bballwriter44

hawk, it's very obvious that the ccs experience comes from playing top level talent, not age. for example they played walker valley, baylor, notre dame, hixson, grundy, red bank while y'alls toughest non-region game was marion county.

Nathan Long at CCS is well above .400 with seven homers. Also has sub 3 ERA. Chargers might go to state for 4th straight year.

This thread is out of control as it is, but as long as it remains the truth must be told. Cofer's entire situation was blown so far out of proportion that it's pitifully unfair to the area's elite shortstop. The entire incident comprised of little more than a couple cuss words in frustration with himself and suddenly idiots from Knoxville chime in as though they have a clue. With a homer and three RBI in a win over Chattanooga's hottest team, McCallie, Cofer raised his average even further above .400 and has the Lions back on track. A better argument could be made for Cofer as Chattanooga's best shortstop than for anyone else. Period! As nokona likes to say. His switch-hitting consitency, reliable glove, and ridiculous .468 average last year in AAA ball makes his case for him. Quit being jealous of Reece and play ball...

Sorry to rain on catsbackr's public school parade...but McCallie and Baylor, even with those combined "20" losses, easily have the personel to hang with Ooltewah and Soddy and frankly have alot more talent than Hixson or Grundy.

It's never been harder to tell...could be any of these four. Here's why I think each should be. Baylor: Before losing to McCallie by 3 runs in two days they had proven they were forreal by winning somethin like 14 of 15. Decent pitching depth, and a powerful lineup make them legit. 20-9 record even after McCallie catastrophe isn't bad. Soddy: Only reason they get consideration is because they beat Ooltewah twice in a row. But does that alone make up for an otherwise mediocre season in which they have lost to hixson twice, red bank, and bradley? I'm not sure it does. Ooltewah: The best case can be made for the Owls. They shut RB out twice (a team that beat soddy and hixson), they killed Walker Valley, they torched hixson 14-6 a few days ago a day after beating Cleveland 13-1. McCallie: Might seem out there, but they pulled it together to beat Baylor two straight...i don't think anybody else could have done that. And they hung tight with Farragut earlier in the season.

Simpson at Baylor has the area's best stuff, and I don't want to hear about Soddy knocking him out of the game in 30 degree weather on opening day. Smalley is a close second with great stuff as well. Simpson will be a legit SEC pitcher in a couple years...

nokona, I know you enjoy picking apart grammar errors with your superior Hixson education...so I regret to inform you that "solidest" is indeed a word and was used in proper context by Mr. Cofer.

Good posts about Chattanooga area hitting, and there's alot of it. Other than the obvious, Brett Smalley and Ryne Simpson, what are the best arms in Chattanooga and which staffs are the deepest?

In no order... Ryan Jones, Ooltewah: Talent speaks for itself and if Owls don't get ahead of themselves could be tops in town. Danny Lawerence, McCallie: Maybe the most overlooked star in Chattanooga. Danny is a boarder at McCallie so he isn't a recognizable summer league name but has as much power as anybody in Chattanooga Area. Brendan Turner, Walker Valley: Like Jones talent speaks for itself, the Miss. St. signee will lead Chattanooga Area in homers hands down. Reece Cofer, Red Bank: Cofer makes the list instead of Fabry only because he will bat about .100 points higher. Could easily flirt with .500 season this year. Nathan Long, Chattanooga Christian: Long is a sleeper even though he's a four year starter for the Chargers. Though just a small school prospect, Long has a gamers mentality that elevates him above most of his peers at the HS level. Will carry a weak CCS team to mediocrity.

Agreed. I'm a Southeast TN guy so I've only seen Farragut play once in the past year. I would never make my case for my guys over Tony, he's obviously a nationally acclaimed HS superstar. Should have pointed out my guys were best of SE Tennessee.

1) Reece Cofer: Its hard to make an argument against Red Bank's Reece Cofer, he's ultra-fundamental both offensively and defensively. Has the tools to lead Chattanooga Area in batting (almost did last year) and will man the shortstop for one of Chattanooga's finest. 2) Charles Williams: is similar in that he is also very baseball savvy and fundamentally sound. His bat has as much pop, but slightly less consistency. 3) Josh Green: his competetion is a level below the other two and his defense is a smidge behind but his bat is probably a little more home run potent.

It's quite a disgrace (no pun intended) to get knocked out by 20 after the excessive Grace trash talking that have poisoned the Coach T boards for weeks now. Grace had a fantastic team, don't get me wrong, but their loss Monday night is evidence that "what goes around comes around." From doing the stupid (trash talking Temple) to doing the trashy (belittling their players even after the ruined your senior night) you quite frankly deserved what you got. My heartfelt advice, come back next year with the same talented squad but leave your game on the court...not on the message boards.

How many does Ooltewah return from last year's team? Were there any significant losses? And Central, obviously lost Wilkes, but will they be able to put together a season similar to last year's?

sad reality..."grace v. temple V" will be state championship game. Furthermore the multiplier leaves both in single A ball for the next few years. Temple's Skogen and Newsome return as does most all of Grace's lineup minus Parschall. Temple wins this year making it 3 of last 4. Period

Fabry and Cofer are the class of Chattanooga offensively. Fabry is considered one of the state's speediest prospects and Cofer might be Chattanooga's best contact hitter. Don't leave out UT signee Ryne Simpson (Baylor) in talks of all-around player. Throws impressive stuff that is much faster than you'd expect from a kid his size. Though stuck on a bad team, Chattanooga Christian's Nathan Long is a power center fielder who bats near .400 and flirts with the low 90's on the mound.

Hard to say considering how much talent left the city last year but my poll would look something like this... 1) Red Bank 2) Ooltewah 3) Soddy Daisy 4) McCallie 5) Hixson 6) Notre Dame 7) Baylor 8) Central 9) East Ridge 10) Chattanooga Christian

dunk of the year goes to CCS's 6'9 Center Mitch Groothuis for his buzzer beating alley-oop compliments of Jon Cook in the Chargers regular season ending region win over Grace.

while it's certainly an honor to be appointed to the navel academy, it's not exactly reasonable to draw comparisons between spencer and leen. leen is headed to a top 5 wrestling school to compete with the big boys right off the bat as a sure fire freshman starter at cornell...

haha i dunno...but i'm sure soddy gave them a run for their money..uhhh..no---soddy would get smoked by any good JV team....seriously

If you haven't seen CCS play yet your missin' out on what is no doubt the quickest white team maybe ever. They might play the toughest defense in the state (A, AA, or AAA) when they put their minds to it..i mean these kids can flat put anybody on lockdown. #14 nathan long only scores 5 or 6 a game but plays the tightest "D" in the chattanooga area---hands down...and Jon Cook is Class A Mr. Basketball---hands down the McCallie game was a joke after CCS got past their first half hiccups. the chargers just trashed McCallie in the second half and walter dozier alone (who somebody mentioned as 2 of their 8 words) had at least 7 turnovers and is a real dissapointment. the kid just can't pass the rock.. -will the class A team that can hang with CCS please stand up??? all i gotta say is this win convinced me that the "charger train" is goin somewhere--Murpheesboro possibly??

I'm a sports writer in the Chattanooga area and have been amazed at the talent left idle on the bench that i've seen thus far. Just from seeing warmups and being familiar with AAU studs and such from around the area McCallie,CCS, and Ooltewah have alot of wasted talent riding the pine. I've gotten to a few CCS games early enough this year to see alot of young players with great three balls burnin' the nets in pregame. Theres a few short dark headed kids like this for the Chargers who get little PT...the only one I recognized was #32 Cole Murphy who supposedly was dominant at the JV level last season, while swinging with the varsity squad...yet he still doesn't play much this season...great jumper nonetheless -Also at McCallie..they have 6-5 Junior G/F Brett Rawlings, little brother of McCallie superstar Reed Rawlings, sitting the bench for the majority of all games. Brett has a ton of upside and the potential to be a major player at the varsity level...and with a terrible record you'd think coach Henry would at least give him a shot....