tnbigbear

norris and connell are both nasty pitchers for sure, but mid 90's come on, I would say sitting at a very solid 85-87 with an occasional gasser that could hit the magic 90 mark.

guess that kinda makes it no mans land, not really east, not really west, dont think I would call it middle either?

redbird I believe it is about 30 miles northwest of chattanooga

Clinton does not have much talent, but Casey is doing really well with what he has as expected, he is a great coach, anyone can do a good job coaching a team full of studs, any wins they earn this year with the talent they have are well earned. by the way they did beat Powell with a 6 hit comeback inning and were behind the whole game, but they stayed up and into the game the whole time, even when things looked bad and that positive emotion is what brings rallies on, and good coaching is what helps develope that kind of attitude for the game. and as far as the non-baseball players he has, if it were not for the third baseman stopping a one hop shot at his feet with two men on and catching another line drive over the bag with two men on, the game would have gotten out of hand. granted he obviously does not have much of a arm, but he does have a decent glove for the obvious limited experience he displays.

Brian Lovett is coaching at Bearden, played out his college career spent 3 or 4 years coaching at Central and now is with Bearden will make a great impact. great coach just as he was a player will be a head coach somewhere in Knoxville area before long.

Best in East Tennessee Farragut Science Hill David Crockett Powell Halls Bearden 3AAA battle between Halls and Powell, Halls with Mcconkey and Burton, Hillard, Gresham, Weaver for starters and some strong younger guys in relief. Powell down on pitching, Ownby only Starter I can think of, Below will be back, heard he was out for grades due to being sick and missing two weeks, the other guy will still have to do some catching, Below will have to pitch more, throws harder from the mound than behind the plate, seen him get 8K in three innings at 18u Sandlott Series in Nashville this summer, should see him in relief. Colin Rhyne will be a hard out this year, also look for him to score alot of runs this year, Powell bats will have to beat Halls pitching either way, whichever wins 3AAA will have to get by Science Hill and Farragut. Gibbs will be top AA in the east now that Catholic moved up, very deep pitching staff with Pigeon Forge right behind them

Powell lefty, Ownby I believe, went 7-1 or 8-1 as a freshman last year

I do not know what to think about this topic on coacht, anyone who has seen oak ridge play will assume who this is about, with no public release of any kind, or punishment being given out, I would think this could have an effect on these kids, you never know who is reading these post and could pass judgement based on rumours, if it is who I would assume you are speaking of, they are both quality ball players with above average skills and project well, could have a future at the next level, so let us not pass judgement based on talk, if they have done enough to be removed from the team, then it must have been pretty serious, Oak Ridge has a very good coach with a lot of knowledge and experience. I think a few five mile practices for these boys would be more in order, if it is just a matter of attitude, they may just get there hearts in the right place, if they cant take it, then it was not something they really wanted anyway, have seen good players put off the team in their senior before, and most of them went even farther downhill, if this is something they really want then give them some serious punishment and if they want it they will take it, to kick a player off in his senior year, he would have to do something illegal and had a couple earlier warnings, after all your not taking away their video game or car or cell phone, you are making a seriuos decision on there future, not to mention punishining the rest of the team in a sense by losing their talent, and as far as setting a example, making them run the entire practice for the first couple weeks and not start the first few games will alert the other players more than removing them, as the previous post stated they are still kids. and for sure let us not poke at the parents, if it is these boys, you could not ask for more involved parents, and I am sure they get more than enough instruction of right from wrong, remember these are the me generation kids.

agree with you there redbird this is true, any scholarship player at d1 could play for walters but also have seen some players on d1 teams that would not make some high school teams, some players that could play d1 that choose top jucos are just not ready to sit or not ready mentally or physically, or just cant pass the clearing house, have been many players leave walters to go on and do well at d1 after a little growth

Walters does have some high end players as freshman, as far as beating d1 teams that would depend on who is pitching for either team, as Walters maintains players that could have seen the field as freshman at some d1 schools and many players that turn down d1 schools and draft options, they choose jucos like Walters, San Jacinto, Yavapei, Spartanburg just to mention a few of the tops, because they want to be on field or issues with the clearing house, anyone who thinks Walters is not that strong may want to see who has signed more contracts in the last decade Tennessee or Walters it would be very close and that is freshman and sophomores versus juniors and seniors, look the first 20 rounds last year and see how many were juco players, will agree most juco and naia schools are weak but the top ten njcaa schools are very tough, Walters can play with any team in the state at any level as far as the schedule not having any d1 opponents, I would say most d1 coaches would not want to take the chance of losing to them. I played d1 in the early 80's for a well known d1 with some titles and played San Jacinto a weekend set and we split 2-2 and lost 1 by ten runs.

all of the reply you are getting are correct, hitting opposite field and deeper into the plate or more to your back hip are all true, it is necessary to be able to hit oppo to become a complete hitter but forcing the issue to much can be bad for players that have hit for power or been taught stroke the ball especially on there first two strikes and then shorten up for the third, this causes players to have a little longer swing, and the pressure of the "backside" issue will cause them mental issues at the plate and create some very unorthodox swings, and it seems to be more of an issue when the coach is barking this at the batter during game situations, usually this will make a hitter hit a weak ground ball to second base or shallow pop up, I had seen a very good school that is known for winning and had a very good coach, ground out to second base 9 consecutive times in a district game, because the backside issue was so pressed, and the other coach just kept feeding them slow and low junk on the outside of the plate, also when they faced pitchers with above average velocity they were lost because mental approach to the plate was clouded by all the pressure and they seemed to approach the plate with a lack of confidence. seen one kid that was a natural hitter, lefty pull a ball down first with two men on, score them, come in hard at third safe, when he stood up, as he was dusting off said to his coach how did you like that, and was replied to, would have been better backside, the kid went then went 0-4 two games in a row after that. man on first and second no outs, lefty at the plate I am hoping for a weak grounder to the third baseman. being able to hit oppo is absolutely needed to be a pure hitter especially in hit and run situations but when it is not, just hit the ball where it is pitched, outside/oppo - inside get it out front and let it rip, down the middle everyone knows what to do with that, but good pitchers will not give you that, so you need to be in command of the pitches on the edge, as long a this post is you can tell that I dont like the backside pressure, teach it in practice but when it is game time let them hit. I have gone to see kids that were natural hitters during their freshman years and before, come back and see them as a junior or senior and be very dissapointed, some of them even become what I like to call mechanical, like they are going through some kind of checklist. to much hitting instruction can destroy a hitter, teach it in practice, when it is game time the lessons are over, let them get comfortable and hit, you get your best focus in the on deck circle and it sure does not help coaching them on deck or when they are on their approach, and by all means every at bat that they reach base safely is a good at bat and should not be degraded in any way

if your an umpire and not good at your job then someone is going to get on you, I do agree some coaches do get out of hand, but it is usually due to a umpire with a attitude, caused either by past experiences or a lot of mouth that has been going most of the game, either from the parents or the players and it is almost always the team that is losing. but it is part of the game and always has been and it is part of the job if you cant take it then dont take on the job. if they are getting 60 and 70 a game then that is about 20 a hour I believe if you are making that much at a job and were not doing it well someone is going to get on you, I believe that the umps should be evaluated closer and directors should be a little more selective on who they use but in most cases they dont have the option to be selective, their is a shortage of quality umps. just because you call a few games in a 12 year old tourney in the summer does not qualify you to call varsity high school ball. you should have a minimum of 1 season at jv level and a evaluation before moving up, do your job well, build some experience, you get more money and a better position I believe that is how it works. as far as pitch count rule I agree with it because their are way too many kids getting surgery in high school compared to the past. some coaches will ride a quality pitcher way to long, have seen way too many pitchers as a freshman or sophomore with the chance to move to the next level by their senior year that cant throw as well as they did as a freshman, this would also give some of the less dominating pitchers a chance to develope as well.

Austin Below - Powell Walters State

would like to see Jack get the first shot at the position, has been part of Bearden program in some form for about 25 years I would say he has earned it

impressive group of catchers from knoxville this year 3 already commited to colleges Ethan Bennett - Farragut (Tennessee) Austin Below - Powell (Walters State) Steven Monger - Oak Ridge (ETSU) Broussard - Catholic (not commited but will play in college)