hiway58

Whatever. I have seen freshmen and sophomores get some good rips off him this year, so good luck at UK....if he ever actually gets on the field there....

Ryan Wilkes throws 94? When? Somebody's radar gun needs an adjustment. He throws maybe 86 on his BEST day. As for the rest of his package, let's just say, good-field, good-hit, no-class, bad attitude.

Thanks, PageMan. I wish there were more like you.

Wow. That's breaks the record set by Sale Creek in 1999.

Basically it's a couple of sportswriters, and a few of their coaching buddies. There's no mystery to it, and always very few surprises. Just about any of us who keep up with area baseball could get pretty close to the final list right now. Some of those who will get on are very deserving, and others are overhyped.

There's some truth to that, deepball. But I've also seen many overhyped, oversized ego high school "superstars" suddenly come back to earth when they're away from their pampering coaches and parents. They're the ones who are struggling in the junior college, or working at the mall. While college coaches may not believe every stat, they DO put a lot of stock in the opinions of the high school coaches....until they get burned. That's why the coaches with credibility repeatedly place truly good players in good college programs, and others are not taken seriously. Just look around. You'll see which high school coaches have earned the respect of college recruiters, and which ones are considered a joke. It's no wonder the "really good" players will often find a way to get to Baylor (scholarships, sponsorships) or suddenly their family "moves" their residence to be in the Ooltewah or Bradley Central zone, for example.

Having watched this situation for a number of years, it's easy to predict what will happen. You always have a few guys with the inflated stats, and some of them use their coaches, parents or the media to help get a scholarship with a pretty decent four-year school. Nine times out of ten, they don't cut it at the big school, because they're competing with guys who actually have big-time talent. So they flee to the junior colleges and community colleges, which are then littered with these .450 high school hitters, who were probably closer to .250 in reality. For every Wes Hodges (the real thing), there are about ten pretenders. And there always will be.

It's very simple. If a coach wants you to hit .450, you'll hit .450. I know of a player who gets credited with a hit for reaching base pretty much any time he makes contact. Error, fielder's choice, even a great play by the competition. Mommies and Daddies will often plead their case with the scorekeeper, who usually just gives in. I agree with shakinbake...give a lot of credit to scorekeepers who try to do it right!

Congrats to Hixson. And please keep us informed on how many homers y'all hit at batting practice.

Central's like a lot of teams around here....the Pounders pad their batting averages against low-quality teams ( I don't have to name names) and freshmen (like the pitcher for Red Bank this week). The Pounders have some good players, but the numbers are a little exaggerated. And there are a couple of guys who are kind of like the old saying: million dollar arms, billion dollar egos, two-dollar brains.

Cool, dude. I guess that answered my question from earlier today. I'm done.

Hey smalls, how many home runs did y'all hit off Ooltewah, Central, and Cleveland?

I just hope we get our PA sound system and bathrooms fixed in time for this. Lots of folks are grumbling about crappy conditions for a tournament, and then district hosting. The field looks great, but some other stuff needs some work! Come on Central, let's get it done!

There will be a lot of debate on who "deserves" to be Best of Preps, but there is no doubt on who always gets on the list: 1. Whoever the coaches decide to "push." Most coaches have one player, maybe two, who they mention in every interview; who are never taken out of the lineup, even when slumping; and whose parents have their noses, well, you know where. 2. If that player happens to get on the list, or even honorable mention, as a sophomore, that player will continue to be named, year after year, no matter what. 3. Some schools ( I don't need to name them) will always get a player or two on the list because of some impressive stats; even though they either play weak competition, or on tiny fields that inflate power numbers. 4. If a coach is determined to get a scholarship for a player (to make his own resume look good), he will "push" that player to the media. "Best of Preps" looks awfully good to a college recruiter. 5. If a player is an early signee, "Best of Preps" is assured, even if his remaining high school performance is so-so. Many of these guys blaze through sophomore and junior years, then skate through a senior year on reputation, trying not to get hurt. No sour grapes here, just years of observation. Some deserving guys get named, others don't. That's life. But check the paper in a few weeks and see if I'm right.

Regarding the earlier comment about the McCallie team showing no class, that proves an old saying that has gone around for years: money can't buy class. McCallie does have some talented players, but the leadership, or mindset, or tradition keeps them from behaving as well as they play. Too bad. If they would shut up, their performance on the field would speak for itself. For some reason, they won't do that.

Whoops I left somebody out. Brian Kelly of Soddy also had a great game. He has a lot of pop in the bat.

Scouted the game at RB Monday night. Coach Garland has Soddy peaking at the right time. They started slowly this year, but are coming on strong. Tyler Phelps hit a long home run that broke up a close game in about the 4th inning. From then on, it was all Soddy, as Red Bank seemed to give up. Garland outcoaches most of his competitors, and he did it again. Hunter Vaughn pitched three strong innings in relief for the Trojans, who look good on the fundamentals: bunting, baserunning, and strong defense. They should go far in their tournament and in district. On the other hand, Coach Reece's Red Bank Lions are following in the footsteps of the school's football team, and that's not good. No spirit, poor bunting, poor baserunning, and thin pitching. Defensively, the left side of the infield and the left fielder just waved at balls instead of catching them. The first two hitters in the lineup are good (Fabry, Henry?), but then it's all downhill. I don't look for them to do much in district play. Thank goodness for Brainerd, huh. At tournament time, it is anyone's guess, but I'm going with my Central Pounders, then Ooltewah. But watch out for Soddy, they might surprise.

Cofer was hitless with two strikeouts.

In the good spirit of CoachT, I won't name any names; but I know FOR SURE that the batting average of one of the "leaders" is heavily padded. I attend every game, and even keep "the book" from time to time. Basically, any time a certain player gets on base, it's a "hit." Dropped fly ball, grounder between the legs, fielder's choice, you name it. It's one of high school baseball's dirty little secrets: many coaches like to "hype" a player or two, as a favor to parents, or just to get someone in the paper. Bottom line: in high school baseball, don't believe all the stats you read; if you want to see how good a player REALLY is, go to the game. You'll see actual hits, the attitude, the enthusiasm, etc. That's why good scouts ignore batting averages. And may I salute the coaches who insist on accuracy in scoring. I wish there were more of them.

They're good, no question about it. A team could beat them by not making any mistakes, but that hasn't happened yet. As for last weekend's tournament, why the heck do you enter a tournament you can't finish?

If Belote, or various others, played at Chattanooga Central's miniature field every day, he would hit 60 this year. But if he played at a real field....????

Saw Lebanon play in Chattanooga this week. The centerfielder missed a "can of corn" in the first inning, and the second baseman missed a routine grounder. Those plays gave Red Bank their only runs. The pitcher would have had a shutout if not for bad defense. Speaking of which, Lebanon profited greatly from Red Bank's poor bunt defense, pitchers balking and hitting batters, etc. Sloppy game, but Lebanon won it 8-3.

Not sure if he's a junior, but Chris Carroll from Red Bank wore us out in district last year. I don't think he's a senior. He's got to be on the list.