HSbaseballguru

I totally agree. When two of the best arms in the state are competing it shouldn't be a one and done game, unless it's a state championship. At least a series? Last year Columbia rode Stone's right arm all the way to Murfreesboro. Slatton didn't even hardly throw and he's a projected 3rd rounder. Teams don't even try to win the district tournament anymore , knowing you just have to finish 2nd. The Ace will throw opening night and the losers bracket final.

You have no idea what you are talking about and saying that sells that Columbia team short on what they accomplished. Stone threw a complete game on Monday against Riverdale. Slatton threw 5 innings in the game on Wed. and Horne closed. Then Friday Stone threw another 5 and Horne closed that one. Then Horne, not Stone started Tuesday and Friday for Columbia. Slatton closed the first 2 games of the State Tournament for them last year as well. I would say they rode 3 arms to the title game, not 1. Also, Slatton is not a projected 3rd rounder and probably won't go in the top 5 rds, but good try.

Limbaugh, you know you will never get the coaches from 8AAA to agree to something like this. More times than not a double elimination tournament favors Murfreesboro over 8AAA because of depth. Right now, teams like Columbia, Tullahoma, and Lioncoln Co have a legit shot at getting to a State Tournament in the current scenario but would have a far less chance of getting there in your format. Also, I would liek to know how many of those scores you posted were from AAA state tournament games.

No names were mentioned by myself in this thread. Simply stating the fact that the 3 players from FC listed were in fact seniors. also I hope that no coach wouldn't be on this sight to see who the public thought needed to be nominated. It should be by merit, stats, and ability....not popular opinion.....or the negative opinion of those that hate FCS. Truly the kids at FC are in a no win situation. If they do great then it is because the "baseball community" says they recruit...it they do poorly then the "baseball community" says "see they can't hack it with the big dogs".... The FCS players are a good group of boys that work hard and play hard...just like ALL the other teams around....we just get held to a different standard...by those who love to hate. Good luck to ALL the 2012 seniors no matter what school they attend.

 

BY THE WAY... My tax dollars pay for your kid to attend public school and have the facility that your kid plays ball in. I CHOSE to sacrifice my disposable income on my kid and not myself to give him a great education and have different opportunities at FCS.

So what you are saying is kids who attend public school have selfish parents that would rather spend money on themselves than their child's education? That post also assumes that all parents have "disposable income" and some just choose to spend it differently. Spoken like a true private schooler.

Well, if nobody else can give his or her opinion on the matter then I guess the discussion is over and the topic needs to be closed to only people that live in Murfreesboro. If not, I agree with the automatic bid but I think the 3 game series is detrimental to 7AAA. Too many high pressure games late in the year can exhaust a team going into the postseason. That may be why they have been swept the last 2 years on Monday. It may have been the other 2 teams were better but maybe Riverdale and Siegel were a little tired playing that game last year. Who knows. Just a thought unless I am not allowed to give it since I didn't play, live, or coach in Murfreesboro.

Lincoln gets the loser of Columbia and Lawrence

Shelbyville gets the loser of Tullahoma and Franklin Co

Combat Sports a rip off. If you are smart you won't get involved with them.

The number of pitches throw has very little to do with a 16 or 17 yr old player. If the weather is warm and not cold the arm does not get cooled down enough to hurt it. Cold weather on the other hand can and will cause many problems. These kids are strong and certainly capable of doing the job without injury. We have to careful and i am sure that the proper instructions and proper safety procedures are applied.

The number of pitches matters in some cases and in some it doesn't but it has little to do with the weather. If the kid is physically strong he can handle a bigger load but 116 pitches can be tough on a 16 yr old when he throws it 90+ mph. Usually, kids that throw that hard that early end up with arm trouble at some point. Look at his brother last year. The difference is that Justus is much better physically than Jordan and much more equipped to handle a bigger work load. Jordan was too skinny and weak to handle the arm speed he generated last year.

I agree to close to call. But the pressure is on the Lions and not the cat's as it's been in the past. It's a lot tougher to win two to claim the district title than to have to only win one. I think they will split the series giving Tullahoma the title. Should be some GREAT High School Baseball!

I don't think there is any pressure on Columbia here. They have won a lot of big games against Tullahoma the last 2 years. If anything, there is pressure on Tullahoma to prove they can beat Columbia when it counts. That being said, I think this is the year for Tullahoma to do just that.

There bats are so hot

If by "hot" you mean rolled then I agree.

My main problem when it comes to baseball is 3 classifications. There is no reason for Tullahoma with just over 1000 students to be in a classification with Arlington and McGavok which have over 2500 students. I also don't think that there should be 6 classes like football. Football got to add another class so Baseball should go to AAAA as it's highest class. It only makes sense and would give many more teams an equal shot to win a title. The other problem I have is the Spring Fling being Tuesday-Friday and not Wednesday-Saturday. Right now teams are forced to make a decision on Tuesday of the tourny. Do I throw my best guy on 3 days rest for the second straight start or do I start my number 2? If I start my number 1 and we get to the championship I may start him on short rest again in that game making it 3 straight times on short rest. There is no reason that each team shouldn't be able to throw their best pitcher on the first day of the tournament on 4 days rest. Stupid. There is also no logical reason to have the Championship games on Friday instead of Saturday. The attendence figures would double if the games were on Saturday. I have heard people make the argument before to members of the TSSAA and they replied "you don't have to throw your best guy on 3 days rest if you don't want to." The TSSAA only cares about getting that tournament over as quickly as possible so they can go home for the summer too and nobody can tell me any different. They don't make a fortune off of it like they do football so it's not important to them. When it goes to be all about the teams competing and not all about the TSSAA then maybe some of this stuff will get fixed. Sorry for the rant but I had to get it off my chest.

In high school athletics, I don't think you can just look at State Championships as the measuring stick because there are so few teams that realistically have a shot to ever win one. I think Region appearances is a much better way to judge a program. There are several reasons for this but the best one is the fact that only 3 classifications exist and that creates a huge enrollment gap between the biggest and smallest schools in a classification. This is especially true in AAA. It is tough for an 1100 student school to consitently compete for championships with 2400 student schools. But, generally speaking, the enrollment figures within a District are usually much closer and therefore you get a more accurate depiction of who the better "programs" are and not just who has the most talent. I don't want to get too long on this post so I will leave it at that. This does make me want to start a new topic about problems with the TSSAA and what corrections you would make if you could.

Thoughts?

Was the reference to Station Camp a joke?

I'll take Blackman, Oakland, and Riverdale today.

Anyone know who threw in what order for Columbia?

I know Stone won his game so I assume they went Slatton/Stone.

What is the Blaze's schedule? Scores so far?

I don't know the schedule for the week. All I know is that Tuesday Columbia plays Vestavia at 4:00 and then Blackman plays after that. I think Dyer Co. is playing Vestavia on Wednesday as well but I am not sure about that.

There is going to be some really good baseball at Blackman this week. There are games starting tommorrow and running through Saturday. Teams are Blackman, Bartlett, Brentwood, Columbia, Dyer Co., Vestavia Hills.

oakland isnt in this district. Ravenwood will beat brentwood in the district tournament to take it to sub state. Brentwood has way more talent then franklin but i just see either team doing well this year. Centennial could take home district if they beat ravenwood. But overall the ravenwood bunch is a solid team. Will be a very interesting year and im rooting for all teams! We just need a team come out of our district that can truly compete in the tournament. Whoever that is, is still the question here?

Yes I realize that, but I was responding to the post above mine referencing Independence( who is in this district) losing to Oakland in a scrimmage and that poster saying that was a bad loss because Oakland was not supposed to be very good. I was pointing out that Oakland is better than people think, therefore saying that Independence may not be as bad as some people are saying they are based on that loss. So really, when you break it down, my post about Oakland( not in this district) was in fact an indirect post about Independence(in this district). Apology accepted.

Oakland is better than people think they are and I wouldn't read too much into a scrimmage, especially the first scrimmage.

And even with that velocity he is still the 2nd or 3rd best pitcher in that district behind Hayden Stone and possibly his brother. Those two games between Columbia and Tullahoma will be great to watch!

I dont care if a team has 15 players that throw 100 if you cant throw strikes and locate the ball you want last 1 inning and its hard 2 belive Jeff co has that many pitchers iv seen alot of baseball state and all. And iv never seen a team with more than 2 good not great pithers

If you have never seen a team with more than 2 good pitchers then you have not been watching very good baseball. However, it doesnt matter if you have 15 pitchers that are great because in tournament time only the top 4 or 5 matter. if I've got 4 as good as your first 4 then we are equal and it doesn't matter about the rest of them.

In previous years the TBCA event has been on the same weekend as the USA Baseball Jr. Olympics which are held in Arizona (72 teams) and Florida (72 teams). If this is still true the best 16 year old's will probably not be at the TBCA event as they will be trying to make Team USA for the World Championships.

Very few kids have ever missed the TBCA because they were trying out for something like that. Also, I believe Jordan Sheffield played in the TBCA event last year and played for Team USA.

Someone else asked about where this is advertised. You can go to TBCA.org and find everything you need to know. You should also encourage your local high school coach to join the TBCA or it won't matter. Only players whose coach is a member can play in the game. A lot of small town coaches don't join and that is why those players don't here about it.

Very interesting viewpoint. I will agree that Smyrna is a very good team and has a lot of good players returning and they should be very good with Swafford, Stricklin, Freeman, and Wolcotte leading the way. I am sure they have others as well. Blackman is still very talented as they return 5 starters from last year. Skipwoth, Hamby, Snider, Martin, Gilmore are to name a few. Parker does a great job getting his players to play. Riverdale does have the most experience returning and should make a run. I would disagree with you on hitting being their strength. How could you know anything about Riverdale and think their strength would be offense? They have many,many arms iin King, Snider, Sutton, Westberry, May, Adams etc... as far as the comment that they have always been talented yes they have but to the point that they shouldve done more with it-tend to disagree-last year was best team and they lost to columbia 1-0 in regions. Siegel will be very talented with Stockstille, Moss, Sloan and other lh pitcher Scultz-revis does an awesome job. Oakland was senior heavy last year and they are gone, still have newman, sanderson, ward. Lavergne will be better because of age and darnelle will do a great job with them and i hear a mitchelll is helpinig them oach with pitchers. It all comes down to performing on the field does not matter whats on paper. Looking at your pevious post you are obviously emotionally tied to pitching and to blackman/riverdale somehow---maybe holding grudge somewhere along the way-but def off in your assessments of Pitchers. But thats what makes this board good for people like you and me we can get on here and go undefeated

I think Gilmore is at Smyrna now too.

I am sad to say this district has hit a low point this season. Indy has been struck by the new school bug. Our recent success can be attributed to great depth and talent and both are very scarce this year. Franklin hasn't had a winning record under their current coach, Brentwood has not been impressive since their legendary coach was ran out of town.

 

This district can be won by any of the Wilco teams. Luckily for them one will get to the Sub-State game just because they get to play a weak Metro team. The runner-up will have a chance at Overton this year as they will not be nearly as talented.

 

However none of these teams would be a top tier team in the power conferences of AAA baseball.

Agreed. This district is going to take a big step back this year but it won't take long for the talent to come back around.

How about we have like a team Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville , and memphis. Get the best players from each city and have like a tournement and see whos the best. Just an idea.

Tennessee has this each summer at the TBCA showcase. Four teams compete over two days.

Regions 1 and 2 have a team, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8.

They take BP and have a showcase for college coaches and scouts on Friday afternoon and the games start Friday night.

1)Riverdale

2)Blackman

3)Smyrna

4)Siegal

5)Oakland

6)Lavergne

For the record, I think 2-4 are interchangeable and there isn't much difference between the three of them.

I would like to get some opinions on each classification over the next few days. We can start with AAA today. Last year had Farragut winning another championship in a great game with Columbia so most would probably say they will be back there again. I would have said the same thing until Taylor's injury. Now, I think AAA may be as wide open as it has in a long time. I have a fefeling that this may finally be Mt. Juliet's year for some reason. That is a great program that has a coach that works hard so I feel like they deserve a title. Columbia has two great arms returning but lost 7 position players from last year added with the emergence of the Sheffield brothers in Tullahoma and Columbia may not be the best team in their District this year. Arlington, Collierville and Bartlett out West will all be good as well.Scince Hill is probably the best competition for Farragut in upper East Tennessee. Ooltewah is probably the best team in the Chattanooga area with a lot of people coming back. What does everyone else think?