her take 3rd.....lol.

Yep. All those girls owe all their success to their daddies and no one else. It couldn't be anyone else or the fact that the girl worked hard to become good. Way to take the credit for you daughters achievement It's always the kid that deserves the credit....good coaches and parents know that....you could send me and Forest Gump to Harvard to study under "Einstien" and I would still be an idiot. Forest might get smarter but not me. Looking at that from the other angle, "Einstien" could have probably been educated down here in "Possum Holler" and still been a pretty smart fellow. I had a very prestigious coach that had coached an "All World" athlete tell me one time, "I learned more from her than she learned from me, all I can take credit for on that one was that I didn't mess her up".

So yes Guru I would like to see this list you have. I am betting this kid was not even on it. If she was you tell me again how the picks were made and expose the "homers". If you are playing high school ball to add to a resume you are making a mistake. That's like a soldier looking for medals...all they are going to do is get someone killed and they are only in if for themselves....not much of a team mate. This time of year your focus should be on what can we do to get better for next year instead of whining about why yours was left out. Hit the ball out of the park about 20 times next year and she will be on the list. Remember it is a small and very connected world. With the internet and face book and all word gets around quick about who is a whiner. I am sure any future prospective college coaches would love to see your posts about this. If you are that unhappy I would move her or have her just run track or some other individual sport. Mine is thinking about giving it up and going out for the Dance Team. She said something about Clay Busters but I figured she would shoot her foot off and forever be known as "Stumpy" plus I can't afford one of those new fangled repeating shot guns. On the stations where they have multiple targets she would have to shoot at the first on and just throw it at the next one. Not a good thing with Grand Ma Myrtles old single shot 10 guage. Plus I hear they won't let you load gravel and rock salt and that's all I know how to load. Good Luck

In my opinion nothing the kids or coaches should hang their heads about. I don't know who will knock who out in the Boro but Riverdale and Soddy will have to be considered. Losses at the end of the season to last years state champion and a team ranked nationally, is no reason to hang your head. Ravenwood (who we beat twice) is going...(no disrespect to them), does that mean "it's not fair"? Who said it was supposed to be fair? Life isn't. The system is designed to pick a state champion, not accurately work out who is the 4th, 5th, or 6th, best team in the state. Does Coffee County have anything to hang their head about? No.....do we have things we can work on to get better? In my opinion...ALWAYS! As anyone who knows mine should know, she was upset at losing, that's what makes her a competetor. I told her to take a week off and let's start working on getting ready for next year. That's what this game is all about.....constant adjustments and improvements. Come back next year healthy at the begining of the year and be ready to hit the ball out of the park as opposed to a deep sac fly like this year. I have no doubt the rest of the girls will want to work just as hard. Casey said Terry told them, "if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best"....we didn't. How these young ladies react to not making the state tournament, in my opinion will define them for the rest of their lives. They can sit back and say, "it can't be done" or they can make up their minds not to be out worked this summer and off season. All of our starters are back next year. That's a good start....Several of the younger girls have the ability to improve over the off season to push starters out, if the starters don't improve. There will be new girls coming in that will be a factor....That's what ball is about. I like our chances but we will see. At any rate I enjoyed watching this team this year and enjoyed being associated with all the parents and kids. Let's build on that and have some more fun. See Ya'll at the Hut. JV