FightinIllini

District heating up as WC , MJ and H'ville trying for the top spot.... MJ bats are heating up... will come down to the WC/MJ games next week.

MJ has to be top 5......

I was there.... the problem came for the home plate umpire. after discussing the call with the coach from MJ , Ump engaged the MJ fans at the fence....

IF he had gone back to the plate and yelled play ball, the game would have started back up and moved on.

Now as far as the call at third, It was the worst call I have seen in a while..... field ump blew it.... it happens move on....

BTW someone ought to check those bats at FHS......never seen a 5'9 165 player hit one 400 feet on a 75 mhp pitch..... physics just does not lend it's self to that.

My 2 cents.... the H'ville pitcher  was shaky in the first two innings but settled in....  He will be a very good pitcher once he matures and adds  some more strength.   He gave a very good effort .

MJ pitcher got in some trouble in the top of the 6th , but MJ pitcher still pitched very well, well enough to win.  Sometimes when a team  has deep pitching they lean on that pitching a little too much.  

subconsciously maybe thinking that at some point in the game we will string a few hits together maybe  a walk and win the game .   The H'ville pitcher battled hard against a seasoned senior however MJ stranded 8 base runners.   

It's still a bit early and frankly MJ has a tougher time against a slower righty or a crafty lefty than against a more traditional #1 .  Agreed MJ will usually face the ace from the opposing team but I know mine would not want it any other way.  

Maybe this can be a wake up call for the MJ hitters and they can get it going  by May. 

As far as the TBCA poll, who knows who the best teams are.... Arlington was very good, Beech I just did not see how they can be 2... but again I don't think at this point MJ is 4th either. 

H'ville at MJ tonight..... any predictions....?  Brown on the bump for MJ....

McWilliams is a good solid pitcher not what I would call a big time arm....... Have not seen Hall. MJ has the talent agreed.... but anything can happen with 16-17 year olds. 

MJ may have a loaded team but with poor coaching and arrogant kids, it will be hard to come together to win. They will have to compete with Farragut and Siegel to win it all. Pretty embarrassing with the talent they have to not get out of the region last year. Will be a big time matchup with Beech and Hendersonville as well, some big time arms on that side too.

In case you missed it... MJ 6 Beech 0   MJ pitchers with 17 k's in 7 innings... not really a "big time matchup"  Didn't see any big time arms on that side

I am curious if anyone knows.... who votes on the TBCA rankings?  is it limited to a few people?

Because honestly, they are delusional.  

Mount Juliet beat Arlington who was ranked 1 .. and shutout Beech who was ranked 2.  MJ lost a 2-1 game in the rain at Foley Alabama and another game 1-0 on an error..... 

Yet MJ is not ranked....  high school coaches ...... a laugher

Watched Mj scrimmage Blackman.... dont know the score.... guessing 10-0 . Blackman did not score.... a beat down...

Siegel has some talent... Farragut has no pitching... 

McWilliams is a solid pitcher, not the level of Brown and Smith at MJ.   I don't know the H'ville soph pitcher.... but having one or two decent pitchers is not like having four pitchers.... Remember you are in district play with new pitching rules.  You do know about the new pitching rules?

in 2014 when Beech threw elder McWilliams against elder Smith and they both went over 100 pitches? Then Beech brought McWilliams back in 3 days to close a game?  Don't get me wroing I woulf have done the same thing, but now theres a 5 calendar day rest period going over a hundo.

It will be a fun year in the district

I think you guys are spot on in your assessment

​The top travel teams aren't the problem...the problem with the whole travel ball craze is little Johnnie's parents. Johnnie is an ok baseball player (nothing wrong with that), but his mommy and daddy think that they can hire pitching and hitting coaches for him and turn him into a high draft pick. Mommy and daddy also think that Mr. high school coach is sorta alright but Mr. travel coach is much better, whether he's their team of choices' coach or the dad of some other kid who couldn't make the "big name team" either.

   The reality is that for the few truly gifted kids, travel teams who showcase them against like teams where scouts and college coaches are concentrated serve a great purpose.

   The problem is that all these parents have created a demand, and there are people out there who will willfully take advantage of that, and some other well meaning but incompetent volunteers all too happy to oblige and take charge..."for the kids"...who don't care about, or aren't aware of the way to manage their well being. 

http://therecruitingcode.com/college-coaches-are-not-coming-to-your-high-school-games/

Just a thought on high school scouting versus travel and showcase. Take it how you will.

I do not see anything wrong with parents paying to play on travel teams.  If the player enjoys it and playing more will make you better.  I think the problem is with the expectations of the parents partly due to being ignorant about the college recruiting process and not really knowing how to navigate it.  Thus the "travel coach" comes along with all the answers, or at least he knows what the parents want to hear.  

The first thing one has to do is make the grades in high school, very important.  If that hurdle is jumped then get out a map.  Draw a circle as to how far you are willing to go to attend college. Then target schools in each class D1, D2, D3  etc... that you would be willing to attend if you were not playing baseball or had to stop.

Play high school ball, heck play travel ball, take lessons, but your sophomore year go to Perfect Game and get an honest eval of your talent and projection.  They sometimes miss a kid, but for the most part they are the best in the business.   

Once you know the level that you can play at target those schools with emails, and maybe a camp.

I say again 99% of high school players do not fully understand the commitment to play college baseball.  Now if you are in the top .5% then yes "they" will find you.... 

try and remember 

1.) get recruited

2.) commit

3.) sign NLI

4.) get accepted to the school

5.) maintain and 2.5 gpa for NCAA

6.) make the team in the fall

7.) make the travel team in the spring

8.) get on the game roster

Its long way to the if you want to rock and roll

too many parents think that if a college coach watches you play then that means a 100% scholarship 

you are correct .....

You never know what 17's and 16's are going to do however MJ has three 89 to 93

Wow this thread is all over the place.  I wonder how many arms are being ruined anyway?  Pitch counts are fine I guess. I can tell you my 2018 will never throw more than 70-75 in one outing and then he gets 5 days rest period.  I have had 4 sons play D1 Juco and D3.. never had an arm issue... because I made sure they were not overthrown. Be it HS ball or travel ball. 

Speaking of travel ball, there's travel ball and then there's travel ball.  Some teams are making money off of mediocre players... the top travel ball teams are not over throwing pitchers because they have a stable of them. 

"if you are good enough they will find you" true for the top 1%  everyone else just need to attend a PG showcase and get a real eval. see where you stand.... 

College baseball can be very rewarding, but it is a ton of time and work that most HS players do not even realize.  Also there's little money in college baseball, make sure you have the grades..  

If the TSSAA really cared about the health of pitchers and players, they'd start the season March 1 or earlier (i.e. GA, AL) instead of cramming 30+ games in a 7 week window.

best post yet

MJ should walk away with district, and get a state bid, at that point who knows, long season....

congrats to MJ on another district title

So is this the breakdown?

MJ vs Portland and Leb vs Beech

H'ville vs Gallatin  and WC vs Station Camp 

?

MJ over WC 2-0 .... play again tonight

If a high school team has 3 SEC caliber pitchers and does not make it to the state finals there is a major problem.  IMO, it probably takes 6 or 7 pitchers to win the state because most starters will not be sharp for 7 innings and someone will have to close out the games.

not mention another jr that is D1.... a sr. going to Tufts University, a Sr going to Cumberland and a Sr going to Vol State.  But you can only throw one at a time

farragut is the best team I have seen

Lebanon over MJ? What happened Illini?

MJ did not execute the plays in front of them. too many errors, pitching was sub-par... Bonds did not have a good feel for his curve ball... Smith (soph) was in and out of the zone, walked one, hit one.  Infield throwing errors, outfield throwing errors,  .  We had 6 sophomores on the field and while I get the line-up from a talent perspective..... in district games sometimes it's best to come out of the bullpen with a senior that has been in those situations with a fresh arm rather than the same pitcher that just threw the night before against the same team.   MJ has tons of talent, but frankly a year away from making any noise.  too many one dimensional players and not sharp at all.

And I might add, Lebanon did what they had to do to win the game, the ole show bunt pull back and swing trick.... too bad one of their batters took a 90 + in the hand,  I heard it was broken.... I hope the young man is ok......

Kind of bush league on Lebanon's part , but hey they hit when they needed to hit.  Maybe it will wake up the MJ players to the fact that they are not as good as they think they are... and how bad do they want to correct their mental mistakes in order to win.

  Lastly, after the Lebanon coach threw his starting pitcher at least 115-120 pitches , plus pre-game warmup and between innings he thew at least 165-175 pitches total , I would urge the AD at Leb to have a serious talk with Veetetoo about arm care, injury prevention and over use to the point of abuse.  The kid might not play past high school, but he might want to play golf, go fishing or lift a glass of tea... 

that pretty much sums it up.

MJ over Leb 5-0   I noticed some changs in MJ lineup.

Hville gets a nice win tonight 5-0 over MJ as Wacaser throws a complete game 6 hit shutout. Coker had RBI singles in the 3rd and 5th, Fuller added an RBI single in the 6th and 2 more runs scored on a throwing error in the 6th. MJ pitcher Smith was very impressive only giving up 3 hits. I know Gallatin beat SC 7-3 and WC beat Beech 4-3. District is wide open and any one of 4 or 5 teams could win it.

MJ stranded 7-8 runners cannot do that and expect to win against Wacasser.  Wacasser had a solid outing and pitched like a sr.  H'ville approach at the plate was good.  No clear district winner yet.  Smith, Wacasser and McWilliams are the best I have seen so far.

Class AAA

1. Farragut   Bearden not on the list , beat Farragut

2. Arlington

3. Beech     

4. Dobyns-Bennett

5. Houston

6. Hendersonville   Wilson Central beat H'ville

7. Siegel                 Mt. Juliet beat Siegel  ( though Siegel is good)

8. Mt. Juliet

9. Summitt

10. Munford

So Science Hill, Bearden and Soddy did not make the cut.