FightinAnchor15

Thats very sadening news.......who would think lightning would strike in twice in knoxville in a weeks period. First with UTs star pitcher Luke H. and now Michael both suffering fractured skulls from line drives. Prayers are with both. There is more in life than baseball, it is a great game but instances like this just make you think.

Guess who, I was not trying to take away anything from the kid by saying how hard he was throwing bc i was just going by what the guns said, or by talking about him holding runners. He was impressive like I said, but something not impressive was how 3rd base was stolen off him three times never giving the catcher a real chance... there is more to holding runners than a good pick up move, its not called varying your times and looks, he did not do that. Sorry if i offended you by giving the kid a lot of a credit and a little constructive critism.

I made it by the Ballpark at Farragut today(it was great to be "home", the field was in great condition as always) and scouts were in abundance. Kyle Waldrop started for the Admirals and was throwing 88-91(according to the scouts, who all had good comments about him) and hitting his spots well, probably the best i have seen him throw. It looks effortless for that kid, his future is surely a bright one. Blake Carver(D1 signee w/ GA I think) started for Cleveland, one of the main reasons that the game was not high scoring as I expected for the Admirals. Blake was throwing 84-86 mph, with a good slider. I was impressed but he has to learn to hold runners better, especially when they are second. Tony Delmonico swung the bat well, but looked more impressive at short. It was a great game to watch, best of luck for both teams.

Well I had my say on the Top SS list, so I might as well throw in my opinions/thoughts on this thread about Top Catchers. And believe or not I am not going to be partial towards a certain LMU signee. But thinking about Scott Dean and how well he did in the chances he got at the beginning of the year when Michael McKenry was hurt makes you think he will do real well this year. I recall 3 2Bs game against a certain 3AAA team that goes by the name of Beavers. It was just too bad Coach Pharr did not have another place in the lineup to keep him in that grove. It was too bad that Scott had to play behind the best catcher in the state for 3 years. But that brings me to my next point about Alex Watson, as I see he is high on the list, as he should be. HE is a great player, I have seen him in the summer a few times and watched him at Spring Fling in Memphis. But when he signed with MTSU it seems like he will fall into the same place that Scott did at Farragut, that is playing behind McKenry who has already seen time in the first few games of the season and will fall right behind the plate sometime this year and if not for sure next year. Does Alex play any other positions? Bubba Herbold I would think would do the same thing behind John Weddle and whoever else ETSU has. I do not know all the deciding factors in these players minds but would you not take into consideration who is infront of you, etc? Now onto the #1 catcher on the list, Chris Kirkland. I would say the most impressive things about him is the physical change his body has taken since his freshman year, and seeing him pitch this summer and hit 90-91mph. We all know his calling is receiving those hard fastballs but how much do you think South Doyle will use him as a pitcher this year, as they already have a few good arms. Here is my personal opinion about the kid, and I will not try to take anything away from him. I have seen that cannon you could say he has for a right arm, but I think it often shown off causing an wild throw here and there.(McKenry had the same problem there for a while, as the phrase "easy there turbo" had to be used often when he threw) His blocking ability is amazing, footwork as well(watch and see if it doesnt look like he is looking down at his feet on almost every throw to second) but I think more quality throws, a little less velocity could be the key to his success. But he has made a name for himself and that alone will keep a lot of coaches from trying to steal on him, which is much credit to him. I do not know much about his hitting so I will leave that alone. All thoughts welcome, even if it is in total disagreement with me.

HV, I purposely left Cody off for the very reason he played at Karns and I am not very big on 3-AAA. No just kidding. I actually cannot believe I left off someone I have known through church and baseball since age 11, and still keep in touch with him to this day. No Cody is still a heck of a player, he actually played with us this summer since he has the weird baseball and fit into the 18 and under. He was one of our best hitters there for a while over McKenry, Bell, Weddle, Kelly, me for sure and the list could go on for forever. I do not know who keeps the stats over there at Karns, but I remember him being a homerun short of the cycle everynight with a few stolen bases in there. Boy he is a tough out. It was great to be on the mound with Cody Crowell and Michael Courtney up the middle and Cunningham and Kelly on the corners and either Weddle or McKenry calling a great game behind the plate.(sorry, had a misty-eyed flashbacks) Moving ON. Its too bad he never could get his arm back into shape and quit hurting him. Because I know he loved the game, and Jackie, his father, did too and the best for Cody, also one the best guys to be around. That's very correct, if Chris and Cale go to these places and do not preform well above the rest then they do not get the honors that they are receiving and more importantly they do not get to sign their name on that line to play SEC ball. So hats off. I am just very interested to see a lot of these boys for this year's SR. class go on and play against each other in the coming years, and see the success they have. I hope everybody who has signed exceeds the expectations I have in my mind for them.

I know a lot of people in the past have been upset, when you see these rankings with Chris K. and Cale I. on them, above Kyle Waldrop(if he is even on the list these people see) and other. I guess they do not understand what all these Showcases and events are that gets your name to certain piblications. So a lot of people, biased people maybe from west knoxville(Farragut) get upset about things like that. I will leave my opinion out on that subject. He does have the height and speed. But has he done anything to get noticibly stronger, because I always felt like that was one thing that he lacks. I would take your sons word anyday, because I have surely never seen him make a mistake in the field. I just need more exposure to the kid, which who knows I might come out and get this year since I have a lot of afternoons open after class. I respect the input for Bizazz and HV....I was just being closed minded and just did not think there was much that seperated Cale from Micahel Courtney, Barry Cunningham, Brad Isom, Lew Henry, and Tony Delmonico that I have seen much closer by playing with them in the past. But 6.7 is surely Impressive Mike Courtney was the only one of that group that could even come close to Cale spreed. Best luck to him and the Beavers.

I am not one to step on toes, and surely I will not down play anything that HV does, and maybe this is a conversation that I need to come out of the "Dawg Pound" one of these weekend series and discuss face to face. But for the moment I am going to throw this out there everybody............What sets Cale Iorg apart from everybody else in his class? I have seen so many good players during high school and summer ball. I have never seen anything that really just overwelmingly sticks out about him. I guess to me he plays a "boring" game.....which is not bad at all....when I say boring I mean he walks a lot, which means he has a good eye and selective at the plate(a big plus) and he is just very fundamental and not show-off flashy at short. But I guess I have only seen so little games of his and how he has done against some good competition(Farragut and Thunder in this case) that I just would like some peoples input and how well he will fit at Alabama, what kind of sucess he will have in the KIL this year, will people pitch to him or around him, does he have the deep ball threat, how his line-up around him is? I am talking about educated input and thoughts not meaning to put him down in any way, I just was very surprised by his signing back in the fall, but more power to him . Because surely did something I did not do, which is getting a shot to play at the next level when his career at Karns is over.

I am no longer involved directly in high school baseball....I have moved on to follow my best friends play college ball and miss it a lot. But I was the pitcher who started in that District game for Farragut and Coach Pharr was not happy with things starting with the first batter of the game, when I happen to float an 0-2 curve ball in the leadoff hitters back, he sent someone to warm up after 3 pitches. He wasn't happy because he felt like we did not come to play and were overlooking the Smokey Bears. After a missed bunt or two and some non competitve at bats, Coach walked out of the left field gate and down under a tree, it was not but a few pitches later that Michael McKenry(starting catcher in MTSU's opening weekend Saturday Game, Congrats) hit a 3-0 fastball over the leftfield wall for a grand slam, to get the team going. None of us found it funny at all, and it was a big wake up call. PS. Bizazz looking forward to more of your input and updates on high school baseball since I will be out of touch kind of, and Go VOLS and Craig Cobb.

I mean keep this half-way serious, even though that was a funny comment about scott but Tony Delmonico from Farragut is the best sophmore in east tn so sorry.

I think it is sad that you feel the need to just get on here and bash a school who is founded more on religious beliefs which is their first priority and then second academics then finally sports. Real cool Real cool. I mean how old is their program and how many students do they have? I am out of high school and didnt graduate from CAK or anything i just happen to see that you are real big on mouthing off about them....if that makes you happy to put them down to make you feel better about yourself then keep going buddy.

The West team has a player by the name of Greg Golson in Centerfield....I had the pleasure of watching him play this summer. He has 6.3 speed and is an absolute physical speciman. Anybody who watches this game take note of the way he plays the game and just the talent that flows from this kid.

Not taking away anything from those two players and some might call me biased from playing for Farragut in years past but I think Kyle Waldrop would be a great representation of Baseball in our area at that game. He is coming off an outstanding East Coast Pro Showcase preformance.

Yes, I will be attending UT this coming Fall as a Political Science/Pre-Law major. But before that I am playing in my last game of competitive baseball(and yes this is a very sad moment) on Saturday in a Wooden Bat tournament. But I enjoyed my years at Farragut and my high school summer ball experience with the Yard Dogs and then with Thunder as a 17 and 18 year old. My role this summer has been closer, I think you saw the end of my only start of the summer, as i usuallly relief 3 games a weekend and had a good preformance today thankfully after a fallout personally and as a team in B.E.S.T. World Series. But it's good to hear from ya......and hopefully I can be a close follower of high school ball and give my input next year. But being a follower of all 117 college football programs i am getting geared up for this coming season right now

Last year Farragut had only one Junior Varsity team

KevB, I talked to Craig himself today....and the word from my mouth was the first he had ever heard of him going to Walter State or any other JUCO. That does not mean Rod has thrown that out there. But no word has been said to him or his family about that so.