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Back on topic....I take back my ranking of Powell as one of the top teams in East TN. I watched them play in 3 5-inning scrimmages on Saturday, and unless they get some chemistry going and some pitching from someone other than Drake Owenby, they can't be considered a state contender. Definitely some talent on that team, but they are not clicking as a team yet. Hopefully they can get it together soon.

If I had my choice of schools and the money for a private school, I would select CAK and Farragut's former coach, Tom Farr. Farragut attracts talent; Tom Farr enhances it and creates it. No offense towards Coach Buckner, but Farr has a great history that speaks for itself. I know a lot of the current kids and parents at Farragut, and you have to give the parents a lot of credit in this as well. They put up a lot of money for private lessons and travel ball to keep their kids in it year round. You can't hide money.

For East TN, I would put Science Hill, Farragut, Powell, and Jefferson County as the top four pre-season AAA picks in Regions 1 and 2.

Actually, you can go look at some of these kid's profiles on perfectgame.org, and they are throwing these speeds. That said, you can also view the JC coach's outlook he wrote on TBCA.org, and there are some lofty ERAs (last year's)among those +80mph arms. You still have to locate and change speeds to be effective. I'm not saying these kids are not that good, as I haven't seen any of them. But I did see Oak Ridge's ace, Jordan Lane, throwing +85 (had the gun on him, so I know) this past weekend during a scrimmage, and one of JC's district rivals, Cocke County, had kids that pulled that 85mph for doubles in the gaps. He was having trouble early on locating the off-speed due to 20-30mph winds, and tried blowing his fastball by them. Four hits and 3 ERs later, he decided he'd try harder to get the changeup working ,then he shut them down. Still, I'd be like any other coach or scout and take these strong arms and "coach 'em" until they could locate and developed an effective off-speed. It's hard to teach speed.

Add Hunter Tackett of AC to the list of "Power Pitchers" in 3AAA. He was throwing 86mph at PerfectGame last year between his Freshmen and Sophomore year. From reading the write-up on thier site, sounds like he's inconsistent, but coaches will take God-given power any day and try to work with it over trying to make a good pitcher faster. We will see soon enough whose got and who doesn't. Season is right here on us!

Just about all of these kids played on Summer showcase teams, and played at a PerfectGame tournament (www.perfectgame.org), where they (not coaches or parents!)keep track of a pitcher's fastest pitch and post it on their profile (if you're interested). All you have to do to see these profiles is register for the "free" stuff, then search on a player's name. All of the players listed above are listed at mid-70s to a high of 88mph (D. Owenby). Lane was 2nd fastest at 86, with a couple more at 85 (such as H. Owenby and Painter). Season is almost here, so good luck to everyone out there, and God's blessings on keeping all the players safe and healthy.

I thought we were "..down South?" I'm not associated with HVA, but I drive by their school quite a bit in the 4-6pm time frame, and I can honestly say that I have not driven by there once since school started back in August that there wasn't multiple players on their field working out (no caoches, of course). It's been a very mild Fall and Winter thus far, which should improve the quality of play early on for those that work at baseball year-round and have taken advantage of the good weather. As for their Freshmen that are projected starters for HVA, sometimes you just know that's the case based on a kids size and playing ability. It was evident with Lane when he came up for Oak Ridge two years ago, and it was obvious that H. Owenby would do likewise for Powell last season. When you see some of these kids in Middle School and travel ball, and you know the current talent level of the high school, a decent judge of talent can make a fairly confident statement. The wild card with H.S. baseball is that all kids mature and progress at different rates, and sometimes that talent comes on late, and a kid comes out of no where during their Junior or Senior year to be a major contributor. That's the aspect where the coaches have to wait and see what they've got at season's start.

Oak Ridge returns Lane (SS, 2B, 3B), McDaniel ©, Cox (1B), Steen (2B), Hull (CF), O'Neal (LF), and May (SS). Returning starting Pitchers are Lane, Steen, Roberts, Elwood, and O'Neal.

Sorry, but I left off AC. Durand will be strong, but not sure about team pitching after that. Roberts will need to have a season closer to his Sophomore year's performance, and their Sophomore class will need to step it up to finish in that #2 spot behind Powell.

Powell has to be the favorite with all the talent they have. After that, it will be good competition for runner-up between Halls, Karns, HV, and OR. Last years 3AAA district tournament showed that it's not how you start or are ranked pre-season, but how you rise to the occasion and finish. HV took hard work and sound fundamentals and surprised a lot of people; they will not be taken for granted this year, and certainly won't surprise anyone with another strong season. When Hill pitches for Karns, he can shut down anyone in the district if he's on his game with location, movement, and speed changes. Halls is, well...Halls. They're a strong baseball school, and should be competing for top spot in 3AAA for years to come. Oak Ridge is a Junior/Sophomore dominated team and will compete with any team in 3AAA when Lane pitches, but errors and lack luster offense need to improve significantly over last year's team if they want to build on their runner-up finish in the district tourney. Clinton will improve through the season and get some upset victories over these other contenders, but I don't see them finishing in the top four. Should be a good competitive season all around.

Tryouts: Cherokee 18U. Feb. 5 at Cherokee Baseball facility at 1 p.m. 865-567-4206.

Both are good pitchers with D1 commitments from Memphis area, but neither are from AAA schools (the topic of this thread).

Lane went to WKU (Hilltoppers) showcase last weekend; was 83-84 consistently, hit 88 once. Again, he just turned 16 in June, so it's not his speed now (which is still impressive), but rather what it might be before he's done growing and filled out. He'll be at the Lee University showcase this coming weekend...that looks like a good one if everyone comes that they say is coming. I like Hill too; I much prefer watching the crafty pitchers get the W over the MPH pitcher. But I've talked to a lot of scouts, and most all have told me the same story; you can't teach speed as easily as control. Most coaches want the raw athleticism that they can mold (or at least think they can)over a kid that gets it done with his craftiness and control. That's why a Daniel Norris (Science Hill) type will go much earlier in the draft over a Phillip Pfeifer (Farragut) type, but when you look at the W-L, you gotta respect the W's that true competitors like Pfiefer put up.

It depends on what you mean by "arms." I've seen some good arms, but were not necessarily good pitchers. I saw a Freshmen for Oak Ridge last year hit 86mph, but struggled badly with location, and only got 1 win all season. I'll keep it to those that throw >85, have good location and are D1 prospects that I've seen this past year. Drake Owenby of Powell(UT signee) has hit 90+ and is a lefty. Great kid, great pitcher. His brother Hagan isn't too far behind, and may turn out to be the better baseball player of the two. Jordan Lane, a Junior this coming season with Oak Ridge, has a lot of D1 schools looking at him. He flirts with the 90mph club and has a great change-up, but what has scouts drooling is his sub 7 second 60 time and his vertical leap to go along with that arm. Lane is 6'1" and can dunk a basketball like someone 6" taller. He's not just an arm, but that all-around athlete full of fast-twitch muscle that scouts are looking for. Taylor Durand of Anderson County has good stuff for a lefty, stands 6'3" or better, but may never see 90mph until he gets in a good strength and conditioning program. Farragut always has aces, and this coming year will be no different. I expect Xander Taylor to dominate, and big Eric Freeman (Junior this coming season)to break 90mph routinely and step up his game. I'm sure there are others in East TN that I haven't seen, but these 4 or 5 above are definitely good ones to watch this coming season.

No, it's Rob Roberts (in case you can't get that from the email), Connor Robert's dad, and bring your radar gun and betting money. Just so you know, Lane hit 86 on Memphis coaches gun at AC game, Freshman Kevin Steen hit 86 on Sevier County's gun, Sophomore Reid Elwood hit 82 at Dobbins-Bennet, and Senior Jake McLaughlin hits 81-82 routinely. It's not speed that matters anyway, it's location, change in speed and movement. HVA beat us 4 times this year with fastballs that never touched 80mph, yet we beat Durand, Beeler, and other faster pitching. Also, I don't reply on your posts acting like a hater, so chill out. We're just looking for some extra playing time, not trying to build hype to get a scholarship. Also, Connor came in at the end of the elimination game in the 3AAA District Championship and pitched 3 scoreless innings agaist HVA last night to keep us in the game; they were hoping to save him for the championship game today, but had to bring him in 'cause he always competes and throws strikes. He's the slowest varsity pitcher on our varsity...but not for long.

Player for Oak Ridge High School Varsity looking for 16U team in East TN area to paly this summer. A good pitcher (3.50 ERA, 2-1 this season, with only loss to Kingsport D- with three pitches (curve and split-change to go with fb), good control (67% strikes, only 6 BB in 25 innings), and good efficency (52.6% batters on or out in 3 pitches or less; allows defense to stay in the game). Fastball in mid-upper 70's and getting faster (late bloomer), but location and curves for strikes are his strengths. Also hits well (hitting over 0.500 on JV, 1-1 on varsity), and can play any position in a pinch(also caught for many years with Thunder Baseball travel team). Not looking to play every game or displace anyone else on a team, just looking to help out a team where we can and get some more reps. Email me at robert.roberts@ametek.com. We know it's late, but finances are not an issue; willing to contribute more than fair share of $$ if right opportunity presents itself.