AFR39

Heritage beat Gibbs tonight 19-8. Nathan Caldwell and Andy Gregory looked solid on the mound. Matt Johnson hit a three run Homer and Soph Jamey Davis was 3-4 with a grand slam and 5 rbi's. Zach Goodson and Andy Gregory also looked solid at the plate. Add in James Pully and Drew Bowers and this is a very young and potent offense. They are very solid up the middle on defense with the Thomas Brothers leading the way. This is my pick for the sleeper team of the year.

Cody Hawn and Ryan Holland are the two best Freshman in the state. Clinton Helton of Heritage is the most under rated in the class.

Andy gregory and Nathan Caldwell pitched very solid in the Heritage scrimmage. Matt Johnson hit a three run home run and Jamey Davis was 3-4 with a grand slam and 5 RBI's to led the way in hitting. Zach Goodson and Andy Gregory also looked good at the plate. Add in Drew Bowers and James Pully and this is a very potent offense. This is a young team but one with alot of experience. If there pitching holds up and the young power hitters can keep producing at the plate this will be the sleeper team of the year. There defense led by the Thomas brothers is also very solid in the middle. This team is driven by one of the best young coach's in the state: Robbie Bennett. These kids work as hard as any team in the area and deserve only the best this year.

The Heritage team is still young but like you said they are a year older. They have no senior pitchers and the middle of there lineup is made up of three Soph. Jamey Davis Hit 4th, Drew Bowers hit 5th and Zach Goodson hit 6th. There big Pitcher Matt Johnson is back from a shoulder injury that keep him off the mound all last year. This should be a interesting team to watch this year. They have a good middle infield and should play some great defense this year. They are three deep at the catcher position and they should be good behind the plate. If there young players can produce at the plate this team will score alot of runs. And they do play good at home.

Heritage beat WB Thursday night 5-2. The Heritage Defense and Pitching look good. They also hit the ball good to up and down the lineup. This young team will surprise alot of people this year. The WB struggled hitting the Bball all night. I think they had over 10 strikeouts.

Tyler Roberts from Meigs county is one of the best young Freshman in the area. I saw him play over the summer in Knoxville. He is going to be a great athlete. He has good speed and he hits well to. His dad was my HS baseball coach when I grad in 1982 from Meigs. He will be a great asset to that team.

Blount Cty Freshman: Alcoa is loaded with a good Freshman class and they have alot of good pitchers, Taylor Denton, Brett B, and Justin R. Alex Green will be the one to watch in this group. He could start at CF on most teams right now. He has the speed and glove to play. This team will only get better. Heritage also has a good Freshman class led by Clinton Helton who made the varsity. Clinton is good pitcher with great control. Alot of good position players but will need to develope more young pitching. Maryville also has a good Freshman class, the one to watch in this group is Wes Charlton. Like Green at Alcoa he has the speed and glove and arm to play Cf on alot of teams. Joseph Miranda is another good player with great work ethic he will be another one to watch at Maryville. WB also has a good Freshman class with Mark Mcgill, Andrew Clabough and Cory E. WB will also need to develope ptching. Magill will be there ace if his arm stays healthy and Clabough is a great hitter and good pitcher. I wish all teams the best of luck. The level of talent at each school in this fresman class is great. Should be some good baseball in the future for all Blount County to watch.

You are correct Maryville is King in the County. I would just like to see every Blount County team have a good year. They all work hard for it. I think it is a given Maryville and Alcoa will go deep into the playoffs and I wish WB and Heritage could do the same. They both have picked up two good Coachs so we will have to wait and see. You are wrong I live in Blount Cty!

Meadows is a great coach you cannot deny that. But this team needs lineman something bad. Only returning one starter on the offsensive line the center. The JV lineman looked bad all year. I think if meadows can find the right lineman he can have a great year but if not 5-5 at best. His wing-T style can win quick he has proven that. But you must also play good defense. You will not win in this region without a great line. I still say Maryville, Alcoa, Heritage and WB. Alcoa will not have the depth to beat Maryville.

If I was picking Maryville, Alcoa, Heritage and WB.

Maryville is the front runner by far. I think the Heritage team may surprise alot of people this year. Remember they had Alcoa on the ropes and WB only beat them by a missed extra point. If anyone was at the Ballgames Heritage outplayed both teams. They have some good young players next year and a new coach. The Kids that will be there this coming year are alot more disiplined than the seniors that are leaving. I don't think you will see the 10 Personal foul penalties in every ballgame like they had last year. They had a good JV year beating WB and playing Maryville to a 13-0 ballgame.

Farragut and South Doyle will be the class of this district. Maryville will not beat either one and they will finish a distant third. Parker will not be able to throw every game. Maryville will finish third at best this year.

Cody Hawn is the best in the state by far. The most under-rated Freshman is Clinton Helton of Heritage. He is a Freshman and made the varsity this year. He should see alot of action on the mound this year. He is 6'2 and throws hard and has great control. When he is a Senior he will be one of the most sought after pitchers in the state.

I agree about Miranda and Berrong both should be good baseball players they both have great work ethic. Jamey Davis from Heritage and Cody Hawn from South Doyle are two of the best young players in the County. Both of these kids have great work ethic and are on the Varsity at there Schools and will have a big impact on there teams success.

Drew Bowers-pitcher. Jamey Davis-C/DH, and Zach Goodson-3b/p of Heritage should all see action as sophmores. Bowers will be there #1 pitcher while Davis will split time between DH and Catcher. Goodson will play a role at 3b and will possibly be the closer by the end of the season. All three have power and can hit the long ball. Bowers and Davis have really looked good at the plate in the preseason so far. If these three can hit like they are capable Heritage could be really good at the plate this year. These three really worked hard in the offseason in the cages and it shows. I wish them the best of luck this upcoming year.

Ryan Wilkes Chatt Central. Watched him play last year.

South Doyle and Heritage will surprise alot of people this year. South Doyle will give Farragut a good run this year. Both of these teams will depend on young players. South Doyle has the Exp in pitching and this will carry them through and a great catcher to go along with that. They also have the best freshman class in the district. Heritage will be young everywhere pitching and in the field. They are much improved from last year and they should hit well and play good defense. Pitching will be there concern. Maryville will finish third in this district. They can beat anybody when parker is on the mound. Heritage will finish in the middle and be a strong contender the following year. Robbie Bennett has done an excellent Job with the young talent he has. If there young pitchers develope he could be in the mix at the end.

Are the South Doyle Freshman ready for the varsity level: These kids have been playing at that level for the last couple of years. If they produce at the level that is expected of them this team will give Farragut a run in 4AAA. Remember they are Freshman but I know 3 of them have been held back in school. They are Freshman but they will play alot older than there school years. I think this is the sleeper team in 4AAA. Heritage will also surprise alot of people this year. They are also very young. They have no senior pitchers in the starting rotation. Drew Bowers (soph), Matt Johnson (Junior), Justin Purkey (Junior), And Andy Gregory (Junior). They should score alot more runs this year and should have an excellent defense. If they can get to .500 this year, that would be a good building year for the next.

Watch out for South Doyle in 5AAA. They are loaded with young talent. They have four freshman that could start on many teams. Cody Hawn, Eric Connely, Chad Zucher, and Ryan Holland. There catcher (Kirkland) has signed with Alabama. This team looked great in the fall. The Hawn kid could be one of the best players in the state as a Freshman. They will beat alot of good teams but should give Farragut a run for a few years anyway.

When Brad walker and Ronald Osbourn leave he will be looking to. The talent level below that is not that good. I hope I am wrong because he is a great Coach and WB deserves a committed coach. I would like nothing better than to see both county schools do good under there new head coach's. This is a great hire for the school and county if we can keep him in place. Congrats to him and his new football team.

ELA I think that could be a great defense at Heritage.

Rebelron from what I understand Coach Rewis will be in town Sat to meet the players and coachs. I also wish the Mountaineers Coach and the football players the best of luck in there upcoming season.

Stats and Record do not tell the whole story at Heritage. Rebelron is correct there is some good talent walking the halls that never make it to the playing field. There New coach must come in and get them excited about playing for there school. High school football is a one time shot and when you graduate its over and you never get a shot at playing again. As far as Heritage not having the talent I beg to differ. There JV team played Maryville to a 13-0 defeat and they beat WB 28-6. There is some good young players in the pipline, Jamey Davis 6'1-215 pound sophmore, Josh Sceany who scored there last six touchdowns of the season is only a sophmore. Jonathan Caughorn 6'2-220 pound sophmore. Up and coming seniors Tyler Thomas and Cory Stump just to name a few. Heritage was in every game but two, Maryville and Oak Ridge, seven of the 10 teams they played made the playoffs and 3 of them made it to the semi-finals in there Class. There Sched was tough but in the long run it will make the younger players better. These Kids are not the stepchildren of the County they work as hard as any team in the county. They could have just given up alot of times this year but they fought till the end in every game.

Hey I agree just because you are 5A does not make you a good team. All I am trying to say is that the 5A schedules are usually tougher each week.

As I said all the teams at the state finals were great teams and deserved to be there. Hunington has a great running back and it would be hard for any team to stop him. But in a 10 game sched playing 5a schools week end and week out takes a toll on any good back. Most of these schools have size and depth. There is a difference running against 160 pound linebackers as to 215 to 225 pound linebackers as in the bigger schools.