tonybologna

Lake County is a good team. I didn't say they weren't. I said in a 1 game & done situation this can happen but I just don't think they are good enough to beat a deeper Gibson County team in a Best of 3 series. There really are no what I would call MAJOR upsets at this time of the year. That's unless you get say a team kind of like the Lookout Valley loss to Harriman. Harriman was a #7 seed in their own District tourney while Lookout Valley was #1. That's an upset when you combine that with their overall records. Would it have been a MAJOR upset if TCA lost to Union City? I would say in between a mild & MAJOR upset because Union City was in the state tourney last season. Yes there are upsets but it's 1 game! That's what makes these games so tough. One & Done! I also agree that all these 1 run semifinal games are certainly due to each team pitching their ace pitchers. However, not ALL of the Regional Semifinals were low scoring games either. Most of them were but not ALL of them with still 2 more left to play today.

I can go with that format too. +1 on that post. Something has got to be changed for sure though. Like you said lose a game at the wrong time of the season now & your GONE! The TSSAA has GOT to fix this but they just don't seem to get it.

I did forget one other upset & it might be a bigger upset than the Gibson County loss. Harriman defeated Lookout Valley on the road 4-1. Harriman has been a team that has shown it can be good at times but also very inconsistent as well. Lookout Valley did have 8 losses coming into tonight's game vs Harriman but all of their losses were against Top 10 or Top 20 ranked teams from various classifications. Harriman was a team because of the inconsistent play had a .500 record of 16-16. This again is another one of these 1 game cases were I feel no way the best team won but they did on this 1 night but if you stick these 2 teams in a 3 game series & Lookout Valley wins just like I feel that Gibson County would have done the same against Lake County. It is what it is for now though. One bad game & you're GONE! If the TSSAA can make the state tourney double elimination then they can do the same for these Regional Semifinals as well. I know Div. II-A & Div. II-AA are a different class of baseball but still very good teams & even they have implemented this best of 3 series format for the postseason so they already have a double elimination format for their postseason games. I'm not holding my breath though that the TSSAA will make this change to Class A-AAA in the near future.

I'm shocked Gibson County got knocked out. But, like I said previously any one team can beat another a game in these Semifinal games. That's why I think the TSSAA has got to figure out a way to make these semi-finals the best of 3 format for ALL classes (A-AAA). It's already like that for most of Div. II-A & Div. II-AA. TCA just barely got through in extra innings but I think they will easily beat Lake County for the Championship & advance to the Sectionals. There was an awful lot of 1 run games tonight. That just shows the competition is solid & also indicates that certain teams like a Gibson County just got upset & having a best of 3 would more than likely end up with Gibson County beating Lake County twice in a row after that 1 loss. A few upsets tonight for sure but most of them except for the Gibson County game were mild upsets. I don't call Tenn. High in Region 1-AAA beating Sevier County an upset myself. TH was picked to be right where they are to begin the season. Hardin Valley beating Powell could be considered a pretty big upset. GCA (Grace Christian-Franklin) even though their record wasn't good beat a good Cornersville team. Hendersonville beat a red hot hitting Rossview club so that was a little bit of a surprise to me. Some might consider Arlington beating Brighton a pretty big upset. I think it is a mild upset but Arlington had played well the 2nd half of the season. Lincoln County beating Blackman was a mild upset. Chester County beating South Gibson is a pretty big upset. Forrest even though they had a record just above .500 beat a Creek Wood team that was 24-7 so that's a decent upset. We still have 2 more Semifinal games left to play tomorrow. I can't understand for the life of me why these 2 games were postponed for today. The weather was beautiful ALL across the state of Tennessee. The Greeneville/Sullivan South game for some crazy reason was rescheduled for tomorrow on Sunday. The other rescheduled game is also from Region 1 as well. These 4 teams have placed themselves or at least the school systems have in a bad situation compared to the rest of the Semifinal games being played today. They will not have a day off now. Some may say high school baseball is played on back-to-back days all season long & they are but it's the postseason now & rest is more important between games than it was in the regular season.

The basketball format would be fine too with 4 teams from each District going to the Regionals. I'm more like you in that the Regionals be double elimination rather than the Sectionals. I just wished they would consider doing it for one or the other though. Or, the basketball option of 4 teams advancing to the Regionals. I just know this 2 team thing with one & done needs to be changed in the Regionals. A bad game by a good team & they could be gone just like that. People could say at this time of the season a good/great time shouldn't have a bad game but it happens.

By the way guys. I wish the TSSAA would change the format for the Regional Semifinals. It's just one game between opponents. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. That's just baseball. I wish they would do like some of the Div. II-A & Div. II-AA tourney matchups & make these semifinals or sectionals best of 3. I mean this format would show who deserves to move on & advance in the postseason. If this isn't done for the semifinals then definitely for the Sectionals. One or the other. Not both necessarily because that would be difficult to pull off because of time limits to get the games in by a certain date. They (TSSAA) could make one of these changes though with enough time to get it done. I just don't know whether it would be better doing this for the Semis or the Sectionals but either one would be fine with me.

Keep in mind these were my Semifinal picks to win & not all the District winners/runner ups listed. I have both Gibson County & TCA beating Lake County & Union City so that's why they're not listed in my semifinals post. These were just my semifinal picks & not all teams competing. The post you quoted of mine was my state tourney picks anyhow. Thanks.

I guess that I should add my Regional Final predictions as well. Forgot to do that in my previous post. Here they are: Region 1-A Final: Greenback over University High Region 2-A Final: Lookout Valley over Wartburg Region 3-A Final: Gordonsville over South Pittsburg Region 4-A Final: Eagleville over Cornersville (tough one, could go either way) Region 5-A Final: Columbia Academy over Richland Region 6-A Final: Loretto over Huntingdon Region 7-A Final: Gibson County over TCA (toss-up)(another rematch) Region 8-A Final: Middle College over Oakhaven Region 1-AA Final: Greeneville over Elizabethton (close one) Region 2-AA Final: Alcoa over Pigeon Forge Region 3-AA Final: Signal Mountain over Loudon Region 4-AA Final: Sequathchie County over Smith County Region 5-AA Final: Greenbrier over Sycamore (another rematch) Region 6-AA Final: Nolensville over Creek Wood (mild upset) Region 7-AA Final: South Gibson over Dyersburg Region 8-AA Final: Covington over Haywood Region 1-AAA Final: Science Hill over Sevier County (upset) Region 2-AAA Final: Farragut over Powell (could Powell pull off the major upset vs the state's #1 ranked AAA team?) Region 3-AAA Final: Soddy-Daisy over Cookeville (tough one to call) Region 4-AAA Final: Blackman over Riverdale Region 5-AAA Final: Rossview over Clarksville (Rossview's bats are on fire!) Region 6-AAA Final: Overton over Independence Region 7-AAA Final: Brighton over Bartlett Region 8-AAA Final: Collierville over Houston (good matchup)

Here are my predictions: Region 1-A Semifinals: University High, Greenback Region 2-A Semifinals: Wartburg, Lookout Valley Region 3-A Semifinals: South Pittsburg, Gordonsville Region 4-A Semifinals: Cornersville, Eagleville Region 5-A Semifinals: Richland, Columbia Academy Region 6-A Semifinals: Huntingdon, Loretto Region 7-A Semifinals: Gibson County, TCA Region 8-A Semifinals: Middle College, Oakhaven Region 1-AA Semifinals: Elizabethton, Greeneville Region 2-AA Semifinals: Alcoa, Pigeon Forge Region 3-AA Semifinals: Loudon, Signal Mountain Region 4-AA Semifinals: Sequathchie County, Smith County Region 5-AA Semifinals: TBD, MLK Region 6-AA Semifinals: Creek Wood, Nolensville Region 7-AA Semifinals: South Gibson, Dyersburg Region 8-AA Semifinals: Covington, Haywood Region 1-AAA Semifinals: Science Hill, Sevier County Region 2-AAA Semifinals: Powell, Farragut Region 3-AAA Semifinals: Soddy-Daisy, Cookeville Region 4-AAA Semifinals: Riverdale, Blackman Region 5-AAA Semifinals: Clarksville, Rossview Region 6-AAA Semifinals: Independence, Overton Region 7-AAA Semifinals: Arlington, Bartlett Region 8-AAA Semifinals: Collierville, Houston Div. II-A Semifinalists: Knox Webb Goodpasture Friendship Christian St. George's Finals: Knox Webb over Friendship Christian Div. II-AA Semifinalists: Baylor St. Benedict Father Ryan Christian Brothers Finals: Baylor over Christian Brothers I will have the Class A-AAA Sectional predictions too when they are set. Thanks guys!

I'll take a look & give my predictions.

Not wrong just incorrect guess. I didn't say it wouldn't happen. I said that I just don't see it happening. Just a smidge of difference! LOL! 2 close games but especially the rubber & deciding game. I still think both TCA & Gibson County make the state because they're both just too good of teams not to be there.

And TCA will have to beat GC twice which I don't see happening. Regardless, both teams are Regional bound. I also think both teams are capable of making the state tourney for sure.

I can't keep up with which Districts are double elimination these days. I know quite a few Districts have double elimination but not all of them & I never can keep them straight. It's going to be really difficult to beat Gibson County twice. I don't care which team they face in the finals whether it be TCA, Halls, or Peabody. TCA certainly to me would have the best shot but I wouldn't rule out Halls being there with a chance. You can tell that inner city Memphis baseball isn't very good in Class A just by looking at team's records. Middle College is really the only team from Class A that is any good at all even with their double-digit losses. The rest of the Region 8 Class A teams are bad in record & playing on the diamond. You're right! I listed Middle College as the pick from Region 8 but they probably aren't good enough to make the state tourney.

I'm picking Halls over Peabody. So, then it will be TCA against Halls in my opinion for the right to play Gibson County in the District 14-A Championship. I think Halls has the better chance of beating TCA over Peabody anyhow. Halls has a pretty good club plus their schedule has prepared them well for the postseason. However, I think for either Halls or Peabody to beat TCA either team would have to play their best plus TCA have an off game. So, I am picking TCA over either one of these teams to play Gibson County again. It was only 1 run difference the other day (4-3 Gibson County) so I would pick TCA next time if they were to meet again for the Championship. Both teams would of course advance to the Regionals though. Anything other than the Regionals for TCA or Gibson County would be a failure for both teams. These 2 teams were expected to make it to at least the Regionals & TCA or Gibson County were picked by a lot of media to make the state tourney in Class A.

Gibson County just defeated TCA 4-3 in the District 14-A Tournament. That means TCA now has the longer road back to get to the District Championship Game. They must make the championship game in order to advance to the Regionals. I thought Gibson County was a strong possibility to get in their way or even knock them out.

Yep. Saw that. It only takes 1 game & you're gone in most cases. So, in reality any of the favorites could be gone with just 1 BAD game. I could see that happening.

Class A Favorites: Region 1: Greenback or University High (sleeper Sullivan North) Region 2: Rockwood or Lookout Valley (sleeper Midway) Region 3: Gordonsville or Monterey (sleeper Whitwell) Region 4: Cornersville or Eagleville (sleeper none) Region 5: Columbia Academy or East Robertson (sleeper none) Region 6: Loretto or Summertown (sleeper Huntingdon) Region 7: Trinity Christian or Gibson County (sleeper Union City & Halls) Region 8: Middle College or KIPP-Memphis (sleeper Oakhaven) My actual picks for the state tourney from each Region: Region 1: Greenback Region 2: Rockwood Region 3: Gordonsville Region 4: Cornersville Region 5: Columbia Academy Region 6: Summertown Region 7: Trinity Christian Region 8: Middle College My pick for the state champs: Trinity Christian (sleeper Gordonsville & Cornersville) What's so interesting about my state title pick is that Gibson County could actually play spoiler on me & knock out Trinity Christian. They are certainty capable of doing it. If that was to happen then I just might have to say Gibson County would eventually be state champs. LOL! Union City & Halls from that same Region are definitely sleepers in my mind. Halls has played a really tough schedule. Union City was in the state tourney last season. Those 4 teams are ALL from Region 7 & might be 4 of the best 8 teams in Class A but only 1 can advance to the state. Rockwood is another team that is playing really well. They too have a solid team that could make some noise.

I will get my predictions for Class A baseball posted up either later today (Friday) or Saturday. Right off the top of my head without putting much thought into it & checking all the Districts/Regions I would have to say TCA (Trinity Christian Academy) is the favorite to take the title. And, I believe Gibson County might be their best competition or the team that could get in their way. I will post more on this in a day or 2. Thanks.

Completely agree with your post. One of 4-5 teams are capable of taking the Big 7 District tourney. Boone has Cade Elliott (UT signee) that could dominate pitching for Boone . Crockett is ending the season on fire with 6 straight wins. Tenn. High was my pick to possibly go the farthest in the postseason. I'm not sure about that now but they have the bats to do it. Science Hill has a team of decent pitching & really good hitting. DB even though they won the regular season title isn't the favorite to win the tourney in my opinion. I think Science Hill just might end up taking the tourney crown but even Boone, TH, or Crockett could sneak into the title game & win. It's up for grabs among at least 4 teams in my opinion. There's only 2 teams that can advance to the Regionals so it's going to be interesting to see which 2 teams make the Championship Game & therefore onto the Regionals.

TCA (Trinity Christian Academy) got upset tonight by Halls (West, TN) by a score of 5-3. That was only their 2nd loss on the season (23-2). Halls (West, TN) isn't a bad team coming into the game @ 12-9 but I did not expect this especially with one of TCA's best pitchers on the mound. This loss just might drop TCA from that #1 state ranking they've had for so long this season in Class A. Their only other loss was a District game to a very good Gibson County team (24-3). Gibson County will more than likely be the only team that gets in the way of TCA making the state tourney. They both are such really good teams. Either team can beat the other on a given day so if they meet in the Regionals let's hope it's not before the Regional Championship Game because both teams deserve to be in the Sectionals & a chance to make the state tourney. Right now, I think Gibson County is the better team or should I say playing the best but that doesn't mean TCA can't beat them or can't make the state tourney.

Well, CAK beat GCA 2-0 @ GCA today so no excuses from you guys about the umps in this one for GCA. LOL! Also, Farragut in Class AAA won again this afternoon against Bearden. I think that's 5 of their last 6 games now for Farragut in which they have won by only 1 run. It's something close to that anyhow. I said a couple weeks back that Collierville & Farragut were the 2 best teams in AAA but I give the slight advantage to Collierville. Now, Farragut did defeat Collierville in a tournament game last weekend by a score of 3-2 but that was just one game. I still think Collierville has a slightly better team. I give them the advantage in pitching just a little even though Farragut has the better team ERA. Going to be interesting to see these 2 teams in the postseason & which one advances the farthest. I think both of them will probably make the state tourney though.

That's not true in bold above unless the rule for improper/illegal equipment usage has changed since 2013.

Let me jump in here as a former assistant high school baseball coach. It's been 6 years since I stopped coaching due to some health reasons but back when I coached the umpires were required to give a warning first before an automatic ejection. Now, I wouldn't think that rule has changed in 6 years. It's a rule that's been around for a long time. Automatic ejections are usually reserved for stuff pitchers might do like sandpaper or spitting on the ball or using any illegal substance. I've never experienced an incident like this however while coaching. I've had an umpire back in like 2004 or 2005 that warned our team for an improper glove usage by our starting catcher. It was a warning & that's all. The glove was changed & that was it. Nothing further was done by the umps. This seems like a wrongdoing by the umps to Greenback. I would bet the TSSAA will look into this especially if the Greenback coach pushes it. I know as a coach I wouldn't allow this to go without putting up a fuss about it. I don't care if it's a scrimmage, regular season game, or postseason game.

LOL! Loved the Bologna used in your response. Incinsistent probably wasn't the correct word/term to use for Greenback. They have only lost 4 games so inconsistent wouldn't be the right type of term to be used with a 21-4 team. I guess the correct thing to say is that they have blown most of those 4 losses. This last one against GCA sounds like a total robbery from the umpires. I've seen players ejected from games for various reasons but over a catchers helmet that you all say was used before seems like something intentional done by the umps. The TSSAA should be looking into this closely because stuff like this shouldn't be allowed to happen at any level of baseball. Agree completely with you & especially on the bolded text above.

That certainly doesn't seem to be fair at all to Greenback. Geez!