AlwaysARookie

I was not implying OR was a one man team. I thought they would be the only team that had a chance to challenge HW. I was surprised at the early season performance, but what matters is district and OR has played very well when it counted the past couple of years. It appears they are building some momentum again this year. Good luck.

3 AAA looks really weak this year with exception of Hardin Valley. Powell (Loss to CC) and Halls are much worse than recent history. I thought Oak Ridge and Lane would be having a better season. A big surprise in Karns play. Lump the rest in and there you have it. I have seen several teams play. At least it has made for some more competitive games than in past seasons. It is pretty ugly this year, but HS baseball is always fun to watch.

First off, Congratulations to Hardin Valley for winning the tournament district title. Anyone that got knocked into losers bracket 1st or 2nd game would have a tough time winning the tournament including HV. They didnt and they won the tournament. I would say HV has a great coach, great defense and good pitching. HV coaching defense is worth at least 2 runs per game compared to most high school teams and their pitchers benefit from that. They have a large advantage over all the other pitchers in the district. If Neely keeps progressing, he can be great. Halls had more than a couple of great players. Ryan Gallion who also made all district and several other players really stepped up this year. Coach Poltston thought they would be a .500 team this year, but thanks to the hard work and efforts of the players, they win the regular season ditrict championship and are I think 27-6. Agree that Oak Ridge should be a top contender next year and they need someone to step up at #2. They have some pitching talent that needs to be consistent and throw more strikes. Agree CC is well coached, has some talent, but need more to be competitive. AC struggles again next year. some young talent, but pitching and defense subpar. I like Clinton as well. They are well coached. Their coaches do do more with less tham most teams. Losing Marsh will hurt them. He was such a cog for them. Powell still has some talent but will need to hire a STRONG coach to take control of the program. When a kidd can curse the coach twice and feel justified, something is waaay wrong. Hard to say where they might finish till coach is hired. Halls loses alot this year. I think they lose 3 or 4 of top 5 pitchers. They lose 9 or 10 seniors most of whom played. There should be more opportunity to play early for the first time in a long time. Having a winning tradition is a plus. Still, its is hard to see thme finishing any higher than 4. With tremendous hard work, they can make me wrong and I hope they do. Hardin Valley will be prohibitive favorite next year. In fact, if they do not sweep both regular season and tournament titles, it would be a real failure. Most of the tradional powers will be down next year and HV was young this year and returns most of its pitching and that *(&*(&() defense.

I was wrong in my opinion drawn from your posts. You are really much lower on the food chain than I previously thought. Using a high school kids name and making disparaging remarks is as low as it gets. They are not paid to play and certainly should not be targets of a demented freak like you. Amazing how the ability to hide behind a keyboard brings out the worst of the worst. I will not waste anymore time on you and only hope you learn a little class.

What would give you the right call a man who has coached for 20 years doing it the right way ALL the time a cheater. People can debate field strategy, lineups, pitching decisions and all the other things the fans in the bleachers like or dislike about a coach. The one thing you are completely out of line about is using the word cheater. There is no cleaner coach around. He does not recruit other schools players while some do. He does not conduct illegal practices or intrasquad games while some do. Those are real issues that occur. They are not widespread but do occur. Doug Polston for a fact does not cheat. Halls fans do not always agree with him just as fans from other teams question things their coach does. But, what we know with COMPLETE certainty, is he is a man of integrity who requires all his players to take academics seriously and checks up on them with their teachers. I know what kind of man he is. If you are any kind of man at all, you should apologize for your ignorant accusation instead of saying " I'm just saying they may not have meant to do it but It's ironic " Sorry to all the rest of the fans for taking up time reading this. I try to be positive about kids and baseball. Thanks to those who spoke up.

Hard to see them being as good next year. D.Owenby and Skeen as well as several others will be missed. They lose most of their hitting and best pitcher. The last 2 years were supposed to be glory years for them. They were a good team that won a lot of games. Sometimes team chemistry just doesnt mesh. There are lots of good young men on that team. I hope someone sees the light and ends that ridiculous chant they do all game. It appears not to faze their opponents and really makes Powell look sort of silly.

I agree with you and I he certainly deserves a spot. The bad thing is each year some deserving kids dont make it. I would like to see some more names before it is announced. I know it is not official what any of us think but at least we can gives them a little well deserved recognition. Who should win Player of Year. I still cant make up my mind so I will stall another day.

I believe it should be Painter. He is 11-1 on the year with an ERA below 1.0. His one loss was 2-1 2 hitter against HV and he hit a HR for only Halls run. HV got the winning run due to a misplay. I would guess he averages around 10 SO per game and around 1 1/2 BB. He competes every game. To me, Pitcher of Year should be dominant. It should not be someone who pitches 4-6 innings in most of their starts. It should be someone who can stike out enough batters to make it easier on defense while not walking many. It should be someone who can consistently finish the games they start without needing relief.

I would suspect same reason Halls threw Painter. They want him available for Tuesday winners bracket game. If you are playing to win it all, you want your best ready for that game. Or maybe they wanted to make sure they won first game. I do like Halls pitching options better than OR for this game. Hardin Valley vs Powell should be interesting although last time Powell handled them pretty easily without HVs #1. Anderson County is playing so poorly now , I would not read much into the score of that game. If HV keeps it close first 3 innings, I like their chances.

Guess I will start it. Anderson County / Durand and Roberts Campbell County / Sorry have not seen them play Help Me CC fans Central / McFarland Clinton / Marsh Halls / Painter, Smith, Gallion Hardin Valley / Fielden, Elliot Oak Ridge / Lane and McDaniel Powell / Skeen, D Owenby, H Owenby I will post thoughts on pitcher and player of year next time. I do think every team should have at least 1 representative. It is often harder to play hard and excel on a team with a poor record. Those guys deserve recognition also.

Just wanted to get everyone's thoughts on who should make the team and win the 2 big awards. There is a lot of talent in 3AAA this year. I am hoping to see fans from ALL schools in the district give their opinion. Thougt it might be interesting to see who the fans feel deserves to make it before the real team is announced.

Thanks for the correction. I was referring to the weekend in the tri-cities where they had a few bad losses. That said, Its tourney time and what anyone has done before now is history. It should be interesting.

Powell could certainly win it all, but I dont think they will. They can go in the tank in a hurry as evidenced by being run ruled several times this season. Championship teams rarely have so many embarrassing losses. Their defense and maybe mental side of game may be their downfall. They are however a momentum team and if they get hot look out. Halls is playing well lately and with the emergence of Gallion giving them another solid pitching option. Corccione has been pitching well and Painter always performs. Gallion pitched 9 innings against a good Science Hill team. Halla won in 11th on as Austin Smith hit a game tying HR then later a game winning walk off HR. I would consider Halls the favorite. They have had several players develop this year. At the start of the season, I would said Powell definately had the most talent and now Im not sure they do. Hardin Valley will be Hardinn Valley. They have less overall starting talent than Powell and Halls, but plenty of talent to beat anyone. They have the ability to win at any time, but I dont see the pitching to get them though like last year. I like their offensive firepower, running game and solid defense. If they get the 3 seed, dont see them going far. They definately need to beat powell monday. Oak Ridge has some nice young talent and Lane is throwing great. The biggest issue for them is they have only 1 Lane and they need at least 2. They have good arms developing but they arent as seasoned reliable as some of the other teams. Oak Ridge plays hard all the time. They have enough talent to make some noise and I am sure they will give maximun effort. They will be a serious contender for first next year, But not this year. Not sure what to say about AC. They have Durand and I believe Tackett can pitch now. If that is correct, they will have a chance to make some noise. Their defense will be their downfall. They have some nice talentb but much of it has not stepped up this year. They have enough top end talent to win any ONE game. I just dont see enough defense and consistency to take the tournament. Clinton will not have a chance to contend, but I do want to give them a plug. Two years ago, I thought this team would be beyond horrible this year. They have obviously coached, worked and developed players. You can tell that some effort was expended by everyone involved. My hat is off to the Clinton baseball program and the scrappy team they fielded this year.

The Bearden job is a good job but not a great job. It is in a tough district and has had a spotty feeder system. At the present , they have their most talented team in years and still cant beat what is not your usual Farragut team. Maryville is way down this year and that will not last long. This should be Bearden's best shot to take a title. Hardin Valley has a great coach and should get its share and maybe more of west valley kids. Farragut will more often than not be very tough. I sure dont see Pharr going there. If I were Warner, I would stay in JC unless there is a big money difference,the desire to compete in Knoxville or sees he has minimal talent in the pipeline at JC. Would be shocked if they hire Karns coach. All that said, I am sure they will get a fine coach and wish them well.